Solar PV News

[Merrill]

Add electric vehicles, not bulk transmission, for a low-cost, clean grid: UC Berkeley study

A 90% clean grid with a transition to EVs would achieve lower electricity costs than one without, the study shows. Transmission investments would mainly be spur lines to new renewable generation.

pv-magazine-usa.com

A 90% clean grid with a transition to EVs would achieve lower electricity costs than one without, the study shows. Transmission investments would mainly be spur lines to new renewable generation.
The electric vehicle scenario would reach 88% clean power by 2035, including existing hydropower and nuclear power. Existing gas units would provide the remaining power and help ensure power reliability at all times.

I guess our California utilities did not read this study.

 

[mspohr]

I guess our California utilities did not read this study.

Not as much profit in local lines.

 

[Merrill]

Not as much profit in local lines.

Yes, only 8 billion instead of 9 billion.

 

[mspohr]

Yes, only 8 billion instead of 9 billion.

The execs have to fight for every penny of profit.

 

[mspohr]

The Guardian: ‘Insanely cheap energy’: how solar power continues to shock the world. ‘Insanely cheap energy’: how solar power continues to shock the world

We’ve got to the point where solar is the cheapest source of energy in the world in most places. This means we’ve been trying to model a situation where the grid looks totally different today.” This rapid radical reduction in the price of PV solar is a story about Chinese industrial might backed by American capital, fanned by European political sensibilities and made possible largely thanks to the pioneering work of an Australian research team.

 

[mspohr]

I tried this with my last solar array but the building dept was not impressed.

pv magazine International: Solar park built on rough wooden structures comes online in France. Solar park built on rough wooden structures comes online in France

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

EIA Electric Power Monthly - April 2021 (to February 2021)

Solar lags wind by a lot, but continues to grow.

760.3MW of new utility scale solar was added, taking the total to 49,032.0MW. Planned 12-month solar capacity additions increased by 298.3MW to 15,674.8MW.

Utilty-scale solar generation for February 2021 was 6.5TWh, up from 5.7TWh in 2020.

Including estimated small-scale generation, in February solar was was 9.4TWh, 2.62% of US generation compared to 2.31% a year ago. That brought the rolling share to 3.32%, up from 2.67% a year ago.

Estimated total solar generation was above 10TWh each month from April to October. With the large increase in capacity in 2020, and the large increase forecast for 2021, we can expect the range to be March to November at least, December 2021 a possibility, and then February added from 2022.

Utility scale generation was above 10TWh only in July 2020. In 2021 we can expect utility scale solar generation to exceed 10TWh between April and August at least, with September also possible.

12 month rolling estimated solar plus wind generation was 11.59% of generation, down to the relatively low wind generation.

Solar

Utility Solar:

Capacity (MW):

Period	Prior	Change	New	Change
Month	48,271.7	760.3	49,032.0	1.58%
YTD	47,848.2	1,183.8	49,032.0	2.47%
Rolling	39,255.7	9,776.3	49,032.0	24.90%
Plan +12mo	16,136.8	298.3	15,674.8	31.97%

Generation (GWh):

Year	Month	YTD	Rolling	Month %	YTD%	Rolling
2020	5,652	10,363	74,884	1.77%	1.56%	1.81%
2021	6,502	12,234	92,762	1.97%	1.79%	2.28%
Difference	850	1,871	17,878	0.20%	0.23%	0.47%

Small Scale Solar:

Capacity (MW):

Period	Prior	Change	New	Change
Month	28,225.1	368.1	28,593.2	1.30%
YTD	27,723.6	869.6	28,593.2	3.14%
Rolling	24,038.5	4,554.7	28,593.2	18.95%

Generation (GWh):

Year	Month	YTD	Rolling	Month %	YTD%	Rolling
2020	2,609	4,937	35,933	0.82%	0.74%	0.87%
2021	2,939	5,688	42,491	0.89%	0.83%	1.04%
Difference	330	751	6,558	0.07%	0.09%	0.18%

Total Solar:

Capacity (MW):

