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This means that to be competitive in construction alone, given a bulk efficiency of 20%
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Try doubling that:
http://www.energy.gov/news/4503.htm
We are at 40% now and there's plenty of unexplored techs for increasing efficiency left.
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I think the only reasonable thing to do is assume 100% efficiency. Average sunlight is 300 watts per square meter. Assuming we solve the storage problem and can store energy from day to night, and from summer to winter, also with 100% efficiency, we could average 150 watts/sq. meter of solar cell. That's still 76 square meters per person in the U.S., assuming our current usage of 11,400 watts per person.
We still have a significant obstacle here besides the storage problem.
At least if the goal is to replace fossil fuels altogether, which should be our goal, since we will have to eventually.
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Is 76 square meters per person supposed to be a lot? That fits inside a 9 meter by 9 meter square; to get 300 million people, 18,000^2=324 million, so 76 m^2 per person fits inside a 160 km by 160 km square, which could easily fit into the desert.