Grids & Integration – pv magazine USA

In case you missed it: Five big solar stories in the news this week

pv magazine — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 22:00:30 +0000

pv magazine USA spotlights news of the past week including market trends, project updates, policy changes and more.

Dissecting a $600,000 tax credit transfer In the past, even the smallest projects that attracted tax equity investors required $1 to $2 million in tax benefits to offset the $75,000 in fees. That landscape is now evolving.

1.2 MW Gainesville, Florida solar farm.

Image: Basis Climate

Top solar panel brands in reliability, quality, and performance Solar modules are evaluated in the Renewable Energy Test Center annual PV Module Index. Overall top performers (in alphabetical order): Astronergy, ES Foundry, Gstar, JA Solar, Longi Solar, Runergy, SolarSpace, Trina Solar, and Yingli Solar.

Maine may design a distribution system operator to advance distributed energy resources The Pine Tree State has hired a consulting firm to evaluate whether forming a distribution system operator could speed deployment of distributed energy resources and support other state goals. Consultants are reviewing how the approach is used in five other countries.

City of Detroit to install solar in mostly vacant neighborhoods Three Detroit neighborhoods were chosen as sites for solar facilities. The City plans to build 33 MW of solar to power its municipal buildings.

See where solar manufacturing is planned in North America on Sinovoltaics’ Supply Chain map The up-to-date map provides details on 95 factories producing PV modules, cells, wafers, ingots, polysilicon, and metallurgical-grade silicon in Mexico, Canada, and the United States, up from 81 in the first quarter.

Sunrise brief: New platform vets residential solar salespeople

pv magazine — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 12:00:05 +0000

Also on the rise: Siting solar projects for best environmental results. Top solar panel brands in reliability, quality, and performance. And more.

Maine may design a distribution system operator to advance distributed energy resources Maine has hired a consulting firm to evaluate whether forming a distribution system operator could speed deployment of distributed energy resources and support other state goals. Consultants are reviewing how the approach is used in five other countries.

New platform vets residential solar salespeople An industry plagued by deceptive practices is now verifying salespeople via a platform called Recheck.

Summit Ridge to procure 800 MW of Qcells solar panels The recent agreement brings the total to 2 GW of solar modules that the community solar specialist will purchase from Qcells, mostly manufactured in its facility in Georgia.

More solar installations coming to U.S. military bases In a partnership with Duke Energy valued at an estimated $248 million, the U.S. Department of Defense will be the exclusive purchaser of all output generated by two new solar facilities, which will serve five military bases.

Siting solar projects for best environmental results A new white paper from Clearloop identifies key U.S. regions for best carbon displacement impact of new clean energy projects.

Top solar panel brands in reliability, quality, and performance Solar modules are evaluated in the Renewable Energy Test Center annual PV Module Index.

pv magazine interview: ‘In the next year, some of these guys are going to be bankrupt’ At Intersolar in Munich, pv magazine spoke with Jenny Chase, solar analyst at BloombergNEF, about the incredibly low polysilicon prices, massive overcapacity, and increasing consolidation. According to Chase, this year there will be enough polysilicon capacity to produce 1.1 TW of solar modules, but global module demand is expected to reach around 585 GW.

Maine may design a distribution system operator to advance distributed energy resources

William Driscoll — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 13:30:30 +0000

Maine has hired a consulting firm to evaluate whether forming a distribution system operator could speed deployment of distributed energy resources and support other state goals. Consultants are reviewing how the approach is used in five other countries.

Maine has hired the consulting firm Strategen to evaluate whether a distribution system operator (DSO) could be designed to achieve growth in distributed energy resources and help the state meet other goals: lower electricity costs, improved electric system reliability, and the state’s overall climate goals.

The state law calling for the study defines roles for a DSO including overseeing integrated system planning, operating the state’s electric grids, and administering a market for distributed energy resources (DERs).

Speaking on a webinar about the study, Strategen Advisor Matthew McDonnell said the firm will evaluate the potential to reduce customers’ electric bills by first considering the “base case” for the state of Maine—that is, investment priorities that have already been established through integrated resource planning or other means. The firm will then “look at how a differentiation from that base case to more of a high DER state, as facilitated by a prospective DSO, can enable some potential cost savings going forward through load flexibility and other opportunities.”

Responding to a question about distributed storage, McDonnell added “certainly we’re thinking about distributed energy storage and its use either as a standalone asset or in conjunction with distributed solar or other energy resources.”

Standalone distributed solar was not mentioned on the webinar, which was hosted by the Maine Governor’s energy office.

The energy office said in a statement that no jurisdiction in the U.S. now has a DSO. McDonnell said Strategen is “looking to draw learnings” from similar distribution network operator approaches used in parts of the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, and Ontario, Canada.

If Strategen’s initial study concludes that a DSO can be designed to help achieve the state’s objectives, and the Governor’s energy office agrees with that conclusion, Strategen will conduct a second part of the study to develop a DSO design proposal that identifies the scope and characteristics of a DSO.