Period	Prior	Change	New	Change
Month	76,496.8	1,128.4	77,625.2	1.48%
YTD	75,571.8	2,053.4	77,625.2	2.72%
Rolling	63,294.2	14,331.0	77,625.2	22.64%

Generation (GWh):

Year	Month	YTD	Rolling	Month %	YTD%	Rolling
2020	8,261	15,300	110,817	2.59%	2.31%	2.67%
2021	9,441	17,922	135,253	2.86%	2.62%	3.32%
Difference	1,180	2,622	24,436	0.28%	0.32%	0.65%

 

[mspohr]

Global renewable energy industry grew at fastest rate since 1999 last year

They're still predicting lower growth next two years

 

[SageBrush]

They're still predicting lower growth next two years

Sure they are -- that happens after a 45% growth rate jump YoY. The arithmetic is non-intuitive. Getting ~ 250 GW new capacity each year for the next two years is nothing to sneeze at, and I'll guess that it implies the current supply chain production capacity. The next jump in production capacity may be a couple years away, just as a WAG how long it takes to build factories.

The graph in your article looks like a supply constrained curve to me.

A year or two ago I estimated that the world needed ~ a 20% growth rate in renewables to stand a chance of substantially phasing out fossils by 2035. That works out to a doubling of new capacity every 4 years so the world might stand a chance.

 

[mspohr]

New York funds a study to learn how grazing can benefit solar installations

Sheep and solar farms can exist symbiotically, and the American Solar Grazing Association says that now is the time to convert that relationship into a full-scale industry.

pv-magazine-usa.com

The American Solar Grazing Association is taking on a two-year project to collect and analyze data on the agricultural, economic, and environmental impacts of co-locating agricultural enterprises such as commercial beekeeping and sheep grazing on photovoltaic sites.

 

[mspohr]

Syria’s Surprising Solar Boom: Sunlight Powers the Night in Rebel Idlib Syria’s Surprising Solar Boom: Sunlight Powers the Night in Rebel Idlib
An unlikely solar revolution of sorts has taken off in an embattled, rebel-controlled pocket of northwestern Syria, where large numbers of people whose lives have been upended by the country’s 10-year-old civil war have embraced the sun’s energy simply because it is the cheapest source of electricity around.
Farmers who embraced solar appreciated the lack of noise and smoke, but what mattered most was price.
But many of the refugee families living in crowded tent camps have at least one solar panel that produces enough energy to charge their phones and power small LED lights at night. Others have three or four panels to power such luxuries as internet routers and televisions.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

EIA Electric Power Monthly - May 2021 (to March 2021)

Solar lags wind by a lot, but continues to grow.

1,669.9MW of new utility scale solar was added, taking the total to 50,701.9MW. Planned 12-month solar capacity additions increased by 913.9MW to 14,918.8MW.

Utilty-scale solar generation for March 2021 was 9.3TWh, up from 6.3TWh in 2020, a seemingly extraordinary increase, but March 2020 was relatively weak and capacity has increased by 28.40% since March 2020.

Including estimated small-scale generation, in March solar was was 13.4TWh, 4.27% of US generation compared to 3.14% a year ago. That brought the rolling share to 3.41%, up from 2.71% a year ago.

Estimated total solar generation was above 10TWh each month from April to October in 2020. With the large increase in capacity in 2020, and the large increase forecast for 2021, we can now be sure that the range will be March to November at least, with December 2021 and January 2022 an increasing possibility, and February added from 2022.

Utility scale generation was above 10TWh only in July 2020. In 2021 we can expect utility scale solar generation to exceed 10TWh between April and August at least, with September also possible.

12 month rolling estimated solar plus wind generation was 11.91% of generation.

