Will Solar Ever Be Good Enough? What Did We Miss?

[@robinbennett5994]

You've used the efficiency incorrectly as it's already factored into the rated output of a panel. We get about 1000W per square meter from the sun, or about 1900W over the area of a panel. 400W is about 20% of that. You could add in the 'capacity factor', which is the difference between the maximum and average. This allows for the sun being at the wrong angle much of the time, and for clouds - but you've sort of done this already by only allowing 6 hours of sun per 24 hour day, a capacity factor of 25%. That's probably about right for the US average, but a little low for Texas. That means your land area estimate is about 5 times bigger than it needs to be, but your conclusion that there's plenty of space is still correct. I think that leaves two interesting questions. How much battery capacity does the country need, and why are solar installation quotes several times more than the cost of the panels (and 2-3 times an equivalent system in Europe)?

[@asedcopf]

Because you are paying a couple sparkies $100/hour to install it properly, plus more so the business can run at a profit. Installation is very straight forward when you know how, but getting any one of the hundred tiny little details wrong can result in you frying yourself or burning your house down.

[@oramac7237]

If you're going to include batteries for overnight storage / use, you need to factor in the additional cost and space required for those batteries.

[@laboniyasmin8956]

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[@RPSchonherr]

I have been suggesting roofing over parking lots to put solar on for a long time and always get back that it costs too much nobody will do it. As far as houses, there are a lot of houses where you can't put solar on the rooves or there are too many trees to get enough sun. I know I've been shot down twice trying to get solar in 2 different houses.

[@MaxsTech]

Houses can be tricky given location, but there are many other large buildings like warehouses that were never calculated in this video which could hold a lot, and typically warehouses and factories with massive roofs are in empty, open areas which are perfect for solar!

[@Sugar3Glider]

What are you even talking about, solar is already good enough? In 2002, the average cost of home solar panels in the U.S. was $12.2 per watt (W). In 2022, that price has dropped to $3.82 per watt

[@Reepicheep-1]

Unmentioned problem: solar panels have a limited lifespan, just like windmills. They are difficult to recycle, they end up in landfills as junk.

[@brucey5585]

Yeap and batteries are the same thing. Eventually we will run out of resource on earth.

[@MaxsTech]

This is actually a big misconception, while they do lose efficiently over time you only lose about 0.5% a year, so after 20 years it would have lost 10% but still very useful and recycling is actually super simple since you can just crush them since 75% of the panel is simply glass.

[@MaxsTech]

Batteries are made from very refined metals which are valuable and worth recycling, it’s actually easier than sourcing new resources. Once you have enough you never need to mine anymore, just simply keep recycling the supply you have. Most battery components are very abundant on earth and in no way short supply.

[@JPs-Channel]

Enviormental impact of all those batteries? What about Hydrogen and/or Nuclear? China just opened a next gen nuke plant.

[@MaxsTech]

I’m a huge fan of nuclear! We make awesome safe nuclear plants with today’s tech, I think public perception is just a bit more fearful. I think we could simply pair nuclear with solar and be good to go.

[@realdavidadams]

Your assumption on homes is way wrong. I have a hip roof that limits my usable space. I even not looking at that I live on a wooded lot as to most in my neighborhood this reduces useable space as well. You suggested parking lots. Do you know the life of a parking lot. Around here businesses and government buildings come and go like pie at Thanksgiving. This would mean the panels would go as well. Then you neglected to calculate your space required for power storage units. You also based your numbers on current power consumption. If we are to replace fossil fuels that would mean America would have to replace all gas appliances and heating units with electric units. If the idiots force me to replace my fuel vehicles with crappy BEVs that adds more demand on the electric grid. Therefore, your calculations are worthless.

[@MaxsTech]

I never once in the video mentioned to replace all your gas components, but if electricity is cheap and abundant consumers would naturally do that to save money. As for parking lots changing? I don’t know many that get scrapped and if they do you can simply move the panels, you don’t need to destroy them. Pretty simple mounting systems exist these days. Also parking lots extend life if not beat with hot sun all day, the panels offer protection to all pavement below them from weather.

[@MaxsTech]

Remember this is a video to see what would it take to go 100% solar which would likely never be the case. We can easily utilize nuclear, hydro, or wind alongside solar. Just showing how it’s actually doable much easier than most think :)

[@ChessCat9]

Utter nonsense.

[@andreyruf9323]

LiBeRaL pRoPoGAnDa!!11!

[@asedcopf]

- Any idea how many tons of copper will be needed for a square km of panels, and how far to the nearest station/substation to run even more copper the thickness of my car? As nice as it would be to run an extension cord and plug into the nearest substation...yeah na na. Sorry. - As soon as the sun goes down the panels are useless (assuming we are not indulging the hyper fantasy of storing mega jigga watts in a battery) -We still need our power grid exactly the same as it is to run our fridges at night, as well as spending I can't even imagine how much to build new infrastructure to support and distribute all this free energy. -on the upside, i guess it will create 1000's of new ongoing jobs to maintain/repair/clean the stuff.

[@MaxsTech]

Panels actually don’t use much copper, only about 1% of the panel is copper. varies on the size and manufacturer obviously but estimates are about 5.5 tons per MW of power.

[@asedcopf]

I was referring to the conductors linking panels and running back to grid. Aluminium won't cut it, only copper.@@MaxsTech

[@Bucketheadxx]

You want to cover parking lots... terrible idea.

[@MaxsTech]

I love parking on shaded areas :)