A cost analysis of very large scale PV (VLS-PV) system on the world deserts

To preserve the Earth, a 100 MW very large-scale photovoltaic power generation (VLS-PV) system is estimated assuming that it is installed on the world deserts, which are Sahara, Negev, Thar, Sonora, Great Sandy and Gobi desert. These deserts are good for installing the system because of large solar...

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Published inConference Record of the Twenty-Ninth IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2002 pp. 1672 - 1675
Main Authors Kurokawa, K., Kato, K., Ito, M., Komoto, K., Kichimi, T., Sugihara, H.
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published Piscataway NJ IEEE 2002
Subjects
Applied sciences
Costs
Earth
Economic data
Economic indicators
Energy
Energy economics
Equipments, installations and applications
Exact sciences and technology
General, economic and professional studies
Large-scale systems
Life estimation
Lifetime estimation
Natural energy
Photovoltaic conversion
Photovoltaic systems
Power generation economics
Solar energy
Solar power generation
Wiring
Africa
Sahara
Photovoltaic system
Maintenance cost
Operating cost
Design
Cost breakdown
Solar power plant
Solar energy
Technicoeconomic study
Production cost
Feasibility
Production capacity
Desert
Electric power production
Cost analysis
Investment cost
Large scale system
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Summary:To preserve the Earth, a 100 MW very large-scale photovoltaic power generation (VLS-PV) system is estimated assuming that it is installed on the world deserts, which are Sahara, Negev, Thar, Sonora, Great Sandy and Gobi desert. These deserts are good for installing the system because of large solar irradiation and large land area. A PV array is dimensioned in detail in terms of array layout, support, foundation, wiring and so on. Then generation cost of the system is estimated based on the methodology of life-cycle cost (LCC). As a result of the estimation, the generation cost is calculated as 5.3 cent/kWh on Sahara desert, 6.4 cent/kWh on Gobi desert assuming PV module price of 1.0/W, system lifetime of 30 years and interest rate of 3%. These results suggest that VLS-PV systems are economically feasible on sufficient irradiation site even if existing PV system technologies are applied, when PV module price will decrease to a level of 1.0/W.
ISBN:9780780374713
0780374711
ISSN:1060-8371
DOI:10.1109/PVSC.2002.1190939