I like cheap stuff and do-it-yourself stuff. I wish that there were a way to generate my own electricity. I’ve looked into it for years. The answer is always the same.
I got to thinking about the solar farm at the Agricenter this evening. I drive by it occasionally while traveling out Walnut Grove. It is one big honker.
I decided to run the numbers on that boondoggle and see what they looked like. I got the data (and the above photo) here.
The farm was supposed to generate 1.6 gigawatt-hours per year. Whether it is meeting that goal, I don’t know, but it seems very unlikely that the goal was understated, so let’s assume it’s reliable. Basic arithmetic converts that into 1,600,000 KWH. Residential rates for electricity vary somewhat, but $0.07/KWH is pretty close, so multiplying that by the farm’s output yields $112,000 worth of juice per year. And that’s the retail price.
The farm cost $4,300,000. Dividing that by its annual output, it would take over thirty eight years to reach the break-even point. Of course, a solar farm doesn’t operate itself. You must pay maintenance people, some of whom must be technically astute and, therefore, expensive. One salary might run $50,000 when you include benefits, Social Security, and so forth. Can they maintain that farm completely by hiring one person and no outside contractors? Is the equipment insured against hailstorms, tornados, and flying beer bottles? Just what are the annual maintenance costs? Might be approaching $112,000, depending on how you figure it.
Will it last thirty eight years? Oh, be serious! Warranties on these panels tend to be twenty to twenty five years, but even with that, their electrical output diminishes with age, which shifts the numbers into even more unfavorable territory. Additionally, the Agricenter is proud to point out that their panels slowly rotate in order to be always facing the sun, which improves their output twenty percent! How much power is consumed moving 4,160 solar panels throughout every sunny day? And how long will the motors last which accomplish this nifty feat?
This nonsense is built and owned by an outfit called Silicon Ranch, the principal of which is former Tennessee governor Phil Bredesen. You might think that poor Phil isnt good at arithmetic, spending $4.3 million on something that is guaranteed to lose money. But I assure you, his arithmetic skills are doing just fine. First, he sells the electricity to MLGW at market rates. Next, he gets a handout from the TVA (your wallet, in other words) amounting to $0.12/KWH. Thats $192,000/year, in case you don’t have a calculator handy. Last, he will sell the junk to the Agricenter in ten years.
Is this a great country, or what?