How Many Solar Panels To Power Usa

Obviously wind energy wouldn t be the only form of primary energy in the usa.

How many solar panels to power usa.

Map courtesy of google maps. Consumes around 4000 billion kwh of electricity. The yellow square is approximately 21 000 square miles. It is also reported that total electricity consumption for the united states during 2012 was 3 694 650 million kwh million kilowatt hours.

I chose a 250 watt sharp nd 250qcs solar panel made in the usa 65 x39 each. American solar power offsets over 70 million metric tons of carbon dioxide every year which is like planting almost 1 2 billion trees. To put this into context 1 petawatt equals about 1 billion million watts. This is derived from the fact that every year the u.

This means an astounding consumption of 12 000 kwh per year per capita. Requires about 4 petawatts of electricityover one year to run life as normal. Solar hydro geothermal and biofuels will also play roles with solar being at least equal to wind generation. About 7 86 billion solar panels would be needed to power the u s.

Consumes about 4 petawatt hours of electricity per year we d need about 13 600 000 acres or 21 250 square miles of solar panels to meet the total electricity requirements of the united states for a year.