The local high school has a whole hillside beside it covered with solar panels. A huge eyesore that produces 25% of the electric needed. Just imagine what a city like Chicago would require.
Elon reckons you could power the entire USA off a 10-mile x 10-mile solar farm. The number may be different, but it is surprisingly small. The trick is building the infrastructure to distribute the power. And storing it when the sun does not shine. Or you need solar farms spaced so the sun's light is constantly captured, even though some days may be cloudy. How about solar farms in the ocean?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-07-13/china-takes-solar-farms-to-sea-in-next-clean-energy-breakthrough#xj4y7vzkgA Type I civilization is able to access all the energy available on its planet and store it for consumption. Hypothetically, they should also be able to control natural events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc.
A Type II civilization can directly consume a star's energy, most likely through the use of a Dyson sphere.
A Type III civilization is able to capture all the energy emitted by its galaxy, and every object within it, such as every star, black hole, etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale
