Total amount of energy the US consumes is around EUS = 3 ×1013 kWh per year
Question # 00186862
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Updated on: 02/03/2016 02:37 PM Due on: 03/04/2016
Let's calculate how many square kilometers of solar panels
are needed to power the entire US. We need to know a few facts first:
1) Total amount of energy the US consumes is around EUS = 3 ×1013 kWh per year
2) The solar energy falling on one square meter in the US is Sol = 5 kWh per day (as shown in the figure in the lecture movie)
3) The efficiency of a solar panel is around 20% or EF = 20/100 = 0.2
Use this formula to get area of solar panels:
Area (in km2) = [EUS / (EF × Sol × 365 days/year)] × (1 km2/106 m2)
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Rating:
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Solution: Total amount of energy the US consumes is around EUS = 3 ×1013 kWh per year