Amount Of Coal Burned To Make Solar Panel

Troszak 2019 11 14 revision figure 1.

Amount of coal burned to make solar panel.

The 550 mw desert sunlight solar farm for example is one of the largest solar power plants in the world with 8 8 million solar panels covering six square miles. So let s get this straight. Solar is cleaner than coal. All the world s photovoltaic solar panels generate as much electricity as two coal power plants.

I say at least because the most often cited report is by. Questioning the irony of renewable energy advocates demonizing coal when it is essential to silicon purification and solar cell production is what made everyone start calling me names. The equivalent of between 1 and 4 tons of coal are used in the manufacture of a single solar panel. Most commercial solar pv modules use photovoltaic cells solar cells made from highly purified silicon si.

The very question insinuates that only manufacturing solar takes energy. Why do we burn coal and trees to make solar panels. My endgame is finding out how much coal is required to make a solar panel and also if anthracite is required or just more efficient. Utility scale solar uses much more land than a coal power plant since each solar panel needs to face the sun and can t be shaded by other panels.

In an april 25 new york times article today s energy jobs are in solar not coal reporter nadja popovich wrote that last year the solar industry employed many more americans 373 807. That all these 50 ton coal trucks these railroads these coal hauling railroad cars these coal power stations these turbines that turn coal into electricity are all somehow built by fairies. Why do we burn coal and trees to make solar panels. Solar panels are at least 20x better on the climate than coal kwh for kwh.