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From: amirza@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (anmar mirza)
Newsgroups: sci.energy,sci.electronics,sci.physics
Subject: Re: solar cells
Message-ID: <1991Jan3.182453.27403@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu>
Date: 3 Jan 91 18:24:53 GMT
References: <1991Jan2.015717.23554@amd.com> <37487@cup.portal.com> <1569@manta.NOSC.MIL>
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In article <1569@manta.NOSC.MIL> north@manta.nosc.mil.UUCP (Mark H. North) writes:

>done the calculation for my energy use and my house and found that it
>would double the cost of my house (I have a fairly expensive house). If it's
>possible for me as an individual (though painful) it should be possible for
>a country as a whole, no? Particularly when amortized over a hundred years
>or so.

Really? Wow! You must use a *huge* amount of power. 

For a *total* system, panels, inverters, batteries, control circuitry,
trackers, wiring and distribution panels (appliances are
not figured in due to the rather variable nature of them) I estimate
an *average* cost of around $60 a kWh/month. So if your home uses
1000 kWh a month it will cost around $60,000 for a total system,
amortized over 30 years. I figure after about another $20,000 (not
inflation adjusted) to overhual the system. Of course, the overhual
can be done in stages, so the cost isn't all at once, rather spread
out over 10 years or so. The $60 a kWh/month figure is an average. The
most expensive is when people are in the 500 kWh per month range, then
the cost is near $90 a kWh/month. The cheapest is for people who use
under 150 kWh/month, then the cost goes down to around $50 a
kWh/month. These are all for my area, with 4.5 hours peak average
sunlight. Areas farther north will be more expensive, and areas with
more sun will be cheaper.
There is an interesting curve on the prices, as the inverters,
batteries, panels, and wiring/distribution panels all interact
differently at different levels.
The cheapest is a hybrid system. a wind/solar or hydro/solar work very
well together, or even a wind/hydro/solar system. Hydro and solar work
very well for my area because in the late fall, winter and spring,
when the sun is least, there is usually more water. Hybrid systems can
bring the cost down to as low as $25 a kWh/month.
Also keep in mind, there is no absolute price, each system has it's
own costs, and can vary widely for the same monthly power consumption.


I am working on designing a system that will power a small community, 
(around 1000 people). As soon as I get cost estimates I'll post them.


--
Anmar Mirza   # If a product is good, # I speak only my   # Space, humans next
EMT-A         # they will stop making # opinions on these # goal in the race 
N9ISY (tech)  # it. Unless it is      # subjects, IU has  # for immortality.
Networks Tech.# designed to kill.     # it's own.         # --- me