Solar PV News

[mspohr]

Those are new terms and metrics, is it about 1.5 years old?
This explanation was made 14 months ago.

Levelized Cost of Solar Plus Storage (Text Version)

www.nrel.gov

Trying to understand the factors used, have a nutshell explanation?

I believe the footnotes in each graph explanation their assumptions..
Since this is version 15, it probably carries over terminology to maintain consistency.
Is there something in particular you want to know?

 

[MontyFloyd]

I believe the footnotes in each graph explanation their assumptions..
Since this is version 15, it probably carries over terminology to maintain consistency.
Is there something in particular you want to know?

Trying to understand the goal of this metric.
I see it is a money range, not sure if cost, income, ROI, or what.

 

[mspohr]

Trying to understand the goal of this metric.
I see it is a money range, not sure if cost, income, ROI, or what.

First, from Wikipedia:
The levelized cost of energy (LCOE), or levelized cost of electricity, is a measure of the average net present cost of electricity generation for a generating plant over its lifetime. It is used for investment planning and to compare different methods of electricity generation on a consistent basis. The LCOE "represents the average revenue per unit of electricity generated that would be required to recover the costs of building and operating a generating plant during an assumed financial life and duty cycle", and is calculated as the ratio between all the discounted costs over the lifetime of an electricity generating plant divided by a discounted sum of the actual energy amounts delivered.[2] Inputs to LCOE are chosen by the estimator. They can include cost of capital, decommissioning, fuel costs, fixed and variable operations and maintenance costs, financing costs, and an assumed utilization rate.[3]

The Lazard full document (available as a link)

https://www.lazard.com/media/451881/lazards-levelized-cost-of-energy-version-150-vf.pdf

Comparative LCOE analysis for various generation technologies on a $/MWh basis, including sensitivities for U.S. federal tax subsidies, fuel prices,
carbon pricing and costs of capital.
In this analysis, Lazard’s approach was to determine the LCOE, on a $/MWh basis, that would provide an after-tax IRR to equity holders equal
to an assumed cost of equity capital. Certain assumptions (e.g., required debt and equity returns, capital structure, etc.) were identical for all
technologies in order to isolate the effects of key differentiated inputs such as investment costs, capacity factors, operating costs, fuel costs
(where relevant) and other important metrics

 

[MontyFloyd]

First, from Wikipedia:

Odd did not get Wiki, probably did wrong search term. Thanks

 

[mspohr]

Odd did not get Wiki, probably did wrong search term. Thanks

Levelized cost of electricity - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[mspohr]

Solar-covered parking lots could offer multiple benefits

Researchers from Yale found that parking lots across Connecticut could host 7 GW of solar capacity and produce 9,000 GWh of electricity in their first year of operation.

pv-magazine-usa.com

Analysis from Yale University has found that more than one-third of the state’s electricity could come from solar-covered parking lots. Adding this potential to Google Project Sunroof rooftop’s solar data increased the availability of solar siting to roughly 85.5% of the state’s electricity provided solely from solar carports and rooftops.

 

[mspohr]

Yotta Energy pushes the smart grid closer to rooftop solar panels

The company’s software suite has grown to standardize integrated features including the ability to dispatch electricity.

pv-magazine-usa.com

These tools are part of the same revolution driving companies like Sunrun, Tesla, and electricity utilities that are directly integrating residential solar plus energy storage systems into the big power grid via virtual power plants. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Order 2222 mandates that the wholesale energy markets of the United States integrate distributed energy resources (like customer sited solar and batteries). This means that the portfolios of distributed energy in most of the United States will be allowed to bid into power grid markets, not just the few key leading states like California, Massachusetts, and Texas.

Tools like Yotta Energy’s rooftop distributed battery, combined with modern inverters, electric panels, vehicles, and – of course – solar power, will allow individuals and businesses to purchase the resilience needed to defend against power grid challenges like we’re seeing in California, and those which led to hundreds of deaths in Texas during last February’s winter storm.

 

[mspohr]

Edison’s new rate plans create financial pinch for rooftop solar panel owners

Utilities want to block competition from rooftop solar, monopolize energy to drive profits, and raise rates even faster, all while kicking clean energy and resilience goals down the road,” says Save California Solar, a coalition that includes Solar Rights Alliance and scores of environmental groups, cities and others. Its petition asking the governor to protect rooftop solar and “stop the utility power grab” has gathered nearly 95,000 signatures.

 

[mspohr]

Microgrids Powered by Renewable Energy Will Generate Half a Million Jobs & $72 Billion in GDP Growth by 2030 - CleanTechnica

New report conducted by Guidehouse Insights and commissioned by Civil Society Institute, Millennial Action Project and RMI shows lasting impact on local economies and job growth from investing in renewable energy, battery storage, and controls for microgrids.

cleantechnica.com

 

[MontyFloyd]

Microgrids Powered by Renewable Energy Will Generate Half a Million Jobs & $72 Billion in GDP Growth by 2030 - CleanTechnica

New report conducted by Guidehouse Insights and commissioned by Civil Society Institute, Millennial Action Project and RMI shows lasting impact on local economies and job growth from investing in renewable energy, battery storage, and controls for microgrids.

cleantechnica.com

This is really an obvious and easy to calculate number.

Installing PV and wind (and grid) is labor intensive, needs to be done all over the US, and will take decades of work.
And the proof already exists. (This data from 2018)

 

[mspohr]

Here’s why you need to support California net metering

John Fitzgerald Weaver argues that we need net metering to fully recognize the value of solar power on our homes and businesses.

pv-magazine-usa.com

The choice is on how much solar you want on large solar farms in the desert, or on farmed flat land, and how much solar power you want to build on top of commercial buildings, homes, and parking lots.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), rooftop solar alone – using modern 20% efficient solar panels – has the potential to meet almost 90% of California’s electricity needs as of 2020. You can up that to roughly 100% if we covered our roofs in 22% efficient solar panels.

