Solar Energy
Shining a light on the true value of solar power
Beyond the environmental benefits and lower electric bills, it turns out installing solar panels on your house actually benefits your whole community. Value estimations for grid-tied photovoltaic systems prove solar panels are beneficial for utility companies and consumers alike.
For years some utility companies have worried that solar panels drive up electric costs for people without panels. Joshua Pearce, Richard Witte Endowed Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Michigan Technological University, has shown the opposite is true – grid-tied solar photovoltaic (PV) owners are actually subsidizing their non-PV neighbors.
Most PV systems are grid-tied and convert sunlight directly into electricity that is either used on-site or fed back into the grid. At night or on cloudy days, PV-owning customers use grid-sourced electricity so no batteries are needed.
“Anyone who puts up solar is being a great citizen for their neighbors and for their local utility,” Pearce said, noting that when someone puts up grid-tied solar panels, they are essentially investing in the grid itself.
“Customers with solar distributed generation are making it so utility companies don’t have to make as many infrastructure investments, while at the same time solar shaves down peak demands when electricity is the most expensive.”
Pearce and Koami Soulemane Hayibo, graduate student in the Michigan Tech Open Sustainability Technology (MOST) Lab, found that grid-tied PV-owning utility customers are undercompensated in most of the U.S., as the “value of solar” eclipses both the net metering and two-tiered rates that utilities pay for solar electricity. Their results are published online now and will be printed in the March issue of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.
The value of solar is becoming the preferred method for evaluating the economics of grid-tied PV systems. Yet value of solar calculations are challenging and there is widespread disagreement in the literature on the methods and data needed.
To overcome these limitations, Pearce and Hayibo’s paper reviews past studies to develop a generalized model that considers realistic costs and liabilities utility companies can avoid when individual people install grid-tied solar panels. Each component of the value has a sensitivity analysis run on the core variables and these sensitivities are applied for the total value of solar.
The overall value of solar equation has numerous components:
+ Avoided operation and maintenance costs (fixed and variable)
+ Avoided fuel.
+ Avoided generations capacity.
+ Avoided reserve capacity (plants on standby that turn on if you have, for example, a large air conditioning load on hot day).
+ Avoided transmission capacity (lines).
+ Environmental and health liability costs associated with forms of electric generation that are polluting.
Pearce said one of the paper’s goals was to provide the equations to determine the value of solar so individual utility companies can plug in their proprietary data to quickly make a complete valuation.
“It can be concluded that substantial future regulatory reform is needed to ensure that grid-tied solar PV owners are not unjustly subsidizing U.S. electric utilities,” Pearce explains. “This study provides greater clarity to decision makers so they see solar PV is truly an economic benefit in the best interest of all utility customers.”
Solar PV technology is now a profitable method to decarbonize the grid, but if catastrophic climate change is to be avoided, emissions from transportation and heating must also decarbonize, Pearce argues.
One approach to renewable heating is leveraging improvements in PV with heat pumps (HPs), and it turns out investing in PV+HP tech has a better rate of return than CDs or savings accounts.
To determine the potential for PV+HP systems in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Pearce performed numerical simulations and economic analysis using the same loads and climate, but with local electricity and natural gas rates for Sault Ste. Marie, in both Canada and U.S. North American residents can profitably install residential PV+HP systems, earning up to 1.9% return in the U.S. and 2.7% in Canada, to provide for all of their electric and heating needs.
“”Our results suggest northern homeowners have a clear and simple method to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by making an investment that offers a higher internal rate of return than savings accounts, CDs and global investment certificates in both the U.S.and Canada,” Pearce said. “Residential PV and solar-powered heat pumps can be considered 25-year investments in financial security and environmental sustainability.”
Argonne to lead National Energy Storage Research Hub
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 05, 2024
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected Argonne National Laboratory to lead the newly established Energy Storage Research Alliance (ESRA), a national hub focused on advancing energy storage technologies. The ESRA, co-led by DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), is one of two new Energy Innovation Hubs announced by the DOE.
Bringing together nearly 50 leading researchers from three national laboratories and 12 universities, ESRA aims to address the most critical challenges in battery technology, such as safety, high-energy density, and the development of long-duration storage solutions using cost-effective and abundant materials. The initiative is designed to push the boundaries of energy storage science, fostering innovation and strengthening the competitive edge of the U.S. in this crucial field.
“The demand for high-performance, low-cost and sustainable energy storage devices is on the rise, especially those with potential to deeply decarbonize heavy-duty transportation and the electric grid,” stated Shirley Meng, ESRA director and chief scientist at the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science. “To achieve this, energy storage technology must reach levels of unprecedented performance, surpassing the capabilities of current lithium-ion technology. The key to making these transformative leaps lies in a robust research and development initiative firmly grounded in basic science.”
Leveraging decades of investment in fundamental science, ESRA will focus on transformative discoveries in materials chemistry, a deeper understanding of electrochemical processes at the atomic level, and establishing the scientific foundations necessary for major advancements in energy storage technology.
