Life Cycle Costing of PV Generation System

Abstract

Life cycle costing (LCC) is a methodology used first time by the Department of Defense of United State, it's an economic calculation of all costs propagated during the life span of any technical system. For Renewable Energy (RE) systems, LCC is a good methodology, which shows the cost-effectiveness of using RE as an alternative source compared to conventional power generations. A LCC model was introduced for PV generation system. Data collection was done through four different cost data sources. The results shows that the average module price is $0.56/Wp and the capital investment cost is $1.184/Wp. For a 20 years PV project life-time, the operation and maintenance cost forms 27% of the total LCC of the system.