Y arnt skyscrapers built with solar panal walls for energy production?

Question

in new construction if all new buldings where built with at least 50% solar panales on the outside walls this would solve the worlds thirst for energy.

Answer 1

Because solar panels are expensive and inefficient (right now). The appropriate question would be, "why don't we build more nuclear power plants?" Nuclear energy is much, much cleaner than coal. Also, once we figure out nuclear fusion, we will have the ultimate power source.

Answer 2

The best efficiency of a solar panel has the panel arranged so it is perpendicular to the sun's rays.  In the US, the proper angle is somewhere between 45 and 60 degrees depending on your latitude.  The building would have to be shaped like a pyramid to have the right angle on the panels.

Ideally the panels should even track the sun throughout the day.

Ultimately it comes down to cost.  Solar panels are still very expensive compared to other building materials.  Walls facing east or west would have a short duration of sunlight.  This means the expensive panels are only generating a small portion of the power they're be capable of.

Answer 3

No, it won't.

1st, many of the panels would be blocked from the sunlight by other buildings.

2nd, at least half of the panels would not see sunlight at all during some part of the day

3rd, phonons' angle of attack will be such that panels will not work to full capacity.

And lastly, the cost of installing panels on a roof of an average single-family home is ~50K (which means that for sides of an office high-rise the cost can easily exceed $1M). This investment will not pay for itself in your lifetime.