EVSP180_Week8_ESA_2023 redo assigment

133 Introduction Renewable energy is the key to a sustainable future. All other forms of non-renewable energy will eventually run out, whether it is oil within the next century or coal within the next several hundred. Renewable energy has a smaller environmental impact. The largest impact for many renewable forms is the damage done in getting the materials to make the machinery to harvest the energy. For some, the only other impact is aesthetic (e.g., ugly solar panels, noisy windmills); for others, the impact can be fairly large (e.g., river ecosystem converted to lake by hydroelectric). However, the overall impact is much smaller than fossil fuels or nuclear energy, which has large extraction and waste problems. The drawbacks to using renewable energy are availability and economics. Some forms of renewable energy are not readily available in certain locations, such as solar panels in a cloud forest. They might be available in other locations, but at a cost that makes them very uneconomical for the average user. Some forms of renewable energy are uneconomical no matter where they are placed. Activity This activity will look at the availability and economics of solar power where you live. We will need maps of available sunshine provided by the U.S. government to do this. We are also going to need to know the price of commercially available solar panels. Foremost, though, we will need to know how much electrical energy you use before we estimate the cost of using renewable energy. 1. [5 points] Identify the major sources of energy used in your home today. For example, do you use electricity, natural gas, propane, and/or heat oil? Identifying what sources you use will come into the discussion later on. 2. [5 points] Finding out how much electrical energy we use is actually quite easy. All that one needs to do is to either monitor their electric meter for some period of time or review their electrical bills. Either of these two methods will give you the exact amount for how much electricity you use. Using your utility bills or the best estimate, identify the

annual costs for all of these energy sources combined. Note, this is how much money you spend over the entire year for energy supporting the operation of your home. For some students, this will be 100% electricity. You can decide to only calculate the value of replacing your current electricity use or instead putting a dollar value on all of the energy sources used in your home over a year (e.g., electric + natural gas). Cost of energy = $ __2,268______/yr my current bge is with both electric/ natural gas (189)+ 12 months 3. [10 points] Using the appropriate cost of electricity from the table below, calculate the annual usage of energy in your home. [For example, if your total annual spending on energy from question 2 was $2400 and you were located in the state of Georgia, then use the conversion 1 kwhr/$0.1395., so that $2400 * (1 kwhr/$0.1395) = 17,204 kwhr]. If your location is not listed, please select a neighboring state or use the national average of 1 kwhr/$0.23. Note the table is in cents, and you want to use dollars. Annual Energy Use in Your Home = ___33,430.32_______ kwhr/yr 14.74 / 2,268=33,430,32 Cost of Electricity by State (from Energy Sage https://www.energysage.com/local-data/electricity-cost/#:~:text=How%20much%20does%20electricity %20cost%20by%20state%3F%201,Marketplace%20today%20to%20get%20started%20comparing %20solar%20quotes . ) State Cost State Cost State Cost Arizona 14.74 ¢ / kWh Maine 21.82 ¢ / kWh Ohio 13.90 ¢ / kWh Arkansas 13.26 ¢ / kWh Maryland 14.74 ¢ / kWh Oregon 13.58 ¢ / kWh California 28.38 ¢ / kWh Massachusetts 28.36 ¢ / kWh Pennsylvania 17.02 ¢ / kWh Colorado 14.61 ¢ / kWh Michigan 18.88 ¢ / kWh Rhode Island 21.94 ¢ / kWh Connecticut 25.90 ¢ / kWh Minnesota 16.05 ¢ / kWh South Carolina 13.46 ¢ / kWh Florida 15.48 ¢ / kWh Missouri 13.16 ¢ / kWh Texas 12.79 ¢ / kWh Georgia 13.95 ¢ / kWh Nevada 14.54 ¢ / kWh Utah 12.78 ¢ / kWh Idaho 10.35 ¢ / kWh New Hampshire 27.54 ¢ / kWh Virginia 14.11 ¢ / kWh Illinois 14.40 ¢ / kWh New Jersey 17.76 ¢ / kWh Washington 11.67 ¢ / kWh Indiana 16.28 ¢ / kWh New Mexico 14.95 ¢ / kWh Washington D.C. 12.81 ¢ / kWh Iowa 13.45 ¢ / kWh New York 22.64 ¢ / kWh Wisconsin 16.43 ¢ / kWh Louisiana 12.40 ¢ / kWh North Carolina 12.50 ¢ / kWh 4. [10 points] Now that we have the approximate electrical energy usage per year, we are prepared to investigate the economics of using solar energy in your present location. Use the annual solar radiation map from the National Renewable Energy Labs ( https://www.nrel.gov/gis/assets/images/solar-annual-ghi-2018-usa-scale-01.jpg ) to find out the average amount of solar energy that strikes a 1-m 2 solar panel at your current

5. [10 points] Now, multiply the value from response 4 by 365 days in order to calculate Average Annual Solar Energy (AASE) that is striking the surface in a year. State the AASE here in kwhr/m 2 /yr. AASE = _1,642.5_______ kwhr/m 2 /yr 4.50 x 365= 1642.5 6. [10 points] Since most standard solar panels are only about 12% efficient, the AASE needs to be divided by 8 in order to calculate the Average Annual Solar Panel Output (AASPO) a 1-m 2 solar panel per year in your area. AASPO = __205.31______ kwhr/m 2 /yr 1642.5/8=205.31 7. [10 points] If the total energy needed for your home (response 3) is divided by the AASPO (response 6), you will have estimated the area of solar panels that you need to meet your energy needs for the year. So, calculate Annual Energy Use in Your Home (kwhr/yr) from response 3 / AASPO (kwhr/m 2 /yr) from response 6. Area of solar panels needed = _33,430.7271_______ m 2 8. [10 points] Using current price estimates (they vary quite a bit, but $200/m 2 from https://www.sunpal-solar.com/info/how-much-does-a-solar-panel-cost-per-square-me-72064318.html ) for solar panels allows you to calculate the price of putting in solar panels. Multiply the area of solar panels needed (m 2 ) from response 7 * $200/m 2 . Cost of solar panels = $ _6,686_______ 9. [10 points] Now, go back to response 2 and determine the costs of energy using what you currently pay over the following time frames. To do so, multiply by the number of years. 10 years at current costs = $ __272,160______ for 10 years 2268 X 120 months 20 years at current costs = $ __544,320______ for 20 years 2268 X 240 months 30 years at current costs = $ ____816,480____ for 30 years 2268 X 360months 10. [10 points] Review the costs of the solar panels (response 8) to the cost estimates over 10, 20, and 30 years (response 9). How do they compare? Is there a time frame when solar panels cost less than paying the current electricity costs? No I would be paying way more without the solar panels over time.