An economic analysis of potential photovoltiac system in the University of Georgia

Relative to a baseline of 2010, the University of Georgia (UGA) currently has a goal to reduce CO2 emissions by 20 percent using renewable energy sources. This report presents a cost-benefit analysis of a 10-acre, ground-installation solar energy project in the city of Athens, Georgia, and examines the ability of such a project to meet UGAs CO2 emissions reduction target. The analysis includes relevant incentive programs and technical details to evaluate nine possible system designs three solar tracking devices for each of three photovoltaic solar panel types. Each of the nine system designs are evaluated under two end-use scenarios either UGA uses the electricity generated by the PV system or the electricity is sold to Georgia Power and uploaded onto the electrical grid. Results shows that it would be more cost-effective for UGA to use their own created electricity rather than selling it back to Georgia Power (GP) company because scenario B (no transformer for UGA) made more profit when compared to scenario A (requiring transformer for UGA).