ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to investigate the financial advantage of alternative power supply for a portable pocket-sized stereo cassette tape recorder. The commercial awareness of the possibility of introducing a small photovoltaic (pv) battery charger for electronics consumer products is uppermost in mind. When this ratio is less than 1.0, grid charging provides a lower life-cycle cost than the alkaline battery, pv charging provides a lower life-cycle cost than the alkaline battery, and pv charging provides a lower life-cycle cost than grid charging. The major cost component of the grid-charging system is the cost of the ac-dc charger. The chapter examines the effect of changing capital cost estimates for the three alternatives. The range of multipliers is intended to account for system capital cost variations as a result of different cost, insurance and freight equipment and other costs which are country or site specific.
