Significant solar power plant projects are being considered in locations like California and New Mexico where there is significant sunshine. It is therefore reasonable to consider the overall effectiveness and practicality of solar power plants on a large scale. How much can solar power be used to provide for America’s energy base?
The proposed answer is simple. Pound for pound and dollar for dollar solar power stations can not create the output of a fossil fuel power station. The energy locked up in combustible fuels such as coal, natural gas, and diesel is enormous. As long as carbon based fuels can be obtained at inexpensive price points they will continue to keep the largest marketshare for many years to come.
Combustible fuels can be thought of concentrated and stored solar energy from millenia before and in that sense are not really a bad thing. Without fossil fuels we would have no way to support our industrial base and would be without out many of our modern technologies.
Most of our comforts and commercial activities are founded on several industries. This foundation includes the mining of ores from the Earth, and the manufacturing of raw materials such as aluminum, iron, steel, copper, and more. It includes manufacturing plants for automobiles, airplanes, tools, machinery, advanced electronics, and just about every other gizmo we use on a regular basis. It also includes large machinery required for harvesting lumber and other agricultural products.
Simply put we use a lot of electricity in our regular daily lives. This energy is embedded in the infrastructure around us, our industries, and is most easily supported by combustive energy.
Here lies the basic problem with large solar power stations. They cannot supply enough energy to support America’s industrial base. This does not mean that they are undesirable or irrelevant. It means solar energy systems make the most sense in small commercial and residential applications where energy consumption is lower.
A 500 MW fossil fuel power plant can squeeze into a relatively small area of a quarter square mile without much challenge. When considering a photovoltaic solar power plant, nearly 1,140 acres (almost 2 square miles) of solar panels would have to be installed to equal this same capacity. This is 2 square miles of nothinig but solar panels, not even allowing for maintenance access roads and other maintenance space. Considering solar panels make peak power with the peak sunshine of the day then when you compare apples to apples we only get a quarter of the total output with more than eight times the space!
In locations that make sense, we need to include solar power solutions as part of our energy portfolio. We must pay homage, however, to our modern combustion technologies. Modern combustion systems are cleaner and more efficient than ever before, and provide enormous amounts of power 24 hours a day. The energy density of fossil fuels is just to high to ignore when it comes to powering America’s industrial base.
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