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Largest solar power plant in world goes online...

Darth Biscuit

By Darth Biscuit,
in Huddle Lounge

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SCP Enthusiast

SCP

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I've been trying to sell solar engineers and contractors on our industry for about 5 years now. There are millions of square feet of unused warehouse rooftops that could be used to house solar panels. So far the ROI still seems to be too long to justify some of the projects I've been researching unless the facility owner is some gung-ho environmentalist. Some of the bigger property management firms are finally utilizing their rooftops as solar fields in some areas. In some cases the facility can be taken almost entirely off the grid, in others they are simply selling the power generated back to the local energy co-op. But ROI is still around 15-20 years I believe.

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pstall Newbie

pstall

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I've been trying to sell solar engineers and contractors on our industry for about 5 years now. There are millions of square feet of unused warehouse rooftops that could be used to house solar panels. So far the ROI still seems to be too long to justify some of the projects I've been researching unless the facility owner is some gung-ho environmentalist. Some of the bigger property management firms are finally utilizing their rooftops as solar fields in some areas. In some cases the facility can be taken almost entirely off the grid, in others they are simply selling the power generated back to the local energy co-op. But ROI is still around 15-20 years I believe.

They need to figure out a way to make the return a bit more immediate. Maybe incentive the workers that if they chip in they get x tax credit along with the company. You get real time return but the long term is easier funding the sinking costs.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

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Niner National Newbie

Niner National

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I've been trying to sell solar engineers and contractors on our industry for about 5 years now. There are millions of square feet of unused warehouse rooftops that could be used to house solar panels. So far the ROI still seems to be too long to justify some of the projects I've been researching unless the facility owner is some gung-ho environmentalist. Some of the bigger property management firms are finally utilizing their rooftops as solar fields in some areas. In some cases the facility can be taken almost entirely off the grid, in others they are simply selling the power generated back to the local energy co-op. But ROI is still around 15-20 years I believe.

At the commercial or utility level, ROI is easily achievable in less than 10 years, especially in NC. When I worked for a solar company in Maryland, our commercial clients usually had ROI's of 5-8 years...and solar costs have dropped nearly 60% since I worked in that industry just 3 years ago. Incentives in most areas have also decreased, so the ROI for the system owners have remained similar. Homeowners will always have longer ROI's because of economies of scale.

 

The plant like the one pictures above cannot be compared to a regular solar system though. I don't really know much about their ROI's, but the technology is way different.

 

That entire array simply concentrates the sun's rays to boil water, producing steam, which creates electricity. Molten salts are used to store the sun's heat so the system can continue producing power at night.

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Niner National Newbie

Niner National

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They need to figure out a way to make the return a bit more immediate. Maybe incentive the workers that if they chip in they get x tax credit along with the company. You get real time return but the long term is easier funding the sinking costs.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

There are lot's of funding sources out there now that will allow businesses to be net income positive from day 1.

 

Solar farms / systems are relatively attractive to long term investors that are looking for a consistent and predictable investment. We have decades of data that give us a reliable average for number of sunny days and you can easily calculate the system's production from that data. Some assumptions are made on the price of electricity, but whether you take best case (electricity prices stay where they are) or worst case (they increase significantly) the returns are still relatively attractive for someone that wants a "safe" investment.

 

Investing in solar technologies is decidedly less safe, but the systems in operation are pretty safe.

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pstall Newbie

pstall

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There are lot's of funding sources out there now that will allow businesses to be net income positive from day 1.

 

Solar farms / systems are relatively attractive to long term investors that are looking for a consistent and predictable investment. We have decades of data that give us a reliable average for number of sunny days and you can easily calculate the system's production from that data. Some assumptions are made on the price of electricity, but whether you take best case (electricity prices stay where they are) or worst case (they increase significantly) the returns are still relatively attractive for someone that wants a "safe" investment.

 

Investing in solar technologies is decidedly less safe, but the systems in operation are pretty safe.

 

Totally agree.

 

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