Home Photovoltaic Power: Obstacles to Costs and Benefits

Recently, the "State Council's Several Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of the Photovoltaic Industry" clearly stated for the first time that "support and encourage enterprises, institutions, communities, and families to install and use photovoltaic power generation systems."

At the end of 2012, China's first resident consumer distributed photovoltaic power supply was connected to the grid for power generation in Qingdao. From application installation to grid-connected power generation, the entire process took only 18 days.

An interview with reporters in Hebei found that in Hebei, home-installed distributed photovoltaic power generation systems are gradually heating up. In just a few months, families with distributed photovoltaic systems installed in Shijiazhuang, Baoding, Handan and Hengshui.

The reporter observed that the costs and benefits are the biggest factors affecting the enthusiasm of the residents.

Take Xu Jianmeng of Xubao Village, Wugong Township, Raoyang County, Hebei Province as an example. He claimed to be an "environmentalist" and he took the lead in establishing a distributed photovoltaic power station in the area.

Xu Jianmeng’s “power plant” is on the roof of his home and consists of 10 300-watt polysilicon panels. "A total of more than 30,000 yuan was invested. When there is sufficient sunshine, 10 kWh can be sent every day." Xu Jianmeng said that he can not only meet self-power consumption, but also use the remaining electricity to go online and sell it to power supply companies.

When talking about when to make profits, Xu Jianmeng said frankly: All costs can be fully recovered in 10 years.

"The longest service life of solar panels can reach 30 years, and the economic benefits are still considerable. The "power plants" can save 1.272 tons of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emission by 3.56 tons per year," said Xu Jianmeng.

“As far as the current level of household electricity prices is concerned, there is almost no possibility of making money from family photovoltaic power plant investment. Individuals start this business and the cycle is too long.” In the eyes of Shi Mengjin, director of the customer service center of Raoyang Power Supply Company, Raoyang County, the family built In photovoltaic power plants, costs and benefits are the biggest factors affecting the enthusiasm of investment.

Shi Mengjin conservatively calculates that a 3-kilowatt photovoltaic power plant has an installed cost of 30,000 yuan. According to the grid purchase price of 0.43 yuan per degree, the daily power generation is calculated at 10 degrees, and the annual income is 1569 yuan. The initial investment of 30,000 yuan, if combined with state subsidies, it will take at least 10 years to recover costs.

According to an industry source from the Hebei Electric Power Company, according to regulations, all individual meters of distributed photovoltaic power generation projects are provided by the power sector free of charge. The power grid needs to invest 78,000 yuan for a 3 kilowatt power station, including the survey site, organizational acceptance, The provision of electricity meters and other equipment is very expensive for large-scale popularization.

It is reported that foreign residents have subsidies for photovoltaic power generation. Germany divides the distributed photovoltaic generation capacity into four gears. The larger the power plant capacity, the lower the electricity price. Japan adopts a power subsidy, while the United States is a subsidy for initial installation, which is approximately 30% to 50% of the total installation cost.

Experts pointed out that after the subsidy, if the internal rate of return of the power generation is too high, it will lead to blind growth of the industry, increase the burden on the country, and at the same time it will have an impact on the power grid. Too low will not stimulate the market.

According to analysis by industry insiders, according to the "State Council's opinions on promoting the healthy development of the photovoltaic industry," the future electricity price subsidy program will maintain the investment return rate of photovoltaic power plants at a low yield of 8% to 12%.