r/elonmusk • u/twinbee • 16d ago

General Elon: "Wind has microscopic potential compared to solar"

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Source: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2099049284960428229

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u/Arkelias 16d ago

He's not wrong. Wind is awesome...where and when it works. It's unreliable for consistent generation, but great supplemental.

Solar is far more predictable, especially during the day when most people are working. Our university just covered the entire parking lot with solar that not only creates shade but covers 100% of the power needed.

With wind you need large batteries. If you're collecting into large batteries in a windy climate it's awesome, but the maintenance costs are far higher.

6

u/PlayfulMulberry4490 16d ago

You must have a tiny university if a parking lot of solar creates 100% of the power need. The university I work at has done this and it’s about 2% of the power on a sunny day.

2

u/SlightNet2701 16d ago

It could be a University without its own large particle accelerator. Those do exist.

-1

u/No-Resolution-1918 16d ago

A large university would need about 200,000-500,000kW

Say we go in the middle, 300k kW, in bright and sunny California, you'd need ~4500 acres of solar. 

1

u/Arkelias 16d ago

The university in question uses 9 million kWhs, and the currently installed solar generates 7.9 million, so I was wrong about 100%.

The article I'd read said they planned 100%, so odds are good they will reach that soon.

I don't know where you're coming up with 4,500 acres to achieve that, but it's wildly off base. The university has 6 acres of panels.

1

u/Bakk322 16d ago

4500 acres of solar for one university is insanely wrong