Overview
We are now completing the last part of a three-lesson arc in economics and solar project finance. By now, you should observe significant connectivity between the past two lessons. We have discussed the economic drivers in energy systems, the basics of clients as utility maximizers, and then addressed multiple ways in which we as designers/engineers on a team can access the goal of maximizing solar utility for our clients in a given locale.
In Lesson 7, we will discuss ways to deliver useful metrics to our clients from a finance perspective. We will approach SECS through Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA), dealing with concepts of financial paybacks on investment, solar savings, time value of money for long periods of evaluation, and levelized costs of energy.