How many windmills/solar panels would be required to replace fossil fuel generators in the US?

Question

In order to acheive independence from Fossil fuels like many want us to do. I was wondering how many windmills and solar panels would we need to generate the power necessary to be 'green'. How long would we need to get such an infrastructure in place?

Answer 1

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-so...

Answer 2

recently i read that something like 30,000 sq miles of solar panels.

and i suspect that there is that much available desert in the american south west.

Answer 3

The total electrical generating capacity in the USA is about 1 trillion megawatts, and 70% of that comes from burning fossil fuel.

I once did that calculation using 1000 watts / sq yard as the solar constant, 10% recovery efficiency of modern solar panels, and sunlight availability as 50% (ie the sun is below the horizon 50% of the time.)  I came up with a square footage of solar collectors equal in area to the state of Connecticut.  (I've read Massachusetts, too)

With a typical wind generator rated 1.5 megawatts, it would take 466 million turbines to replace fossil fuel!  

Here is my data source, the US Department of Energy. maybe you can glean some more optimistic figures than I got:

Oh by the way, typical nuke plants are 1 gigawatts.  It would take about 700 of them to do the same thing.  At one per square mile, we are only talking about a tract of land 26 x 26 miles, provided cooling water is available.

Answer 4

I'd like to add to Pat J, since I don't know where the asker is, that in the US, we don't have switches on the walls for outlets (usually).

I do however unplug my cell-phone charger when not charging.

Ooh!, that reminds me, I have to go plug in and charge my cell phone :)

Answer 5

Here in New Zealand the Green Party are wanting us to be on 98% sustainable energy by 2020. They are dreaming. We've dammed all the major rivers all ready. There are a few smaller ones that could be used but the resource consent that the greenies have had put in place make it impossible. We've started putting up huge wind farms blotting the landscape with these ugly windmills that in the month of May, never turned one revolution because of no wind.  Coal is now a dirty word so no more coal fired power stations and we have enough coal for two hundred years.  I think the only way to get away from fossil fuel burning is to go independent . Put in your own power supply. The major problem with mains power generation is you can't store power. That's why solar power is out because once the sun has gone no more power. If we all put in our own supply (and I'm talking domestic) then what is being generated at the moment on the grid would be sufficient with hydro and nuclear.

I heard the other day that if everyone in the US turned their phone charges off at the wall when not charging the phone the power saving would mean one power plant could be shut down. Now that's a lot of energy.

Answer 6

trol has it!

Answer 7

It's nice you consider alternative energy.

I don't know the exact number but I think its a lot. Wind mills and solar panels will never really out supply what fossil fuels give us. Using them makes a difference but it can't sustain the world.

how long to get an infrastructure in place? To fuel the world and not depend on fossil fuel and be 'green'? We would need A LOT of land to start off

other alternatives: nuclear, hydro

Answer 8

Let me start off by saying we (my family and I) live completely, 100% “off of the grid and are completely self sufficient”

Solar chimney, solar AC, solar heating, solar water heating (pool and home), solar stove, solar power, wind power, hydrogen powered back up generator, hydrogen back up water heater, hydrogen stove, 2 hydrogen powered trucks, 1 EV (electric vehicle) and satellite internet.

Here’s a DIY step by step process, taken from a guide I offer at www agua-luna com it’s complete but if you’d like the more specific process or the pics and images go to www agua-luna com. Its pretty simple but if you have any problems feel free to contact me directly I can walk you threw the process.

www agua-luna com

"STEP 1. SOLAR PANELS: or PV panels are the key to a hybrid system., converting the sun’s beams into electricity that we can use in the home. They come in many different sizes, shapes, power ranges and costs. We will focus on a 12v 50watt (4amp) panel, measuring appx 4 sq. ft. with a price range from $300-$500.

www.mrsolar.com ($340)

www.agua-luna.com ($299)"

"Retrieve a typical winter electric bill. You won’t need a summer bill, because by building a system that runs in winter, it’ll be proven for summer use where days are longer. Divide the total KWH (Kilowatt Hours) on the bill by 30 (giving you your Kilowatt Hour per day, or KWH/d consumption amount), now divide that by 10 (or the total average winter day hours in your area)(giving you KWH/h), now multiple that by 1000 (converting KWH/h to WH/h or watts)."

"Now that we know how many watts your systems requires, we need to know how many panels to use, along with an adequate- sized controller. For simplicity reasons, let’s use a typical 50w solar panel. We will divide your final “system requirement” results from above by 50 to tell us how many panels you'll need (hourly winter consumption watts / 50)."

"NOTE: Size (watts and feet) of panels is a personal choice and isn’t determined by any system requirements.

Mount panel/s flat (0 degree) facing south (if located in the north hemisphere). With a multimeter, measure the incoming amps (via pos cable to battery), slowly raise the top edge until the amps peak on your meter. Secure."

Hope this helped, feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions if you’d like assistance in making your first self sufficient steps, I’m willing to walk you step by step threw the process. I’ve written several how-to DIY guides available at  www agua-luna com on the subject. I also offer online and on-site workshops, seminars and internships to help others help the environment.

Dan Martin

Alterative Energy / Sustainable Consultant, Living 100% on Alternative & Author of How One Simple Yet Incredibly Powerful Resource Is Transforming The Lives of Regular People From All Over The World... Instantly Elevating Their Income & Lowering Their Debt, While Saving The Environment by Using FREE ENERGY... All With Just One Click of A Mouse...For more info Visit:  

www AGUA-LUNA com

Stop Global Warming

Answer 9

There is no alternative energy that will even come close to replacing fossil fuels.

You can add up all the solar, wind geo-thermal, ocean wave and any other alternative energy source you can think of and it would not equal 1% of what fossil fuels do.

The only real answer is to increase oil production in the USA right now and work on developing a new energy source  for the future, because it could talke 20 years to come up with something.

Answer 10

How about curbing energy demand though things like conservation and strengthening energy efficiency standards; or even a better idea,curb world population by roughly 70%,though things like birth control s*x education.