Final answer:
To calculate the percentage daily cost saving from solar power versus gas power, we need to compare the energy output after accounting for efficiency losses.
Step-by-step explanation:
To calculate the percentage daily cost saving of using solar power instead of gas power, we first need to establish the baseline energy production and cost for both sources. A typical residential solar installation provides about 10 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy per day. In thermal terms, this energy must be multiplied by roughly a factor of 3 to compare with gas power, as gas power plants have inefficiencies in converting thermal energy to electricity. This implies that solar power would displace approximately 10 kWh * 3 = 30 kWh of thermal gas energy per day.
Now, since a gallon of gasoline contains approximately 37 kWh of energy and not all of this energy is converted to electrical energy efficiently, we'll consider the home and power plant efficiencies. Using natural gas directly at home might be 85% efficient, while a power plant’s efficiency might be 40%, further adjusted to 95% for transmission efficiency, equating to 38% overall. This indicates that it would require about 2.2 times more gas power to achieve the same result as direct usage.