In the past week, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding the solar power industry. Namely, Elon Musk revealing his in home, off the grid, power storage solution called the ‘Powerwall’, which allows converted sunlight to be stored in home for use during night time and inclimate weather. This has once again gotten the world talking about the benefits and practical solutions that solar power offers everyone on the planet, especially with the environmental issues we are all facing. Why not utilize the single biggest power source in our solar system? That being said, what exactly would it take for us to power our entire country on solar power? The answer might surprise you.
The Facts
Before being able to understand how large of an area would be required to power every home in the US with solar energy, we first have to understand how much electricity our country consumes. Here are the facts:
in 2012 the US used a total of 3.6 Trillion kWh
On average, the US consumes 10.1 Billion kWh per day
Now that we understand the usage of electricity by households in the US, we can more easily grasp the requirement for land area needed to fulfill all of our energy needs. Let’s take a look at what each solar panel, on average, can generate and then convert it to land area:
The average current solar panel produces 250 watts of power per day
The average size of these panels are 65”x39”
Daily useage divided by watts per panel will calculate the number of panels needed
3.1 billion panels would be needed to supplement US household power consumption
Multiplied by the area of each panel, we would require 1,939 sq. miles of panels
A square that would encompass 1,939 sq. miles would translate in to 44 miles on each side. To put this into more perspective, the total square mileage of the Atlanta urban area is 1,963 square miles. So, with a little less than the size of the Atlanta urban area, we could power all of the homes in the entire United States.
Location, location, location
The next challenge that we face, after determining the area needed for this type of undertaking, is to find the best location for these solar panels. In order to collect the most sunlight each day, the panels should be in an area that faces south, and has hardly any cloudy days.
In an ideal world, the best location for all of these solar panels would be in Yuma, Arizona, which gets the most sunlight of any place in our country. However, the entire South Western part of the US receives more sunlight than any other part of our country. Really, anywhere in Arizona or New Mexico would serve as a great place for this mega power plant to be location.
The Reality of the Situation
In reality, it would take several decades to be able to produce and install over 3 billion solar panels, or enough to collect the sunlight needed to power the entire USA. This approach, however, is not the one that should be taken in this situation. The most efficient use of space in this country is to place solar panels on residential and commercial homes and buildings. Additionally, by having individuals and businesses invest in solar energy, we would mitigate the cost to the US taxpayer. The homes and businesses that obtain solar power would also be able to fix in or even eliminate their own power bill month over month, so there is also an economic benefit to pursuing the use of solar power.
While it may not be feasible to solve all of our energy needs in a very short period of time, the good news is that technology is ever advancing. New, more efficient solar cells will continuously become available to the public market, and more efficient ways to store the power are on the horizon as well. If we are going to maintain and renew the planet we occupy, this kind of effort should be on the forefront of everyone’s mind. The alternative scenario is simply one that is unsustainable and adverse to this planet that we call home.
About the author:
This article was composed by Brian Levesque. Brian is currently studying electrical engineering at Colorado University in Denver, Colorado. In his free time, Brian enjoys researching and contributing content to AblazeEnergy.com – the premier solar solution provider in the US!