A DSO design “may not include the acquisition or ownership of any transmission and distribution utility assets,” the state law says. The law calls on the Maine governor’s energy office to ensure opportunities for stakeholder engagement throughout the study process.

The Strategen team includes consultants Lorenzo Kristov, who previously worked for California’s grid operator CAISO, and Mark Patterson, principal at Energy Catalyst in Australia.

Strategen expects the draft of its initial study to be released in late summer. If a second part of the study is authorized, that part is expected to be completed by year-end.

The nonprofit Clean Coalition, based in California, has advocated for the formation of distribution system operators in that state.

Sunrise brief: Utility-scale solar far less costly than the cheapest fossil fuel source

pv magazine — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 12:00:59 +0000

Also on the rise: Five Puerto Rico reservoirs could host 596 MW of floating solar. Weather-related damage to solar assets exceed modeling expectations by 300%. And more.

Flexible interconnection with curtailed output can benefit everyone, analyst says Allowing flexible interconnection for large solar projects can reduce costs and speed deployment, benefiting developers, ratepayers and utility staff, said a presenter at a North Carolina conference of utility regulators.

Startup launches online platform for residential PV system purchase Two-year old Monalee developed an online platform for homeowners looking to buy solar PV and storage systems. Its software enables the process from quotes to financing, installation and after-sales support.

Concentrator photovoltaic module based on surface mount technology A research group in Canada has optimized the performance of concentrator photovoltaics by using the so-called surface-mount technology for thermal management. The CPV module prototype utilizes four non-interconnected III-V germanium cells, a Fresnel lens, and a transparent glass printed-circuit board.

Five Puerto Rico reservoirs could host 596 MW of floating solar Potential sites for solar in Puerto Rico include reservoirs, brownfields, closed landfills, fossil generating plants after closure, and transmission rights of way, determined analysis by the National Renewable Energy Lab.

Cheapest source of fossil fuel generation is double the cost of utility-scale solar Solar levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) has fallen to $29 to $92 per MWh, said a report from Lazard.

List of top solar module manufacturers led by JA Solar, Trina Solar, Jinko Solar Wood Mackenzie says that JA Solar has taken first place on its list of solar panel manufacturers. Nine of the first 12 positions are held by Chinese manufacturers, seven of them could surpass 100 GW of capacity by 2027, and eight are self-sufficient in cell capacity, according to the research firm.

Largest ground-mount solar project in downtown Washington D.C. now operational The community solar installation at The Catholic University of America was built through a collaborative effort between the university and 1,200 local residents.

Flexible interconnection with curtailed output can benefit everyone, analyst says

William Driscoll — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 13:00:31 +0000

Allowing flexible interconnection for large solar projects can reduce costs and speed deployment, benefiting developers, ratepayers and utility staff, said a presenter at a North Carolina conference of utility regulators.

Duke Energy Progress has announced network upgrade costs of $470 million to interconnect about 1.9 GW of solar and solar-plus-storage projects in North Carolina and South Carolina that were proposed in response to its 2023 resource solicitation, with an average lead time until interconnection of 4.5 years.

A “significant” portion of the identified upgrades could be avoided “with minimal or zero impact to reliability” if a more flexible interconnection service that provided for occasional curtailment of solar generation could be used, said Tyler Norris, a Duke University Ph.D. candidate and former Cypress Creek Renewables executive, at a meeting of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.

Under flexible interconnection, a project would be required to curtail its output when transmission is congested.

Norris said North Carolina does not currently allow flexible interconnection for state-jurisdictional projects. Yet he said flexible interconnection would yield benefits for solar developers, ratepayers, and utility staff.

Speed of interconnection is one benefit. Norris noted that Texas, where the grid operator ERCOT allows a form of flexible interconnection, has quickly added solar in recent years. Although North Carolina ranked second in utility-scale solar deployment in 2019, Texas “sort of blew past us, they blew past Florida, and now they’ve surpassed California as well.”

ERCOT’s approach to flexible interconnection, known as “connect and manage,” suits the grid operator’s energy-only electricity market, Norris has previously written, and could be adapted for use elsewhere in the U.S. where electricity markets have a capacity market alongside an energy market.

Norris said the Duke utility’s expected network upgrade costs for the 1.9 GW of projects follow an approval by the North Carolina Utilities Commission for about $600 million in network upgrades “which was precisely intended to integrate more utility-scale solar and solar-plus-storage.”

North Carolina does not permit flexible interconnection, Norris said. So the utility’s cost study did not consider the “ability to curtail those resources in real time during peaks” as a way to avoid the upgrades. Many large network upgrades that are allocated to projects in interconnection studies “may be triggered due to rare or even extremely rare contingencies,” he said.

“This isn’t to pick on Duke by any means,” he said. “I think they’re doing a great job on a lot of fronts.”

