There’s an article from Lake Havasu AZ (08/21/08) about a church which installed a solar roof. It cost $100K and they expect to save $20K per year. It helps that they can get various rebates. One point is that the church is only heavily used one day a week and can sell a lot of the electricity that they generate to the grid.
The article also mentions that the average residential installation in AZ is 4 to 7 kW and costs about $8/W. The church cost was slightly less ($7.14/W for 14kW), suggesting that the cost benefit scales only slightly.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Tidal Power
According to Technology Review (online - 29 June 08) a 1.8 MW Irish tidal power project will cost $7-8 per W and provide the 1.2 kW needed per home.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Ethanol abd Food Prices
There was a story on NPR this morning about rising food prices due to increased demand for corn to make ethanol. On one side there was a claim that 35 percent of the rise was due to ethanol, while the other claimed five percent. I’m fairly sure that this is a manifestation of the Chernobyl Syndrome - the estimate depends on the position of the advocate.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Wind Power (Champaign County)
The Columbus Dispatch for 27 July 2008 had an article about a proposed wind farm in Champaign County (about 50 mi NW of Columbus). Data were:
130 turbines
$500 million cost
Each turbine will supply 800 homes
From this, I deduce:
Output = 2.3 MW/turbine = 2.9 kW/home
Cost = $3.85 million/turbine = $1.67/watt
This all seems reasonable. In light of other estimates I have seen.
130 turbines
$500 million cost
Each turbine will supply 800 homes
From this, I deduce:
Output = 2.3 MW/turbine = 2.9 kW/home
Cost = $3.85 million/turbine = $1.67/watt
This all seems reasonable. In light of other estimates I have seen.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Solar Cost
Paraphrased from: , January 09, 2008
Ann plans to have a solar roof installed. It will be a mini-generator (all of the electricity will go to the grid). She will be receiving 42 cents per kWh over a 20 year term. The current rate she is paying is set by the local utility, Toronto Hydro, and not the province. It is approximately 11 cents per KWh.
The cost for a rated power of 2.34 kW is $22,485 (current exchange rate = 1:1) or $9.59/Watt. The is at the high end of the current price range of $8-10/W.
---------------------------------------------
An ad in Technology Review for July/Aug 2008 by SolFocus states that they will soon be producing photovoltaic for $0.24-0.28/W. and expect the priec to drop by half in two years. Still expensive!!
------------------------------------------
More from Jerry:
You can check these websites for further information:
www.powerauthority.on.ca For further information on the Standard Offer
Contract
www.ontario-sea.org The Ontario Sustainable Energy Association. Their
recent report 'Renewables Without Limits' is the best critique I've read
of the current Standard Offer Contract, and offers a clear overview of
similar programs around the world.
www.wind-works.org Paul Gipe's website. He wrote the OSEA report, is
the acknowledged expert in this field, and the website will keep you
up-to-date on developments in the USofA. Paul can be a great help to you,
his email address is pgipe@igc.org.
Ann plans to have a solar roof installed. It will be a mini-generator (all of the electricity will go to the grid). She will be receiving 42 cents per kWh over a 20 year term. The current rate she is paying is set by the local utility, Toronto Hydro, and not the province. It is approximately 11 cents per KWh.
The cost for a rated power of 2.34 kW is $22,485 (current exchange rate = 1:1) or $9.59/Watt. The is at the high end of the current price range of $8-10/W.
---------------------------------------------
An ad in Technology Review for July/Aug 2008 by SolFocus states that they will soon be producing photovoltaic for $0.24-0.28/W. and expect the priec to drop by half in two years. Still expensive!!
------------------------------------------
More from Jerry:
You can check these websites for further information:
www.powerauthority.on.ca For further information on the Standard Offer
Contract
www.ontario-sea.org The Ontario Sustainable Energy Association. Their
recent report 'Renewables Without Limits' is the best critique I've read
of the current Standard Offer Contract, and offers a clear overview of
similar programs around the world.
www.wind-works.org Paul Gipe's website. He wrote the OSEA report, is
the acknowledged expert in this field, and the website will keep you
up-to-date on developments in the USofA. Paul can be a great help to you,
his email address is pgipe@igc.org.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Wind Over-power
I saw an ad in Smithsonian (July 2008) for wind power. They claim that the US has 18GW, enough for 5 million households. This amounts to 3.6kW per household.
At the same time technologyreview.com reported that a waste to energy plant in Ottawa will produce 21MW per day, enough to power 19,000 homes - i.e. 1.1 kW per home. Lacking a better estimate, I'm assuming that other steady burners (coal and nuclear) also produce 1.1 kW per household.
The reason for this difference is that the wind doesn't always blow; storage batteries can be charged when the turbine produces more electricity than is needed. Even so, wind is not yet a reasonable source for a steady 24/7 electric supply.
At the same time technologyreview.com reported that a waste to energy plant in Ottawa will produce 21MW per day, enough to power 19,000 homes - i.e. 1.1 kW per home. Lacking a better estimate, I'm assuming that other steady burners (coal and nuclear) also produce 1.1 kW per household.
The reason for this difference is that the wind doesn't always blow; storage batteries can be charged when the turbine produces more electricity than is needed. Even so, wind is not yet a reasonable source for a steady 24/7 electric supply.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Solar Opposition - Further to 20 June
According to AP (15 June 2008) there is opposition to an electric transmission line connecting proposed renewable electricity sources (solar, wind, geothermal) through the desert to San Diego. Apparently, it would 'ruin' the desert scenery.
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