Comments on: What makes a region suitable for solar power?

By: Noah H

Noah H — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:54:59 +0000

Actually anywhere there’s sunlight is ’suitable’, though some areas are ‘more suitable’ than others. Here in the US southwest and large parts of Oregon and Washington states that are east of the mountains have bright sunshine most of the year. Also, these same areas have an abundance of wind. A national commitment to moving on to these 21st century technologies would remove our reliance on fossil fuels by 3/4…too bad that the entrenched interests of coal and oil have so much political and economic influence. Because of them we’re all stuck with 19th century power technology. Bummer for us!
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By: Jerry Lee

Jerry Lee — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:46:59 +0000

After you have a place with lots of sunshine, you want one without much dust settling on the collectors. If it will be a SEGS - style thing (solar-thermal-electric) you might want a nearby river or ocean for taking away waste heat. Then you want the whole thing near to people, or at least an industry that will use the power.
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By: oikos

oikos — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:13:59 +0000

You can find charts showing the annual insolation for any place on Earth. The maximum seems to be right around Mecca. Draw what conclusions you will.
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By: Vikram

Vikram — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 19:59:59 +0000

All places except the polar regions are good enough to harness solar power
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By: Jesusiree

Jesusiree — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 19:22:59 +0000

Sun intensity is greater closer to the equator because of the angle to the sun is more direct. However a city like Sydney is still at a good angle to the sun. It is more when you are near the poles that the angle becomes a lot less intense.

The second thing is the number of sunny days.

PS it is more about cost rather than suitability because solar panels cost a lot, people are concerned about having them produce as much energy as possible so they get the cost paid back.
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By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:58:59 +0000

Sun angle and cloud cover are key to solar power. The Persian Gulf is close to the equator so sun angle will be good. It’s a dry area so cloud cover should be low which is good. You also have a low infestation level of environmentalist so there should be little objection to developing solar power.
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http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Energy/2008/0925/are-some-solar-projects-no-longer-green

By: assethole

assethole — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:37:59 +0000

You need to have lots of direct sunlight and weather must be cool for maximum efficiency and long life of Solar PV. Solar parabolic you need lots of sunshine and the hotter the better, as the sun boils water to make steam, which is done in a microboiler. Then the pressure runs a steam engine.
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