“ESRA creates an energy storage research ecosystem with the mission to rapidly innovate, shorten the time between basic discovery and technology development, and train the next-generation workforce,” commented Bryan McCloskey, ESRA deputy director for scientific thrusts and a faculty engineer at Berkeley Lab.
The success of ESRA’s efforts will lead to the development of high-energy batteries that are fire-resistant, capable of providing long-duration storage for multiple days, have a lifespan of several decades, and are constructed from low-cost, widely available materials.
“ESRA will pave the way for innovative energy storage solutions that drive both U.S. prosperity and security,” said Argonne Director Paul Kearns. “As the lead laboratory for ESRA under the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, Argonne takes pride in spearheading this collaborative effort that unites world-leading experts and taps the impressive scientific resources available in national labs and academia.”
The DOE has committed up to $62.5 million in funding for ESRA over the next five years.
In addition to its research goals, the Argonne-led hub will prioritize training a diverse, next-generation battery workforce to meet future manufacturing demands. This will be achieved through innovative training programs that involve industry, academia, and government partnerships.
“Cultivating a diverse workforce dedicated to safeguarding America’s energy resilience is key to ESRA’s mission,” noted Wei Wang, ESRA deputy director for crosscuts and director of the Energy Storage Materials Initiative at PNNL. “Through our strategic equity and inclusion initiatives, we plan to create a robust training ground for energy storage science from the undergraduate to postdoctoral levels.”
With Berkeley Lab and PNNL as co-leads, the ESRA collaboration brings together comprehensive expertise across the energy storage spectrum. Their state-of-the-art capabilities in technology discovery, modeling and simulation, and materials synthesis and characterization complement those of Argonne, setting the stage for significant advancements in energy storage.
Argonne is joined by 14 partners in this initiative, all of whom are deeply involved in ESRA’s scientific endeavors, governance, strategic development, and the training of the next generation of battery scientists and engineers. This collaboration among national laboratories and universities is vital for discovering new materials, accelerating the development of technology, and commercializing new energy storage innovations.
Related Links
Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com
UN’s Guterres says China-Africa ties can drive ‘renewable energy revolution’
by AFP Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Sept 5, 2024
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told African leaders Thursday that expanding ties between China and the continent could “drive the renewable energy revolution”.
Guterres and more than 50 African leaders are attending this week’s China-Africa forum, according to state media.
Guterres told the gathering that “China’s remarkable record of development — including on eradicating poverty — provides a wealth of experience and expertise”.
“It can be a catalyst for key transitions on food systems and digital connectivity,” he said.
“And as home to some of the world’s most dynamic economies, Africa can maximise the potential of China’s support in areas from trade to data management, finance and technology,” Guterres added.
Guterres also told the leaders it was time to correct “historic injustices” against the continent.
“It is outrageous… that the continent of Africa has no permanent seat on the Security Council,” he said.
Related Links
Major Qatari plant to double solar capacity by 2030: minister
by AFP Staff Writers
Doha (AFP) Sept 1, 2024
A large new solar plant planned in Qatar will double the Gulf emirate’s previously projected renewable energy capacity by 2030, Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi announced on Sunday.
The photovoltaic farm, which will be built in the Dukhan area some 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of the capital Doha, will increase the gas-rich state’s solar production capacity to four gigawatts by the end of the decade, Kaabi said.
The plant “that will be established in Dukhan area will produce 2,000 megawatts, which is twice more than the capacity of Qatar’s production of solar energy of the current projects,” the minister, who is also chief executive of state-owned QatarEnergy, said.
In October 2022, Qatar inaugurated its first large-scale solar farm at al-Kharsaah, west of Doha. The emirate announced in August of the same year another solar project with two plants at Ras Laffan in the north.
Through the combined projects, including at Dukhan, Qatar would achieve “4,000 megawatts of clean energy by 2030”, Kaabi said.
This will “constitute 30 percent of the total production of energy of the state of Qatar” with a yearly reduction of “4.7 million tonnes of CO2 emissions,” he added.
Kaabi said the existing projects should produce 1.7 gigawatts of energy “in first quarter of next year, or early next year”.
The energy minister also announced plans to more than double Qatar’s urea production making the country the largest producer of the fertiliser in the world by the end of the decade.
He said Qatar would “maximise the production of chemical fertilisers” through “a complex with global standards” which would “increase our production capacity from 6 million tonnes annually to more than 12.4 million tonnes annually”.
Qatar is one of the world’s top liquefied natural gas producers alongside the United States, Australia and Russia. Natural gas is a major ingredient in urea manufacturing.
In February, Qatar announced plans to expand its output from its North Field project, saying it will boost capacity to 142 million tonnes per year before 2030.
Over the past year, Qatar has inked a series of long-term LNG deals with France’s Total, Britain’s Shell, India’s Petronet, China’s Sinopec and Italy’s Eni among others.
csp/dcp
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