Slashdot Mirror
India Unveils the World's Largest Solar Power Plant (aljazeera.com)
Kamuthi in Tamil Nadu, India is now home to the world's largest solar plant that adds 648 MW to the country's generating capacity. Previously, the Topaz Solar Farm in California, which was completed two years ago and has a capacity of 550 MW, held the title. Aljazeera reports: The solar plant, built in an impressive eight months, is cleaned every day by a robotic system, charged by its own solar panels. At full capacity, it is estimated to produce enough electricity to power about 150,000 homes. The project is comprised of 2.5 million individual solar modules, and cost $679 million to build. The new plant has helped nudge India's total installed solar capacity across the 10 GW mark, according to a statement by research firm Bridge to India, joining only a handful of countries that can make this claim. As solar power increases, India is expected to become the world's third-biggest solar market from next year onwards, after China and the U.S.
It is not a bargain at all. Also that price is construction only, and fails to include all owner's costs in development, not to mention the capacity factor is far below conventional power plants.
Well yeah, it's a PV Solar plant of course it has a lower capacity factor than a conventional plant, you might as well just say "It's dark at night"
But given this is India, expecting them to build a modern combined cycle plant without natural gas infrastructure, or nuclear power without experience is too much.
You mean like the Sugen combined-cycle power plant in Gujarat, India? Or one of the 22 nuclear reactors in operation at seven sites that generate about 25% of India's electricity?
if we keep expanding our energy use at the present rate, in 2000 years, we will need more energy than all the stars in our galaxy produce.
In America, per capita electrical energy consumption peaked in 2007, is now 6.4% lower, and is continuing to decline. If this trend continues, in 2000 years, the fission of a single atom of U-235 will supply all of our energy needs.
Your calculation is a just bit too simple and optimistic.
Madurai (about 50km away from the power plant) has an average global horizontal irradiance of 224W/m**2.
At 9 degree latitude North, the optimum tilt angle is pretty close to horizontal : 10 degree tilt only brings 2% more irradiance over the year
Total insolation is year * average irradiance ~ 1960kWh
The performance ratio of such a power plant could be around 85%, with cable losses, inverter losses and automated cleaning.
The nominal power of the installation is 648MWp, tested under an irradiance of 1000W/m**2.
So your expected yield is :
1960kWh/(m**2*year)*85%*648MW/(1000W/m**2) ~ 1.1 TWh/year
compared to your result of 1.9 TWh/year.
The plant should pay for itself in less than 8 years, and your calculation wasn't too far off.