Norris plans to work with team members at Duke University to analyze the network upgrade costs for the 1.9 GW of solar and solar-plus-storage projects under a scenario in which energy-only interconnection was allowed.

Avoiding network upgrade costs through flexible interconnection would ultimately help ratepayers, Norris said. “All these costs end up going to the ratepayers. We assign them to the projects, but either it shows up for the ratepayers in the form of a higher power purchasing agreement (PPA) price, or in the form of going directly into the rate base.”

Flexible interconnection could reduce the burden on a utility too, Norris said. “We already have a lot of other transmission and network upgrades going on for other reasons,” he said, and “layering more and more” upgrades for particular projects puts “more burden on already strained utility construction teams and planning teams.”

More generally, Norris said that “we’ve already invested a huge amount” in the existing transmission network, and that “if we can get more generators on the system that don’t require more and more network upgrades, we’re making more efficient use of that expenditure we’ve already made.”

Norris noted that in the U.S. Department of Energy’s recent interconnection roadmap, “one of the key themes that came out of it was offering fast track and more flexible interconnection options as a priority solution.”

Norris expects that a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission interconnection workshop set for September 10-11 will address issues related to flexible interconnection.

U.S. commercial real estate to host VPP-connected flywheels and batteries

Blathnaid O'Dea — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 14:26:15 +0000

U.S.-based technology provider Torus has agreed to supply nearly 26 MWh of energy storage for Gardner Group’s commercial real estate portfolio. The project will integrate battery and flywheel energy storage systems (BESS, FESS) with Torus’ proprietary energy management platform.

From pv magazine ESS News site

S-based energy solutions company Torus has announced the signing of a deal with real estate developer Gardner Group to provide its proprietary BESS and FESS technologies in one of the largest commercial energy storage projects in the U.S. state of Utah.

The deal will see 26 MWh of systems installed and supported by Torus’ proprietary software platform, enabling intelligent energy management, demand response capabilities, and seamless integration with renewable energy sources and EV charging infrastructure.

The project will also leverage Torus’ participation in Rocky Mountain Power’s Wattsmart Battery program, which supports grid resilience through the integration of energy storage resources into a VPP ecosystem. The Torus VPP platform enables predictive analytics for demand response, energy arbitrage, and frequency regulation.

“We are thrilled to partner with Gardner Group on this groundbreaking project,” said Nate Walkingshaw, CEO and co-founder of Torus. “This deal demonstrates the growing demand for advanced energy storage solutions in the commercial sector. This is a significant step for energy resilience, sustainability, and cost savings across the Gardner Group portfolio.”

Installation of the project is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year, with the completion date estimated to be in early 2026. Once fully operational, the systems will have the capacity to store and dispatch nearly 26 MWh of energy, equivalent to powering nearly 1,000 homes for a full day.

To continue reading, please visit our new ESS News site.

A new federal transmission rule won’t help renewables projects anytime soon

William Driscoll — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 18:25:33 +0000

Although promptly deploying grid-enhancing technologies and advanced conductors could speed interconnection in the short term, a new federal transmission rule will improve interconnection only once new transmission is built, said panelists on a webinar.

A new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order on transmission planning will not help renewables projects connect to the transmission grid “in any sort of timeframe that would benefit” a project now awaiting interconnection, said Kat Gamache, a partner with the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, on a webinar hosted by the firm.

FERC Commissioner Allison Clements agreed with Gamache, saying “this new transmission rule is not going to help today’s projects,” except to the extent that grid-enhancing technologies including advanced conductors “are brought into economic planning processes and reliability planning processes right away.” Doing so would be “a material improvement,” she said.

FERC Order 1920 requires transmission owners to consider these grid-enhancing technologies in developing the 20-year transmission plans that the order requires.

But Clements, while acknowledging three barriers to deploying the technologies, made the case for their prompt deployment. The first barrier is financial, she said, agreeing with a concern related by the webinar’s moderator that grid-enhancing technologies cost less than new transmission and do not add much to a utility’s rate base, whereas utilities aim to grow by adding to their rate base.

Then there are operational barriers to using grid-enhancing technologies, Clements said, because “even though many of these technologies are common around the world, they haven’t been deployed in the US.” Grid analysts have challenged the federally owned utility Bonneville Power and other transmission providers for yielding to operational barriers.

“There are also corporate barriers,” Clements said, because engineers, their group leaders and executives “are not incentivized to make more room on the grid now.”

But because FERC’s transmission rule will “take years to bear fruit,” Clements advised that “any transmission provider in a state that wants economic development, wants re-onshoring of advanced manufacturing, wants load growth for the value it brings to its state for other reasons, should be saying, ‘Let’s line up these grid-enhancing technologies, because right now they can make space on the system.’”

Turning to FERC’s role, Clements said “there’s a lot more to be done” to improve interconnection, following FERC’s Order 2023 last year to reform the interconnection processes of transmission providers.

