Design Needs of A Solar PV System For Winton – Queensland, Australia

Abstract

To build a solar PV power plant in Winton the feasibility of installing a centralized of the system is required to investigated in order to replacing gensets with a solar PV/battery installation that will meet the town’s needs. The PV modules will last 20 years, the other major electronic components 10 years and the batteries will be replaced every 7 years. The estimate of the costs of gensets installed at the site is very high. Maintenance is also high on these units in remote area. Estimate of the maintenance costs should to considered clearly. The inflation rate as 4.5% and use a discount rate of 9.5%. The project is financed with 60% debt and the interest rate on debt is 7.5%. Therefore, firmly that installed the solar PV system is cheaper rather than purchase new diesel powered gensets to meet the town’s needs for the next 20 years. Which is the end of project life had earned remains unused fund is A$ 50 000.

Keywords: RET Screen, PV system, financial viability