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Desert solar: Difference between revisions
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(Created page with "This page is about putting solar panels in the desert (could be conventional solar panels, low mineral solar panels, or concentrated solar thermal power). ===Too far away=== Most people don't live close to deserts. There probably aren't any scalable ways to transmit the electricity to where most of it is needed. Best bet might be HVDC power lines.") |
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This page is about putting solar panels in the desert (could be conventional [[solar panels]], [[low mineral solar panels]], or [[concentrated solar thermal]] power). | This page is about putting solar panels in the desert (could be conventional [[solar panels]], [[low mineral solar panels]], or [[concentrated solar thermal]] power). | ||
{{considerations}} | |||
==Energy transmission== | |||
{{sum|Main problem|bad}} | |||
===Too far away=== | ===Too far away=== | ||
Only a small percent of the world [[population]] lives close enough to deserts. There probably aren't any scalable ways to transmit surplus electricity far enough for everyone else to use it. Best bet might be [[HVDC power lines]]. | |||
==Impact on wildlife== | |||
{{sum|{{rn}} }} | |||
Deserts are nowhere near as biomass-rich as forests or grasslands, but they are still ecosystems, home to many native species. | |||
{{pn-block| | |||
===Research needed for this page:=== | |||
* Case study a particular desert, such as the Sahara or the Mojave | |||
** Which species tend to be affected | |||
** How can the impacts be mitigated | |||
*** Assuming ''half'' the desert would be covered in solar panels, what would be the best land-use arrangement to avoid extinctions of any species? To what extent do native species vary by subregion of the desert? | |||
}} | |||
==Energy production potential== | |||
{{sum|Abundant|good}} | |||
{{dp|earth.land|148940000 km^2|Amount of land on Earth|https://ourworldindata.org/land-use}} | |||
{{dp|desert.land|33% earth.land|Amount of desert land on Earth|https://www.universetoday.com/65639/what-percentage-of-the-earths-land-surface-is-desert/}} | |||
{{dp|energy.tfc|9937.70 Mtoe/year|Global energy usage - total final consumption (TFC) | |||
|Includes: fuel (80.7%) + electricity (19.3%) AFTER it is generated | |||
<br />Does not include the fuel used in generating electricity. See [energy.tes] for that. | |||
<br />Citation: "Key World Energy Statistics 2020" IEA - Page 47: Simplified energy balance table: World energy balance, 2018 | |||
}} | |||
{{dp|sunlight_average|200 watts per m^2|Solar irradiance, averaged over a whole year INCLUDING nights, cloudy days, etc. | |||
|Note: This varies by region. | |||
<br />https://www.newport.com/t/introduction-to-solar-radiation | |||
<br />http://www.ftexploring.com/solar-energy/insolation.htm | |||
}} | |||
{{dp|solar_panel.efficiency|17%|Efficiency of an average solar panel | |||
|Some solar panels are more efficient than this, but they tend to be expensive and contain more rare metals. | |||
}} | |||
'''If''' even 1% of all deserts were covered in [[solar panels]], it would, in theory, produce as much [[energy]] as the world consumes. | |||
{{p2|[See maths]|{{calc|energy.tfc / (sunlight_average solar_panel.efficiency)|% desert.land}} }} | |||
But as mentioned earlier, electricity transmission is the problem. | |||