What If We Covered the Sahara With Solar Panels? 

"lets assume the solar panels are 100% efficient" every engineer watching has a stroke

As a wise man once said: "easier said than done"

After the first sand storm, half of the area with solar panels is 5m down under sand.

I'm surprised that you didn't mention that since the Sahara Desert is mostly sand, actually it doesn't have a defined surface, and, the winds make it constantly change, hills turning into valleys and vice versa.

Amazing idea. Too bad it won’t happen and the panels will probably be in the sand a day after being installed

“Turn on infinite money” Venezuela: now you’re talking

Planting solar panels in the Sahara would also mean they'd need to be elevated as well considering that lowered panels could end up covered in sand from one wind storm.

You forgot about power transmission losses. A 360kV power line will lose about 15% of power per 1,000km. So to send electricity from Sahara to the US, Japan, or Australia you'd lose 85% of the power. With such huge distances you'd also need many transformers on the way, which waste even more power. So you'd be lucky if the US would receive 5% of the initially generated power. These losses are another problem for putting solar panels on deserts. Because they're usually far away from big cities which require the most electricity.

This guy emphasizes words like there’s no tomorrow

I still like the idea of just putting solar panels on every home. That space is already taken up

What is not realized is that solar Farms are super HOT... I worked at a small area with maybe 500 panels and it was 20-30° Hotter. It could be 100° Outside but that specific solar panel area was 130ish. If it can get that much hotter i couldn't imagine how much hotter the Sahara would get.

Imagine if the world was actually working on advancing its needs instead of competing with and fighting itself?

African Solar Energy Superpower? Also, 60% of the world's GDP seems totally worth it for the energy.

>covers entire Sahara with solar panels >Refuses to elaborate >Leaves

Well, for effective use, the entirety of the Sahara doesn’t need to be covered, just the hottest areas where no life can survive. If the gathered solar energy can converted efficiently, there are a lot of places on the continent that could use the energy to improve the lifestyle of the people living there.

All the people who are pouring in the problem statements are actually contributing in making this project a success. Great job guys post more negatives which can take place in this project so a better and robust Risk management plan can be created to make it a success.👍👍🎉

I like how he says "now you're probably wondering how solar panels work," as if he's going to explain it, then advertises his sponsor and leaves you in the dark

I can see a solar punk story called “The Glass Continent” where several cities are made across the Sahara and everyone is insulated in glass domes with unlimited air conditioning. Utopia has arrived!

I'm supposed to be looking up a "how to" for changing my water heater, but I'm just in my basement watching this 😆

Didn't expect you would end this educational clip with a commercial. Unbeautifully post.

5:37 For those wondering why are they arranged in a sunflower pattern, its because the sunflower pattern follows Fibonacci sequence and the useful part is that arrangement doesn't allow the shadow of one panel to cast on other panel

"North Africa becomes fertile for farming" Yeah, but in order to farm the now green land, you have to remove the panels covering the land.

Wendover Productions covered this topic and brought up the good point that there are very few routes to get the electricity from the Sahara to Europe and Asia. Upgrading the existing infrastructure would be quite expensive as well.

But wouldn't all the dust on the panels block them from accepting as much energy? Cos the wind storms there would have them covered the same day theyre installed

A man once said "Let us go to the sun" to his friend. His friend replied "Are you crazy? It is too hot, we will die!" The man then said "No you dummy, let us go at night".

When thinking about having the whole world’s source of electricity in one spot I can’t help to think about how crucial security would have to be for it (Hackers, terrorists, etc.).

"Let's assume the panels are 100% efficient"- Thermodynamics got shot on the face.

'Learn something new everyday at 20% off' got me there

51.4 trillion? Man, that's a *brilliant* amount of money.

