I will believe the Saudis don't see any upcoming problems with Ghawar when they cancel one of their projects due to low oil prices. If they continue to be full steam ahead with increasing their capacity then I think they are aware that Ghawar may not be as robust in 5 years time as they would like us to believe.
Joined: Mar 04, 2005 Posts: 2729 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:40 pm Post subject: Market warming to cheaper solar panels
Market warming to cheaper solar panels
Quote:
THIS COUNTRY'S renewable energy sector could be approaching a tipping point as solar panels become affordable for homes and offices.
The involvement of large power companies is shaking up the sector and bringing down prices.
This week Elemental Energy, half- owned by giant power company Meridian Energy, will start leasing solar panels and micro wind turbines to its customers, allowing businesses to treat the cost as a tax deductible expense and considerably improving the technology's economic viability.
The total cost of installing solar panels, the most viable renewable energy system for urban environments, is in the range of $9 to $13 per watt of power they produce, according to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority.
That is changing as bigger players enter the market and start to cut out the middlemen, building vertically-integrated companies which do everything from importing the equipment to installing it. The volume of work they do also gives them better economies of scale, allowing them to reduce prices.
Until recently many power companies would pay far less for the power they received from a customer's solar panels than they would charge for any power the customer drew from the network.
Now some power companies are equalising their rates, which dramatically reduces the time it takes for a renewable system to pay for itself through savings on the power bill.
Business customers could usually expect solar panels to pay for themselves in 10-15 years, and if they were in a windy location where they could install a turbine, that could come down to five years.
stuff _________________ Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. H. G. Wells.
Fatih Birol's motto: leave oil before it leaves us.
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:44 pm Post subject: Re: Market warming to cheaper solar panels
Problem is, at $9/watt the price is ridiculous. I have a 7KVA aircond, so I would need to spend $63,000 to power it alone, using solar power. The cost of these panels would be amortized after 35 years. I have no idea how they came up with the 10-15 years number. Maybe they assume cost of electricity will go through the roof...
The other thing they don't tell you is that these panels will not last forever. I am sure that after 35 years the panels will output squat.
Manufacturers datasheets show the output efficiency drops below 80% after 10 years and I believe it becomes something like 20% after 20 years.
So I'm not a keen buyer right now. Maybe, if the price drops to below $1/W or if the useful life of these panels is increased to 50 years, I might change my mind. This might happen one day.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
News
Discussions
Resources
Members
Forum FAQ
Search
Usergroups
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
