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Thread: Solar Energy for my solar system. Finally a reality!!! |
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Thread Status: Active Total posts in this thread: 76
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Hypernova
Master Cruncher Audaces Fortuna Juvat ! Vaud - Switzerland Joined: Dec 16, 2008 Post Count: 1908 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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When I look at energy consumption I have for crunching, one can have some thoughts regarding the environmental impact.
----------------------------------------At full peak power my solar system gobbles 6.4 kilowatts. This is only possible for short periods in the deep winter with icy temperatures. I am very very rarely at such level. At the moment I am around 2.5 kilowatts. It is normal that a solar system be powered if not fully at least partially by solar energy. I thought about this already two years ago. A specialized company came and after having analyzed the place they concluded that it was not worth spending a penny on solar panels. My house was built thirty years ago and at that time renewables were not a concern. The house is not well oriented (for solar panels), the garden has a lot of trees badly placed, my neigbours houses and trees are also not ideal etc. etc. But lately I found a solution. My local utility has embarked on the construction of the largest solar panel power plant in Switzerland. This is done in partnership with the EPFL which is the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. This institute is at a distance of about 500 meters from my home. Btw I have graduated from this excellent institution. The project started in 2009, and will continue in 2010, 2011, 2012. Since October 2010 it has started production. In 2013 there should be 20'000 square meters in production for 2MW of solar power. The local utility who is building the whole plant has launched a very interesting proposal. They have set a portion of the total surface for hire by individuals, companies, public entities, basically anybody. You can hire a number of solar panels (1 m2 units) according to your wishes and depending on availability. You become a producer and you pay for the difference between cost of electricity that you would pay otherwise from the grid, and the cost of the solar kWhr you are producing. Unfortunately the solar energy is still more expensive than the nuclear or hydraulic energy we have in Switerland. What makes me very unhappy is that even if Switzerland is seen as a relatively green country, there is no real policy for solar energy. We have no incentives of governement backed financing, or energy buyback at profitable levels by the utilities. I hope this will change in the future. So it is a volountary self financed effort. The advantage I have through this initiative is that I have an optimal cost (construction, installation, solar panels) due to the economies of scale, and no problems regarding space usage. The panels are of very high efficiency and ideally oriented, the company does the maintenance and energy management. I have daily acces from my computer to the production data of my panels, and the various statistics. I just started, so let's see how thing will go. For those interested here is the link about the project http://developpement-durable.epfl.ch/page-12578-en.html  [Edit 1 times, last edit by Hypernova at Oct 6, 2011 9:53:40 AM] |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
This is very interesting, indeed, Hypernova.
----------------------------------------In Denmark we are mainly into windmills - and Vestas, our leading manufacturer and many others works like mad on solving the problem of having/not having electricity as the wind blows ... You do have a little more sun i Switzerland than we do, and water for hydro power as well, where we ought to look a little closer at the waves, but this is an interesting initiative and on a possible co-op basis! EDIT: This post is not very useful, but still some sort of pleasant exchange, I hope, Hypernova from beautiful Switzerland  [Edit 1 times, last edit by Former Member at Oct 6, 2011 10:44:42 AM] |
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Hypernova
Master Cruncher Audaces Fortuna Juvat ! Vaud - Switzerland Joined: Dec 16, 2008 Post Count: 1908 Status: Offline Project Badges:
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A first evaluation,
----------------------------------------My panels started producing electrical energy since 1st of October. It is good luck because we have an exceptional nice and sunny weather. Nevertheless we had a few bad days with very low rate production. I looked at the data available for the first 11 days, and I have produced a cumulated amount of 169.39 kWhr. To put this number in perspective, a top rig with Intel 980X hexacore clocked at 4.0 Ghz and crunching 24/7, stands at around 280 Watts measured at the wall socket, or 0.280 kWhr. During the past 11 days this rig will have consumed: 0.280 X 24 X 11 = 73.92 kWhr. To put it short my solar panels at the moment covered just under two and half rigs of this type. Let's see what happens through the winter. |
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johncmacalister2010@gmail.com
Veteran Cruncher Canada Joined: Nov 16, 2010 Post Count: 799 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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A first evaluation, My panels started producing electrical energy since 1st of October. It is good luck because we have an exceptional nice and sunny weather. Nevertheless we had a few bad days with very low rate production. I looked at the data available for the first 11 days, and I have produced a cumulated amount of 169.39 kWhr. To put this number in perspective, a top rig with Intel 980X hexacore clocked at 4.0 Ghz and crunching 24/7, stands at around 280 Watts measured at the wall socket, or 0.280 kWhr. During the past 11 days this rig will have consumed: 0.280 X 24 X 11 = 73.92 kWhr. To put it short my solar panels at the moment covered just under two and half rigs of this type. Let's see what happens through the winter. Well done! Do you have any idea how much each kWh costs you and how does this compare with your local utility? Amortize the panel capital costs (including purchase, tax, installation, your time, etc.) over 5, 10, 15 years, assuming no repairs and maintenance, for example. I will be very interested in the number$. Thanks, John   crunching, crunching, crunching. AMD Ryzen 5 2600 6-core Processor with Windows 11 64 Pro. AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core Processor with Windows 11 64 Pro (part time)  |
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Hypernova
Master Cruncher Audaces Fortuna Juvat ! Vaud - Switzerland Joined: Dec 16, 2008 Post Count: 1908 Status: Offline Project Badges:
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John at the moment the yearly cost is of 46.8 euros per square meter of solar panel in addition to the equivalent grid quantity. This include all costs including maintenance, and repair or replacement. For that cost you get a guarantee that you will allways have a panel fully operational. I have at the moment 30 m2 of panels in operation.
