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If we had enough solar to power the world, would all of the solar cells actually lower the temperature of Earth due to being black?
by mycall 6y ago
If we had enough solar to power the world, would all of the solar cells actually lower the temperature of Earth due to being black?
- projektfu 6y agoSolar radiation that is absorbed by a solar panel will either heat the panel or generate electricity, which will also mostly become heat in the end. Reflected radiation will hopefully leave the earth. The things that cool the planet are mostly white — reflective. Clouds, white roofs, etc. Trees cool their local area by performing endothermic reactions creating carbohydrates and lignans.
- thaumasiotes 6y ago> Trees cool their local area by performing endothermic reactions creating carbohydrates and lignans. Let's not forget shade. How much are they cooling the air above them?
- Filligree 6y agoA fair bit. I don't have numbers for trees in particular, but one of the benefits of putting solar panels above farms is supposed to be cooler panels, which improves panel efficiency. Though most of that would be evaporation, not chemistry.
- chmod775 6y agoNo. If you want to keep the planet cool you need to use white surfaces or mirrors to reflect that energy back into space. Plus most electricty/energy that isn't stored somehow gets converted into heat. That's just how the universe works. If you capture some energy with your solar panel just to immediately release ~100% of it as heat again because you power your servers with it, you didn't accomplish anything.
- m4rtink 6y agoStill you could use that energy to power the work needed to bring the temperature down - produce the mirrors you mention, extract stuff from atmosphere that makes the temperature higher and store it, etc..
- fulafel 6y agoPossibly if we channeled the generatef power off-planet using eg high efficiency lasers.