Solar Grid Connect 1kW questions

Finally, you provide something.

-- Once again, our prime minister Kevin Rudd brings stability to the nation by reassurring the nation that one law still exists for the rich and another for the poor. After a personal visit;

Any chance of a cost per watt figure to back that up.

-- Once again, our prime minister Kevin Rudd brings stability to the nation by reassurring the nation that one law still exists for the rich and another for the poor. After a personal visit;

I'm not worried about old panels. Production cells are now 21% and up to

The 41% is new tech from Boeing, but not in production.

The OP quoted a figure of $4440 after an $8000 rebate for a 1KW PV system. So that's $12440 per kW, or $12.44 per watt.

This petrol generator

costs $6,298, and is rated at $5500, or $1.14 per watt.

Of course, they're not directly comparable because the petrol generator requires fuel, and maintenance. But it won't need much of either if it's only being used to support unusual peak loads of the kind you get on hot sunny days.

Commercial extreme peak load generation is probably diesel based, reflecting the fact that when generators are subject to infrequent use, it makes economic sense to minimise the capital invested, even though that results in higher fuel costs.

Sylvia.

Have you a cite for the concentrator figure? It doesn't sound right that a concentrator should increase the efficiency (as distinct from the power output per unit area of PV cell).

And price yet to be determined.

Sylvia.

I provided it several posts back had you been looking.

Insolation maps / data are critical to determining PV solar output. I have links to maps for Europe and the CONUS too if these are of interest.

Graham

Provide a panel cost, cost of finance, infrastructure cost e.g. inverters for grid connect and maintenance and you can get a good estimate.

Of course the real cost varies with season.

Graham

Cite ? 15% is typical to good for commercial cells.

Exactly. Note that efficiency falls off as the cell gets hotter, presumably due to intrinsic ( leakage ) conduction in the silicon.

Double junction technology and monstrously expensive. Great for satellites though.

What you haven't mentioned is that the new cheap thin film panels are only ~

Graham

With co-gen MAN offer 95% efficient diesel power plants.

Graham

i wasn't aware that they were in production, particularly in the form that they would be useful (complete roof coverage).

They are in limited production e.g.

I haven't found the site very informative other than they claim to be able to make panels that cost USD1 per peak watt output. However with lower efficiency, you need more space to install them.

Graham

"Technical Data Sheet? We presently share product data sheets only under Non-Disclosure Agreement with qualified volume customers. This is so we can extend the period of protection for certain proprietary features we have developed."

Well, maybe, but they could surely publish basic performance data. Their failure to do so makes it look as if they have something to hide.

Sylvia.

Where I consider they would be good is where you replace a roof. I had deep six asbestos "flat"(min angle) roofing and we moved to a slightly pitched colourbond roofing.

If they came as a colourbond/gal roof replacement, then you would just roll one off and another on.

Or if you were building new, that would be your roofing.

Colourbond is just a paint coat and AFAIK, these are just multiple coatings, so there should only be a slight extracoating cost and the rest should be standard(almost) installation costs.

To me, it is just learning where the technology is most useful.

as long as they keep working after the roofers walk all over them and put screws through them... I guess you could leave the ribs bare, or only do it with roofing that has concealed fixing like Kliplock.

Maybe (concrete) tiles would be better suited to the pre-fab treatment: they're always nailed through the same spot.

I believe Canon had a tile based PV out at one stage (pre Olympics), but I suspect wiring connection was a major PITA.

terryc wrote: [...]

I found that my expensive microwave pulls an insane amount of power when it not in use. I've seen the same thing with TVs, too.

Easy to solve , pull an item each day while recoding consumption , often the fridge as it ages or that telly

I discovered this when I hooked up each device through an AC ammeter. I was *NOT* impressed!

The amount of current it's drawing is not a measure of the amount of power it's consuming, because it doesn't tell you the phase relationship.

Sylvia.