The last energy crisis electricity prices skyrocketed. And this led to an accelerated installation. solar panels around the world. Thanks to the growing popularity of this renewable energy, the price of these devices has been falling in recent years. Despite the persistent problem always stays the same: Where are we going to put all these panels?

To provide enough solar energy for the whole world, approximately 51 billion solar panelsIt would cover an area of ​​about 186,000 kilometers. That’s just 3.27% of the US.. However, it would be reasonable to assume that the right location for such an installation should be a sun-drenched location where clouds are rarely shaded.

Is it like a desert?

Sahara is the largest desert. It has a gigantic size of 9.2 million square kilometers.. So this mega solar farm would only occupy about 3.25%, a reasonable desert area that, if well structured, will only cause the displacement of a few people and animals. There would be no need for even deforestation. Moreover, As the physicist Gerhard Knies has pointed outIn just six hours, deserts around the world receive more solar energy (173,000 terawatts) than humans consume in a year.

But the truth is that even though we have enough energy to feed our civilization, many economic and environmental factors HE make it practically impossible make this achievement. First thing: difficulty. Second thing: The cost will be astronomical. And third: it would destroy the planet’s ecosystems.

Actually, desert attempt It was one such project that planned to cover the Sahara Desert with solar panels in hopes of meeting the energy needs of the Middle East and North Africa and 15% of Europe. Although well-known companies in the industry wanted to participate, the plan soon turned out to be unrealizable.

First thing: difficulty

A solar farm in the desert is extremely difficult to maintain. Basically, both maintenance and setup They are not like in cities. The harsh environment of the deserts and the dust accumulated on the solar panels affects work and productivity. On the other hand, the movement of sand and dry and scorching winds require a very durable assembly. This means that infrastructure will be more expensive. Much more expensive.

Not only that. The cost of having staff available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week Care and constant monitoring would be another big waste of money and something very difficult to accomplish.

Second: cost

The cost of installing a 350W solar panel in a house is between €200 and €400. It would be more expensive in the desert. First, you need to build supports for the panels, move them through the middle of nowhere, and build a new electrical infrastructure in the dunes and rocky terrain. According to the calculations made by journalist Will Locket in this Medium article, this only makes some sense if we take into account the price of the panel, delivery and installation. 1.000 € per unit. If we multiply this figure by all the panels we need would give us a result of 514 billion23 times more than the entire US economy.

But there is more. It should be taken into account that if we want to send all this energy to any corner of the world, we will need it. batteries storing everything produced during the day and feeding the production at night (not all countries have the same schedule). This means adding around 4.2 kWh of battery storage to each panel and adding an additional €900 to the cost.

And wait, because now comes the bloodiest part: getting the energy out of the Sahara. Transport is also a concern, as sending energy to its destination requires huge power lines and is very expensive. energy loss up to 10 A%. Currently the longest power line is only 3,200 kilometers. Considering that the longer it takes, the more energy is lost along the way, these losses will have to be compensated by adding even more costs. Something very impractical with the technology we have today.

Third and most important: the environment

All of the above is achievable, albeit difficult, in a hypothetical future. But doing so leads us directly to our extinction. It should be noted that deserts are not useless at all, that any ecosystem plays a fundamental role in the global environment. In the case of transforming the Sahara into a large solar farm, Only 15% of the energy absorbed by solar panels can be converted into electricity. And the rest will return to the atmosphere as heat, making global warming much worse.

Evidence provided 2018 research used a climate model to simulate the effects of deserts on the land surface resulting from the installation of these solar panels. Research shows that a feedback loop is triggered when the size of the solar farm reaches 20% of the Sahara’s total area. The heat generated by the darker solar panels (compared to the reflective floor) creates a great effect. temperature difference this lowers air pressure and creates rain by humidifying the climate.

These rains cause plants to grow in the desert and the desert reflects less solar energy because vegetation absorbs light better than sand and soil. Moreover, with more plants, more water evaporates, creating a more humid environment which will further Flora. A green desert sounds good, right?

The truth is, many of our ecosystems depend on the Sahara being an arid desert. HE Amazonfor example, it is fertilized by dust blowing from the Sahara. Also, the Atlantic is fertilized with the dust of the Sahara. Its nutrient-rich sand supports algae vegetation that produces massive amounts of oxygen on the planet.

However, the most severe effect would be an increase in the temperature of the Earth’s surface. Although it seems contradictory, water vapor strong greenhouse gas, almost worse than CO2. This will result in warming the planet, causing loss of ice sheet and altered ocean currents, ultimately leading to the destruction of Earth’s biodiversity. In short: every ecosystem is interconnected, and changing one of them could trigger a domino effect with devastating consequences.

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