Re: Solar Panels Cost of Ownership

I was just doing the math on this again this week.  Actually I was analyzing my panels for CO2, but I came up with a roundabout number for *just the panels* excluding the BOS, installation and everything else of about $1/W(electric) at 56 deg North latitude and 12% efficiency.

Next I computed how much energy a panel of a given rating would produce in an average year, and that computes to a dollar value like this:

I assume the cost of electricity is $166/MWh (or 16 2/3 cents per kWh) then the payback on the panels was 5 years 8hr 6min or there about.  That's based on nothing else than the avoided cost of the energy.

Now it's time for the shocking comparison.  My panels are CSP not PV, a PV panel todat costs $4.83
per Watt http://www.solarbuzz.com/ 14 dec 2007. If you just multiply my 5years / $1/W by 4.83$/W you can see that your newborn will be graduating college when the panels recover their cost in energy.

OK, OK, these are simplified straight line computations not real world estimates.  Incentives for PV skew the computations that comparison, are difficult if not meaningless.

Is PV a good idea? Yes! You don't have to ask me twice.  Do you have to be wealthy to sign on?  Yup, you do...   Will a PV module wear out on 20 years?  Not entirely... It won't do what it did when it was new figure 2-3% degradation per year.  But, the $$$ value it'll produce will almost certainly be more then than it is today, figure 6% per year!

I'm just trying to get folks to realize that the other solution to solar is a giant step ahead of the currently accepted expensive paradigm of PV. 

The Light is Green!