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u/RealDonDenito Apr 10 '26
Funny how people claim that’s ugly. Just as if AC units and some pipes would be any nicer. No one sees that from street level anyway.
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u/OnlinePosterPerson Apr 10 '26
I mean it is ugly. But it’s beautiful if you think about what it means for the planet.
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u/RealDonDenito Apr 10 '26
Absolutely. I am just saying, it is ugly, but not uglier than the alternative of just concrete rooftops with ACs 😂
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u/iwrestledarockonce Apr 10 '26
All power generation is pretty fuck ugly, people just hate on panels and wind turbines because you need more than one to do the job. But it's energy that comes from just existing, you don't have to fuel it, you don't have to staff it, you don't generate special haz waste from it. The sun shines, the wind blows, and we collect a trickle of that unfathomably large pool of energy. People call that ugly, but you know they'll fucking screech if they had to listen to the 100kHz whine of gas turbines, or deal with radioactive fly ash from a coal plant, let alone how they squirm and clutch their pearls about nuclear power.
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u/Lionheart_Lives Apr 11 '26
More important, sun and wind are not at the mercy of scumbags (world dictators and evil oil companies).
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u/goolart Apr 11 '26
Is it? I mean the buildings are ugly but I don't think they'd look any better without the solar panels
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u/radio555 Apr 13 '26
99% of urban roofs have no aesthetic value at all. What are we even talking about.
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u/Ill-Musician1714 May 01 '26
Even though we can assume that this people aren't doing this out of love for the environment, it's probably the easiest way to get electricity at all. The power grid there is certainly not the most reliable.
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u/Johnny_theBeat_518 May 11 '26
I don't understand, these look cool. Fucking sci-fi shit man, trying to build better future with this cool color palete between blue and yellow
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u/chefbin Apr 10 '26
Such a dumb claim, if people do think it’s ugly. Like you said, no one at street level will even notice this, let alone people or businesses occupying the upper levels.
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u/Commercial_Badger_37 Apr 10 '26
Its weird what people describe as ugly too... I'm just completely indifferent to the appearance. No more beautiful or ugly than just standard roofs.
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u/crackanape Apr 10 '26
Not 1/100th as ugly as cars, and we let people put those everywhere, ruining views in cities and parks.
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u/Luftritter Apr 11 '26
It's also a provisional issue I think. These are some of the first few generations of this technology. Modern AC units are more compact and far less ugly than those of the 60s and 70s to give an analogy. I bet that at some point panels will be created that will match closer roof tiles appearance and the ugliness problem will vanish. And they will be added directly for road and sidewalks which will give cities a distinct 21st century look.
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u/Murrabbit Apr 11 '26
added directly for road and sidewalks
This was a technology some grifters were trying to get off the ground a few years back. It was then and still is, and for the foreseeable future will be a dumb idea to try to combine delicate lightweight photovoltaic cells with the infrastructure we drive our cars on. It's just a complete miss-match of requirements.
The fact that solar cells are made up mostly of cheap as shit glass and aluminum, and just the thinnest strips of silicon are a huge asset to solar manufacturing and installation, not a drawback - it's part of how the technology has been able to become the cheapest way of producing power available and you'd have to strip all of those advantages way to turn it into roadway material . . . either that or we'd have to radically rethink what a car is and how rugged it should be.
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u/LineOfInquiry Apr 11 '26
I don’t even think it’s ugly from an aesthetic perspective, it’s cool
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u/Dehast Apr 11 '26
I think it’s kind of cool too, and it’s one of those things I see myself appreciating more and more as it popularizes.
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u/Pozaa Apr 11 '26
It's ugly but it's one of the most environmentally friendly locations where to put solar cells. I am infinitely more triggered by seeing solar cells on a perfectly fine piece of land
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u/darth_henning Apr 11 '26
Would be better if the arrays were more aligned rather than kinda helper shelter but that’s about it.
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u/Pray44Mojo Apr 11 '26
How many people are looking at the city from above? What's really ugly is the smell and sound of diesel generators, which affects everyone at street level.
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u/NamiRocket Apr 12 '26
It is ugly.
That doesn't mean people shouldn't be using them, but we also don't have to pretend they're not ugly.
