Originally Posted by Irishguy
A typical solar farm generates between 0.15 and 0.2 megawatts of electricity per acre. This can vary based on factors like panel efficiency, location, and available sunlight.

So to round that out, that works out to about 100 megawatts per 640 acres which is 1 square mile. So 100 megawatts per square mile.

A typical large coal burning power plant can like Plant Bowen between Rome and Cartersville, Georgia produces 3,450 megawatts.

So it would take 340 square miles to produce as much solar power as a large coal power plant.

That would be most of Etowah County, Alabama completely covered in solar panels.

The solar projects I have mitigated are basically a full section or a half section. so thats 640 acres or 320.
The reason these data centers are going for solar is speed, not for being green and anti-coal or anti-nuclear. A solar farm can be planned and be generating power within a year. They dont generate power like a burner plant does but they get built much faster. Any kind of burner plant (coal, gas, nuclear) takes much longer. Even if the regulations that slow them down were tossed, they still have to be built. A solar farm can be built damn near overnight and they can start generating power as soon as the first panel is set in place.

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