Answer to Question #287719 in Mechanics | Relativity for Teejay

Question

(a) Outline problems involved in the large-scale use of photo-voltaic electricity in terms of availability of solar energy and that a large area is required to capture adequate amounts of solar energy. (b) It is planned to replace a 20 MW output fossil fuel power station with a 20 MW output solar-voltaic power station. If the average solar insolation (power incident normally per square meter on the surface of the Earth) at a given location is 350 W m-2 and the efficiency of the solar-voltaic cells is 20%, estimate the area of land surface required for generating the 20 MW of electrical power using solar-voltaic panels. 

Answer 1

Explanations & Calculations

b)

• Number of panels that output $\small 20\%$ of the average power should output $\small 20\,MW$ in total to use the solar panels as a replacement.
• Then,

$\qquad\qquad \begin{aligned} \small 20\times10^6\,W&=\small 350\,Wm^{-2}\times\frac{20}{100}\%\times n\\ \small n&=\small 285714\,\text{panels} \end{aligned}$