“There’s a lot of opportunity” for standardization in the way interconnection applications are processed, she said, and for machine learning “to help us do these studies very quickly.” In addition, there are some “really interesting conversations going on” within grid operator SPP about possibly setting a standard fee per megawatt for interconnecting a generator, she said.

Clements expressed hope that a FERC workshop on September 10 and 11 to consider further improvements to interconnection will involve some of those questions.

Grid Strategies President Rob Gramlich said he expects that in the medium term, transmission regions “that actually follow through and implement” FERC’s new transmission rule will see a great improvement in interconnection speed and cost once new transmission is built.

He gave the example of the midcontinent grid operator MISO, where in late 2008 an agreement was reached to build new transmission to connect 300 MW of wind projects to the grid. Five years later, by 2013, the lines were built, “and almost instantaneously, when those lines were energized, interconnections became extremely fast and cheap” compared to previous years, he said.

Clements reminded listeners that “we have 2.6 terawatts of generation in line to hook up to the grid, and 90-plus percent of that is solar, wind and storage.”

Sunrise brief: California community solar in peril

pv magazine — Thu, 30 May 2024 12:00:46 +0000

Also on the rise: Technology-neutral proposed tax credit called ‘game-changing policy’. Less than 3% of farmland could power the Midwest. And more.

Strategies to address thermomechanical instability of perovskite solar modules A U.S. research team has investigated the thermomechanical reliability of metal halide perovskite (MHP) modules and cells in an effort to identify the best strategies to improve their stability under thermomechanical stressors. The scientists discussed, in particular, film stresses, adhesion of charge transport layers, and instability under light and heat.

Shedding light on tandem perovskite solar cell progress Perovskite tandem devices are at the front of the queue for commercialization but their characterization presents technical challenges.

Grid analysts challenge Bonneville Power’s pace in adopting advanced conductors As the White House encourages utilities to use advanced conductors to help interconnect new renewable generation, the federally-owned utility Bonneville Power is moving slowly to use the high-capacity conductors, analysts said.

Less than 3% of farmland could power the Midwest An analysis by the Center for Rural Affairs illustrates how using a small fraction of Midwest farmland for solar energy could meet significant renewable energy goals by 2050, dramatically enhancing the financial stability of farms, and challenging traditional views on land use.

Technology-neutral proposed tax credit called ‘game-changing policy’ The U.S. Treasury Department has issued further proposed guidance on the IRA, detailing a path to support a broad array of technologies–including solar– with tax credits, and clarifying many additional tax-related items in its latest guidance.

CPUC’s revised proposed decision could decimate California’s community solar market Just as an increasing number of states are implementing pro-active community solar policies, the California Public Utilities Commission is set to vote on a revised proposed decision that fails to seize on the opportunity to create a vibrant market, according to the Coalition for Community Solar Access.

DOE funding available for distributed energy resource operations software The Department of Energy announced $31 million in funding for research to improve distribution level grid operations of solar, wind, energy storage, and other inverter-based resources.

REC introduces 640 W commercial solar panel The new product contains heterojunction cell technology (HJT) with up to 22.5% efficiency.

Grid analysts challenge Bonneville Power’s pace in adopting advanced conductors

William Driscoll — Wed, 29 May 2024 14:28:46 +0000

As the White House encourages utilities to use advanced conductors to help interconnect new renewable generation, the federally-owned utility Bonneville Power is moving slowly to use the high-capacity conductors, analysts said.

Grid analysts have said that the Bonneville Power Administration, a generation and transmission utility owned by the U.S. Government that serves northwestern states, is moving too slowly to adopt advanced conductors.

Advanced conductors are high-capacity conductors that can replace existing conductors on existing transmission towers.

BPA has “begun the process” to analyze and qualify advanced conductors to increase the capacity of its grid, the utility said in January, adding that the process “can take months or years of physical testing and analyses.”

Analysts at Energy Innovation and GridLab challenged BPA’s approach and that of many other transmission providers, saying that “studying the technology itself rather than relying on real-world deployments or other peer organizations’ testing to approve the technology appears to be the status quo among transmission organizations. This ‘bottom-up’ adoption strategy considerably slows integration of many emerging technologies, not just advanced conductors.” They said BPA’s approach is commonly used at other utilities as well.

The analysts presented their views in a companion report to a technical analysis that found reconductoring could enable 764 GW of transmission-connected solar by 2035.

The U.S. Department of Energy last month flagged reconductoring as having substantial potential to increase transmission capacity, in a “liftoff” report calling for a national collaboration to deploy such technologies.

The White House this week announced a federal-state initiative involving 21 states to modernize the grid, in alignment with its effort to mobilize public and private sector leaders to upgrade 100,000 miles of transmission lines over the next five years. Substantial federal funding for reconductoring is available through three programs made possible through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).

One indicator of reconductoring’s potential within BPA’s service area is that from 2000 to 2023, the utility completed six high-voltage projects that enabled interconnection of 7 GW of wind power and 525 MW of solar.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s recent Order 1920, which requires utilities to develop and periodically update a long-term transmission plan, requires each utility to “consider” advanced conductors when developing their plan.

