Monday, August 18, 2008

Solar Power for Africa?

David Wheeler, from the Center for Global Development has been excoriating his old employer, the World Bank, for living in the past and continuing to help fund coal fired energy projects. Here is a graph of the most favorable spots on Earth for solar power generation:

2 comments:

Tom said...

I'm guessing the chart is based on insolation only. When you factor in political stability, the Sahara region will look much less attractive. All that ocean in red will have some other drawbacks, too.

Neil West said...

Solar insolation values are highest where the wear and tear on solar panels are the highest. Solar panel delamination and power storage costs are killers in hot areas. Unfortunately, costs per kilowatt hour for solar is very high in these very "suitable" areas.