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National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Solar Has The Most Potential Of Any Renewable Energy Source Think Progress, Jul 30, 2012 A recently released study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, estimates that the technical potential of photovoltaic cells and concentrated solar power (CSP) in the United States is as much as 200,000 Gigawatts, enough to generate about400,000 TWh of energy annually.

The report dismisses economic and political impacts on the solar industry and focuses solely on the scientific and engineering limitations. The types of solar power studied in the report were Urban Utility-Scale Photovoltaics, Rural Utility-Scale Photovoltaics, Rooftop Photovoltaics, and Concentrated Solar Power, which is a utility-scale project “in which the solar heat energy is collected in a central location.”

The report broke down each type of solar array:

Urban Utility-Scale PV :

“The total estimated annual technical potential in the United States for urban utility-scale PV is 2,232 terawatt-hours (TWh). Texas and California have the highest estimated technical potential, a result of a combination of good solar resource and large population.”

Rural Utility Scale PV:

“Rural utility-scale PV leads all other technologies in technical potential. This is a result of relatively high power density, the absence of minimum resource threshold, and the availability of large swaths for development. Texas accounts for roughly 14% (38,993 TWh) of the entire estimated U.S. technical potential for utility-scale PV (280,613 TWh).”

Rooftop PV:

Total annual technical potential for rooftop PV is estimated at 818 TWh. States with the largest technical potential typically have the largest populations. California has the highest technical potential of 106 TWh due to its mix of high population and relatively good solar resource.

CSP:

Technical potential for CSP exists predominately in the Southwest…. Texas has the highest estimated potential of 22,786 TWh, which accounts for roughly 20% of the entire estimated U.S. annual technical potential for CSP (116,146 TWh).

The report also conducted a state by state breakdown for potential energy from solar sources……..http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/07/30/606271/national-renewable-energy-laboratory-solar-has-the-most-potential-of-any-renewable-energy-source/

July 31, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, USA