Replacing the Coal Power Plants with Solar Power (Photovoltaic Cells)

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Replacing the Coal Power Plants with Solar Power (Photovoltaic cells)
Energy production processes and the emission of the byproducts have devastating effects on the people of the USA such as high economic health impacts. For example, coal as the most significant producers of energy in the country accounts for $ 361.7 per year as the economic consequences (Gerdes 1). Besides, the coal power plants produce a lot of carbon IV oxide that results in global warming. Therefore, it is essential to shift from the fossil energy to the alternative clean sources of energy. However, the primary point to consider when changing to such alternatives is whether such new and clean sources of energy meet the energy demands in far better ways than the limited coal power. First, it is true that the coal power sources are inefficient, environmentally destructive, and unsustainable as well as cause climate change. The clean and new energy alternatives, on the other hand, are viable and can quickly boost the US economy as well as minimise over-reliance on the energy sources from foreign nations. Replacing the coal power generation with wind and solar powers as part of the renewable energy adoption henceforth reduce mortality and lost workdays as well as the minimization of the overall healthcare costs in the USA as well as creating job opportunities.
The current project proposes the use of solar power at the cost of $ 50 billion to reduce the extent of pollution that coal power plants generate to the environment. The clean sources of energy noted to reduce the carbon IV oxide emissions by 277 million metric tons per year as at 2025. Such amounts are equivalent to an annual output from 70 new coal plants. The windmill power plants and solar power cost $59/MWh and $72/MWh respectively compared to coal plants that give $109/MWh. Therefore, a project that utilizes 50 billion dollars on both wind and solar power plants provide much higher benefits in the long run compared to the initial high cost (Energy Innovation 1).
Outline
Introduction
The renewable energy is usually unlimited due to the constant and continuous replacements via the natural process. However, the solar and wind power, in particular, are limited since their availabilities vary in different places and time. The USA especially the Southwestern side experiences solar and wind energies that can be used for heat and electricity for consumption. Besides, the differential heating of solar energy creates wind in the areas which further benefit the USA regarding wind energy production. Therefore, the proper utilization of both wind and solar energies may help to reduce the economic and health costs incurred due to the use coal power plants for electricity.
Solar Power Status in the USA
Solar power installation in the USA is current seventeen times the original status from the year 2008. Currently, the nation has an estimate of 30 gigawatts for 5.7 million homes on average from 1.2GW. The average cost of photovoltaic panels has dropped more than 65% with the solar electricity costs reducing by 50%. Besides, the solar energy experiences a maturity market and competes economically with other conventional energy sources especially in states such as Texas, Hawaii, Minnesota, and California. Besides, the job growth in the solar energy sector is at 123% from November 2010 with more than 209,000 workers in USA (National Renewable Energy Laboratory and U.S. Department of Energy 4).
Separately, solar energy gives support to the priorities in the USA such as national security, climate change mitigation aspects, job creation, and economic growth. However, the installation of the PV panels in the nation is still staggering at 0.6% of the total land as well as rooftops (NREL 1). Irrespective of the reduction in costs for its hardware, the solar energy sector experiences barriers such as grid integration for its more significant deployment. Other values that form impediments include the permit, financing and customer acquisition that form part of the total costs by 55% primarily in the residential system (National Renewable Energy Laboratory and U.S. Department of Energy 4).
The cheapest way of increasing the use of solar energy in different localities is the application of the off-grid rooftop system.
Reasons for off-grid rooftop system
Using the off-grip rooftop system enable the USA residents to;
1 Gain continuous access to power at all times
2 To solve the problems of scheduled and unscheduled power cuts
3 Reduce dependency on coal-powered electricity
4 Enable the customers to get the high quality of energy that is superior to the one from the grid
5 Enable the residents to invest more against the high fuel prices and charges on the grid.
6 Reduce the carbon gas emission in the environment
Areas of Application
1 Educational Institutes
2 Hospitals
3 Water pumps
4 Construction companies
5 Government offices
6 Commercial buildings
7 Private homes
Features of off-grid rooftop system
1 Low maintenance costs
2 Stable supply of power that increases the efficiency of the electronic components
3 Enhances the effective management of power based on the available equipment and requirements
4 Long life battery design
5 Minimal loss of power due to the effectiveness of DC cables and junction boxes (Prasanna Sameer and Hemavathi 14).
Functional Description of Photovoltaic Power Plant for Rooftop Systems
Components
1 Solar panel
2 Junction box
3 Inverter (Power Conditioning unit)
4 Automatic or manual operated switches
5 Step-up transformers
6 Grid connection interface (Prasanna Sameer and Hemavathi 14).
Bills of Materials
The bills of materials will include rooftop with battery backup system and roof without battery backup system (Nyborg 126).
Costs price of solar PV System
1 Components: include 100 KW rooftop system cost with battery backup as well as without battery backup
2 Engineering design
3 Installation and commissioning
4 Operation and maintenance (Prasanna Sameer and Hemavathi 14).
Financial Analysis
The financial analysis will factor in the sensitivity analysis, Net present value to determine the profitability of the project. Besides, it will highlight the Internal Rate of Return (Perini and Rosasco 115).
Works Cited
Energy Innovation. “Comparing the levelized cost of energy technologies.” Energy Innovation: Policy and Technology, 21 Dec. 2016. http://energyinnovation.org/2015/02/07/levelized-cost-of-energy/ . Accessed Nov. 8, 2017.
Gerdes, Justin. “How Much Do Health Impacts From Fossil Fuel Electricity Cost The U.S. Economy?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 8 Apr. 2013. /Forbes/welcome/?toURL=/sites/justingerdes/2013/04/08/how-much-...