Does Solar Power Contribute to Global Warming?

[john t]

Does use of solar panels or other radiation capturing technologies in itself warm the earth? Since solar energy is radiated partially back to space, then, when a portion of it is captured and converted to electricity which performs work and rseleases heat (e.g. in transmission lines) it would seem we are radiating less back to space. Or, in fact does that released energy on Earth wind up going back to space just as efficiently through infrared radiation.

 

[DrClaude]

You have to compare with what is under the solar panel. If it is a black roof, then the reflection has not changed. In some cases, there could indeed be less Sunlight directly reflected back to space. But the overall change will be too small to measure.

 

[olivermsun]

There's an interesting follow-on question that one could consider. Suppose you imagine an extreme future scenario where all human consumption of energy comes from solar panels installed in white sand deserts. In this case you are replacing high albedo surface area with low albedo panels which must absorb more than 4 – 5x the final energy consumption assuming a 20% to 25% efficiency for the solar panels. Now you are getting to a number which might actually be measurable relative to the net energy imbalance that is warming the earth.