U.S. Renewable Energy: Defining 'Potential'

Renewable Energy Technical Potential

Figure 1: Defining 'Potential'
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July 2012 - Renewable energy technical potential as defined in this report: U.S. Renewable Energy Technical Potentials: A GIS-Based AnalysisPDF represents the achievable energy generation of a particular technology given system performance, topographic limitations, environmental, and land-use constraints. The primary benefit of assessing technical potential is that it establishes an upper-boundary estimate of development potential. It is important to understand that there are multiple types of potential—resource, technical, economic, and market—each seen in Figure 1 with its key assumptions. Visit Site for much more.

U.S. Renewable Energy Technical Potential

National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Solar Has The Most Potential Of Any Renewable Energy Source

July 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 about 400,000 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: read more>>>