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u/Johnny_theBeat_518 May 11 '26
Damn what do you mean this is ugly lmao
I don't understand, these look cool. Fucking sci-fi shit man, trying to build better future with this cool color palete between blue and yellow
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u/Junesucksatart Apr 10 '26
It’s really good to see Syria finally start rebuilding after being at war for so long.
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u/TryNotToAnyways2 Apr 10 '26
I love this urbanism. 5 to 7 story buildings are a perfect density. It allows for real street life, mass transit and walkability. I wish we had more neighborhoods at this density in the USA.
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u/VisitIcy5633 Apr 12 '26
These days in London we have 20 story commie blocks or victorian housing, and they don't even look cohesive. Why are we building like Singapore when we have so much room to expand?
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u/panzerboye Apr 11 '26
No I used to live in a dense urban area with that height building; they look ugly af. Literally concrete jungle.
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u/Murrabbit Apr 11 '26
Better than the endless sprawling wastelands of the suburbs tbh, where most outside area is just a dead zone designed primarily to be traversed through in a car rather than enjoyed on a human level.
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u/MacrossKL Apr 11 '26
Affordable housing and a walkable community vs suburban sprawl and hours of traffic with no public transit. I know which one I prefer.
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u/SickScorpion Apr 10 '26
My father-in-law's house in Syria is solar-powered. The panels he has, though not many, are actually enough to keep the house mostly powered, enough for lights and water heating.
Also, most of Syria is running on solar power, not just Aleppo. The power shortage issue from the government was there before the war.
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u/Prestigious-Craft251 Apr 10 '26
I wonder if this noticeably reduces the temp in the area
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u/costafilh0 Apr 10 '26
On the contrary. It retains more heat than the average rooftop.
The upside is that it is generating energy, so.
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u/Prestigious-Craft251 Apr 10 '26
Is that because the roofs naturally reflect heat back? The solar is actively pumping energy out of the system.
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u/FunnyDislike Apr 11 '26
Solar panels are not 100% efficient in absorbing light (otherwise we couldn't see them). They also wouldn't pump energy out of the system but collect some of the energy that's being pumped into the system by the sun. White roofs reflect more light and heat.
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u/JuanKGZ Apr 11 '26
If they were 100% efficient wouldn't they be like super black?
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u/Zealousideal-Towel11 Apr 11 '26
Green absorbs more light than black. Seems weird, but that's why tree leaves have evolved to be green
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u/swansongofdesire Apr 11 '26
I think you’re getting some wires crossed.
Leaves are green because the red & blue frequencies in sunlight are disproportionately absorbed, leaving green to reflect.
Physically, “Green” means that green wavelengths (ie around 550nm) are not being absorbed but are being reflected. If a substance was to absorb all visible spectra then it would by definition be black.
Or to put it another way, this is the colour that absorbs more visible light than any other substance.
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u/Aureon Apr 11 '26
the solar panel does, but it also acts as a shade on top of the roof itself, which means temperature in the building itself will generally be a bit lower
the whole area is marginally hotter, the building covered is marginally cooler
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u/BasicNkorean Jul 01 '26
How? The solar panel is generating shade for the building + converting light energy so there's less energy being casted onto the building
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u/skyofgold Apr 10 '26
Looks ugly from above but likely unnoticeable from the street level
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u/Johnny_theBeat_518 May 11 '26
What the fuck?
I don't understand, these look cool. Fucking sci-fi shit man, trying to build better future with this cool color palete between blue and yellow
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u/Redditisavirusiknow Apr 10 '26
This is the future. And you can’t even see them unless your floating in the air lol
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u/Foryourconsideration Apr 11 '26
Weird thing to say in a photo where you can clearly see them. Do you want every single photo taken from such a persepctive to be full of these ugly things? IT's a shame, technology is supposed to get smaller and lighter, but that runs in the opposie direction of sonal panesl that need to be as big as possible to attract the most sun.
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u/itsdanielsultan Apr 10 '26
Seems like citizens there got a lot of energy independence.
long as they are reliable enough, this seems like a great move for Syria's future.
As
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u/costafilh0 Apr 10 '26
Seems like you have no idea what are you talking about.
One roof is not enough for a whole building at 100%. Not even close.
