20 Billion is a rough guide. Apparently this estimate is approximate to 100% It also depends on lots variables, like - for a large powerline the towers can cost $1M each. I also assume the initial cost does not include maintenance costs.

Maintenance costs exist, but they can also extend the lifespan well past 50 years. So it’s all a big cost vs benefit tradeoff where maintenance occurs because it’s a net gain.

The point is the upfront costs aren’t actually that significant.

> 20 billion for infrastructure that lasts 50 years

Average solar panels last 20-30 at most right now just fyi

50 years is practically right out of the question

There are several 50 year old solar installations that are still working fine. They've only degraded 10%-20% or so. The reason that they are typically replaced after ~20 years is that the technology has gotten so much better that you can replace the old panels with new ones and get 4X the power in the same space. The wires and the mounts are worth more than the panels, so reuse those with modern panels.

Do you have any real study on this?

Considering they work by basically taking electrons from the material, they are guaranteed to get much less efficient and I doubt it's a linear effect. I think once you have destroyed the first layers, it becomes much more complicated to get meaningful power depending on variables.

Solar panel talk always focuses on the ideal conditions like California, but you have to account that plenty the energy transition is necessary in place where solar panels are not that efficient to begin with.

“We can also build power lines! Between different places!”

The actual panels themselves are a different kind of infrastructure.