Zhengyao Lu
Researcher
Gigantic solar farms of the future might impact how much solar power can be generated on the other side of the world
Author
Summary, in English
The Sun’s energy is effectively limitless. While resources such as coal or gas are finite, if you are able to capture and use solar power it doesn’t prevent anyone else from also using as much sunshine as they need.
Except that isn’t quite the full story. Beyond a certain size, solar farms become large enough to affect the weather around them and ultimately the climate as a whole. In our new research we have looked at the effect such climate-altering solar farms might have on solar power production elsewhere in the world.
We know that solar power is affected by weather conditions and output varies through the days and seasons. Clouds, rain, snow and fog can all block sunlight from reaching solar panels. On a cloudy day, output can drop by 75%, while their efficiency also decreases at high temperatures.
In the long term, climate change could affect the cloud cover of certain regions and how much solar power they can generate. Northern Europe is likely to see a solar decrease for instance, while there should be a slight increase of available solar radiation in the rest of Europe, the US east coast and northern China.
Except that isn’t quite the full story. Beyond a certain size, solar farms become large enough to affect the weather around them and ultimately the climate as a whole. In our new research we have looked at the effect such climate-altering solar farms might have on solar power production elsewhere in the world.
We know that solar power is affected by weather conditions and output varies through the days and seasons. Clouds, rain, snow and fog can all block sunlight from reaching solar panels. On a cloudy day, output can drop by 75%, while their efficiency also decreases at high temperatures.
In the long term, climate change could affect the cloud cover of certain regions and how much solar power they can generate. Northern Europe is likely to see a solar decrease for instance, while there should be a slight increase of available solar radiation in the rest of Europe, the US east coast and northern China.
Department/s
- BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
- MERGE: ModElling the Regional and Global Earth system
- Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
Publishing year
2024-01-08
Language
English
Publication/Series
The Conversation
Links
Document type
Journal article
Topic
- Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 2201-5639