How many kWh/m2 can solar generate?
Question:
Answer:
in North America the average power of the solar radiation lies somewhere between 125 and 375 W/m², between 3 and 9 kWh/m²/day. [3]
It should be noted that this is the maximum available power, and not the power delivered by solar power technology. For example photovoltaic panels currently have an efficiency of ca. 15% and, hence, a solar panel delivers 19 to 56 W/m² or 0.45-1.35 kWh/m²/day (annual day and night average).
GaAs multijunction devices are the most efficient solar cells to date, reaching as high as 39% efficiency[9]. They are also some of the most expensive cells per unit area (up to US$40/cm2).
Outside of Earth's atmosphere, the sun's radiation is measured at about 1kW/m2.
Depending on whether conditions and your location on Earth, only a small percentage of that amount may actually reach the surface.
The efficiency of solar cells to turn solar radiation into usable electricity is also typically low - less than 20%.
Lots of variables are in play here, so there is no fixed cost per meter.
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