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The place of solar power: an economic analysis of concentrated and distributed solar power
BACKGROUND: This paper examines the cost and benefits, both financial and environmental, of two leading forms of solar power generation, grid-tied photovoltaic cells and Dish Stirling Systems, using conventional carbon-based fuel as a benchmark. METHODS: First we define how these solar technologies...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
BioMed Central
2012
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3332255/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22540991 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1752-153X-6-S1-S6 |
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author | Banoni, Vanessa Arellano Arnone, Aldo Fondeur, Maria Hodge, Annabel Offner, J Patrick Phillips, Jordan K |
author_facet | Banoni, Vanessa Arellano Arnone, Aldo Fondeur, Maria Hodge, Annabel Offner, J Patrick Phillips, Jordan K |
author_sort | Banoni, Vanessa Arellano |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: This paper examines the cost and benefits, both financial and environmental, of two leading forms of solar power generation, grid-tied photovoltaic cells and Dish Stirling Systems, using conventional carbon-based fuel as a benchmark. METHODS: First we define how these solar technologies will be implemented and why. Then we delineate a model city and its characteristics, which will be used to test the two methods of solar-powered electric distribution. Then we set the constraining assumptions for each technology, which serve as parameters for our calculations. Finally, we calculate the present value of the total cost of conventional energy needed to power our model city and use this as a benchmark when analyzing both solar models’ benefits and costs. RESULTS: The preeminent form of distributed electricity generation, grid-tied photovoltaic cells under net-metering, allow individual homeowners a degree of electric self-sufficiency while often turning a profit. However, substantial subsidies are required to make the investment sensible. Meanwhile, large dish Stirling engine installations have a significantly higher potential rate of return, but face a number of pragmatic limitations. CONCLUSIONS: This paper concludes that both technologies are a sensible investment for consumers, but given that the dish Stirling consumer receives 6.37 dollars per watt while the home photovoltaic system consumer receives between 0.9 and 1.70 dollars per watt, the former appears to be a superior option. Despite the large investment, this paper deduces that it is far more feasible to get few strong investors to develop a solar farm of this magnitude, than to get 150,000 households to install photovoltaic arrays in their roofs. Potential implications of the solar farm construction include an environmental impact given the size of land require for this endeavour. However, the positive aspects, which include a large CO2 emission reduction aggregated over the lifespan of the farm, outweigh any minor concerns or potential externalities. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-3332255 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2012 |
publisher | BioMed Central |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-33322552012-04-24 The place of solar power: an economic analysis of concentrated and distributed solar power Banoni, Vanessa Arellano Arnone, Aldo Fondeur, Maria Hodge, Annabel Offner, J Patrick Phillips, Jordan K Chem Cent J Research BACKGROUND: This paper examines the cost and benefits, both financial and environmental, of two leading forms of solar power generation, grid-tied photovoltaic cells and Dish Stirling Systems, using conventional carbon-based fuel as a benchmark. METHODS: First we define how these solar technologies will be implemented and why. Then we delineate a model city and its characteristics, which will be used to test the two methods of solar-powered electric distribution. Then we set the constraining assumptions for each technology, which serve as parameters for our calculations. Finally, we calculate the present value of the total cost of conventional energy needed to power our model city and use this as a benchmark when analyzing both solar models’ benefits and costs. RESULTS: The preeminent form of distributed electricity generation, grid-tied photovoltaic cells under net-metering, allow individual homeowners a degree of electric self-sufficiency while often turning a profit. However, substantial subsidies are required to make the investment sensible. Meanwhile, large dish Stirling engine installations have a significantly higher potential rate of return, but face a number of pragmatic limitations. CONCLUSIONS: This paper concludes that both technologies are a sensible investment for consumers, but given that the dish Stirling consumer receives 6.37 dollars per watt while the home photovoltaic system consumer receives between 0.9 and 1.70 dollars per watt, the former appears to be a superior option. Despite the large investment, this paper deduces that it is far more feasible to get few strong investors to develop a solar farm of this magnitude, than to get 150,000 households to install photovoltaic arrays in their roofs. Potential implications of the solar farm construction include an environmental impact given the size of land require for this endeavour. However, the positive aspects, which include a large CO2 emission reduction aggregated over the lifespan of the farm, outweigh any minor concerns or potential externalities. BioMed Central 2012-04-23 /pmc/articles/PMC3332255/ /pubmed/22540991 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1752-153X-6-S1-S6 Text en Copyright ©2012 Banoni et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Research Banoni, Vanessa Arellano Arnone, Aldo Fondeur, Maria Hodge, Annabel Offner, J Patrick Phillips, Jordan K The place of solar power: an economic analysis of concentrated and distributed solar power |
title | The place of solar power: an economic analysis of concentrated and distributed solar power |
title_full | The place of solar power: an economic analysis of concentrated and distributed solar power |
title_fullStr | The place of solar power: an economic analysis of concentrated and distributed solar power |
title_full_unstemmed | The place of solar power: an economic analysis of concentrated and distributed solar power |
title_short | The place of solar power: an economic analysis of concentrated and distributed solar power |
title_sort | place of solar power: an economic analysis of concentrated and distributed solar power |
topic | Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3332255/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22540991 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1752-153X-6-S1-S6 |
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