"Assume that we turned on infinite money" *Let's Game It Out has awoken!*

I was scared he wouldn’t talk about the heat produced. Glad he did

The sand dust would cover them in few days and their efficiency will be lowered to 0

Generally speaking, you don't want to put all of your power resources in one single area. It simply makes it too easy in a conflict for an opposing power to completely take out your entire grid.

Some of you guys have smooth brains, did any of you ever consider that we could get raid shadow legends to sponsor the project and already have all the needed money

More "what if's" than my thoughts when hitting the snooze button in the morning.

Funding the project would be crazy and hard to organize in such a humid area

“Let’s just assume that we’ve turned on infinite money” I feel attacked

Though it probably will happen at some point in our future, the very act of constructing infrastructure into the heart of the hottest zone in the Sahara would require the road and construction crews to be equipped with what would probably have to be formerly used NASA space suits and massive water trucks. The heat and direct sunlight in the Sahara is almost otherworldly, especially as temperatures and UV rays only get more and more intense with each passing year. Working in the hot zone of the Saraha will eventually feel more like the surface of mercury than it does the surface of earth, the workers will need thermal and UV shielding and continuous hydration to work under sustained conditions. Once the infrastructure is in place and the solar plant is operational, this would no longer be necessary, as workers could be flown in via helicopter or plane in regulated shifts like an oil rig (or you could construct a bullet train with all the power the plant produces), but the building of the infrastructure alone would be an incredible feat of human engineering, innovation, and endurance that would last many years and billions of dollars to accomplish. That being said... if we ever hope to one day build something like a Dyson Sphere or a massive Solar Sail.. the Sahara's hot zone would be an excellent place to test and innovate the technology.

I love and hate technology, makes me wish I could live forever to see it all but I'm just a blip in time. Sad times.

I'm like really, finally,there is more then just hope for this admosfear I mean atmosphere

"We've filled up the Sahara with solar panels. What happens now?" War. War happens now

You’ll need lots of silver. The project would require more than the entire mined supply for years. This would push the price up and also the cost. I suppose someone calculated this.

Better than a “what if” Star Wars Fan fic.

I remmeber watching your videos when you had 100k subs lol

"UNLIMITED POWER!!!" Emperor Palpatine.

This video took me on a ride "oh that seems like a bad idea" "hey no this is a GREAT idea" "wait no bad bad bad" "hang on.. but it would be so great" "ok definitely no bad idea"

"Erik,we have enough banana farms already,stop placing banana facilities please,im trying to get a paragon."

Wait until sandstorms hear about your idea 🤣

"We would produce so much power we would never be able to use" Chinese Bitcoin miners: Hold my truckload of RTX

imagine being a soldier/security guard having to guard the cables from terrorists. Doesn't sound like a fun life

This video gives me hope for the future

On price per panel you have to imagine that the price would actually be closer to the lower end because of the large quantity they'll needs. The more you order the cheaper you can get them for.

The maintenance job for panels scattered across Sahara is gonna be tough xD

Cover the sun in solar panels. Imagine how much energy we’ll get!

Quick question. Because the solar panels absorbing heat would terraform the Sahara. Would coloring the Sahara darker have the same effect? We could drop some sort of paint or material from planes, similar to how wildfires are put out, to color the Sahara to a color that would absorb more heat, in turn causing the same positive feedback loop that covering the Sahara in solar panels would have.

Video was super entertaining & provided some solid information. The only thing I wish was mentioned was the cost the world is paying for its energy yearly. That would provide a great comparison point to see if plan is truly cost effective

I have a better one, what if we painted everything above the Arctic circle all white?

Wanted: Professional swiffer operator. Must like working outdoors.

Good luck keeping them clean and safe.

The issue is that power doesn't store well. It's also difficult to transport over distances, there's too much energy loss. That is why we don't have panels all over the deserts in California to power the rest of the US. The energy depletes over distances.

There would also be the challenge of replacing them every 20 years or so.

Let's remind everyone that a Sahara sized solar array would also become the greatest no fly zone for birds ever.

