A quick look at some of the things that make solar energy work (or not):
Solar energy is for everyone! And apparently affordable too. Image by Flickr user Edwinek.
Percentage of electricity in US supplied by solar: <1%
Number of times more solar panels installed in Germany than US: 3x
Number of times more solar energy produced by Italy than the US: 3x
Record high cost for a barrel of oil: $147
Cost to produce equivalent amount of energy in an oil barrel with solar panels: $450
Cost of coal generated electricity: $0.07/kwh
Percentage of worldwide solar panels manufactured in US: 5%
Percentage decrease in solar panel costs due to Chinese investment in recent years: 50%
Estimated continued cost reduction in solar energy production: 5-8%/year
Solar panelled homes: Premium selling price
Average cost of installing 3100 watt solar system on your home: $17,000
Average premium due to solar system installation: $17,000
Energy production of world’s largest solar farm in Canada: 80 megawatts
Energy production from world’s future largest solar farm in South Africa: 5000 megawatts
Future of solar energy/world energy production: Spaced based solar power
Proposed space solar power project by NASA by 2050: $3 trillion
Energy produced: 2000 MW – 5000 MW
US annual electric energy consumption: 3,700,000 MW
4 Comments
according to: “within 6 hours deserts receive more energy from the sun than humankind consumes within a year” http://www.desertec.org/
That’s quite interesting. Having most of the energy lie in the Sahara makes it difficult to harness… but I guess it’s no different from ravaging the Middle East for oil.
You could say that. I see it even easier to handle though.
Cover a place where no one would like to live with solar collectors. Use a machine to clean them or have some people to clean them (pay them well). There you go.
I was having a nice chat about future with a clever and pleasant person during my time in the UAE, and that person predicted soon it will be all about exchange.
I mean: in our latitude (Europe in my case) we got plenty of everything, except for oil and fruits growing in hot climate.
What people in the deserts have and always will have is a huge amount of energy (oil, sun) and space.
There are areas in between which are good for growing food, others for fishing and so on.
In an ideal world in time of globalization we …
… theoretically 😉
I can definitely see that happening sometime in the near future. Especially with the price of solar panels decreasing every year, solar energy will undoubtedly become more ubiquitous as more homeowners are able to afford it. I’m looking into installing one in my home!