“It takes a 40 acre solar farm to supply one third the power of one average-sized coal-fired plant, and only on days with adequate sun.”
Not by my numbers. I get 1 MegaWatt per acre, and that’s fully covered. In reality, the best you might do is one third coverage. Using that number, you’d need 1500 acres (several square miles) to get to 500 MW...which is probably what an average coal plant is. And then you have to factor in night time and clouds, so figure 10 square miles. We’re talking HUGE areas...much bigger than people can remotely imagine.
You are probably more accurate. I was simpily doing a very rough estimate. But as I said, you’d need to cover the entire US with solar panels in order to just get close to today’s power demands. And then there are all those Chevy Volts ...
Go Green with Solar Power! Become a nation of underground dwellers!