The cost to put solar panels in the Sahara desert is in the trillions of dollars, especially if the goal is to power the entire world and the cost would be a significant portion of the world's GDP, and potentially even exceed it by a large margin.
The cost and transportation as well as the installation and infrastructure costs in a remote location such as the Sahara desert would be substantial and potentially even cost or exceed $1,000 for each solar panel.
Building a power grid as well as transmission lines across the Sahara desert would also be an enormous undertaking and also require significant investment.
It's just not feasible or financially worth it to place any solar panels in the Sahara desert.
Although solar can help the environment it can also hurt the environment through the production and disposal of the solar panels as well as through the installation in large solar farms which can impact the environment negatively including loss of habitats and water usage as well as the use of materials that are hazardous in the manufacturing and recycling of the solar panels.
Solar panels and especially solar farms can also cause interference with rainfall and drainage or even cause direct contact causing injury or death to wildlife.
And the clearing and use of large areas of land for solar farms can adversely affect the native wildlife and vegetation in several ways which also include the loss of habitat along with the above mentioned interference with the rainfall and drainage and death of animals.
Rooftop solar is the future for many people but not for everyone.
Rooftop solar is not for everyone and for some people they may not be able to recover the cost if they have cheap electricity rates and for others with high electricity costs the solar panels on the roof can be a good option to help them save money.
However in some places such as HOA neighborhoods they may not allow solar panels to be installed or if you live in an area where you have more cloudy days than sunny days then solar panels may not be a good option for you.
Although America's potential for rooftop solar is huge and growing but it's just not for everyone.
The reason why solar energy is not used widely is due to cost, storage challenges and intermittency.
Solar panels are becoming more affordable than they used to be although they still are more expensive than other energy sources such as coal and hydro and natural gas.
Solar also relies on sunlight and ample storage of electricity in batteries as well as inverters to convert the DC power to AC which an also be costly.
And when the sun does not shine it does not produce electricity so we still need coal, natural gas, nuclear etc for electricity and cannot rely solely on solar power.
Solar panels can take around 6 to 8 or even 13 years to pay back themselves and to start seeing savings on your electricity costs depending on how big of a solar panel system you have.
For some people the costs for solar panels and solar panel systems may never be paid back and some people can purchase electricity cheaper over the time it takes for solar panels and solar panel systems to start to pay off.
If everyone used solar energy, the world would have significant environmental as well as economic benefits as well as potential shift sin electricity grids and climate patterns.
The world would also have cleaner air and water and reduced pollution as well as stabilization of the climate.
However making the solar panels requires natural resources as well which can be bad for the environment and recycling of old solar panels can be a challenge in some locations.
If everyone used solar energy, we would also end up with a large excess of energy during the sunny times but unless there is battery storage then the energy would be wasted.
Widespread use of solar panels would also decrease the absorption of solar radiation by around 19 percent in desert areas.
Solar energy is cheap to operate although solar energy can be expensive to install and purchase all the needed equipment.
You not only need the solar panels but you also need battery banks for storage of the solar power as well as an inverter to convert the DC to AC power to operate your 110 to 220 volt electrical appliances and electronics etc.
The actual cost of the solar panels and inverters and batteries will depend on how many solar panels you need, how many batteries you need and the size of inverter you need.
The more power you need from the solar panels the more expensive it will be.
However solar panels have gone down in price since they first came out but they can still be expensive if you want a large solar panel setup.
In some cases you may be able to recoup the cost of the solar panels and equipment over time depending your electricity rates and how much electricity you use but for some people they may never recoup the cost.
Solar and wind energy are renewable energy sources that have low operating costs which are even lower than fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, coal etc.
However installing solar panels and wind generators can be expensive, especially when you need to install a huge solar farm or install large wind turbines.
For homes you would need to install a lot of solar panels as well if using solar energy along with the battery banks and inverters that can raise the cost into thousands of dollars which can take over a decade or longer to pay back.
However for small solar panel setups the cost can be recovered pretty quickly and you can use solar part time and use your normal electricity when you need more power.
Also improved efficiency of solar panels and wind turbines, along with the competition among renewable energy providers have also lead to lower costs.
Natural gas for electricity generation is sometimes cheaper in some areas for a power plant to operate steam turbine generators and in other places the coal can be cheaper to burn to make steam to power the steam turbine generators.
We still do need natural gas and coal power plants as well as nuclear power plants because solar panels and wind turbines cannot provide the entire world with enough power.
And solar only works when the sun is shining and wind turbines only work when the wind is blowing enough to spin the wind turbines.