NREL Study: Solar Power could provide 100 Times the Amount of Current U.S. Electricity Needs!

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3. Problems with this report.

First is this COMMENT made in the Actual Report on page 10:

Note that as a technical potential, rather than economic or market potential, these estimates do not consider availability of transmission infrastructure, costs, reliability or time-of-dispatch, current or future electricity loads, or relevant policies. Further, as this analysis does not allocate land for use by a particular technology, the same land area may be the basis for estimates of multiple technologies (i.e., non-excluded land is assumed to be available to support development of more than one technology).


Appendix B. Energy Consumption by State
Electric retail sales in the United States were roughly 3,754 TWh in 2010 (EIA).

Appendix B. Energy Consumption by State
Electric retail sales in the United States were roughly 3,754 TWh in 2010 (EIA).


Table ES-1. Total Estimated U.S. Technical Potential Generation and Capacity by Technology
Technology
.................................Generation Potential.......Capacity Potential
...............................................(TWh)....................(GW)
Urban utility-scale PV.... ..............2,200....................1,200
Rural utility-scale PV.................280,600.................153,000
Rooftop PV...................................800.......................664
Concentrating solar power.........116,100...................38,000
Onshore wind power..................32,700..................11,000
Offshore wind power.................17,000....................4,200
Biopower....................................500.........................62
Hydrothermal power systems..........300.........................38
Enhanced geothermal systems....31,300.....................4,000
Hydropower.................................300..........................60

Note a TWh is a Terrawatt per hour (10 to the 12th power) while a GW is a Gigawatt, which is only 10 to the ninth power).

Also "Capacity Potential" is what can be produced RIGHT NOW, "Generation potential" is what is produced for the whole year.

Thus the biggest potential source of solar power is from rural areas, i.e. covering farmlands with solar panels, i.e. replacing food for electricity (In the study parks, mountains, rivers, lakes and other similar areas were deemed NOT available for use, thus a heavy concentration in the South West due to the vast amount of land owned by the Federal Governmental Bureau of Land Management (BLM) but Federal Forests, Parks, reserves, wildlife sanctuaries were excluded),