Production of
Energy from Domestic Photovoltaic Cells
The Solar
radiation
on a horizontal surface in Peebleshire amounts to 0.5kWh a day per m² in January and
4 kWh m² in July*. A
roof of 40 m² would produce
4kWh of electricity a
day in January and 32 kWh in July assuming that photovoltaic cells are
20% efficient**.
In Germany, a policy of paying domestic producers of energy, more than
twice the domestic rate, for all the surplus energy they feed into the
grid, has resulted in householders installing a total
capacity of 3 gigawatts, which is equivalent to three full
sized gas, coal or nuclear power stations***. According to
my calculations to achieve this installed capacity 300,000 roofs
of 40m² would need to be
covered in
photovoltaic cells.
*Information from the Open University book, edited by Godfrey Boyle -
Renewable Energy (2004). Oxford University Press.
*** Efficiency is likely to double to 40% within the next five years.
*** New Scientist 8th December 2007.
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