The Physics club in our school is trying to convince the Board of Ed to install solar panels in our school, and i was just wondering if anyone with some experience or real expertise in solar energy. I need some points about their usefulness some real pros and cons on maintenance, etc. Anything will help. Personally i would be perfectly for the idea, but i heard that the overall cost of installing them is much higher than the cost of the energy saved and government subsidies, but ive only heard about this.
Solar panels give off no pollution, the only pollution produced as a result of solar panels is the manufacturing of these devices in factories, transportation of the goods, and installation. The production of energy from the use of fossil and some renewable fuels (e.g. wind turbines) can be noisy, yet solar energy produces electricity very quietly. One of the great pros of solar energy is the ability to harness electricity in remote locations that are not linked to a national grid. A prime example of this is in space, where satellites are powered by high efficiency solar cells. The installation of solar panels in remote locations is usually much more cost effective than laying the required high voltage wires. Solar energy can be very efficient in a large area of the globe, and new technologies allow for a more efficient energy production on overcast/dull days. Solar panels can be installed on top of many rooftops, which eliminates the problem of finding the required space for solar panel placement. Another great pro of solar energy is the cost. Although the initial investment of solar cells may be high, once installed, they provide a free source of electricity, which will pay off over the coming years. The use of solar energy to produce electricity allows the user to become less dependent on the worlds fossil fuel supplies.
You have to approach it as an investment. Ignoring the cost of an inverter for net metering, if we consider a 500 W panel installed for $0 a watt which is $5,000 and consider an average of 8 hours of usable sunlight per day, and at a rate of $0.0 per kWh (schools probably get $0.03 per kWh) then the panel would be saving $2.7 per month in electricity. Considering that the panel has an expected lifespan of 20 years, that would give you an internal rate of return such that the monthly rate satisfies the equation: $5,000 = $2.7 * ( ( - / R^24 ) / ( - / R ) - ) By binary method we get R = 0.99588342. Taking this to the 2th power to annualize it we get Ra = 0.9570 which means that we are getting an annual return of -4.83% per annum so investing in the solar panel is the same as making an investment at an interest rate of -4.83% per year. True interest rates are low and you only get about .3% per annum by putting money in a CD but that still beats investing in solar panels which gives you a negative return on your money. Solar panels need to get a lot better before they are a good investment.
