The ecological impacts involved in coal mining, oil drilling et al.,
Those aren't fusion powers. The context is nuke vs solar.
The vast majority of solar panel installations last longer than a year. Is your point that nature will find a way to destroy a man made creation therefore it is a poor choice? Sorry to say that NOTHING is immune to the whims of the environment.
I would not say Mars has an "extremely mild climate". I certainly would not go outside in my beach outfit. Solar cells work basically anywhere where the sun shines.
We're getting news stories of solar cell installation ripped out nearly every year and environmental issues in-between, in Japan. Every year we get typhoons or earthquakes or severe rainstorms, and every time it wipes out a mass solar installation or two. "Solar cells work basically anywhere" is just so plainly false unless your definition of `anywhere` is confined to continental US.
The reason why it works on Mars and the reason why I said it has "extremely mild climate" is simple; there's no routine earthquakes, surface water, seasonal rainstorms, or atmosphere for that matter. That makes it mild for machines like solar cells, just not for humans.
But in ways I define "weather" and "land", solar cells don't seem to work with any level of those whatsoever.
The reason why it works on Mars and the reason why I said it has "extremely mild climate" is simple; there's no routine earthquakes, surface water, seasonal rainstorms, or atmosphere for that matter. That makes it mild for machines like solar cells, just not for humans.
But in ways I define "weather" and "land", solar cells don't seem to work with any level of those whatsoever.