Solar

Utility Solar:

Capacity (MW):

Period	Prior	Change	New	Change
Month	49,032.0	1,669.9	50,701.9	3.41%
YTD	47,848.2	2,853.7	50,701.9	5.96%
Rolling	39,486.1	11,215.8	50,701.9	28.40%
Plan +12mo	15,674.8	913.9	14,918.8	29.42%

Generation (GWh):

Year	Month	YTD	Rolling	Month %	YTD%	Rolling
2020	6,314	16,859	75,481	2.04%	1.73%	1.83%
2021	9,342	21,577	95,609	2.97%	2.16%	2.35%
Difference	3,028	4,718	20,128	0.93%	0.43%	0.52%

Small Scale Solar:

Capacity (MW):

Period	Prior	Change	New	Change
Month	28,593.2	295.3	28,888.5	1.03%
YTD	27,723.7	1,164.8	28,888.5	4.20%
Rolling	24,355.0	4,533.5	28,888.5	18.61%

Generation (GWh):

Year	Month	YTD	Rolling	Month %	YTD%	Rolling
2020	3,409	8,362	36,443	1.10%	0.86%	0.88%
2021	4,092	9,780	43,158	1.30%	0.98%	1.06%
Difference	683	1,418	6,715	0.20%	0.12%	0.18%

Total Solar:

Capacity (MW):

Period	Prior	Change	New	Change
Month	77,625.2	1,965.2	79,590.4	2.53%
YTD	75,571.9	4,018.5	79,590.4	5.32%
Rolling	63,841.1	15,749.3	79,590.4	24.67%

Generation (GWh):

Year	Month	YTD	Rolling	Month %	YTD%	Rolling
2020	9,723	25,220	111,924	3.14%	2.59%	2.71%
2021	13,435	31,357	138,767	4.27%	3.14%	3.41%
Difference	3,712	6,137	26,843	1.12%	0.55%	0.70%

 

[mspohr]

https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/article251505788.html?fbclid=IwAR01wXk7ij1_pBpLkOWUCmWjOuB-qW_Q8rbZg10ctTDlXWOJlxna7E5uT20

More on the California utilities attack on solar

 

[mspohr]

Enough solar and wind to clean the U.S. power grid… available yesterday

Data show that the U.S. has more than 750 GWac of electricity generation capacity in interconnection queues, with 90% of that clean energy-related. But how much actually will be built?

pv-magazine-usa.com

In order to clean the U.S. power grid, wind, solar and energy storage professionals will need to deploy over a terawatt of additional clean electricity capacity. No problem, drill sergeant! The developers are at the ready! According to power plant waiting lists around the country, over half of the generation we need is already in queue
What matters most is not the low rate of project completion, but that this emerging data sends the signal that developers have already completed reconnaissance on more than half the sites needed to reach our clean electricity goals.
Remember, although we can meet U.S. electricity needs with a 100 km x 100 km square placed out in the desert, we don’t need to. In addition to eye-popping utility scale capacity volumes, we are also seeing significant volumes of solar built on residential and commercial rooftops

 

[mspohr]

Bloomberg: How China Beat the U.S. to Become World's Undisputed Solar Champion. Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

At the same time, the U.S. dabbled with short-lived incentives and punishing trade barriers that spurred retaliation instead of a manufacturing renaissance. The inconsistent, piecemeal policy of the U.S. was no match for a China-styled “industrial strategy” to dominate solar manufacturing, Ladislaw said. “You can’t take the sum of a bunch of half-hearted measures and hope that it equals a durable outcome.”

 

[mspohr]

U.S. energy consumption in 2020 increased for renewables, fell for all other fuels

www.eia.gov

 

[SageBrush]

I enjoy graphs like that ^^ but they obscure the efficiency of the device using the energy. A trend would be informative.

 

[mspohr]

I enjoy graphs like that ^^ but they obscure the efficiency of the device using the energy. A trend would be informative.

Yes, it is limited.
One interesting point is in the grey "electric power sector" box at the bottom. They show electrical "losses" at 65% !
I assume this is primarily fossil fuel thermal plant inefficiencies.

 

[winfield100]

https://flowcharts.llnl.gov/content/assets/images/energy/us/Energy_US_2020.png

(this looks way down from 2019)
and you are correct, ~2/3 energy rejected (wasted) and note between 75-80% energy transportation “rejected”

 

[winfield100]

yes, down about 8% or so, but Solar PV up and wind