4 ms·
It's 3.4 kW, enough for two toasters. So not nearly enough for 400 homes; their math is wrong.
by dienciebsiwbsi 7y ago
It's 3.4 kW, enough for two toasters. So not nearly enough for 400 homes; their math is wrong.
- yetihehe 7y agoBut do people run their toasters continuously 24h/365 days a year? THAT's why they used yearly average.
- jandrese 7y agoNo, but running 400 homes on that level of power only works if every home is only intermittently using a single high efficiency lightbulb or something. A few refrigerators or electric ranges or electric heat pumps will blow that power budget right out the window.
- marshray 7y agoBut that's per square meter of membrane, that's huge! For comparison, the sun delivers about 1 KW per square meter (at Noon, in Arizona). Fig 11: https://www.newport.com/t/introduction-to-solar-radiation https://www.newport.com/t/introduction-to-solar-radiation
- dienciebsiwbsi 7y agoIt may very well be huge. I don't have the expertise to know, so I have no position on that. What I do know is that the 400 home figure is way, way off. The average home uses 10 MWh/yr, or 1 kW [1]. This system is enough to power about three homes per square meter. Unless I am missing something, their math is totally wrong. [1] https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=97&t=3 https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=97&t=3
- marshray 7y agoI don't think anyone is claiming that "one square meter powers 400 homes". I think it's probably just the usual case of the scientists' actual claim getting garbled by pop-sci writing.