Unit energy density of solar power generation

What is the density of solar energy?

When measured using the methods presented, solar energyhas a density of1.5 microjoulespercubic meter, overtwentyquadrilliontimes less thanoil. Humanenergydensityisapproximately1000J/m3, whileotherinexhaustiblessuchas wind and tidal have energy densities of 0.5 to 50 J/m3.

What is power density?

Power density is the rate of energy generation per unit of land surface area occupied by an energy system. The power density of low-carbon energy sources will play an important role in mediating the environmental consequences of energy system decarbonization as the world transitions away from high power-density fossil fuels.

How many different energy densities are there?

Median, mean, and uncertainty estimates are provided for 177 different densities from the literature. Non-renewable power densities are found to be three orders of magnitude larger than renewable densities. Natural gas and solar energy yield the highest median density per non-RE, and RE system respectively.

What was solar's power density in 2016?

Solar's mean power density in 2016 was 5.4 W e m −2. Our approach for estimating the area of solar farms is not fully bottom-up so this estimate is subject to systematic error. It is possible, for example, that capacity densities have changed significantly given that the data used in our analysis is about 5 years old.

What is the power density of 1150 solar power plants?

The mean 2016 power density of 1150 solar power plants was 5.4 W e m −2. Solar capacity factors and (likely) power densities are increasing with time driven, in part, by improved panel efficiencies. Wind power has a 10-fold lower power density than solar, but wind power installations directly occupy much less of the land within their boundaries.

How much power does the Sun produce per unit area?

Compare this to the areal power density supplied by the Sun. Here power density can be defined as the number of watts generated per unit area. The Sun can produce much more power per unit area, even at a conservative estimate of 500 W/m2, and dividing by two to account for day–night cycles, one has 250 W/m2.