In terms of the power lines that catch the forests on fire, we need billions of dollars fewer of them when we install more local rooftop solar. This is because bigger power lines are needed to bring electricity from the desert to where we live. Building those lines costs money, money that local solar saves us.

Some will point directly to the low cost of electricity contracts signed by large-scale solar power to suggest that is why it’s cheaper. However, no homeowner gets to buy electricity for a few pennies per kilowatt hour. The homeowner has to pay the guaranteed 10% profit margin for the utility, not to mention paying the cost for the thousands of miles of power lines. And, the homeowner has to pay the power company to cut down trees around its transmission rights of way to reduce fire danger.

 

[miimura]

If California expects the IOUs to support net metering, we need to redefine how they make money. Today, they only make significant profits on major transmission projects. Those projects are only needed when you have large remote generating facilities. They will make significantly less money if the whole grid goes distributed. We need to figure out a way to realign the profit motives of the utilities so that they reinforce the goals of transitioning to renewable energy and driving down costs for rate payers.

 

[bkp_duke]

If California expects the IOUs to support net metering, we need to redefine how they make money. Today, they only make significant profits on major transmission projects. Those projects are only needed when you have large remote generating facilities. They will make significantly less money if the whole grid goes distributed. We need to figure out a way to realign the profit motives of the utilities so that they reinforce the goals of transitioning to renewable energy and driving down costs for rate payers.

Utilities are gov-sponsored monopolies. There is no "realignment" that they will be happy with.

Their monopoly power needs to be broken. Fair competition would put an end to this problem. One can only hope that Telsa's Virtual Power Plant aspirations come to fruition. Then, perhaps, the traditional utilities will innovate more and ratepayers win in the end with lower rates and a more reliable grid.

(and then I woke up from the pipe dream, right?)

 

[SageBrush]

We need to figure out a way to realign the profit motives of the utilities so that they reinforce the goals of transitioning to renewable energy and driving down costs for rate payers.

Or force the utilities to act competitively. I think it is time to throw out the monopoly on corruption these utilities have grown fat off.

 

[Merrill]

The biggest problem is 3 utilities with no one in control, they do what they want and you will not convince me that they are not making millions.

 

[iPlug]

What are thoughts on the islanding effects of those in more rural areas such as those who live in the foothills and mountains here in California?

One could go fully off grid there, but the combo of overbuilding home solar PV with multiples of average daily use battery storage to achieve 100% off grid and get one through seasonal dips and 1-10 year weather and other edge cases is very expensive. Coops may help but not sure how we get rid of the power lines that connect folks in these more far flung places associated with fires to rescue peaker supply generation.

We could bury many lines, but urban/suburban customers have already been effectively subsidizing these folks for their connectivity access in low density areas with long transmission streams.

 

[mspohr]

If California expects the IOUs to support net metering, we need to redefine how they make money. Today, they only make significant profits on major transmission projects. Those projects are only needed when you have large remote generating facilities. They will make significantly less money if the whole grid goes distributed. We need to figure out a way to realign the profit motives of the utilities so that they reinforce the goals of transitioning to renewable energy and driving down costs for rate payers.

We need to bring competition to Utility monopolies. The gravy train is over.
The point of the article was that we don't need or want utility scale generation and transmission. Utilities will need to earn less.

 

[mspohr]

What are thoughts on the islanding effects of those in more rural areas such as those who live in the foothills and mountains here in California?

One could go fully off grid there, but the combo of overbuilding home solar PV with multiples of average daily use battery storage to achieve 100% off grid and get one through seasonal dips and 1-10 year weather and other edge cases is very expensive. Coops may help but not sure how we get rid of the power lines that connect folks in these more far flung places associated with fires to rescue peaker supply generation.

We could bury many lines, but urban/suburban customers have already been effectively subsidizing these folks for their connectivity access in low density areas with long transmission streams.

These people need a strong local grid, not high power long distance transmission.

 

[iPlug]

These people need a strong local grid, not high power long distance transmission.

How would you describe their production/storage setup that would achieve 100% independence from transmission lines and get them through seasonal dips and the 1-10 year weather and other edge case scenarios?

There are probably some places in the PNW blessed with decades long proven reliable hydro resources that could pull this off, but elsewhere?

 

[bkp_duke]

How would you describe their production/storage setup that would achieve 100% independence from transmission lines and get them through seasonal dips and the 1-10 year weather and other edge case scenarios?

There are probably some places in the PNW blessed with decades long proven reliable hydro resources that could pull this off, but elsewhere?

Think multiple power sources besides just solar. I REALLY want to go 100% off-grid, but the grey days in the winter months really take a toll.

This came across my news feed and really piqued my curiosity:

JOE DOUCET x PARTNERS JDXP

Can the power of art help power our buildings? Wind energy has played a key role in helping national grids around the world reduce dependence on fossil fuels to generate energy, but wind turbines for homes and businesses have encountered very slow uptake due, in part, to their intrusive physicalit

joedoucet.com

power your home with joe doucet's wind turbine wall

www.designboom.com

Living on a side of a mountain I could see that thing constantly producing a lot of power and keeping the powerwalls topped off, even at night.

Hell, in a pinch I might even consider a natural gas / propane generator. It hurts to say that, but that's the level of hatred I have for our utility.