World Runs on Solar PV power

Solar Power for the World

Assumptions: 400 Watt Solar Panels exposed to 8 hours of direct sunlight a day for an entire year will produce 1,100 KwH or energy a year.

Current world consumption of energy is roughly 5*10^13 KwH a year.

The world would need 38 billion solar panels to produce current levels of electrical consumption (6 per person)

We assume it will take 10 years to supply the world with solar panels and assume the average cost of panels over ten years will be 250 USD.

The total cost of supplying the world with solar power would then be roughly 10 trillion USD or 14% of the world's GDP.

The cost of the current system (Coal, natural gas, etc.) is estimated to be 3 trillion USD a year. If we transitioned from fossil fuels to solar power the world could have a net saving of 3 trillion USD in carbon resources.

Equality to All

Assumptions:

Current population in the developed world 1.2 billion

Current popluation in the developing world 5.6 billion

56,000 KwH: the amount of energy each person in the developing world would need to reach a standard of living similar to that in the Netherlands.

The total energy output for rise from 5*10^13 KwH a year to 3.17*10^14.

The number of panels required to power the world would be 310 billion (48 per person)

Total cost would be 77 trillion or more than the world's GDP.