S๐จ๐ฅ๐š๐ซ (at its best) ๐ข๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ง ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ž๐ซ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฆ๐š๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ž ๐‹๐„๐’๐’ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ ๐๐ž๐ง๐ฌ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ง ๐ง๐ฎ๐œ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ซ (at its worst)

~ ABN

Using the power density formula above, we find that solar has the lowest power density:

Nuclear fission: 494 ยฑ 266 W/mยฒ

Natural gas: 462.5 ยฑ 277.5 W/mยฒ

Coal: 65.8 ยฑ 39.5 W/mยฒ

Solar PV: 8.7 ยฑ 2.9 W/mยฒ

Thus, ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐š๐ซ (at its best) ๐ข๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ง ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ž๐ซ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฆ๐š๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ž ๐‹๐„๐’๐’ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ ๐๐ž๐ง๐ฌ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ง ๐ง๐ฎ๐œ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ซ (at its worst).

Why is energy density important?

Because it is directly related to land requirements and overall reliability.

Solar PV farms take up more land than natural gas or nuclear do, yet power far fewer homes. Case in point, a single 1,000-MWe nuclear power plant occupying a single square mile of land produces enough electricity to power >770,000 American homes throughout the course of a year. To power the same number of homes with a solar PV farm, we would need 4ร— the installed capacity and 50ร— the land area.


This is a snippet from a longer piece available at the link above. ABN

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