Is solar panel cost effective?

I hold the view that photovoltaic panels are not cost effective at this moment (solar energy to electric energy conversion efficiency is only up to 20%; to power a TV, you need over 1 sqm of panels and one 175W panel costs A$1100, see: http://www.solazone.com.au/PVpanels.htm ).

Now go to that link and look at some real numbers!

175W panel cost A$1100.

Now, look at the tariff rates here:
http://www.ipart.nsw.gov.au/documents/EA_Residential_and_business_price_list_2009.pdf

Now, if I assume the buy back rate of : 60 cents/kWh

The solar panel needs to generate : $1100 / 0.60 kWh of electricity to pay for itself. This is 1833 kWh.

For this panel to generate 1833 kWh of electricty, it takes 1833 / 0.175 = 10476 hours of full capacity generation.

The solar annual solar availability is about 2,000 to 2,500 hours pa. (Note that there are 8760 hours per year.) So it takes 10476 / 2250 = 4.7 years to break even the cost. This assumes you don't use electricity and the full PV generated energy goes into the grid.

So unless you are really keen to "show" your committment to ESD, solar panels (photovoltaic panels) are not cost effective if you already have connection to the power grid.

P.S. The story would be somehow different with remote areas where generators or power lines are required to supply electricty. By that time, the comparison will be the installation and running costs of generators and power lines. PV panels will be attractive for those applications.

Energy prices - which way can they go?

Well, my wife just asked me which way will the prices of energy, particularly, electrcity go?

Which way can the prices go? What do you think?

One way only ..... UP!!

Why?

TBC.

Where is the solution to Global Warming? Science? Are you serious?

Here's the link to my netfriend's blog about Is science the key to global warming?

(I have contacted him and he is OK for me to cut and paste his work.)

Where is the solution to Global Warming? Is Science the key to Global Warming? Or should we ask "Is Global Warming the only issue we are facing?"

Do you think we can sit there, do nothing, (actually complaining the "lack" of air conditioning), and "business as usual"?

Get real!

The world is changing, unfortunately, for worse.

Here are a few points from the linked blog (and my thoughts):

• Scientific proof is not the key point to the existence or non-existence of Global Warming. By the time we have good understandings of what's happening, the circumstances may have changed to some thing yet different again. And the proposition that we can (completely) understand the science of Global Warming is merely wishful thinking. The nature (or environment, or ecological system (implying a living and ever changing system), or God's creation, whichever way you say it) is beyond science's domain. Science is only part of the nature.
  
• We can't see the big picture. But that doesn't mean we only look at ourselves, or worse, nothing. We need to have a variable focus. Look at the big picture and ourselves. But then, this leads to ...
• What value do we put on oneself and one's surroundings? Do the surroundings exist merely to serve us? This goes particularly to women. I know so many women saying something like "Air conditioning is the greatest invention", "I can't live without air conditioning", "Why is the air conditioning not on?", or merely stare (and grudge) at me when I suggest turning the fan instead of the A/C on. Is human comfort so much more important than the varnishing of the world?
• "Does human lose connection with the environment?" Actually, this is a variant of the point above. I heard of this when I was in a training course of "Building Thermal Performance". For example, when people come home from work and find that the indoor is "warm", first thing most people do is to flip on the air conditioning switch. -- Coming back to the connection with nature, can human win over nature? Can human ignore nature? ...... We should know the answer but are we doing what we should be doing?
• Do we know we are doing harm (or good?!) to the environment and ourselves, sooner or later? This may or may not be Global Warming. Things can range from intoxication from chemicals, fertilisers and insecticides used in agricultural and other cases, (e.g. Australia talks about BPA in baby bottles now. BPA had been banned in some other countries.), light pollution (e.g. bird are somehow confused with the night sky during their migration), GM genetically modified food, ..... etc. The list goes on and on.