Texas is the proving ground for a new way of electric grid operation

Ryan Kennedy — Tue, 28 May 2024 21:07:44 +0000

Texas is uniquely suited to adopt virtual power plant technology due to its competitive, deregulated market. Its success highlights the "perverse incentive" of vertically integrated utilities in other states to make capital expenditures without discretion to raise profits.

Texas has a unique electric grid. Its grid operation organization, ERCOT, is independent of other states and deregulated, making the state open for business for a market-based approach toward energy generation and transmission.

Texas has been a favorite among utility-scale solar PV developers for a long time, thanks to its business-friendly environment and its lack of substantial local permitting regimes. The state is also operating as a proving ground for the buildout of a more nascent industry: virtual power plants (VPP).

VPPs are defined by their distributed and connected nature. Rather than transmitting power over long distances from a centralized power plant, VPPs use smart software to control a variety of connected energy assets like rooftop residential solar, battery energy storage, smart heating and cooling, and appliances. Homeowners with eligible VPP assets are compensated for exporting power or reducing use at electricity demand events throughout the year.

A panel of experts at the RE+ Texas conference in Houston, spoke on VPP progress in the state. The discussion opened with Stuart Page, senior consultant, Department of Energy (DOE) Loans Program Office asking the audience whether they were currently enrolled in a VPP program. Only two people in a room of hundreds raised their hands. Page then asked how many in the audience had heard of VPP, and most conference attendees raised their hands.

“I bet every single one of you has an energy resource or utilization than can be controlled by an app,” said Page. “Yet none of you are enrolled, despite the fact that there are discounts with your electric bill associated with it.”

Page said that part of the issue with VPP participation is the complexity of programs. Often, they require an opt-in, where the customer must choose to join the VPP program. Page said that VPP providers should instead choose an opt-out model, where customers are automatically enrolled in the program when they buy a smart device like a thermostat or a home battery. He cited a DOE experiment where an automatic enrollment model with an opt-out option increased participation by 400%.

So why are virtual power plants important? VPPs enable intelligent, local distribution of power, sending what is needed when it is needed. VPPs typically support reducing electricity use during times of peak demand, providing a critical service that may be one of the most important low-hanging fruits to pick in the nation’s progress towards decarbonizing energy and lowering energy costs.

VPP technology has shown immediate promise in replacing natural gas “peaker plants” on grids, replacing or preventing the buildout of new resources that are among the dirtiest, most expensive, and least efficient on the grid today.

The virtual power plant commercial liftoff report released by the Department of Energy said that between 2023 and 2030, coincident peak demand on the grid will rise by about 60 GW, from roughly 740 GW to 800 GW of demand.

“At the same time, fossil assets are retiring,” said the report. “Roughly 200 GW of peak-coincident demand must be served with new resources coming online by 2030. Tripling the current scale of VPPs could address 10-20% of this peak demand. This could avoid about $10 billion in annual grid costs, and much of the money that is spent on VPPs would flow back to participating consumers.”

Texas proving ground

Even in a room full of energy industry members and experts, almost nobody attending the RE+ Texas panel session admitted to being enrolled in a VPP. The biggest barrier to adoption has been the creation and implementation of a standardized VPP program, which many states lack.

To automatically enroll customers at the point of purchase as Page suggested, a program needs to be in place to enable it. Sterling Clifford, director of government affairs, Sunnova Energy, a VPP provider shared that many state utility regulators have said VPP technology is a “long way off.”

“But it doesn’t have to be,” said Clifford. “The beginning of the process to the launch of the product was 12 months (in Texas).”

Texas already has 16 MW of energy resources and 7 MW of non-spin flexible demand enrolled in VPP programs.

Part of what enabled such a quick launch of the program was necessity. Ryan King, manager, market design, for the ERCOT said the catastrophic Winter Storm Uri in early 2021 forced the grid operator to look for new sources of reliable, dispatchable supply at the distribution level, while reducing transmission and distribution costs and increasing grid resiliency. ERCOT landed on VPPs as a solution.

Another aspect of Texas’ readiness to adopt VPP programs are its electricity-savvy customers. Texas homeowners and renters are already used to making energy decisions at home, as frequently have to shop for new electricity contracts via a Retail Electricity Provider (REP). Contracts typically last a year or two, similar to how a VPP program enables short-term enrollment.

Texas was also already uniquely well-suited to integrate a VPP program, said King, as ERCOT is already able to value an avoided kWh of electricity, or a dispatched one. This type of valuation is enabled by Texas’ deregulated market, which allow various resources to participate in the market more freely than utilities in other major markets.

Texas has only just begun its VPP enrollment and already has a combined 23 MW of flexible capacity online. King said that VPP compensation for homeowners is “the closest thing to a free lunch,” and that once further program requirements are ironed out, growth will be “exponential.”

