04/07/2017
Make a right choice between a second car and roof top solar system at home.
1. The average cost of a new car is Rs 5,30,000/. The cost of 4KW solar sytem is now around Rs 2,40,000/-.
2.The life of a car is normally 7 years. The life of solar system is over 25 years.
3. The cost of car insurance, maintenance and car loan interest in sevenyeras is Rs 1, 68,000/-. There is no maintenence for panels. The cost of maintenance of inverter is Rs 8000/-.
4. The cost of fuel ( Diesel) is Rs 2000/- P.M, it is a moderate estimate. No FUEL , NO SMOKE in case of solar plant.5. The return on money spent on car will be less than one lakh at the end of seven years.
The payback time for solar plant is less than nine years. The electricity or power
produced thereafter is free for over 15 years.
Please find following calculations.
Cost of owning a car in India
1. Cost of a new car (average make): Rs. 5,30,000.00 (A)
2. Lifetime of a car: 7 years (pretty decent estimate)
3. Fuel expenses (considering diesel without inflation): Rs. 2,000 per month (on the lower side)
4. Cost over 7 years: Rs. 1,68,000.00 (B)
5. Car Insurance (considering Rs. 10k avg per year): Rs. 70,000.00 (C)
6. Car Maintenance / Servicing: (Rs. 10k avg per year): Rs. 70,000.00 (D)
7. Change of tyres (twice in 7 years @ Rs. 3,500 per tyre): Rs. 28,000.00 (E)
Let’s add all this up: Rs. 8,66,000.00 (T = A+B+C+D+E)
Cost of owning this car / day over 7 years: T / (365 x 7) = Rs. 338.94 per day.
Please note that these are fairly conservative estimates. You need to take into account following expenses too.
1. Rise in the cost of fuel over the years.
2. Not considering the amount you may need to pay for parking in your society (going rate in tier 1 city is 1.5L – 2.5L per spot)
3. Not considering the loanthat you probably need to take to buy a car @ 15% pa. (you will end up paying an additional 2L interest over a 7 year loan period).
4. You may not want to get an average car but a more expensive one. (Add the difference in costs accordingly.)
(Adding these expenses will take up the cost of your car to about: 8.66L + 1.5L parking + 42K fuel inflation @ Rs. 500 extra pm + 2L for loan = Rs. 12.58L or Rs. 492 per day over 7 years)
What this means is that everyday your car is sitting in your garage, you are wasting Rs. 340.00 – Rs. 492.00 per day.
Above calculations are excerpts from a chartered accountant's statement.
Cost of 4 KW roof top solar power plant
Let us take for instance a two bed room house with following electrical appliances.
• Two air conditioners of capacity 1.5 T used for 6 hrs per day
• One refrigerator of capacity 400 Liters used nonstop
• 2 Geysers of capacity used for one hour during morning
• 3 Ceiling fans used for 10 hours per day
• One LED TV used for six hours per day
• One laptop used for 8 hours per day
Total power presently used 1340 units
EB charges presently paid = Rs 7624 ( bimonthly basis) X 6 = Rs 45744/ per annum
A 4 kilo watt solar power plant would now cost Rs 2,40,000/.
Maintenance of inverter once in 3 years @ Rs 1000 = Rs 1000 X 8 times = Rs 8000
Total cost of solar system = Rs 8000+Rs 2,40,000 = Rs 2,48,000/
Cost of Net meter related expenses = Rs 20000/
Total cost = Rs 2,68,000/-
Units of solar power produced per month = 5 units per KW of installation per day X 4 kilo watt = 20 units X 30 days = 600 units
Units produced in two months = 600 units X 2 = 1200 units
Estimate cost of power generated on roof top = 1200 units X 6.50 ( Approx purchase price by Govt) = Rs 7800
Estimated cost of power generated on roof top per annum = Rs 7200 ( bimonthly X 6) = Rs 46,800/
The payback period for the cost of solar system is less than 6 years ( Not taking into account the increase in tariff by 5% every 2 years.
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