----------------------------------------As we have no incentives nor any support or financing program we have to bear all the costs, and solar energy is more expensive than hydro or nuclear energy we get from the grid. At the moment I do not know how much will be produced in one year on one square meter. So it is difficult to see what is exactely the additional kWhr cost on the one from the grid. It is estimated that here in Switzerland in my region the minimum yearly quantity produced should be over 150 kWhr/year/m2. This adds 0.31 Euros/kWhr over the grid value. Doing something for the environment is an expensive issue but I think in this way I bring a little stone to the foundation of a better future. If I produce more then this will be reduced. Final balance in one year  [Edit 1 times, last edit by Hypernova at Oct 13, 2011 6:40:47 PM] |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
You have 30 square m at a cost of €1,494/year.
If your 11 day output could be taken as the typical average production seen over a year it would amount to 5,621 kWh - roughly the annual consumption of an average household at a kWh price of just €0.25. In Denmark 5,621 kWh of conventionally generated electricity would cost €1,510 inclusive of some subsidies for windpower which are not all that transparent. To me it looks like a good deal. But you mention "€0.31 over the grid value". This I don't get. Are there additional costs on top of the €1,494/year? You tell me what I did not get, and John MacAlister with the handsome name will tell me where my math went wrong .... |
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David Autumns
Ace Cruncher UK Joined: Nov 16, 2004 Post Count: 11062 Status: Offline Project Badges:
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Nice one Hypernova
----------------------------------------Great to meet a trailblazer  |
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SNURK
Veteran Cruncher The Netherlands Joined: Nov 26, 2007 Post Count: 1217 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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You have 30 square m at a cost of 1,494/year. I think you mean 30 x 46.8 = 1404 EUR/year. If your 11 day output could be taken as the typical average production seen over a year it would amount to 5,621 kWh. In Denmark 5,621 kWh of conventionally generated electricity would cost 1,510 Over here this would cost 1204 EUR with conventionally generated electricity. So indeed this deal of 1404 EUR/year doesn't seem like a bad deal at all. Of course it's a bit of a stretch to estimate the annual output of the solar cells by using only the known output of the last 11 days. Anyway, thumbs up for your effort Hypernova. ---------------------------------------- [Edit 1 times, last edit by SNURK at Oct 14, 2011 6:25:07 AM] |
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Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
You have 30 square m at a cost of 1,494/year. I think you mean 30 x 46.8 = 1404 EUR/year. If your 11 day output could be taken as the typical average production seen over a year it would amount to 5,621 kWh. In Denmark 5,621 kWh of conventionally generated electricity would cost 1,510 Over here this would cost 1204 EUR with conventionally generated electricity. So indeed this deal of 1404 EUR/year doesn't seem like a bad deal at all. Of course it's a bit of a stretch to estimate the annual output of the solar cells by using only the known output of the last 11 days. Anyway, thumbs up for your effort Hypernova. Dug out my notes. Yes, I mean €1,404 and made a mistake of some kind  And maybe it's not that much of a strech, thinking about it, because the period of time is just around the equinox I would do that too, if the possibility was there. Both for the renewable energy factor and in my case even for the money - which is even better now with the correction . Switzerland is a non-EU country, so they can decide on such questions easier and faster, I think. OT: "over here" - I thought you were in The Netherlands/Holland, SNURK? |
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SNURK
Veteran Cruncher The Netherlands Joined: Nov 26, 2007 Post Count: 1217 Status: Offline Project Badges:
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OT: "over here" - I thought you were in The Netherlands/Holland, SNURK? Yes I am.   |
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