Retail cost per watt for terrestrial panel: under 45c
Manufacturing cost per watt of space grade solar panel: up to $450
Annual performance degradation of terrestrial solar panel: under 0.5%
That of space-grade solar panel: up to 2%
Life span of terrestrial panel: about 2x that of space panel.
Total difference in cost per watt feeding a DC load in space vs on land: about x400
And that's ignoring launch costs. It makes absolutely zero sense. And given the scale of production and investment in manufacturing, terrestrial is likely to stretch even further ahead in the cost stakes.
> Manufacturing cost per watt of space grade solar panel: up to $450
Where did this number come from, and why is it literally 1000x more than the Earth version?
I can totally believe the cost of the ISS panels was in that ballpark, but if we're talking about putting megawatts of these things in orbit, economics of scale will very quickly come into play.
derriz · · focus · HN ↗
Capacity factor of terrestrial solar panel: 23%
Retail cost per watt for terrestrial panel: under 45c
Manufacturing cost per watt of space grade solar panel: up to $450
Annual performance degradation of terrestrial solar panel: under 0.5%
That of space-grade solar panel: up to 2%
Life span of terrestrial panel: about 2x that of space panel.
Total difference in cost per watt feeding a DC load in space vs on land: about x400
And that's ignoring launch costs. It makes absolutely zero sense. And given the scale of production and investment in manufacturing, terrestrial is likely to stretch even further ahead in the cost stakes.
motionlessveloc · · focus · HN ↗
Where did this number come from, and why is it literally 1000x more than the Earth version?
I can totally believe the cost of the ISS panels was in that ballpark, but if we're talking about putting megawatts of these things in orbit, economics of scale will very quickly come into play.