Large-Scale PV Installations

Post-Oil Energy Technology After the Age of Fossil Fuels 

the energy payback period of PV collectors for thin-film PV systems is about 3-5 years and for multicrystalline silicon PV systems about 6-8 years. As manufacturing techniques improve and the use of preinstalled roof PV collectors spread, these payback periods are likely to drop. With a minimum life span of 25 years, the ratio of energy obtained to energy invested in manufacturing and assembling the PV collectors is about 10 1. This ratio compares favorably, for example, with the energy payback ratio of oil shale, which is only 4 1. 

A prefab home builder in Japan, Sikisui Chemical, provides preinstalled PV systems in half of the homes they build. 

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