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Impacts of array configuration on land-use requirements for large-scale photovoltaic deployment in the United States : preprint / Paul Denholm and Robert M. Margolis.
- Format:
- Book
- Government document
- Author/Creator:
- Denholm, P. (Paul)
- Series:
- Conference paper (National Renewable Energy Laboratory (U.S.)) ; 670-42971.
- NREL/CP ; 670-42971
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Photovoltaic power generation--Environmental aspects.
- Photovoltaic power generation.
- Land use and energy conservation.
- Genre:
- technical reports.
- Technical reports
- Technical reports.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (4 pages) : illustrations.
- Place of Publication:
- Golden, CO : National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2008.
- Summary:
- Land use is often cited as an important issue for renewable energy technologies. In this paper we examine the relationship between land-use requirements for large-scale photovoltaic (PV) deployment in the U.S. and PV-array configuration. We estimate the per capita land requirements for solar PV and find that array configuration is a stronger driver of energy density than regional variations in solar insolation. When deployed horizontally, the PV land area needed to meet 100% of an average U.S. citizen's electricity demand is about 100 m2. This requirement roughly doubles to about 200 m2 when using 1-axis tracking arrays. By comparing these total land-use requirements with other current per capita land uses, we find that land-use requirements of solar photovoltaics are modest, especially when considering the availability of zero impact "land" on rooftops. Additional work is needed to examine the tradeoffs between array spacing, self-shading losses, and land use, along with possible techniques to mitigate land-use impacts of large-scale PV deployment.
- Notes:
- Title from title screen (viewed June 6, 2008).
- "May 2008."
- "Presented at SOLAR 2008 - American Solar Energy Society (ASES), San Diego, California, May 3-8, 2008."
- Includes bibliographical references (page 4).
- OCLC:
- 230950302
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