As for other states, it may prove more difficult to roll out VPPs. While ERCOT has a transparent market where avoided costs of demand reduction and the value of distributed electricity can be directly understood, other states, like California, have a highly vertical electricity market, where cost allocation reporting is murky.

“A vertically integrated utility – we should just call it a monopoly because that is what they are – don’t always tell the truth about what the exact costs are,” said Clifford.

For Texas, a highly competitive free market have opened the door for adoption of new technologies like VPP. In vertical markets like California, “perverse incentives” may close that door.

DOE’s Stuart Page explained how VPPs lower costs both for grid operators and for ratepayers, but that investor-owned utilities have a disincentive to properly manage their spending habits.

“We have a rate-based system, which means, instead of shaving the peak of my load, we can just build out new stuff,” said Page. “If I can spend $10 billion on that, I get a rate-based profit margin on it. So, I want to spend tons of money. If I use a VPP approach or any other ‘smart’ approach, I don’t get an increase in my profits. So, there’s a perverse incentive for utilities to participate, and we have to change that.”

Bringing lithium-sulfur batteries closer to commercialization

Marija Maisch — Tue, 28 May 2024 15:02:56 +0000

Researchers at the University of South Carolina have successfully transitioned their highly-durable lithium-sulfur battery technology from coin to pouch cells and reported competent energy densities.

From pv magazine EES News

Lithium-sulfur batteries are a promising candidate for high-performance energy storage applications due to their low cost and high theoretical energy density of more than 500 Wh/kg when coupled with lithium metal anodes.

However, developing a highly durable sulfur cathode has been challenging due to the polysulfide shuttling and volume variation of sulfur that leads to chemical and mechanical degradation of the cathode during cycling.

Researchers at the University of South Carolina have made a huge step forward in addressing this issue by developing a simple electrode processing method for producing highly durable sulfur cathodes. These electrodes feature a self-structured binder confinement for sulfur particles using only commercially available sulfur, carbon black, and binder, with no additional components.

The researchers have controlled the dissolution of the binder during the slurry preparation step to form a porous binder/carbon shell structure around the sulfur particles that can entrap the soluble polysulfides and slow down the shuttling mechanism.

The sulfur cathodes achieved through this method offer an outstanding capacity retention of 74% over 1000 cycles, due to a considerable reduction in the lithium-polysulfide shuttling and active material loss. Electrodes with a high areal loading also showed excellent cyclability as well as a high capacity.

The researchers reported these results last year following the completion of the project’s first phase, in which they used coin cells. Now, they are moving to practical battery forms to determine if commercialization is possible.

The team’s current work focuses on pouch cells, which theoretically have the highest energy density since this type has the least amount of waste weight. “Pouch cells usually have lighter and thinner battery casing than the other forms, which leaves most of the volume and weight of the battery for the energy-providing components,” Chemical Engineering Assistant Professor Golareh Jalilvand says.

While the challenges of batteries grow with their size, the USC researchers have reported a fast and successful transition from coin to pouch cells. “We have achieved outstanding lithium-sulfur pouch cells with competent energy densities,” Jalilvand says. “I’m looking forward to seeing the long cycle life and durability of our pouch cells because that’s the last check mark for us and our industrial partner. With that, it might be time to say we have a lithium-sulfur battery that is ready for commercialization.”

Given the long charge-discharge time, the researchers see lithium-sulfur batteries as best suited for applications that do not require fast charging. These include heavy-duty trucks, buses, and other means of transport that need long discharge time, commonly known as milage, and can be kept overnight at charging stations. The technology also shows great potential for stationary applications such as grid-level energy storage as well as space applications.

FERC transmission rule to shore up the nation’s power grid

Anne Fischer — Tue, 14 May 2024 14:08:31 +0000

The ruling, which is being praised by industry groups, is the first time in more than a decade that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has addressed regional transmission policy as well as the need for long-term transmission planning.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) voted to shore up the nation’s transmission grid to meet growing renewable energy generation.

This is long-awaited news for the solar industry, as the U.S. Department of Energy has estimated that 54,500 GW-miles of additional within-region transmission capacity is needed for a clean grid. An improved grid aligns with the move to clean energy as supported by the Inflation Reduction Act and the Biparistisan Infrastructure Law.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has been involved with this rulemaking proceeding over the past two years, advocating for reforms to the transmission planning process to account for all the benefits that clean energy offers.

“We’re pleased FERC took several steps to improve America’s outdated transmission system, including following SEIA’s recommendations requiring transmission providers to engage in long-term regional planning,” said Melissa Alfano, senior director of energy markets and counsel for SEIA.

The ruling, Order No. 1920, is the first time in more than a decade that FERC has addressed regional transmission policy as well as the need for long-term transmission planning.

“Our country is facing an unprecedented surge in demand for affordable electricity while confronting extreme weather threats to the reliability of our grid and trying to stay one step ahead of the massive technological changes we are seeing in our society,” said FERC Chairman Willie Phillips. “Our nation needs a new foundation to get badly needed new transmission planned, paid for and built. With this new rule, that starts today.”

