What is the total rated capacity (MW) for this wind farm once it is installed?
Estimate the total actual electrical energy (kWh/yr) that can be generated in 1 average year based on the proposed wind turbines and given capacity factor. For the purposes of this analysis, ignore the transmission losses in these scenarios.
Use the 2009 DOE Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) excel table listed above to find the average annual electricity consumption value (Btu/yr kWh/yr) in Virginia and from this estimate the number of Roanoke households for which the wind farm will provide energy.
Determine the number of residential houses (#) that would need to install the solar PV arrays detailed above to match the energy output of the proposed wind turbine farm.
What is the total installed rated capacity for all these residential solar PV (MW)?
Using the same average annual Virginia electricity consumption as in the question 3, estimate the percentage (%) of the average VA household electricity use that the solar arrays can provide annually.
Determine the total installation cost estimate ($) and the simple payback time (yr) for both the solar and wind energy cases using each of the following assumptions from above (4 answers for solar and for wind power). ? No rebate or credit? With rebate? With credit? With rebate and credit
Using the AEP and other fuel energy data, estimate the amount of coal (tons) not burned and the amount of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen (tons) that would not be emitted per year if the wind farm or equivalent solar PV arrays were installed (only consider the use phase for electricity generation and do not include any carbon emissions due to the manufacture of the turbines or solar panels). You can assume a 33% efficiency for the AEP electricity power plants and that coal energy density is 20 million Btu/ton.