What would happen if the Sahara Desert was filled with solar panels?

The energy crisis and the historic rise in electricity prices have made clear the importance of alternative and renewable energies such as, for example, solar panels.

In fact, more and more people, companies, administrations and governments are daring to bet on solar panels, since their price has been reduced in recent years. Yes, it's Arnold Schwarzenegger, he is also a fan of solar panels!

The question that many experts ask is, how could we implement a gigantic space full of solar panels that could supply the entire planet?

An article by Will Lockett, published in 'Medium' in March 2021, estimated the number of solar panels needed to provide electricity to the entire world at 51 billion.

The estimated size of this facility would require around 186,000 square kilometers (115.5 square miles), that is, 3.27% of the area of the United States or the sum of the area occupied by Portugal and Hungary together.

It seems logical to think of a desert, taking into account that we are looking for immense spaces where the incidence of the sun is powerful and continuous.

Photo: Unsplash - Giorgio Parravicini

In that sense, the Sahara desert has a lot to say. It is the largest in the world, with 9.2 million square kilometers, so this facility would barely exceed 3.25% of its domain, as Will Lockett points out in his article.

With a proper installation, the project would not involve inconvenience to humans or animals, nor would it require deforestation. And despite everything, it is an unviable project economically, environmentally and, above all, because it would involve bringing humanity to the brink of extinction.

To begin with, setting up, maintaining and managing a solar farm in a desert is a very complicated project. The conditions are horrible, the environment is very harsh and the constant movement of dust would significantly impair the operation of the panels.

Obviously, maintenance would require having 24/7 personnel monitoring the facilities in real time. Which would be a massive expense.

Furthermore, the desert conditions (heat, sand, wind...) would imply the installation of more resistant panels than usual, which would lead to an increase in costs.

If we were to calculate based on a 350W solar panel, according to the Medium article, they cost about 400 euros (around 425 USD) each for a house. Adapting it, transporting it, assembling it and installing it in the desert, they estimate that it would cost 1,000 euros (1064 USD) per unit.

The same article raises the price of the installation alone to 514,000 billion euros or 546,920 billion dollars. We are talking about 23 times the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the United States in 2021.

But, of course, that's just the installation. Another thing is the storage of that energy in batteries, which implies, according to Forbes, adding 4.2 kWh of battery storage to each panel, adding almost 1,000 euros or another 1064 USD more to the cost per panel.

And there is still another step, bringing that energy from the Sahara to the world. This would require high-power and very expensive power lines, with the addition of a 10% loss of energy along the way. That is, unfeasible on all sides.

And we have not yet touched on the environmental issue but, basically, a project like this would result an ecological disaster that could lead to the extinction of humanity.

The problem with solar panels, according to Science, is that they would only collect 15% of the energy sent by the sun. The remaining 85% would be returned to the atmosphere as heat, triggering global warming.

The water vapor generated would result in a powerful greenhouse gas more dangerous than carbon dioxide that would lead to raising the average temperature of the planet, melting ice at the poles, changing ocean currents and destroying much of the biodiversity in the world. around the world, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

In short, everything is connected on the planet, especially a space as vast as the Sahara. Modifying its environment would generate a butterfly effect that would sweep the entire world.

Photo: Unsplash - Patrick Hendry