Solar power good for mix of options for Bridgeport CT?

Question

Looking now into the issue of expansion of local power plant - A power company wanting to expand here in CT tells me that they do have a “solar powered station in Arlington, Arizona. The intensity of the sun in the Southwest allows solar energy to be a substantial part of an energy portfolio. Connecticut, with its more temperate climate, is less suited to solar energy,” but I want to find out if solar can become part of our urban skyline. Hope someone can refer me to someone who can help me in this search.

Perhaps some university, or a geek in a garage somewhere, will introduce something new? How long did it take for the "scientists" to accept the element Oxygen...

Answer 1

Well, try doing a standard yahoo search for solar power pushing energy companies in the southwest, and contact them.

Answer 2

At best, Bridgeport gets about 5.0 kilowatt-hours per square meter of surface area per day. You can see that on this map:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2c/Us_pv_annual_may2004.jpg

Doing the math, that would be 5000/24 = 208 watt-hours per hour per square meter, or 208 watts of solar energy per square meter. Solar cells using commonly available technology (meaning, not the super-expensive, super efficient cells that you would put on a spacecraft exploring Mars) convert about 15% of sunlight to electrical energy. And that's 15% of full sun, which is 800 watts per meter, not the 208 watts per meter average that you will get at Bridgeport.

So, cheap but efficient solar arrays run maybe $3 per peak watt. That means they would cost you (or your utility) $3 * 800 / 208 = $11.53 per watt of capacity. You get 1 watt-hour of electricity per hour, or 8.766 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year for your $11.53. Now, I don't know what you're currently paying for electricity in Connecticut, but it's around 15 cents per kilowatt-hour in a lot of other places. So, your pay-back time on that solar-electric system would be on the order of 1153 / 15 = 77 years, meaning that if you run the system for more than 77 years without putting any more money into it, you'll have gotten cheaper electricity from the solar array than you would by buying it from the grid.

And that's why you don't see power companies putting in huge banks of solar cells in most places. I think you can also see that if cost/watt of solar cells drops by a factor of about 3 to 10, that will most likely change.

Answer 3

Try contacting your local power authority.
I'm sure they have aritlces and research about Solar Power.
I know mine does...I live on Long Island and LIPA sends reports out all the time.

Answer 4

Does the wind blow there? Then you have a form of solar energy.

Answer 5

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