With this ruling, transmission providers must conduct long-term planning for regional transmission facilities and determine how to pay for them. It also provides for “right sizing” transmission facilities, which amounts to expanding transmission when it needs to be replaced. Furthermore, it spells out the role of states in planning, selecting, and determining how to pay for transmission lines.

[Read The 50 states of grid modernization.]

“We need to seize this moment,” Chairman Phillips said. “Over the last dozen years, FERC has worked on five after-action reports on lessons learned from extreme weather events that caused outages that cost hundreds of lives and millions of dollars. We must get beyond these after-action reports and start planning to maintain a reliable grid that powers our entire way of life. The grid cannot wait. Our communities cannot wait. Our nation cannot wait.”

The ruling also details how FERC can exercise its authority over states if they fail to act on a transmission project outlined by the National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NETC). The Department of Energy designated ten NETCs, eight of which would facilitate transmission between grid regions; one would expand transmission within the Mid-Atlantic’s PJM grid region; and one would expand transmission in the Northern Plains.

Also included in the ruling are advanced technologies to modernize the grid, such as advanced conductors and grid-enhancing technologies.

Grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) were cited by an RMI study as potentially capable of saving project developers collectively hundreds of millions of dollars in interconnection costs compared to default network upgrades, while the project-level savings “could be the difference” that allows a developer to build a project instead of dropping out of the queue. The study notes that GETs can also be installed more quickly than other network upgrades.

“WATT applauds FERC for requiring advanced power flow control, dynamic line ratings and transmission switching in regional transmission plans,” said Julia Selker, executive director of the WATT Coalition, a group that advocates for policy that supports wide deployment of Grid-Enhancing Technologies. “These technologies are often cost-effective tools to increase grid capacity and improve flexibility to manage outages and other contingencies. Grid Enhancing Technologies will be vital to achieving the seven economic and reliability benefits in the rule, especially production cost savings, reducing grid congestion and improving performance in extreme weather.”

The energy grid in the United States was built in the 1960s and 70s and is hard pressed to handle the extreme weather events caused by climate change, let alone the renewable energy needed to meet energy goals.

“An expanded transmission system is not just a must for climate, it’s a must for running a reliable, affordable grid. The power system is changing, and this rule ensures the nation’s power grid will advance with clarity and consistency – rather than a haphazard approach that ignores the full range of benefits that new transmission can bring,” said Alfano.

Alfano noted that climate-fueled disasters pose huge challenges to the grid. “This rule will help shape a power grid that optimizes the capabilities of clean energy while prioritizing reliability and affordability,” she said. “In addition, FERC’s backstop siting rule will help ensure that no one state can veto transmission lines that are in the general interest of the nation.”

DOE proposes ten “national interest” transmission corridors

William Driscoll — Thu, 09 May 2024 11:00:52 +0000

Eight of the ten transmission corridors proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy would facilitate transmission between grid regions; one would expand transmission within the Mid-Atlantic’s PJM grid region; and one would expand transmission in the Northern Plains.

The U.S. Department of Energy has proposed ten National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors, as shown in the featured image above, and invites public comment on the potential NIETCs.

DOE previously sought industry input for the first stage of the NIETC designation process.

A NIETC designation, once final, “unlocks” federal financing and permitting tools to spur construction of transmission projects “to alleviate consumer harms,” DOE said. Such harms could result from transmission capacity constraints or congestion “currently or in the future,” and could show up as lower reliability or higher costs.

When transmission is congested, for example, some lower-cost renewable power must be curtailed instead of delivered to customers.

In terms of transmission financing, a NIETC designation can unlock public-private partnerships through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s $2.5 billion Transmission Facilitation Program, as well as direct loans through the Inflation Reduction Act’s $2 billion Transmission Facility Financing Program.

A NIETC designation also allows the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue permits for the siting of transmission lines within the NIETC if state siting authorities either do not have authority to site the line, or have not acted on an application for over one year, or have denied an application.

DOE has presented in a report its preliminary findings of transmission capacity constraints or congestion within each of the ten geographic areas that it proposed for NIETCs. Streamlined generator interconnection is one of the expected benefits of transmission development resulting from NIETC designation, DOE said.

One of DOE’s ten proposed NIETCs would expand transmission within the Mid-Atlantic’s PJM grid region, helping the PJM grid operator to maintain and improve reliability, lower consumer costs, and meet future generation and demand growth.

Another proposed NIETC in the Northern Plains would particularly aid Native American tribes to develop energy resources, stabilize energy costs and spur local economic development.

Those two proposed NIETCs reflect a finding in DOE’s National Transmission Needs Study that 54,500 GW-miles of within-region transmission must be added for a clean grid under “the most likely power sector future.”

