Comments on: World’s Largest (4GW) Solar Project Planned For India

By: DAWEN CHEN

DAWEN CHEN — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 09:19:00 +0000

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By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 05:15:00 +0000

The one I linked seems to have been done in 2009. (I state without double checking.)

By: mds

mds — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 05:05:00 +0000

btw I think your link is based on 20% efficiency. I don’t think my second link is. Squares are bigger than for the one on yours. I got that second link back in 2010, or earlier. Seems like 10% would be more likely average back then. That is a guess.

By: mds

mds — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 04:45:00 +0000

Nice link! I had not seen that one. 20% is more appropriate, since cSi PV is headed there now. I expect >=20% to be the norm in a few more years. Thanks Bob!

By: mds

mds — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 04:35:00 +0000

Note: This is in response to Ivor O’Connor and Bob_Wallace comments up top on resplacing all the nuke plants in the USA with solar.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 04:30:00 +0000

The first link is 2006 and uses 8% efficiency. My how times have changed.
It looks like the second link might be using 20% efficiency, if I read it correctly.

http://landartgenerator.org/blagi/archives/127

By: mds

mds — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 04:19:00 +0000

Graphical displays of the area required to produce an amount of solar power equivalent to all the power all us humans currently use:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solar_land_area.png

http://i.imgur.com/j9wrB.jpg

Not too big an area when viewed on a world map. 3,600 square miles is a square that is 60 miles on each side. Not small, but probably only a smaller part of the desert Kyle Field is talking about. Of course you might want to put a lot of that solar on the roofs of houses and business, over parking lots, and over brown fields.

A “solar roof for the poor” program might be a good idea in India. The new owners get to keep part of the power for themselves for lights &/or cooking and the rest goes to the grid.

By: Ivor O'Connor

Ivor O'Connor — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 00:47:00 +0000

Well I used figures from another site that I calculated it was about 36 sq miles. The number here makes it look more like 32 sq miles. I also rounded up and assumed all nuclear reactors produced 1GW but they probably produce on average much less.

So we probably only need 60 5×6 squares. The sheer size is dramatic when looked at it from this perspective. Knowing how much land is wasted by nuclear and fossil fuel storage, mining, and operation is going to be needed at the fingertips for future debates.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 20:25:00 +0000

Altogether I’ve spent over a year in India traveling around. I’ve still got a bunch of stuff left to see. It’s an incredibly varied country.

A few years back I was at a temple in southern India where they feed hundreds of people each day. They were using solar water heaters to provide the water for dish washing and getting their electricity largely from wind and solar.

There’s now a big program to provide temples with solar systems for lighting. I suspect that will be a great way to educate locals about how solar can work for them.

By: Kyle Field

Kyle Field — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 20:07:00 +0000

I did not…my 2.5 week whirlwind tour took me to Mumbai, Udaipur, Jaipur, Delhi, Agra, Pune, Goa then back to Mumbai. There is so much culture in India to explore and it just wouldnt fit into 2.5 weeks. I’m all about experiencing culture vs consuming it…so I’m ok with that.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 19:54:00 +0000

Did you make it out to Jaisalmer? The juxtaposition of an 800+ year old fort and wind turbines is pretty interesting.

By: Kyle Field

Kyle Field — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 19:47:00 +0000

I was just in India…and in Jaipur in November last year. Rajasthan is a vast desert…it reminded me a lot of the central desert here in california (which is quickly becoming it’s own solar Mecca). The amount of vast open desert there is pretty amazing…covering ~15% of the country’s north western land. It’s exciting to hear that they are taking on a project of that scale though I’m a little hesitant to get over excited given the wide spread corruption in india’s governing bodies. If India is to step out as a world leader (which I very much believe they can), the youth of india need to tackle the corruption head on first.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 19:41:00 +0000

Strip mining for coal according to Source Watch = 162.5 miles per year.
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/The_footprint_of_coal

A couple years back the EPA estimated that 2,200 square miles (5,700 km2) of Appalachian forests will be cleared for mountain top removal sites by 2012.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountaintop_removal_mining

I don’t see a separate number for parking lots but did find this –

“the U.S. area devoted to roads and parking lots covers an estimated 61,000 square miles”

http://grist.org/article/rice/

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 19:18:00 +0000

I don’t have a reference, but I wonder want the total area of strip mining in US has been. Or what the total area of near flat roof tops plus parking lots is?

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 17:45:00 +0000

Someone want to tackle that math?

If it’s right then we’d need 3,600 square miles.

The Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook states that the total *land area* of the *U.S.* is 3,794,100 *square miles* (9,826,675 sq km).

0.09% of US land area.

Just for comparison sake, the Chernobyl exclusion zone is 1,660 *square miles.

By: Ivor O'Connor

Ivor O'Connor — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 17:36:00 +0000

So we would need 100 6×6 mile squares, like seen here in India, scattered about to replace the nuclear power plants we have here in America?