NotoriousREV

So why the **** don't we?

dpb

Teh bedhouins wouldnt like it

Also sounds rather unlikely

warrenm2

link?

Sonic'

they would need some pretty damn long power cables to power all the countries from just one place Rev

Snazy

Because the same people who live there, also produce a lot of the worlds oil......
False economy lol.

Its a great idea, but thats a LOT of solar panels, and a LOT of money.
That said, if we are really all about saving the human race, why the hell not eh

Snazy

Just out of interest, the suggested above area is....

236,600 sq km

Thats quite a lot of panels, maintainance, not to mention installation lol

I know they make panels bigger than 1sq mtr, but im just being picky lol

Retail price of 1sq mtr is £145.

Doing some mathes, probably badly lets look at some figures..

1 sq km would require 1,000,000 x 1sq mtr panels.
So thats 236,600,000,000 panels..... each weighs 14kg
Total weight for the project... 3,312,400,000,000 kgs

GOnna need some big logistics for all that lot, and some HUGE foundations.
Not to mention about another 10-15% of the area again to allow for maintainance to get access to it all.

Leslie

Just imagine if it soaked up all the sun's energy too!

Les

NotoriousREV

I found it on the Honda UK website, so admittedly it's not a great source. Just thought it would make an interesting debate for a wet sunday

ScoobyWon't

Wouldn't the power drop off if you were running a cable to, say, Toronto?

Abdabz

According to A-ha, the sun always shines on TV... So, why dont we all put a solar panel on our television boxes, which should (with this constant source) power our homes for free?

Snazy

Love it

NotoriousREV

I had to move my TV because the sun was always shining on it.

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

if everybody had a solar powered light bulb then they could power their own homes indefinately (well until the bulb blew)

Ringpeas

That would all be fine until it got dark

ScoobyWon't

Good point, we can have the lights on in daylight but not at night...

warrenm2

BTW that size is the same size as Romania or Laos....

ok given thats true (cos I haven't checked), we can do some sums.
236,600 km^2 = 2.366 x10^11 m^2
average solar radiation =1kw/sqm, but assume 30% higher in saraha,so from above we have total incidence on that area of 3.076 x10^11Kw. Assume 20% conversion efficiency to electricity gives electrical output of 61.5 TW. The UK generating requirement is 56 GW, and from what I can gather of the worlds usage that seems like the whole plan will do as it says on the tin. Of course you need to clean the sand off the panels every day, and youre a bit screwed during a sand storm, but ignoring the practicalities, it should fly....

ScoobyWon't

Solar powered flight, now there's an idea....

Snazy

Been about for ages

Warren, Land, total area, including inland water
9,100,000 sq km

Thats the figures I have researched anyway, which is where my numbers come from lol. Dont ask me, I have not measured it yet.

But I would agree with things like cleaning the sand off, and sand storms. Global blackouts, now that could be fun lol.

warrenm2

you would have various energy storage systems as well (pumped storage, heated oil etc etc). The thing is, all this is possible, just hugely expensive, its simply cheaper to drill a hole in the ground and pump out oil...

phil_wrx

iTrader: (2)

why dont they have solar farms? not saying huge areas should be built but if large barren areas on each continent where usedlike the nevada desert, sahara desert and gobi desert to name a few then at least it would generate something towards the power requirements?

Snazy

Im sure there are many reasons why not. As for the UK, im sure we could harvest much more natural energy but sadly people will whine about how it looks !

NotoriousREV

Apparently in the Nevada Desert they're experimenting with Sterling engines to make power. They work off heat differences to produce action that can turn a generator.

warrenm2

For the reason given above - its cheaper to burn oil, or to build a nuclear power station. No account so far has been made for transmission losses either. Current PV's have a life of about 25 years. Also for maximum efficiency, you need tracker motors to keep the panel pointed directly at the sun, more cost and complexity of things to go wrong

Paul3446

They don't even have solar panels on new houses yet, let alone all the wacky ideas above!

Surely if the government was really green, solar panels would be mandatory for every new house.

Snazy

You would think.....

But lets face facts...You threaten someone its called fighting talk...
The government talk green, thats called taxing talk...

Talk that justifies tax, very little more.
Otherwise car emissions would have to be dropped mandatory, VAT would be dropped on green cars, and so on.

hectic

slight tangent here, but.. we live on an island.. WTF do we get water -shortages and hose pipe bans every fekkin year?

*well not us, but those southern lot do

BOB.T

I'm sure I heard that to make a solar panel consumes more energy than it can ever produce

FlightMan

You want one of these you do:

NASA - NASA Dryden Fact Sheet - Pathfinder Solar-Powered Aircraft

warrenm2

Thats quite possibly true currently, but as with anything its a moving target and I wouldnt bet on that in a few years time. Also getting a net positive result is not necessarily the aim. Think powering medicine fridges in an African backwater. You want something reliable that doesnt break down, you wouldn't necessarily be that fussed about the whole energy equation side!

Organic PVs are a hot area at the moment I think, very cheap to produce (although low efficiencies)

Norman D. Landing

Surely everybody knows that the best heat conductor in the world is a cold spoon inserted into a cup of coffee?

Why on earth haven't we built massive spoons and piledrived them into the earths core yet? eh? eh?