What is the Payback Time of PV?
(Edit Q&A) A: The payback time of an investment is the period of time required until that investment returns an amount equal to the original investment. This is called the Financial Payback Time. Note that when dealing with money over time, one ought properly to use the standard time value of money calculations (otherwise known as interest). The same idea can abstracted and applied to energy, in which case the question becomes; what is the period of time required before the amount of energy used in creating a photovoltaic module is generated by that module. This is called the Energy Payback Time. A flavour of the controversy can be garnered by sampling the See Also list. Consider, for example, a couple of subsidiary questions which arise. What energy is to be counted as ‘used in creating a photovoltaic module’? Do you count the energy used to smelt the metal of the frame? Do you count the energy used by the welders in making the module? Do you count the energy used by the truck to deli
Note: This is a controversial subject. The payback time of an investment is the period of time required until that investment returns an amount equal to the original investment. This is called the Financial Payback Time. Note that when dealing with money over time, one ought properly to use the standard time value of money calculations (otherwise known as interest). The same idea can abstracted and applied to energy, in which case the question becomes; what is the period of time required before the amount of energy used in creating a photovoltaic module is generated by that module. This is called the Energy Payback Time. A flavour of the controversy can be garnered by sampling the See Also list. Consider, for example, a couple of subsidiary questions which arise. What energy is to be counted as ‘used in creating a photovoltaic module’? Do you count the energy used to smelt the metal of the frame? Do you count the energy used by the welders in making the module? Do you count the energy
