Are there limits to solar power?

Article: Margin Notes

1. FEW energy sources appear to be as abundant, endless and
clean as the sun. At least, that's what I thought. The radiant star,
of course, bathes the Earth with more energy every hour than
our fossil fuel society burns in a year.

2. So it is easy to understand why so many greens assume that

solar power can easily replace the nearly 16 terawatts of energy
that hydrocarbons now provide. Even MIT experts recently
forecasted that solar thermal systems could eventually challenge
the dominance of hydrocarbons in the global energy budget by
2050. To do so, solar modules would have to occupy an area the
size of Venezuela or Australia.

3. But the solar pioneers in Spain, where modules now provide but
a few per cent of the nation's electricity, say these figures are
way too optimistic. Solar will play a significant role, but not a
royal one. One group of Spanish engineers, for example,
calculates that no more than two to four terawatts of solar
energy can ever be successfully harvested for human
consumption. And they base these sober calculations, in part, on
some inconvenient realities that greens need to debate openly.

Geography
4. The sun offers unequal energy opportunities. It does not shine
intensely everywhere. South Africa, Chile, Arizona, Australia and
the Arabian Peninsula experience much higher rates of radiation
than, say, Europe and Russia. As a consequence, it costs less to
generate more solar power in places like sunny California than it
does in cloudy Germany or Ontario. Yet much of our solar
infrastructure has been built in cloudy developed nations with
high-energy spending and mediocre levels of radiation. Tellingly,
cheap oil has discouraged the use of solar power in political
regions such as the Middle East.

Ownership
5. Solar is now largely a bipolar operation. Individuals use small
panels to provide 20 to 60 per cent of their daily electrical needs
while large corporations generate hundreds of megawatts with
massive installations. There is no “in between”. Solar power
owned and used by local communities remains unexplored.
Community ownership would use less space, decentralize power
distribution and engage--if not change--the quantity of energy
spending. As one 2012 study noted, few such experiments exist
and "they often don't meet their objectives of providing clean,
 environmentally friendly energy that is affordable for the
community stakeholders."

Rare Materials
6. The cost and availability of materials may also limit the use of
solar modules. Many require rare elements such as gallium,
tellurium, indium and selenium. Called "hitchhiker" metals, most
are the byproduct of industrial copper, zinc or lead production.
New thin-film solar sheets, for example, depend on indium.
Moreover, indium reserves are largely located in China, and the
US Geological Survey predicts global supplies could be depleted
within 10 years.

Storage
7. Due to night, seasons and the weather, solar power offers
intermittent bursts of energy. The average percentage of time a
solar operation pours electricity into the grid at full-rated
capacity ranges from 12 to 19 percent. In contrast, a coal-fired
plant runs 70 to 90 percent of the time. And preserving sun-
derived power in batteries, molten salts or compressed air
remains problematic and costly due to significant energy losses
in storage and release.
Energy Density
8. Just as a slice of cheese offers more calories than a potato,
different energy sources pack different punches. The amount of
energy contained in a solar ray verses a lump of coal is reflected
in their respective geographical footprints. A 1000-megawat
coal-fired plant requires one to four square km to mine and
transport the coal. It takes 20 to 50 square km (or the area of a
small city) to generate the same amount of energy from a
photovoltaic farm.
9. Such realities prompted one group of Spanish solar researchers
to conclude that if modern society uses renewable energy “on
the same scale” as fossil fuel energies without curtailing
demand, “they may also end up becoming paradigms of
unsustainability.”

Reference:

Nikiforuk, A. (2013). Are there limits to solar power? The short answer--yes--highlights five inconvenient
truths. Alternatives Journal, 39(4), 52.