🚀 go-pugleaf

On Sun, 18 May 2008 05:10:21 +0100, Eeyore
<rabbitsfriendsandrelations@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Jeff Liebermann wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 16 May 2008 10:47:27 -0700, Joerg
>> <notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> wrote:
>>
>> >There is a major stumbling block in areas like ours: Monopoly, plus
>> >baseline usage rules the monopoly imposes. The millisecond you exceed
>> >baseline by IIRC as little as 30% electricity becomes painfully
>> >expensive. Anyone who dared to use their A/C in summer knows that.
>> >Unless this changes or one can line up a sweet and most of all longterm
>> >night-time deal there won't be a realistic future for electric cars.
>>
>> One former EV-1 owner has a solution to the electric power cost
>> problem:
>> <http://www.solarwarrior.com>
>> <http://www.solarwarrior.com/why.html>

>A 30kW peak output PV solar array would cost somewhere in the region of
>$120,000 in panels alone 

I don't recall the exact total cost but I think it was about $150,000.
That did not include legal fees and time wasted dealing with PG&E
nonsense.

>by my estimation yet would only provide around
>120kWh of electricity daily (worth around $12) on average. Factor in
>financing costs and it simply will NEVER 'pay back'

No financing that I know of on this system.

Typical production is about 15kw-hr/day.  See graphs and visually
guess the average delivered power:
<http://www.solarwarrior.com/historical-data.html>

Non-tracking vverage hours equivalent to full sunlight is about 4.5
hrs in Santa Cruz County.  That yields:
  15kw * 4.5 hrs/day = 68kw-hr/day

PG&E rates vary with usage and season.  The cost to charge the fleet
of electric vehicles would have placed them in nearly the highest
rates.  See:
<http://www.pge.com/tariffs/ResElecCurrent.xls>
That's the current residential rates.  My guess is that electricity
would cost about $0.30/kw-hr at the highest rate.  
  68Kw-hr/day * $0.30/kw-hr = $20/day

>Scale that down to a 12kWh EV battery pack daily recharge and it would still
>cost you $12,000 PLUS and the associated installation, inverter etc, say
>$20k overall. Yet it would only cost about $1.20 for that daily recharge
>from the mains.

The owner indicates that the calculated break even point is 18 years
out of a 30 year lifetime.  The higher prices of electricity will make
the break even point somewhat sooner.  I don't have all the numbers
necessary to verify that.  I certainly won't buy into anything that
takes 18 years to break even as I don't expect to live that long.  I
agree that it's not very practical (unless you include government
subsidies and rebates), but it's a start.

-- 
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558            jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
# http://802.11junk.com               jeffl@cruzio.com
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com               AE6KS