How Many Acres Of Solar Panels To Power The Us

There s 1 8 billion acres of land in the usa so about 0 6 of our land is all it would take.

How many acres of solar panels to power the us.

Solar would have to produce about 4 million gwh of electricity annually to provide enough energy to power the entire usa. At 2 8 acres per gwh then about 11 200 000 acres of land would give us what we need to produce the 4 000 000 gwh of solar power. It s due to expand to be able to produce up to 18 mw of power but this plan is still in the works. All told solar star produces 579 megawatts of energy enough to power about 255 000 homes.

The yellow square is approximately 21 000 square miles. Las vegas nevada nellis solar power plant taking up 140 acres and consisting of more than 70 000 solar panels this 14 mw solar farm can supply 25 percent of the base s power. The topaz solar farm in san luis obispo county california which ranks as one of the largest solar farms in the united states offers 550 megawatts and covers 4 500 acres. Consumes about 4 petawatt hours of electricity per year we d need about 13 600 000 acres or 21 250 square miles of solar panels to meet the total electricity requirements of the united states for a year.

Just 11 200 000 acres to generate 4 000 000. Based on average solar production across the u s it would take about 21 250 square miles of solar panels to meet the country s electric needs. For context that s about the size of 142 football fields or 4 times the size of central park. When it comes to solar energy per acre a photovoltaic solar plant which on average produces 1 gwh per year will require around 2 8 acres of land.

So you re saying it would only take 0 6 of the surface area of the continental united states to power the entire country with renewable solar power. We can however hope for a cumulative installed capacity crossing the required number with plants spread throughout various states. Map courtesy of google maps. According to a 2008 analysis by the national renewable energy laboratory supplying all of the united states electricity needs with photovoltaic solar energy would require roughly 0 6 percent of america s total land area or 1 948 square feet per person.

2 75 tw or 2 750 000 mw would require 13 750 000 acres. That gives around 8 2. A megawatt of solar power plant requires about 5 acres of land.