Letters to the Editor
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Physics anyone?
Pablo:According to Dan Berger, senior project designer at SPG Solar, we can expect to generate about 6.5 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per square meter of solar panels per day.
Shotsie:Solar radiance density is about 1000 watts/m**2 - if all the energy falling upon a 1 meter square panel was converted to electricity, then maybe you could obtain 6.5 kilowatt-hours per day. But, a photovoltaic panel is about 10% efficient, so you'd get 0.65 kW-hour per day ( 1000 watts * 10% = 100 watts average output times 6.5 hours). Even solar thermal panels are limited by the Carnot cycle to 50 - 60% efficiency at best.
Walter:So all you need in 600 square miles of conventional solar panels. Sounds perfectly feasible to me, especially when you factor in other sources and emerging improvements.
No Walter, Shotsie is right. You need at least 6000 square miles of conventional (photo-voltaic) cells. I think this article needs a correction.