PV FAQs: Does the world have enough materials for PV to help address climate change?

Program Document · Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2005

OSTI ID:15016539

In the ongoing discussion of what needs to be done to stabilize atmospheric CO2 by mid-century (Hoffert 1998), one possible option would be to add about 10-20 terawatts (trillion watts, or TW) of photovoltaics (PV) in place of conventional sources. PV would help because, unlike burning fossil fuels, it produces no CO2. However, 10-20 TW is an enormous amount of energy. In peak Watts, the way PV installations are generally rated, it is about 50-100 TWpeak (TWp) of PV. Would we have enough materials to make this much PV? As we explain in this PV FAQ, we think our planet has enough feedstock materials for PV to meet the ''TW challenge.''

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-99-GO10337
• OSTI ID: 15016539
• Report Number(s): DOE/GO-102005-2113; TRN: US200515%%29
• Resource Relation: Other Information: PBD: 1 Jun 2005
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
CLIMATES
FOSSIL FUELS
SOLAR ENERGY
PV
FAQ
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
PHOTOVOLTAICS
CO2
MATERIALS AVAILABILITY
TW CHALLENGE
TERAWATTS CHALLENGE
CLIMATE CHANGE
SOLAR ENERGY - PHOTOVOLTAICS