3 ms·
> It is much easier, and safer, to tap solar energy. If we pour research into solar efficiency and house-scale batteries, we could provide all of the electricit
by chinathrow 4y ago
> It is much easier, and safer, to tap solar energy. If we pour research into solar efficiency and house-scale batteries, we could provide all of the electricity needed for U.S. homes and have enough to sell to Canada and Mexico with only 16k sq miles (the size of Nellis AFB).
A million times this.
We have solutions at our hands, but we're not willing enough to use them
- qayxc 4y agoHm. Annual PV module production in 2020 was ~180 GW [0]; peak power per 1m² is on the order of 200W, meaning roughly the equivalent of 1000 km² or ~386 sq. miles or thereabouts of PV modules. Covering 16,000 sq. miles would take about 40 years of the entire global PV module production - a few years less if adjusted for production increase. Doesn't sound very realistic to me, especially considering infrastructure, storage solutions(!!!), and maintenance/replacement have to be added on top of that. I'm all for clean and sustainable power generation, but a little diversity (wind, nuclear, geothermal, biomass, tidal power, hydropower, etc.) seems to be more realistic and actually achievable. [0] https://www.statista.com/statistics/668764/annual-solar-module-manufacturing-globally/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/668764/annual-solar-modu...