Economic analysis of solar industrial process heat systems: a methodology to determine annual required revenue and internal rate of return

Technical Report · Fri Aug 17 04:00:00 EDT 1979

OSTI ID:5885898

Dickinson, W C; Brown, K C

To permit an economic evaluation of solar industrial process heat systems, a methodology to determine the annual required revenue and the internal rate of return was developed. First, a format is provided to estimate the solar system's installed cost, annual operating and maintenance expenses, and net annual solar energy delivered to the industrial process. Then an expression is presented that gives the annual required revenue and the price of solar energy. The economic attractiveness of the potential solar investment can be determined by comparing the price of solar energy with the price of fossil fuel, both expressed in levelized terms. This requires calculation of the internal rate of return on the solar investment or, in certain cases, the growth rate of return.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Livermore (USA). Lawrence Livermore Lab.
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5885898
• Report Number(s): UCRL-52814
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140300 -- Solar Energy-- Economic
Industrial
& Business Aspects
140905*
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
299001 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Solar-- (1989-)
CALCULATION METHODS
COST
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMICS
ENERGY
FINANCING
HEAT
INDUSTRY
INFLATION
INSURANCE
INVESTMENT
MAINTENANCE
PAYBACK PERIOD
PRICES
PROCESS HEAT
SOLAR PROCESS HEAT
TAXES