The Sahara desert receives so much sunlight per day in such intense amounts that it seems like the perfect place for solar panels. Japanese and Algerian universities combined forces to open silicon manufacturing facilities in the Sahara. The silicon produced is used to make solar panels, which are in turn used to produce energy for the facility to run on. By 2050 the project is expected to be able to supply half the world with energy, a little far-fetched for me. An issue with this is that the superconductors used to transmit the electricity have to be kept at 400 degrees below zero. Hopefully this project will be able to not consume all the energy it creates and instead become a major energy exporter.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Sahara Desert Silicon and Solar Panels
The Sahara desert receives so much sunlight per day in such intense amounts that it seems like the perfect place for solar panels. Japanese and Algerian universities combined forces to open silicon manufacturing facilities in the Sahara. The silicon produced is used to make solar panels, which are in turn used to produce energy for the facility to run on. By 2050 the project is expected to be able to supply half the world with energy, a little far-fetched for me. An issue with this is that the superconductors used to transmit the electricity have to be kept at 400 degrees below zero. Hopefully this project will be able to not consume all the energy it creates and instead become a major energy exporter.
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If this could provide energy for half the world, then coal and other fossil fuels will not have to be used as much. That would be millions possibly billions of tons of C02 less per year that is released into the atomshpere.
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