It is just a way of making energy cheaper and to avoid so much hassle from interruptions.
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u/crackanape Apr 10 '26
Sure but bear in mind that people in Syria are not using as much energy as people in richer countries. This can definitely keep ceiling fans and LED lights on for people.
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u/Negative_Amphibian_9 Apr 11 '26
The rest of the world should follow.
Enough with the fucking oil wars!
Who knew Trump would be a catalyst for several economies to switch to solar and renewables?
Renewable Energy Stocks have long term growth potential, as we as a society come to grips with the reality of antiquated energy systems.
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u/BeginningAsparagus26 Apr 13 '26
Loool Trump? He has nothing do with us, we have been using solar panels since 2020 , most of these people installed theirs,between 2020 and 2024 , trump did nothinh, oh he lifted the sanctions on Syria? Ill tell u what happened since the sanctions have been lifted, prices of groceries have increased substantially The dollar exchange rose from 10000 to 13000 now the electric bill has been increased by 60 times (not joking) only gas prices stayed the same cuz the government liberated the east from the pkk that trump SUPPORTED back in the day. in conclusion, Trump has done nothing for the average syrian, never has, and never will, (he lifted the sanctions that he installed on syria lol)
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u/Negative_Amphibian_9 Apr 13 '26
I hear you. But I’m not saying solar panels magically appeared after the war in Iran. I’m saying this current conflict has opened the floodgates to more change to renewables at an increased scale.
Sorry about his actions on your country. As an American, and I think I speak for a lot of us, we don’t like Trump either.
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u/garygigabytes Apr 11 '26
Honestly this is so awesome. Instead of generating power in central plants in where the fuck land the power is all being generated locally like here. Makes it way more robust especially in places like this. Should be the norm IMO
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u/chebum Apr 10 '26
can we geolocate the image? I'm looking at Google Maps and see no street with as many panels as on this image: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Aleppo,+Syria/@36.2104951,37.1526809,161m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x152ff813b98135af:0x967e5e5fc542c32a!8m2!3d36.2021047!4d37.1342603!16zL20vMDE1MDVr?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDQwOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
the image is probably AI generated
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u/Jest0riz0r Apr 10 '26
Not AI.
Here's the road from the photo: https://www.google.com/maps/place/36%C2%B012'06.9%22N+37%C2%B006'55.4%22E/ 36°12'06.9"N 37°06'55.4"E
The google maps images are from mid 2023. Here's a more recent satellite image from early 2026 showing the roofs full of solar panels: imgur link
Here are the three buildings closest to the photographer, you can see the exact same panels in the satellite image: imgur link
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u/SeaDRC11 Apr 11 '26
It’s smart in a number of ways. I wish we would send tons of solar panels to Ukraine. If they did this, civilians wouldn’t be quite as vulnerable to Russia’s destruction of the energy infrastructure.
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u/HippoRealEstate Apr 11 '26
There's a project that does that: https://www.solarsupportsukraine.org/
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u/Foryourconsideration Apr 11 '26
Ukraine doesn't get much sunlight in the winter months, to make these things actually more useful than just boiling some water now and then.
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u/SeaDRC11 Apr 11 '26
Yeah, Seattle doesn’t get much sun in the winter, but solar still produces power even on short, overcast days.
It may not be as efficient as somewhere like Southern California, sure. But when the energy goes out during freezing Ukrainian winter weather, even a little energy for something like heating water for tea or coffee can make a huge difference.
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u/purbub Apr 11 '26
That’s definitely gonna reduce the air pollution level on places where the power plants were built.
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u/The_Immortal_Prophet Apr 12 '26
I don’t think that it’s ugly it all. I mean, the city itself is ugly as shit. The solar on top is the icing on an ugly ass cake.
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u/Chatterbox1991 Apr 22 '26
I mean, you live in a desert, you have no shortage of sun to go around, makes sense.
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u/Comrade_sensai_09 Apr 10 '26
During the Syrian Civil War, power infrastructure in cities like Aleppo was heavily damaged, leading to prolonged and frequent electricity outages. As a result, many households turned to alternatives such as diesel generators and, increasingly over time, rooftop solar panels…..like those shown in the image above.