Antarctica
Temperature, climate, sunlight, wind, etc.
Wind power
Works better in the cold
Winds
Solar Panels on the Poles
Solar power shows promising yield for the future. There was more solar energy absorbed by earth in one hour than the entire world's annual consumption of energy in 2002; Approximately 3,850,000 exajoules of solar energy reach the earth's atmosphere, clouds, and land mass every year. Since the sun is presumed to exist for at least a few more billion years, it presents itself as one of the most abundant, cleanest, and least resource constrained sources of energy available. With graphene solar cells, potentially flexible, incredibly tough (graphene has shown to be remarkably resilient, at around 200 times stronger than steel, and 1/10th the weight), and roughly 3-4 times more efficient than current solar cells (particularly if combined with UV or infrared/thermal cells), as well as being made from carbon, solar power is likely the inevitable future of earth.
However, currently solar panels pose many problems; many of these are currently economical. According to the Department of energy, solar panels are approximately blank cost, or approximately twice as expensive as coal, uranium, and blank. Solar panel capabilities depend on the local weather, recent phenomena, and generally tend to be inconsistent and at times random. Batteries that can store energy for long periods of times, to work out these kinks, or even wide spread solar panels to potentially compensate when certain areas of the world are under prolonged sunlight constraints, are all problems associated with solar panels. Expense, variability in power output, and longevity in equipment life are all important considerations for solar panels, many of which are still being addressed.
While solar power possess enormous potential for the future, there are issues that need to be resolved before every day solar panels are a practical reality.
That is why, I recommend putting solar panels on the poles and, specifically, Antarctica!
Solar Panels on the Poles
Solar panels on the poles of the earth promote several unique advantages. The poles are relatively cold, which present an ideal advantage for semiconductors such as solar panels, which perform well at lower temperatures. The area is mostly uninhabited, which means there's lots of open space, there's consistent, day and night sunlight, eliminating variability and even potentially day and night cycles (therefore eliminating the need for batteries, somewhat, or the need for their cycle life), and there's abundant light at the poles, potentially more so than at most places in the world.
It's generally well known that solar panels are best suited for cold, sunny days. Despite the increased sunlight generally experienced in warmer areas, usually on warmer days solar panel's effiencies are lowered somewhat. It's relatively well known that each degree past about 25 degrees Celsius lowers the efficiency of the solar panel by about .5%. It is also generally accepted that a solar panel will also be approximately 20 degrees warmer than the ambient temperature.
Steam Turbines
Accelerators
Computers
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