Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Solar Photovoltaic Energy Cost Is Cheaper Than SESB's Tariff Now

Solar Love compared the photovoltaic energy cost around the world and saw it falling fast. Below are the finding of Solar Love and they are all unsubsidized prices.

EU solar as low as US$1.20/watt.
UK solar down to US$1.59/watt.
Spain solar down to US$1.47/watt.
Germany’s average solar PV price at US$2.08/watt.
India solar farm comes in at US$1.52/watt.
Australia rooftop solar for as low as US$1.90/watt for residential solar.

I have done a quick calculation of using the lowest and highest prices listed above of saying installing 10 MW PV plant in Kota Kinabalu (where I live).

(1) 21 years total energy output (assuming yearly 1% degradation in performance): 256,962,514 kWh.

Using US$1.2/watt
(2) Total installation cost: 10,000,000 watts x US$1.2 x RM3.1/US$ = RM37,200,000.
(3) Generation cost per kWh = 14.5 Malaysia cents [(1)/(2)]

Using US$2.08/watt
(4) Total installation cost: 10,000,000 watts x US$2.08 x RM3.1/US$ = RM64,480,000.
(5) Generation cost per kWh = 25.1 Malaysia cents [(1)/(4)]

Currently, SESB (the utility company of my state Sabah) is charging 34.5 cents for domestic heavy user. Even though the above calculations were crude but I believe that solar power has reached grid parity - it means at par with fossil fuel power plants.

No comments:

Post a Comment