Sustainable Energy

Question

A location at an altitude of 1,220 m recieves annual rainfall of 790 mm. Calculate the average power density of rainwater in W/m2. You may assume that every drop of rain is captured in a dam and runs down to sea level.

Answer 1

Hi Sean L.,

Nothing "recieves". Not a word in English! (hint: check spelling?)

So you have a mass of water (depth x area) and a height, that gives you potential energy. Divide by time (a year), and do the units conversions.

P.S. As a "potential" future engineer, you might want to compare the energy from a solar array in the same location. You need to make some estimates of location, thus (look it up) solar hours, conversion efficiency to electricity, etc. Perhaps even use the solar array to pump water back up for daily energy storage? Additional thought: estimate lifetime of array, given earthquake history of your site(s)!

-- Cheers, --Mr. d.