Why don’t we cover the desert with solar panels? - Dan Kwartler episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 4, 2026 · 8 MIN

Why don’t we cover the desert with solar panels? - Dan Kwartler

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Explore what would happen if we covered the Sahara Desert in solar panels, and the possibility of it solving our energy crisis. --Stretching over roughly nine million square kilometers and with sands reaching temperatures of up to 80° Celsius, the Sahara Desert receives about 22 million terawatt hours of energy from the Sun every year. That’s well over 100 times more energy than humanity consumes annually. So, could covering the desert with solar panels solve our energy problems? Dan Kwartler digs into the possibility.Lesson by Dan Kwartler, directed by Christoph Sarow, AIM Creative Studios.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-don-t-we-cover-the-desert-with-solar-panels-dan-kwartlerDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-don-t-we-cover-the-desert-with-solar-panels-dan-kwartler#digdeeperAnimator's website: http://aimcreativestudios.com----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Filip Dabrowski, Barbara Smalley, Megan Douglas, Tim Leistikow, Ka-Hei Law, Hiroshi Uchiyama, Mark Morris, Misaki Sato, EdoKun, Boytsov Ilya, SookKwan Loong, Bev Millar, Lex Azevedo, Noa Shore, Michael Aquilina, Jason A Saslow, Dawn Jordan, Prasanth Mathialagan, Samuel Doerle, David Rosario, Dominik Kugelmann - they-them, Siamak H, Ryohky Araya, Mayank Kaul, Christophe Dessalles, Heather Slater, Sandra Tersluisen, Zhexi Shan, Bárbara Nazaré, Andrea Feliz, Victor E Karhel, Sydney Evans, Latora Slydell, Noel Situ, emily lam, Sid, Kent Logan, Alexandra Panzer, John Hellmann, Poompak Meephian, Chuck Wofford, Daniel Erickson, frank goto, Jayson Hauschild, J D Wallace, Marq Short, Chen Jun Xiang, Adam Pagan, Paul Schultz and Behzad Farhanieh. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Explore what would happen if we covered the Sahara Desert in solar panels, and the possibility of it solving our energy crisis. --Stretching over roughly nine million square kilometers and with sands reaching temperatures of up to 80° Celsius, the Sahara Desert receives about 22 million terawatt hours of energy from the Sun every year. That’s well over 100 times more energy than humanity consumes annually. So, could covering the desert with solar panels solve our energy problems? Dan Kwartler digs into the possibility.Lesson by Dan Kwartler, directed by Christoph Sarow, AIM Creative Studios.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-don-t-we-cover-the-desert-with-solar-panels-dan-kwartlerDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-don-t-we-cover-the-desert-with-solar-panels-dan-kwartler#digdeeperAnimator's website: http://aimcreativestudios.com----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Filip Dabrowski, Barbara Smalley, Megan Douglas, Tim Leistikow, Ka-Hei Law, Hiroshi Uchiyama, Mark Morris, Misaki Sato, EdoKun, Boytsov Ilya, SookKwan Loong, Bev Millar, Lex Azevedo, Noa Shore, Michael Aquilina, Jason A Saslow, Dawn Jordan, Prasanth Mathialagan, Samuel Doerle, David Rosario, Dominik Kugelmann - they-them, Siamak H, Ryohky Araya, Mayank Kaul, Christophe Dessalles, Heather Slater, Sandra Tersluisen, Zhexi Shan, Bárbara Nazaré, Andrea Feliz, Victor E Karhel, Sydney Evans, Latora Slydell, Noel Situ, emily lam, Sid, Kent Logan, Alexandra Panzer, John Hellmann, Poompak Meephian, Chuck Wofford, Daniel Erickson, frank goto, Jayson Hauschild, J D Wallace, Marq Short, Chen Jun Xiang, Adam Pagan, Paul Schultz and Behzad Farhanieh. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Why don’t we cover the desert with solar panels? - Dan Kwartler

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Explore what would happen if we covered the Sahara Desert in solar panels, and the possibility of it solving our energy crisis. --Stretching over roughly nine million square kilometers and with sands reaching temperatures of up to 80° Celsius, the...

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