wrote in :

Jim Yanik writes:

wrote in :

harry writes:

On Jul 20, 12:23ÂÂ*am, jamesgangnc wrote:
On Jul 19, 7:02ÂÂ*pm, Frank
wrote: All power plants have maintenance costs.

PV?

Pretty low maintenance costs.

solar uses a lot of water,gotta keep the panels clean.

Just watched a video.
Every 2 weeks:
Wipe off dust with dry towel.

That video isn't telling you everything.
wiping without water means scratches that lower output.
It also doesn't remove bird crap or tree sap.

Wash with towel dampened in water, vinegar, detergent.

That doesn't sound like a lot of water.

for all those panels?
it has to be done more often than every two weeks,too.

then there's inverter maintenance,and if storage
batteries used,battery maintenance. Plus,the hazards of battery
chemicals and lead,along with fire hazard.

Just looked up maintenance procedure for a solar panel
inverter.

"replace every 10 years".

what about dust,power surges,electrolytic capacitor dryout,etc?
Cap failure is a common occurrence in power systems.


BTW,I note that the system you cited uses TRACKING solar panels,so there's
maintenance on the mechanicals that move the panels.Then there's snow/ice
removal,seeing as it's up North(N.Jersey?).

Anyway, it mostly just sits there and pours electricity into the
grid. Pretty cool, especially with this heat, you can imagine
all the air conditioners it's running.

"POURS" electricity? how big a plant is it? how many MW?

1.2MW:

http://newprovidence.patch.com/artic...ystem-to-power
-bell-labs-campus-3 http://tinyurl.com/3srexrm

It probably runs THEIR AC and maybe the building lights.

The building is pretty big. The article says it's enough power to
power 200 homes.


Is that peak or average output?

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com