1.

How long does it take the Sun to deliver to Earth the total amount of energy
humankind uses in a year?

Solution:

𝐽
𝐴𝑛𝑛𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑢𝑠𝑒 = 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 × 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 = 16 × 1012 × (𝜋 × 107 𝑠) = 5.02 × 1020
𝑠

Time it take the Sun to deliever to Earth the total amount of energy:

𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 5.02 × 1020 𝐽

𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 = = = 2885.05𝑠 ~ 48 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠
𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑢𝑛 1.74 × 1017 𝐽/𝑠

2. "Download the latest version of the US Energy information administration "Existing

electric generating units in the US" spreadsheet. Find out if your state has any PV or solar
thermal power sources and, if so, determine the total capacity of each. If not, where are
the closest solar thermal electric power plants?

Florida Power & Light Co (Desoto, Brevard, Charlotte, Volusia, Miami Dade, Manatee
and Desoto)

Total capacity: 25 + 10 + 74.5 + 1.6 + 1.6 + 74.5 + 74.5 = 261.7 MW

Duke Energy Florida, LLC (Osceola, Taylor)

Total capacity: 3.8 + 5.1 = 8.9 MW

Duke Energy Florida Solar Solutions (Orange)

Total capacity: 4.9 MW

3. A college average electric power consumption is about 4 MW. What area of 15%
efficient PV modules would be needed to supply this power during a spring month when
insolation on the modules average 200 W/m2 ? Compare with the area of the college's
football field (55 m by 110m overall).

Solution:

The area of the college’s footbal field:

55 × 110 = 6050𝑚2

𝑃 4 × 106 𝑊
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 = = = 133333.33𝑚2 ~ 22 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑏𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑𝑠
𝑒𝑆 0.15 × 200𝑊/𝑚2

4. Describe any renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS) and feed-in tariffs the state of
Florida and one European country has adopted.

According to Durkay 2017, Florida has not adopted any type of RPS standard. But the
European Union has adopted a standard of 33% renewable electricity by 2020, and had
reached 22% renewable by 2010.

About feed-in tariffs, Florida has adopted a program named “solar feed-in tariff”, which
was established in 2009, and was the first such program in the U.S.

http://www.ncsl.org/research/energy/renewable-portfolio-standards.aspx

5. A solar hot-water system for a US home costs about $6,000 after government
subsides. If the system reduces electrical energy consumption by 3,000 kWh of electrical
energy each year, and if electricity costs 10 cents/kWh; how long will the system take to
pay for itself? (neglect the economics of borrowing money and similar complications).

Solution:
 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑆𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 3000𝑘𝑊ℎ 10
𝑆𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 = × = ×
𝑌𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑘𝑊ℎ
= 30000 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠/𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 ~ $300/𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

How long will the system take to pay for itself:

𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 $6000
𝑃𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 = = = 20 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
𝑆𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 $300/𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