| ▲ | quickthrowman 4 hours ago | |
It takes 2.5 million solar panels to generate 1GW of electricity assuming 400W per panel and direct sunlight. 2.5M times 18 sq ft per panel is about 1000 acres or ~1.55 sq mi. That would work for a 1 GW data center, during the day, without clouds, during the summer. | ||
| ▲ | 0cf8612b2e1e 3 hours ago | parent | next [-] | |
Is that supposed to be a lot? The US is some 3.8 million square miles. A decade old Reddit thread estimated there are 60 square miles of just McDonalds. That is, a McDonalds footprint of solar panels alone is 39GW. https://www.reddit.com/r/theydidthemath/comments/2bq7l2/so_i... | ||
| ▲ | downrightmike 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | |
The US gov't owns at least 50% of every state in the west. Or they could just build in the middle of bum f*ck Texas and get fossil and renewables. Too bad Texas' grid is so piss poor | ||