How Many Solar Panels Will It Take to Power the World?

How much power do you use every day? How much does the world use? Would it be possible to switch away from fossil fuels and go totally solar powered? Sure, you can cover your roof with panels, but you'd still have to be connected to the grid, so what's the solution?

Apparently, not as much (or as little) as you'd think! Or is it?

Check out the map below, and you'll see three boxes. The smallest is how large an are it would take to power Germany (for whatever reason), then the middle box is how much area it would take to power Europe, and the third box shows what it would take to power the entire world!

Okay, so it's about 300 x 300 MILES of desert that would have to be covered in panels for this to work. That's a s***load of solar panels! But it's crappy desert, so who would it bother? Oh yeah, and hundreds or thousands of miles of cabling to get that energy somewhere.

In the video, it says that you'd basically cover the entire state of Kansas with solar panels. Now we have to think about whether or not we can live without Kansas.

Sounds like it's getting a bit pricey. Worth it?

Get more details from IFLScience.com. I love that site!