Can solar power sustain worlds power needs?

Question

Is solar power reliable? What about cloudy places?

Answer 1

Solar power can provide for world's power needs, but it is a costly affair. Still in comparison to other non renewable sources it is a better choice as other sources will run out so we have to adopt a much better source of energy.

In cloudy areas solar cells can work up to a capacity of 50%, but we need not to set up solar panels at those places.

Yes solar energy is very reliable. Government also provides Feed-In tariff programs to pay you if you install solar cells.

Lastly, Billions are spent in finding oil sources in Arctic areas cause other oil sources will end very soon, in-spite of spending so much money on that if we dedicate our resources in solar, than I think it will also become cost effective.

Answer 2

Theoretically, yes. Solar power can indeed supply the world's needed electricity. Consider a typical house with solar panels. The panels (depending on the location) can and will supply all the energy it needs, without having to tap into the industrial electrical grid. If this is applied to all houses, then nearly everyone would be supplied solar power. Unfortunately, not every place gets a lot of sunlight (which means less power based on solar energy).



Places like London or New York can still use solar panels, but they won't be 100% reliable due to location. Alternately, places that get less sun often get more wind, so a singular house wind turbine could be installed, that way, both weather conditions are accounted for. Cloudy places still receive solar energy because it is not the actual light that is absorbed, but the solar radiation, which can permeate through clouds, to the panel.



Many people are doubtful because it is a newer field and they are unfamiliar with the facts of solar power and the energy storage.

Answer 3

Here in Albuquerque it is very reliable and affordable. We are the global mecca for emerging solar technologies and there us some exciting stuff emerging, (paint on solar panels!). As such, we are uniquely qualified to say that current solar technology will never meet the world's voracious energy demands. It's a nice concept, but we would have to scale back our energy demands. Something that I do see in the solar powered cabins in the surrounding mountains here where connection to the grid is not an option.

So technically, yes, it can be done. Solar panels combined with personal sacrifice on a worldwide scale could make it happen. That means a world with no room for 5000 square foot one bedroom houses with 20 foot cielings. Like that'll ever happen.

Answer 4

There is a step-by-step video guide online right now that can show you how to reduce your power bill by making your own solar panels.





Take a look at it: http://tinyurl.com/Earth4EnergyRew





Why pay thousands of dollars for solar energy ($27,000 average cost) when you can build your own solar panel system for just a fraction of the retail cost. You can build a single solar panel or you can build an entire array of panels to power your whole house.



Some people are saving 50% on their power bill, some people are reducing their bill to nothing. But what’s most impressive is that just by following these instructions some are even making the power company pay them!

Answer 5

Yes, just not cost effectively. The amount of solar energy that falls on Earth is about 174 petawatts, that's "peta" which is really really lots. The total world energy use from all sources of energy is 15 terrawatts which is a lot but just a drop compared with peta. However the costs for solar power is about 38 cents per kwh, it's only approaching parity with the most expensive conventional sources, without government subsidies it still doesn't make economic sense.



A more viable and more reliable energy source to save the world would be Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors. Eventually, we'll be solar based but Thorium could buy us tens of thousands of years to do it right, plus such reactors would clean up our existing nuclear wastes.

Answer 6

Solar power can easily deliver enough power if done on a wide enough scale.



For example in a desert region a solar panel could in theory deliver near maximum power for 8 hours a day. So a 3 meter square high efficiency panel could deliver 1kw during sunlight or about 330w on average over 24 hours. So an area 1km x 1km could deliver an average of 1MW. That would only be a tiny fraction of one desert. If you covered the Sahara then you have an area roughly 10,million square kilometres. So you would get an average of 10,000GW For comparison Drax in the UK which is the largest power plant in the UK has a capacity of 3.9GW. So you have the equivalent of more than 2500 drax type power stations. Put another way you have 200 times the UK's total power requirement.



The real problem is power storage and distribution. Distribution is possible using current technology but only just. You would have to have ultra high tension three phase (5 million volts at a guess) to reduce losses. To compare the highest voltage distribution in the UK is 440kV so you are talking a jump of about a factor of 12 in voltage.



There are several methods for electricity storage that do work on a colossal scale. In Wales there is a mountain that has been hollowed out. High efficiency pumps send water in during periods where demand is low and the turbines are a fast start type, so opening the valves to power delivery is about 5 seconds. If a network of mountains had the same treatment then this could store immense amounts of power.



There are also high volume low pressure compressed air systems that can deliver significant power for power storage. The pressure tanks are the same type as used for storing natural gas and are colossal. Air is pumped in on low demand and this is fed to turbines to drive generators. I have not seen this done commercially but I have seen plans for it and it works in theory.



There are also other systems but they are only theoretical as far as I know. So yes in theory if you used the Nevada desert, gobi desert, sahara and a few other places you could easily supply about 10 times the worlds current power needs.

Answer 7

Takes up a lot of space, Only works when Sun is shining.It doesn't produce much electricity for one single panel.If you were to build it on the ground, the cost will be higher [for massive area of land]Only areas of the world with lots of sunlight and very low heat are suitable for solar power generation You need a lot of money to the installation of the solar energy. Least power energy at night time is another disadvantage of solar energy. When there is no solar energy to be collected you'll have to have adequate battery backup to get you through the nights and rainy days.

Answer 8

In theory it's possible to produce enough energy for the whole world by using solar power only. You could actually do it with technology that currently exists.



There would be more than enough unused space in the deserts - clouds are usually no problems there either.

You'd need a huge change in the energy infrastructure though. You'd need places where you can store the energy and you might have to transport the energy to very far distances.



It's useful to have a more diverse energy spectrum. Wind energy is far more efficient for example.



So... in theory it's possible but it comes along with several downsides, so it won't happen until solar energy gets way cheaper.

Answer 9

This is an excellent question. I believe some day solar power will be able to sustain the world's power needs. However, we are not equipped technologically to make it work now.

Answer 10

Yes solar power sustain world sustain power needs.

Answer 11

It just doesn't produce enough power. As you said it's unreliable. And it's expensive to set up these solar power cells. They are clean and enviro friendly, and should be used in sparsely populated areas of moderate wealth. Obviously, it's an unrealistic concept for a country like the states.

Answer 12

It's true. In 200 years, Iran will run out of oil. Facts are facts.

Answer 13

Homemade Solar Power Videos - http://Solar.eudko.com/?MQw

Answer 14

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Answer 15

The sun provided all of the earth's energy needs for a few billion years. I imagine it could continue to do so.

Answer 16

Probably not in London :p