[pmontra]

Many countries would have to buy nuclear fuel from other countries much like they do for gas and oil. On the other side very few countries can build their own solar panels so it seems the same sort of problem. However if you accept to depend from potential hostile countries at least solar panels don't do much harm when they fail and it takes very little effort to install the equivalent amount of power of a nuclear power plant. If we only could all get along and have a global power grid with always 12 hours of sunshine on it.

[devmor]

Until we solve the storage problem, the manufacture of batteries required to store solar power at night and during other low generation times is actively doing harm even without failing.

I don’t think this invalidates your point but I do think it is incredibly important to recognize that environmental harm done slowly over time is no less impactful than that done by a disaster.

[fallingknife]

Unfortunately the arrangement of the continents would require undersea transmission lines for this. Would be an interesting future where the Bering Strait is the most valuable real estate on Earth for the American-Euraisian grid connection. But more likely we would build fusion reactors or get over our nuclear phobia before building something like that.

[abdullahkhalids]

Most country that can invest a few hundred million can build their own solar panels that will be significantly cheaper than existing and future fossil fuel prices. It's just those panels will be 2x+ the price of those produced in China. So can't compete in the free market.

[bmacho]

You can do solar energy with mirrors (the ancient Greeks were able to produce that) and steam turbine/stirling generator.

[pmontra]

Yes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentrated_solar_power but that's not something anybody can install at home.