Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 6.3.
Results of the calculation of investment indicators (base case, Florianópolis,
18ºN)
Concept / Configuration
1
2
3
Würth Solar
WS111007/75
Kyocera
KC200GT
Kaneka
GSA60
Solar module make and model
Nominal power installed (Wp)
26400
25600
27360
Total initial investment (US$)
334054
223052
198368
Initial investment / installed nominal
power (US$/Wp)
12.65
8.71
7.25
Initial investment / expected electricity
generation (US$/kWh)
0.324
0.223
0.185
Total annual cash-flow (US$)
+6215
+6228
+6737
Net present value (US$)
-147604
-36212
+3712
Payback time (years)
53.7
35.8
27.9
Internal rate of return (%)
-3.41%
-1.11%
+0.12%
It can be noted that the level of investment required for the solar facilities de-
signed (between about 200.000 and about 330.000 US$) is quite high. The two ra-
tios below the absolute value of investment (investment over installed power and
investment over expected generated electricity) give us an idea of how far away
from investments in other electricity generation technologies this lies, knowing
that the average values for those ratios are between 750 and 2200 US$/kW and
0.022 to 0.090 US$/kWh (EPE 2007). In view of the results of
Table 6.3
for the
main indicators proposed (last three rows), one can conclude that in this reference
case none of these investments would be financially sound, as almost all of them
obtain a negative (or almost zero) net present value, and their financial payback
time is longer or practically equal that of the expected system lifetime. Besides, an
IRR negative or close to zero means that the invested capital would give a better
profit in any bank account that gives some interest. However, if one of them were
to be chosen, the preferred configuration (as less disadvantageous in economic
terms according to these indicators) would be number 3, corresponding to the a-Si
module technology. An additional interesting result that can be easily obtained us-
ing the electronic spreadsheet is the equilibrium point in terms of cost per installed
power under which the NPV of the designs in 30 years lifetime would be positive:
this threshold lies at 7.38 US$/Wp of investment ratio.
6.3.6 Sensitivity Analysis of the Cost Calculations
To evaluate the extent to which the constraining factors implied by the location
chosen and cost elements considered influenced the results, the calculation of the
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