The annual electricity consumption in the United States is about 4,147.50 TWh, and Elon Musk, who has many novel and bold ideas in his mind, recently pointed out on his social network that its practical solar power is not difficult in the United States, as long as a super-large solar power plant is established Just fine.

 

Recently, Musk also published a solar roof test video on the Internet, hitting solar roof tiles, general tiles and slabs with a hammer, further proving that the durability, aesthetics and price of solar roof tiles are better than ordinary solar panels. However, some fans refuted Musk's solar energy concept, quoting Bill Gates' statement in 2011, "Solar technology is' cute ', but the correct solution is nuclear energy."

 

In response to this statement, Musk stated that solar power generation per square kilometer is GWh, as long as you find a desolate flatland in Arizona, Texas or Utah, and open up a 100 × 100 mile (10,000 square miles = 25,899 square kilometers) of solar energy Factory, it can meet the electricity demand of the United States.

 

This is not the first time Musk has stated his own fantasies. He mentioned it in 2015 and 2017, but he was wrong at the beginning. Before, it was about 10,000 square kilometers. When Musk first proposed the idea, the University of London also immediately studied whether the idea was in the works.

 

According to EIA data, the annual power consumption in the United States in 2013 was 3,725 TWh, and the amount of installation was equivalent to 425 GW. According to the analysis of the University of London, if Amarillo, Texas, which has high potential for solar installations, is estimated that 210W solar panels are installed with a 1KW capacity, the annual power generation is about 1,838 KWh, and the power-to-capacity ratio is 21%; the solar conversion efficiency was 24 at the time. %, So the capacity per square kilometer is 0.24GW.

 

They assumed that the super solar power plant envisaged by Musk was a square power plant with an algorithm of 10,000 km2 × 0.24 GW / km2 × 21%, and obtained 500 GW, which was much higher than the annual U.S. electricity consumption of 425 GW at that time, and changed to the correct value of 10,000 square miles In other words, it is more 1,305TW.

 

But it is one thing that is not feasible, and how to achieve it is another. In addition to considering financial and environmental aspects, follow-up maintenance and testing methods are also a problem, and comprehensive supporting measures are also needed. For example, for all-weather power supply, ultra-solar power plants also need the assistance of ultra-energy storage systems to concentrate power supply in one. Power plants are also not good. If storms strike and there is no sunshine for a long time, serious power supply problems will occur.

 

But Musk (should) not really want to build a very large solar plant that can power the United States, just to prove the possibilities of solar energy.