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I was trying to get context on this number- 10 Gigawatts of power is enough to power 7,000,000 western homes! China is supposed to have 455 million homes, and

I was trying to get context on this number- 10 Gigawatts of power is enough to power 7,000,000 western homes! China is supposed to have 455 million homes, and there is no way the average chinese household uses as much electricity as a western one, but I don't know how to make a reasonable comparison. Also in the US, commercial and residential use accounts for 40% of energy use, so this should be a pretty substantial amount of clean energy, even for a country as big as china.

Aardwolf 9y ago
It is also enough to power 8 DeLoreans!
- yazr 9y ago
  This should be the new official measuring units for all green, fusion and time-travel related articles
djrogers 9y ago
That 10 Gigawatt number is the 'nameplate' number, not it's actual production capacity. The nameplate number assumes the panels are in 100% perfect sunlight 24/7 - typical production numbrees range from 10-20% depending on location, weather, air pollution, and time of year.
pjc50 9y ago
The UK's largest power station Drax had a 4GW capacity at its peak, and the current UK demand is in the region of 40GW.
clomond 9y ago
Was curious too so did some Napkin math with some numbers I found. 10GW Solar Nameplate capacity added in Q1Y2018 17% Capacity factor (Average for solar in China) [1] 1135 kWh (1.12 Mwh) avg annual household electricity use [2] Makes it: 10GW nameplate capacity * hours in Year (24 h * 365 days) = 87600 GwH (theoretical maximum generation) Expected actual generation = Capacity factor (17%) * Theoretical maximum generation 87600 GwH = 14600 GwH annually 14600 GwH( 14,600,000 MwH ) expected generation in a year / 1.12 MwH consumed per average Chinese household means = ~ 13 Million Chinese households powered per year due to the solar installed in these 3 months [1] capacity factor from Wikipedia (1st paragraph) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_China https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_China [2] average household electricity usage by country 2010 data http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/average-household-electricity-consumption http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/average-household-electricity...

Aardwolf 9y ago

It is also enough to power 8 DeLoreans!

yazr 9y ago
This should be the new official measuring units for all green, fusion and time-travel related articles

djrogers 9y ago

That 10 Gigawatt number is the 'nameplate' number, not it's actual production capacity. The nameplate number assumes the panels are in 100% perfect sunlight 24/7 - typical production numbrees range from 10-20% depending on location, weather, air pollution, and time of year.

pjc50 9y ago

The UK's largest power station Drax had a 4GW capacity at its peak, and the current UK demand is in the region of 40GW.

clomond 9y ago

Was curious too so did some Napkin math with some numbers I found. 10GW Solar Nameplate capacity added in Q1Y2018 17% Capacity factor (Average for solar in China) [1] 1135 kWh (1.12 Mwh) avg annual household electricity use [2] Makes it: 10GW nameplate capacity * hours in Year (24 h * 365 days) = 87600 GwH (theoretical maximum generation) Expected actual generation = Capacity factor (17%) * Theoretical maximum generation 87600 GwH = 14600 GwH annually 14600 GwH( 14,600,000 MwH ) expected generation in a year / 1.12 MwH consumed per average Chinese household means = ~ 13 Million Chinese households powered per year due to the solar installed in these 3 months [1] capacity factor from Wikipedia (1st paragraph) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_China https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_China [2] average household electricity usage by country 2010 data http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/average-household-electricity-consumption http://shrinkthatfootprint.com/average-household-electricity...