Comments on: UCSD Installs 1.2 MW Solar Array http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/04/ucsd-installs-12-mw-solar-array/ Clean Tech News & Views: Solar Energy News. Wind Energy News. EV News. & More. Fri, 25 May 2012 17:05:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: John http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/04/ucsd-installs-12-mw-solar-array/#comment-1866 John Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:06:06 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=1016#comment-1866 To Joel's comment; you need to factor in that the sun does not shine 24/day. The math is such that average sun exposure to the panel is roughly 15% of the year. Thus, a 1.2MW array will produce the 1.5Mkwhr/yr(8760*.15*1,200,000 = 1,576,800 kwh per year) To Stevenjay's comment; the $9M upfront cost is prior to federal tax incentives (30%) the California solar incentives (34 cents per kwhr). Taking this into account the cost per kwhr is approx 14cents over the 20yr power purchase agreement. This is on par with current onpeak power prices in the SDGE region, which will certainly increase over time. To Joel’s comment; you need to factor in that the sun does not shine 24/day. The math is such that average sun exposure to the panel is roughly 15% of the year. Thus, a 1.2MW array will produce the 1.5Mkwhr/yr(8760*.15*1,200,000 = 1,576,800 kwh per year)

To Stevenjay’s comment; the $9M upfront cost is prior to federal tax incentives (30%) the California solar incentives (34 cents per kwhr). Taking this into account the cost per kwhr is approx 14cents over the 20yr power purchase agreement. This is on par with current onpeak power prices in the SDGE region, which will certainly increase over time.

]]> By: John http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/04/ucsd-installs-12-mw-solar-array/#comment-19324 John Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:06:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=1016#comment-19324 To Joel's comment; you need to factor in that the sun does not shine 24/day. The math is such that average sun exposure to the panel is roughly 15% of the year. Thus, a 1.2MW array will produce the 1.5Mkwhr/yr(8760*.15*1,200,000 = 1,576,800 kwh per year) To Stevenjay's comment; the $9M upfront cost is prior to federal tax incentives (30%) the California solar incentives (34 cents per kwhr). Taking this into account the cost per kwhr is approx 14cents over the 20yr power purchase agreement. This is on par with current onpeak power prices in the SDGE region, which will certainly increase over time. To Joel’s comment; you need to factor in that the sun does not shine 24/day. The math is such that average sun exposure to the panel is roughly 15% of the year. Thus, a 1.2MW array will produce the 1.5Mkwhr/yr(8760*.15*1,200,000 = 1,576,800 kwh per year)

To Stevenjay’s comment; the $9M upfront cost is prior to federal tax incentives (30%) the California solar incentives (34 cents per kwhr). Taking this into account the cost per kwhr is approx 14cents over the 20yr power purchase agreement. This is on par with current onpeak power prices in the SDGE region, which will certainly increase over time.

]]> By: stevenjay http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/04/ucsd-installs-12-mw-solar-array/#comment-1865 stevenjay Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:49:41 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=1016#comment-1865 So they are spending $9M to generate $150K worth of electricity per year (assuming a typical market cost of 10 cents per kWh)? Ignoring financing costs, that works out to a payback interval of 60 years. Am I missing something here? So they are spending $9M to generate $150K worth of electricity per year (assuming a typical market cost of 10 cents per kWh)? Ignoring financing costs, that works out to a payback interval of 60 years. Am I missing something here?

]]> By: stevenjay http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/04/ucsd-installs-12-mw-solar-array/#comment-19322 stevenjay Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:49:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=1016#comment-19322 So they are spending $9M to generate $150K worth of electricity per year (assuming a typical market cost of 10 cents per kWh)? Ignoring financing costs, that works out to a payback interval of 60 years. Am I missing something here? So they are spending $9M to generate $150K worth of electricity per year (assuming a typical market cost of 10 cents per kWh)? Ignoring financing costs, that works out to a payback interval of 60 years. Am I missing something here?

]]> By: stevenjay http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/04/ucsd-installs-12-mw-solar-array/#comment-19323 stevenjay Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:49:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=1016#comment-19323 So they are spending $9M to generate $150K worth of electricity per year (assuming a typical market cost of 10 cents per kWh)? Ignoring financing costs, that works out to a payback interval of 60 years. Am I missing something here? So they are spending $9M to generate $150K worth of electricity per year (assuming a typical market cost of 10 cents per kWh)? Ignoring financing costs, that works out to a payback interval of 60 years. Am I missing something here?

]]> By: Joel Froese http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/04/ucsd-installs-12-mw-solar-array/#comment-19320 Joel Froese Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:28:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=1016#comment-19320 Something is wrong with your math: "This system will contribute approximately 1.5 million kW hours of clean energy to the university per year" 1,500,000 * 1000 watt hours (1 kWhr) = 1,500,000,000 watt hours 365.25 days * 24 hr/day = 8766 hours (per year) 1,500,000,000 watt hours / 8766 hours = 171,115 watts (171.115 kw) 171 kilowatts is not anywhere near 1.2 Megawatts! Something is wrong with your math: “This system will contribute approximately 1.5 million kW hours of clean energy to the university per year”

1,500,000 * 1000 watt hours (1 kWhr) = 1,500,000,000 watt hours

365.25 days * 24 hr/day = 8766 hours (per year)

1,500,000,000 watt hours / 8766 hours = 171,115 watts (171.115 kw)

171 kilowatts is not anywhere near 1.2 Megawatts!

]]> By: Joel Froese http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/04/ucsd-installs-12-mw-solar-array/#comment-19321 Joel Froese Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:28:00 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=1016#comment-19321 Something is wrong with your math: "This system will contribute approximately 1.5 million kW hours of clean energy to the university per year" 1,500,000 * 1000 watt hours (1 kWhr) = 1,500,000,000 watt hours 365.25 days * 24 hr/day = 8766 hours (per year) 1,500,000,000 watt hours / 8766 hours = 171,115 watts (171.115 kw) 171 kilowatts is not anywhere near 1.2 Megawatts! Something is wrong with your math: “This system will contribute approximately 1.5 million kW hours of clean energy to the university per year”

1,500,000 * 1000 watt hours (1 kWhr) = 1,500,000,000 watt hours

365.25 days * 24 hr/day = 8766 hours (per year)

1,500,000,000 watt hours / 8766 hours = 171,115 watts (171.115 kw)

171 kilowatts is not anywhere near 1.2 Megawatts!

]]> By: Joel Froese http://cleantechnica.com/2008/09/04/ucsd-installs-12-mw-solar-array/#comment-1864 Joel Froese Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:28:28 +0000 http://cleantechnica.com/?p=1016#comment-1864 Something is wrong with your math: "This system will contribute approximately 1.5 million kW hours of clean energy to the university per year" 1,500,000 * 1000 watt hours (1 kWhr) = 1,500,000,000 watt hours 365.25 days * 24 hr/day = 8766 hours (per year) 1,500,000,000 watt hours / 8766 hours = 171,115 watts (171.115 kw) 171 kilowatts is not anywhere near 1.2 Megawatts! Something is wrong with your math: “This system will contribute approximately 1.5 million kW hours of clean energy to the university per year”

1,500,000 * 1000 watt hours (1 kWhr) = 1,500,000,000 watt hours

365.25 days * 24 hr/day = 8766 hours (per year)

1,500,000,000 watt hours / 8766 hours = 171,115 watts (171.115 kw)

171 kilowatts is not anywhere near 1.2 Megawatts!

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