Shifting Solutions

Variations in Energy Payback
Available sunlight. EPBT calculations are heavily influenced by how much sunlight a PV system will receive. The more sunlight received, the more KWH the PV system will produce-and the faster the PV system will offset the energy it took to manufacture it. The 2006 study reported EPBT of one to two years based on an average of 4.7 peak sun-hours received in southern Europe. If you live in a sunnier climate, then the energy payback time will be less. For example, a system installed in Grand Junction, Colorado, which averages 5.8 peak sun-hours daily, can cut its EPBT by more than 23% under a southern European site. However, the converse is true as well. If you live in a cloudier climate, the PV system’s EPBT will be longer. The current overall worldwide average EPBT of one to three years (rather than one to two years for southern Europe) accounts for cloudier locations across the globe.

PV System Performance & Maintenance. While PV installers and system owners do not have much control over the manufacturing process of PV modules or the peak sun-hours available, they can influence the energy payback times of their systems with good system design and maintenance

Good site analysis reduces or eliminates PV array shading and aims for high system efficiency. And adequately sized wires will reduce voltage drop and thus increase power output over undersized wiring. Providing adequate airflow around modules to reduce voltage loss due to increasing cell temperature will increase power output. Finally, carefully matching the array size to the inverter and local temperature conditions will help squeeze the last available energy out of a system.

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