Solar Power Generation Growing
(You may quote any of the following in your newsletters, e-zines, etc. so long as you credit Brenner Information Group for finding this information.)
After our company president installed a residential solar system and realized a healthy savings in electrical cost, we have all become enthusiastic supporters of renewable energy. Our company published the results of Robert Brenner's residential solar system investment in a book "Going Solar: A Homeowner's Experience" and developed a series of public presentations on the subject.
The following are factoids and news bytes that describe what, where, and how solar is finally coming into the consciousness of politicians, the people, and governments. This is a refreshing change, and we'll do our best to keep you informed.
Here are solar facts and opportunities from our perch on the tree:
— Around 25% of the world's people live without electricity. This lack of light tends to keep them in poverty.
— Solar energy could provide all the electrical needs for the whole world.
— There are 10,800,000 terawatts of nonrenewable energy (nuclear and fossil fuels) available.
— There are 350,000,000 terawatts of energy available from the sun.
— In just 15 minutes of full sun, we could capture enough solar energy to provide the electrical needs of everyone on the whole planet for a full year.
— Electrical energy is measured in kilowatts. Ten 100 watt light bulbs energized for 1 hour will use up or consume 1,000 watt hours (1 kwh) of electricity.
— The average U.S. home consumes 8,900 kwh of electricity each year. That's about 24 kwh each day. (Think of those light bulbs.)
— We pay for electricity by the kwh of consumption and by the utility company distribution costs.
— Electrical costs are increasing between 5% and 10% each year. In some states this increase has reached 20%. Virginia regulators have been asked by Potomac Edison to approve a 29% increase in utility rates. San Diego's SDG&E will increase rates as much as 7% September 1, 2008. The base rate will increase 4.3%, and the electricity transmission (distribution) costs will increase 2.7%.
— Every rotation of your electric meter wheel equates to consuming 10 watts of electricity.
— The wheel in an electrical meter rotates left to right. When a solar system is producing more energy than is being consumed, the meter rotates right to left.
— Every 1 kw of electricity produced by the utility company results in 1.2 - 1.4 lbs. of CO2 being released into our atmosphere.
— Residential solar systems use solar panels or modules to collect photon energy from the sun.
— The capacity of a solar panel is expressed in watts.
— The capacity of a complete solar system is expressed in kilowatts (e.g. 5 kw).
— Only 12% to 18% of the sun's solar energy is converted to electrical power by the silicon in a solar panel, so more panels are installed to produce the total kilowatts of solar power needed.
— Solar panels are typically exposed to the sun's photons for about 5.7 hours (solar hours) each day.
— This is called a "solar day".
— The orientation of solar panels to the sun affects the efficiency of the system. East facing panels are 81% efficient. South facing panels are 87% efficient.
— A complete residential solar system is 83% to 85% efficient.
— The most effective grid connected residential solar system is designed to reduce total electrical consumption to the lowest price tier. This is called "peak shaving". The top tier electrical rate can be 300% over the rate in the first (basic) tier.
— It's best to view the purchase of a solar power system as an investment in your future. Think of it as you would in buying an IRA. Effective returns on a solar system investment range from 5% to 15%.
— Photovoltaic residential solar systems cost between $5 and $8 per watt of electricity produced.
— Payback for a solar system investment is between 9 and 15 years.
— Through smart design, this cost could be greatly reduced.
— Net metering is a system whereby the utility company monitors your electrical consumption and electrical generation over a year. At the end of the year, the utility reconciles the used versus the provided to come up with a single "net metering" electrical charge.
— As of July 2008, net metering was available in 42 states.
— Home value increases when solar is added. A typical home appreciates 50% - 75% of the solar system cost. Another study estimates that your home appreciates $10 - $25 for each $1 reduction in your annual electrical bill. (Cut your electrical bill by $1,000 a year and your home increases in value by $10,000 to $25,000.)
GETTING PAID FOR EXCESS SOLAR ENERGY GENERATION - In Nevada, homeowners can get credit on their bills for feeding kilowatt hours of excess electricity back into the regional electrical grid. So too in California. But many states still don't have policies that enable homeowners to be paid more than a credit at the end of each solar year. Nevertheless, a movement is growing in some states to pay homeowners for excess solar energy added to the utility grid. Unfortunately not all. A number of state legislatures are listening to special interest groups and are still resisting this move. California is one of them. However a bill (AB 1920, June 2008) in the state legislature is trying to change this policy so homeowners can be paid for each excess kwh generated by their residential solar system.
Germany does this now. In Germany, homeowners are paid cash for all excess energy produced. Thus some Germans are renting rooftops from neighbors, installing flat solar collectors, and collecting extra money each month for being wise in jumping on the solar bandwagon. Rent a roof. Collect extra money without working.
CO2 GENERATION BY UTILITY COMPANIES - Utility companies generate CO2 when burning fossil fuels to produce electricity. (According to a June 2008 article in The Wall Street Journal, the electricity and transportation sectors account for about two-thirds of all green-house gas emissions in California alone. For every 1 kwh of electrical power, these companies generate 1.2 to 1.4 pounds of CO2 that is added to our atmosphere. By consuming electricity produced from fossil fuels, a typical home is responsible for the production of around 22,000 pounds of CO2 each year. Solar power is clean and produces NO unwanted CO2.
ENVIRONMENTALISTS ARE MAJOR OBSTACLE TO GROWTH OF SOLAR - With new technology coming on strong, solar power generation could grow rapidly if obstacles could be minimized or removed.(According to an August 2008 article in The Wall Street Journal, environmental activists called the "Greens" are blocking the construction of the electrical distribution lines needed to get power from the generation site to the consumers who want and need the power. Groups (including political groups) who fight the construction of transmission lines are restricting the growth of solar and are the major reason that only 0.1% of electrical power generation in the U.S. comes from solar. This resistance is also holding wind power generation down to 0.75% of all electricity generated. According to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger, "They say that we want renewable energy, but we don't want you to put it anywhere." According to The Wall Street Journal, "... the liberal push for alternatives has the look of a huge bait-and-switch." All of us here in America need to take off our bias glasses and look at our collective needs objectively. If you don't want transmission lines built going across your favorite habitat, then give the state governments and utility companies an alternative way to get the much-needed (and greatly demanded) energy to we the people.
POWER TRANSMISSION ANOTHER MAJOR OBSTACLE - A secondary "obstacle" is the design of our current national electrical grid. As of late August 2008, we have 200,000 miles of power lines. Often some of the regional lines in this national grid become so congested they cannot handle the demand. The U.S. needs a new national electrical transmission system, one that leaps beyond the antiquated one designed 100 years ago. Our engineers and scientists need to come up with a cost effective way to move large amounts of power over long distances from lightly populated areas to densely populated areas. And we need the support of environmentalists and the political will by our politicians to enable this to happen.
Assuming we can overcome these obstacles, expect solar power to provide 20% of total electrical generation in the U.S. within 10 years. According to futurist Ray Kurzweil, the generation capability of solar systems doubles every two years so the future of solar looks bright (pun intended).
Nano-engineered solar panels are less than 5 years away. These panels are expected to be the tipping point where cost per watt of solar power will rival that of current fossil fuel electricity. This will be a profound change for society.
