Technology website, Techinsider reported that solar energy is a very important source of energy for our planet, but it still remains largely unrecognised and untapped. Traditional fossil fuels are still popular in many parts of the world. Land Art Generator has made some calculations showing how many solar panels are needed to power the entire planet.
As most of you know, solar energy is being harvested in many parts of the world and in the US only 0.39% of the overall power comes from solar panels. However, this small figure is estimated to increase rapidly in the next few years. Tesla CEO Elon Musk envisions that solar energy will dominate all primary energy sources in the whole world by 2031.
The United States Department of Energy predicts that the energy required from all sources in the planet will reach 678 quadrillion Btu (British thermal units) by the year 2030. That’s a 44% rise in comparison to 2008.
Land Art Generator has converted this energy requirement of 198,721,800,000,000 kWh and divided the figure by 400 kWh of solar energy to be produced in each square meter of land using solar panels.
This calculation is based upon the assumption that solar panels installed in these regions will give 20% solar panel efficiency from 70% sunshine every year. The calculation also considered that per square meter of solar panels is hit by 1,000 watts of solar energy.
According to Land Art Generator’s calculations, the Earth will need about 496, 805 sq km of solar panels to power the entire planet using renewable energy. The calculated land mass is nearly the size of Spain.
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Featured Image Credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture