EME 810
Solar Resource Assessment and Economics

9.0 Overview

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Overview

We now continue our development of broader impacts in systems design and management. So far, we have addressed the Goal of Solar Energy Design through engineering applications (Lessons 2, 3, 4) and through financial/economic applications (Lessons 5, 6, 7). In Lessons 8, 9, and 10 we are addressing the Goal of Solar Design by helping the client to manage risk in the given locale.

The Goal of Solar Design is to:

  1. Maximize the solar utility
  2. for the client
  3. in a given locale.

In Lesson 8, we discovered that there are meteorological phenomena that are really out of our control, and our job as a design and management team is to help the client to manage risk. Now, we continue with important design elements tied to managing risk, but within the social realm of community, regional, and federal stakeholders. In Lesson 9, we want to address helping our client to manage risk in the social environment, through our developed awareness of permitting and policy within the given locale. As we shall see, just because you have a good solar resource and a sound financial return (in principle), doesn't mean that the policies of the locale will allow one to actually implement a SECS, or to implement a system in a financially responsible manner.