The solar opportunity
- Creators
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Lewis, Nathan S.
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Nocera, Daniel G.
Abstract
Solar energy utilization poses a vexing conundrum: at present, we cannot afford to use it, but eventually we probably cannot afford not to use it. The promise rests in the unmatched size of the solar resource: more energy from the sun strikes the Earth in one hour than all of the energy consumed on the planet in an entire year (DOE 2005; Lewis and Nocera 2006). As with all energy sources, challenges for solar energy use reside in the "cost of extraction." The diffuseness of solar energy, typically providing a yearly averaged power density of about 200 W/m2 at representative midlatitudes, requires the coverage of relatively large areas with a sunlight capture system, in turn requiring very inexpensive but high-performance materials and balance of systems to be viable. Additionally, to contribute to a large fraction of a global energy system, use of solar energy requires concomitant development of an accompanying technological approach to provide tera-watt (TW)-days of reliable, robust, persistent, scalable, and cost-effective energy storage.
Additional Information
© 2015 by the National Academy of Sciences. NSL acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (CHE-1214152), the Department of Energy Office of Science through the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (grant DE-SC0004993), and the DOE Office of Science (grant DE-FG02-03ER15483). DGN acknowledges support from the US DOE Office of Science (grant DE-SC0009565), Air Force Office of Scientific Research (grant FA9550-09-1-0689), and the TomKat Trust.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 68223
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20160616-173850450
- NSF
- CHE-1214152
- Department of Energy (DOE)
- DE-SC0004993
- Department of Energy (DOE)
- DE-FG02-03ER15483
- Department of Energy (DOE)
- DE-SC0009565
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR)
- FA9550-09-1-0689
- TomKat Charitable Trust
- Created
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2023-03-30Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2023-03-30Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- JCAP