adrianmonk t1_iubm1a3 wrote
Reply to comment by Grimij in Increasing the spacing of solar panels between rows improves PV system efficiency and economics by allowing airflow to cool down the modules, this could improve a project’s LCOE by as much as 2.15% by giuliomagnifico
>If you need to increase the spacing by 500% to improve LCOE by ~2% that's dumb, I'm sorry.
That's not what the study says, is it? At least not according to the way I read the article.
It seems like there is a trade-off between the cost of land and the energy output, and their analysis tells you where the sweet spot is in the middle. From the article:
> Through the modeling, the group ascertained that the optimal levelized cost of energy (LCOE) point was $0.29/kWh, with row spacing varying between 4.83 and 7.34 meters. With two-meter spacing, the LCOE was $0.33/kWh, and with 11 meters it was $0.36/kWh.
Note that very close spacing (2m) and very wide spacing (11m) are both worse than intermediate spacing (4.83-7.34m).
They mentioned agriculture, but I don't think their analysis takes that into account. I think it's just a perk that they're throwing out there as a conceivable side benefit of wider spacing.
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