• Question: How many solar panels would it take to power the whole world forever?

    Asked by xx.caitlin.xx to David, Eva, Kate, Nicholas, Rachel on 12 Nov 2015. This question was also asked by smeley.
    • Photo: Eva Weiss

      Eva Weiss answered on 12 Nov 2015:

      This is difficult to calculate because of how energy consumption changes over time (some things get more efficient while developing countries start using more energy) and that depending on where those panels are, they would produce more energy (northpole versus equator, UK versus sahara). I did an estimate calculation based on a 155,505 terawatt-hour (1 TWh = 1,000,000,000 Kilowatt hour) per year world energy consumption and a solar panel producing 250 kWh per year, which is possible in the UK. You would need over 600 billion panels. As you can see, we need to put in some work to make them more efficient!

    • Photo: Nicholas Pearce

      Nicholas Pearce answered on 12 Nov 2015:

      Hey,

      It would take about as many solar panels as it would take to cover the entire country of Spain. whilst that seems like a lot, when you look at it on a map, it’s a pretty small area:

      There’s plenty of desert we could put them on, or spread them out over rooftops. And there’s plenty of room left for more panels if we start using more energy like Eva suggests!

Comments