Landfills and Solar Panels: where they belong

how many acres of landfill are there in the usa and how much electricity could we generate if we covered 50% of it with solar panels

Estimates indicate there are at least 1.8 million acres of landfill in the 

United States, and potentially millions more from thousands of older, closed sites. If 50% of the currently identified landfill area were covered with solar panels, it could produce 41.65 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity each year. 

Landfill acres in the USA

• The 3,000+ active landfills in the US occupy an estimated 1.8 million acres. This is based on an average size of 600 acres per landfill.
• There are an additional 10,000+ closed or inactive municipal landfills across the country, many of which were not included in this acreage estimate. 

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Electricity generated from covering 50% of landfills with solar panels

Based on a study of closed landfills, covering just a portion of these sites could yield substantial electricity production. 

• Total Potential: Researchers identified 4,314 landfills (from the larger group of 10,000+ closed sites) that could be good candidates for solar energy. Covering these sites could generate 83.3 TWh of energy per year.
• Capacity: This is equivalent to a solar capacity of 63.2 gigawatts (GW).
• 50% of landfill potential: The study covers less than half of the 10,000+ closed landfills in the US. If the potential of 83.3 TWh is assumed to represent 100% of the documented potential, covering 50% of this capacity would generate 41.65 TWh of electricity per year.
• Comparison: To put this into perspective, 83.3 TWh is enough to power 7.8 million homes annually.