The terrestrial radiation received by the continental US is

The terrestrial radiation received by the continental U.S. is about 2.2×10^16 kW·hr/yr. If a typical solar cell has a sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 18%, determine how long it would be before the entire surface of the U.S. is covered with solar panels if all of the electricity was produced this way. Utilize the total electricity net generation datum from 2015 (4087381.483 million kilowatthours) as the baseline, and assume that the electrical consumption rate grows at a rate of 1% per year.

Solution

total time = KWhr/KWhr/yr

= 4087381/2.2*10¹⁰

^{= 5.3 yr}

^total time =

5.3 * 36500

= 1785000 sec