That is a great idea!!!!!

Honestly the Perimeter sounds like the best course of action. especially for now and built upon later as needed. Also would need to be protected against terror/military campaigns

Moroccan here. Feels good to see something positive about my country 😍😎😎🇲🇦🇲🇦

Chad with no roads in the northern half of the country: *I'm just built different*

Fine RU-vid ill watch… anyone else recommended this video about a hundred times?

I love the ost on this

One dust storm and you'd be out there cleaning billions of panels. It would be an up keep nightmare

There's people that live in the Sahara, who've never seen a cloud. That's wild.

Nice video my friend 😮

Good luck keeping them clean.

Who’s cleaning them? You’ll need several small armies cleaning it daily.

Humans : cover all Sahara desert in solar panels Sun : dies

Imagine the amount of maintenance that those solar panels would require. You'd need an entire country, millions of people fully dedicated to that.

Good luck watering those powerplants in the middle of a desert.

To clean the sand off, each solar panel would need to be attached to a robot arm. The robot arm would need to flip the solar panels upside down regularly to shake the sand off. You would definitely need some robots to clean those panels. No human is going to work there.

"For reference, thats nearly four times the amount of annual sunlight that germany gets!" *Cries in Iceland*

This idea has the same energy as “oh why dont people suffering from dehydraion just drink ocean water theres so much of it”

Right of the bat, I can think of a problem similar to solar panels usage in Mars: dust storms. Sand would need to be constantly cleaned, as the sand would mess up light reception

Sand grains: I am gonna end this man's whole career

“Turn on Infinite Money” German Hyperinflation: Hold my Lederhosen.

It is not the solar panels that are expensive, but the means for energy storage. Currently, it is not possible to efficiently store solar energy on a large scale.

The other thing that a lot of these solar energy enthusiasts don’t take into consideration is the ramp up of electricity usage especially as electric cars are becoming the only manufactured cars in alot of countries. When do most people charge they’re electric cars? At night when the solar plant isn’t producing any power.

2:33 Morocco isn't going to sell surplus energy to Europe. It's the opposite, Europe built this energy station in Morocco and it will sell some surpluses to Morocco for a hefty price.

"First step, let's just make up numbers." Wow, genius

title: what if thumbnail: what will happen so we're doing it?

"let's just assume we turned on infinite money" me: "is it possible to learn this technique"

The Sahara desert is like a slow motion undulating sea in continuous motion.the logistics of keeping the panels above the sand and clean would be staggering. And how long does a solar panel last in a sand blaster.

"Let's just assume that we turned on infinite money" *Sweet Home Venezuela*

The desert has an abundant supply of sunlight

Great video, but another factor for building solar farms on the edge of the Sahara is to lower the distance the electricity needs to be transmitted. Transmission infrastructure is expensive too, as well as having a limit to amount and distance energy can be transmitted.

Let’s save this idea until our sun is infected with Astrophage

Interesting synopsis, but you’re leaving out two of the most important aspects: 1. What’s the environmental cost to produce all of those solar panels, and how long will they last? 2. How would you keep the PV surface clean so they actually produce the max output they’re capable of?

The more realistic solution is get a solar-friendly cute dictator in one of the Saharan countries and let give him most of the land for solar farms.

This guy must’ve skipped the part in business class that bulk pricing can chop prices by as much as 70%

One problem: Sand. There are literally entire pyramids buried in the sand yet to be rediscovered.

As soon as I heard 'turning on infinite money' I immediately thought of Cities: Skylines!

If they wanted to make electricity cheap they would. NATO in a few years could power themselves completely and make the economy boom with the jobs created. It’s not bc they can’t, it’s about control and the fact it’s more money. Also they could do massive bio domes to make massive farms, less unpredictable weather as well. More stable farming and more reliable. Once again. There are a lot of east ways to solve our problems. It’s a matter of they don’t want to.

Magnificent video. Well done! ♡