PV Gap

Tammy Said:

What would be income/profit on a 1 MW solar power plant( on an average)?

We Answered:

I don't know India, but your best bet may be to find someone else who has already set up such a plant, and inquire. If there are no others, there's probably a good reason.

1 MW is not exactly small, by the way. That's on the order of the size Google has installed on their headquarters.

Jaime Said:

what is the architectural space program for a solar power plant?

We Answered:

I like the "linear fresnel" designs by AusRa: Long strips of reflective surfaces pointed at long elevated collectors. Thermal solar requires about 3 square meters per kilowatt, and there might also need to be a turbine building and a heat exchanger (might be like a river, or hyperbolic cooling tower). You might provide a break area for workers cleaning the mirrors, or a ring of trees to collect dust blowing in from outside the reservation.

Annette Said:

where can i see a design of a solar power plant?

We Answered:

the first thing is the cost!
the second thing is how to met the customer requirements, i.e. what are the objectives targeted?

here are some photos
http://images.google.ca/images?hl=en&sou…


Guru

Zachary Said:

How much space and time is required to build A single Nuclear reactor versus a solar power Plant?

We Answered:

This is a loaded question with many right answers. I'll take a stab at it though.

The largest proposed photovoltaic power station in the world is in Victoria, Australia and is estimated to produce 154 megawatts. It will utilize 2,000 acres of land.

Conversely, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear station in Japan is the largest nuclear power station in the world. It produces a little over 8,000 megawatts and utilizes 1,037 acres of land.

Using these two extreme examples, nuclear power produces roughly 100 times more energy per acre than solar energy. Arguably, nuclear power stations are still cheaper to construct than solar energy stations. The cost of photovoltaic cells is still high as technology hasn't improved enough to reduce their cost.

There are many other factors that come into play that complicate the decision between which is ultimately the cheaper solution for energy production. There are factors like cost of land, environmental impact of land use, longevity of the facilities, long-term environment effects, and so on.

I can't answer how much each costs to build and the time for construction. Let us know what you came up with.