Customers and Products in Solar Power |
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Product RangeSolar power can be generated using a number of technologies. Size of plant and solar irradiation at site may narrow the choice: whilst all technologies perform well in high irradiation, fixed mount - photovoltaics perform well under diffuse light and lower light conditions. Concentrated solar thermal installations on the other hand require a lot of direct sunlight and are only economically viable from a certain size onwards. |
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Value Proposition
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| Photovoltaics/ Concentrating PV | Concentrated Solar Thermal | |
|---|---|---|
| Pollution, Waste, Noise | No noise, no waste products and no pollution | |
| Fuel Consumption | No fuel consumption | Only if used with fossil fuel backup capability |
| Operating Costs | Very low, as there are no fast-moving parts or fluids. | Low, depending on heat transfer fluid. |
| Annual variance in overall supply | The sun provides a stable traffic from year to year with variance ±4%. | |
| Peak capacity characteristics | Generally, output follows the short-term fluctuations of the sunlight. However, that's still less volatile than wind fluctuations. | Better peak capacity characteristics if equipped with thermal storage tank. In addition, output has smoother short-term fluctuations due to thermal inertia in heat transfer fluid. |
Who buys solar power generators?
| Who? | Where are they? How many? | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| House Owners | Millions of domesitc roofs and developers / architects of new buildings. |
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| Councils | Many councils who own buildings with large roofs - schools, admin buildings etc. |
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| Corporations | Many companies with large roofs |
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| Land Owners / Project Developers |
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| Electricity Companies | Big companies, often globally operating. |
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| Consumer |
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Why would anyone not buy solar?
The barriers to use of solar electricity are mostly:
- High financing costs (upfront)
- Perceived to be too intermittent
- No brand name
Risks
| Photovoltaics | Concentrated Solar Thermal | |
|---|---|---|
| Technical Risk | Generally low for crystalline PV, a bit higher for thin film technologies and concentrated photovoltaics | Generally high |
| Construction | Low risk | High risk |
| Operations & Maintenance | Low for fixed panels. Medium where tracking (i.e. moving parts) are used | High due to need for tracking |
| Environmental | May be an issue for some thin-film technologies. | Same as any combined cycle gas power plant |
| Financial | May be too small in scale for typical project finance transactions | |
| Policital | Political support for solar may change unexpectedly | |
