Are Solar Panels More Efficient Than Plants

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.

Are solar panels more efficient than plants.

Solar enthusiasts argue that as their industry gains scale and the cost of producing. Most commercially available solar panels have more than 10 times this efficiency. The ultimate way to compare solar energy to fossil fuels is by cost where solar has quickly caught up with its non renewable counterparts. According to the wikipedia page on photosynthetic efficiency typical plants have a radiant energy to chemical energy conversion efficiency between 0 1 and 2.

This is a big difference because if photosynthesis makes a mistake it makes toxic byproducts that kill the. 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. Plants have to power a living thing whereas solar cells only have to send electricity down a wire. Scientists working at the stanford institute for materials and energy sciences simes have improved an innovative solar energy device to be about.

Plants are less efficient at capturing the energy in sunlight than solar cells mostly because they have too much evolutionary baggage. In fact one wind turbine can generate the same amount of electricity per kwh as about 48 704 solar panels. As a result these panels tend to cost less than the more efficient monocrystalline panels. This number is enough to power only 500 000 homes which is considerably less than nuclear power.

All that s certain is plants do a lot more good to the environment than solar cells ever did and they ve been doing that for billions of years without having to be more energy efficient. Reflectance efficiency is determined by how much sunlight is reflected back instead of absorbed and put to use. In terms of reliable application coal and natural gas have the edge. If we think technically though it s possible solar cells produce more oxygen than plants and gather more energy in a form that wouldn t need.

In terms of environmental impact solar power is a much more optimal resource than fossil fuels. But here s the worst part. For solar to produce as much electricity as is generated by a nuclear power plant it would require about 13 000 mw of utility scale solar capacity which about four times as much as built in the existing plants. Compared to solar panels wind turbines release less co2 to the atmosphere consume less energy and produce more energy overall.

So solar power is more expensive than all these other forms of alternative energy. Wind is a more efficient power source than solar.