The argument that enough sunlight falls on the Earth to power everything we need many times over (two examples) is inherently flawed, and obnoxiously disingenuous. Sure, that much light hits the surface (or whatever we’ve built on the surface), but that doesn’t mean it’s not going for any purpose. If we were to coat all buildings with solar panels, that would be good, but I’ve got my doubts as to whether that would be enough to replace all of the industrial, commercial, agricultural, etc. requirements that are currently filled by fossil fuels. (It’s beside the point, and I don’t really care enough to figure it out for myself, but if you’re feeling ambitious, go for it.)
That leaves all of the rest of the surface area that’s not collecting sunlight to generate power. Most of that area is covered by ocean, which grows plankton and other things which kinda need that light input for their own purposes – like soaking up CO2. So no, that’s not available. That leaves the land area, most of which is covered by green vegetation (wild or cultivated), which is similarly off-limits. Then there’s also the roads, which we can’t get any kind of good, permanent, durable cover on, let alone a photovoltaic one, so that’s a complete loss.
I’d like to see someone do an accurate estimate of how much usable solar energy (after conversion losses) hits the parts of the Earth that it can reasonably be harvested from.
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