How much energy will 100 MW of solar panels produce
100 MW of power sounds like a lot. If you had a 100% reliable generator that produced at 100 MW, over the course of a year it would produce 100X365x24=876,000 MWh of energy. A typical home (without electric heating or electric vehicle charging) will use around 8 MWh in a year, so our 100 MW of power could theoretically supply 110,000 homes. If our system is based on solar panels, however, it will only supply 20% of this energy. That's because solar panels only produce power when the sun in shining, and over the course of a year in most parts of the US and Europe this happens only 20% of the time. So, our 100 MW of solar panels will most likely produce only 175,000 MWh of Energy, which might supply 22,000 homes (as long as they don't heat their homes with electricity or charge electric vehicles.)
To make matters worse, the solar panels don't generate any power at night or when it is cloudy. This means you have to add enough batteries to store up to 5 days of energy to cover cloudy periods during storms and bad weather. That is a lot of lithium. If my math is correct you would need 2.4 million KWh of battery storage. At $300/KWh this would cost $720 million over an above the cost of the original solar system.
Finally, if each panel is rated at 200 W, which is typical, it would take 500,000 panels to reach a 100 MW face-plate capacity. After a few years these panels will start to fail. if just 1% per year need to be replaced we will need to dispose of 5000 derelict PV panels per year. Can these be re-cycled, or must they go to a landfill?
The total cost of a 100 MW solar system will be around $3.76/watt (installed), so the total cost of the PV system will be $376 million, bringing the total cost of the system with batteries to $1.1 billion or ~$50,000 per home (excluding all land, transmission, maintenance and other costs). This is no bargain.
Compare this to an advanced nuclear reactor. These are expected to cost ~$4/watt for both nuclear and steam components. Operating at a 90% capacity factor, our 100 MW nuclear plant would produce around 788,000 MWh of energy, or enough for approximately 99,000 homes. The installed cost for this would be around $400 million (no batteries required), and the cost per house would be around $4100 per house or 10% of the solar system cost.
Costs of solar is very high. Also have high energy solar.
it's part of the future
For solar to become more accepted for Big power plants . They must become more adaptable . They have to become more efficient and cheaper. The people using the power for the masses most doesn't care how the power is produced . Just as long as when they flip the switch lights come on and food stays cold .
In fact, solar energy is really very cheap energy. I'm thinking of buying solar panels for myself thanks to your article.
There are many types of alternative energy extraction. One of them is the installation of solar panels or wind turbines. I think that the easiest way to get food from nature is solar panel kits. I recently started to understand this subject and I really liked the whole concept. I advise you to read more.
It's a good question, but I wondered what happens on rainy days without sun. To be honest, I have a pretty good opinion about solar panels and the batteries that generate solar electricity. I even had the experience of working with guys from this industry. However, these batteries can disappoint you in the most critical moments. So, to be honest, I would prefer classical power over solar one just to be safe. Still, I've just shared my opinion, so feel free to text me if anyone has any arguments. I'm interested in discussing this subject more.
Came across this doing some research. Five years later solar panels are 400 W per panel--double the assumption here--and their failure rate is 0.1% per year-- 1/10th of the assumption here. Effective recycling has been developed and is becoming more common. And battery pack prices have plummeted. Meanwhile advanced nuclear reactors are still not a thing. The most recent nuclear plant to go online (today, as a matter of fact), Vogtle 3, cost over $30 billion and took 14 years to build.
I'm pro-nuclear if we can do it right, but solar is a much more cost-effective energy source right now.
A lot of people are still skeptical about solar panels, which is strange to me, because solar panels are a great way to save money and help the environment. In addition, I can recommend this solar panel company which provides services for the purchase, installation of quality solar panels at very affordable prices.