Eight of the ten proposed NIETCs would facilitate transmission between grid regions, reflecting a finding in the needs study that interregional transfer capacities to transmit electricity between regions would need to increase by nearly 125 GW under the most likely power sector future.

Here are those eight proposed NIETCs and the regions they would connect:

A New York-New England NIETC would increase transmission capacity between the New York and New England grid regions.
A New York-Mid-Atlantic NIETC would increase transmission capacity between the New York and PJM grid regions and facilitate interconnection of offshore wind.
A Mid-Atlantic-Canada NIETC would connect the PJM grid region with a Canadian grid region.
A Midwest-Plains NIETC would facilitate interregional transmission among the PJM, MISO, and SPP grid regions.
A Delta-Plains NIETC would improve transmission between the SPP and MISO grid regions, and potentially connect the Eastern and Western Interconnections.
A Plains-Southwest NIETC would facilitate transmission among the WestConnect, SPP, MISO, and PJM grid regions, and potentially the CAISO grid region.
A Mountain-Plains-Southwest NIETC would link the Eastern and Western Interconnections and potentially facilitate transmission between the WestConnect and SPP grid regions.
A Mountain-Northwest NIETC would facilitate interregional transmission between the CAISO and NorthernGrid regions.

DOE will present a webinar on the current phase of the NIETC designation process on May 16.

DOE previously said it anticipates re-opening the NIETC designation process after each publication of its triennial National Transmission Needs Study or as determined by the Secretary of Energy.

Powering homes exclusively with hydrogen, solar, batteries

Lior Kahana — Tue, 07 May 2024 16:10:40 +0000

Researchers in Spain has found that combining PV power generation with fuel cells and battery storage may help homes considerably reduce their levelized cost of energy. Their simulation reportedly demonstrated homes may also become completely self-sufficient.

From pv magazine Global

A group of researchers from the University of Cantabria in Spain has conducted a pilot project for a self-sufficient home that runs exclusively on photovoltaics, batteries, and hydrogen storage.

“This plant combines PV panels and hydrogen (PVHyP) as a method of seasonal energy storage, achieving the ambitious target of accomplishing an electrically self-sufficient social housing unit throughout the year,” the group said. “To achieve this goal, a tailor-made energy management strategy (EMS) has been developed based on the state of charge of the battery pack and the energy flow within the PVHyP, ensuring that the electrical consumption of the home is always covered either through PV panels, fuel cell or battery pack.”

For their simulation, the scientists collected data from January 2022 to December 2023 for an 80 m2 social home that is located in Novales, a small village in northern Spain. Electricity bills from the years before the renewable electrification of the house showed that it consumed 2,513 kWh/year with an average daily consumption of 6.88 kWh. The average consumption in the winter and fall was over 7.3 kWh, and in summer, 5.88 kWh/day.

With these data, the scientists moved to size the energy system using software optimization and market analysis. Finally, they settled on 20 solar panels with a power of 40 W each placed on the roof, as well as four 2.4 kWh batteries. The rest of the plant was installed in a shed in the neighboring plot. That included a 35 L water tank that used tap water after purification for electrolysis and a 600 L hydrogen storage tank at 300 bar.

With the proposed system configuration, the PV panels first must supply the house load. The excess generation will then charge the battery, and once that is full, it is stored in a high-pressure storage tank in the form of hydrogen generated by an electrolyzer.

“When the solar irradiation is insufficient to cover the demand of the house, the batteries supply the necessary energy to the dwelling,” explained the academics. “If the batteries are discharged, the fuel cell generates electricity to charge the batteries from the stored hydrogen. As far as possible, the hydrogen stored in the buffer is used first to avoid the compression stage, thus increasing energy efficiency. The system and the house are connected to the grid on a self-consumption basis to sell back to the grid all the excess energy.”

According to the research group, the house demonstrated self-sufficiency, and its LCOE decreased from €0.86($0.92)/kWh to €0.34 /kWh, and the tenants saved €1,170 annually. “Almost 15,200 kWh have been saved from fossil fuels, which corresponds to approximately 2,260 kg of CO2,” emphasized the researchers.

They presented their findings in the study “Sustainable and self-sufficient social home through a combined PV‑hydrogen pilot,” published in Applied Energy.

Sunrise brief: Sunnova Energy and Stem earnings dip in Q1

pv magazine — Mon, 06 May 2024 12:28:27 +0000

Also on the rise: Groups sue FEMA and HUD to focus energy funds on distributed solar and storage. Voltaic releases battery monitoring for off-grid applications. And more.

Voltaic Systems unveils battery monitoring system for off-grid PV applications The U.S.-based PV system provider for infrastructure and industrial equipment without grid access has launched a battery health monitoring software module for its flagship Core Solar Power Systems product line.

Groups sue FEMA and HUD to focus energy funds on distributed solar and storage Two federal agencies that provide billions of dollars for energy-related projects should fund renewable energy, a number of groups have argued in two lawsuits and two rulemaking petitions.

Climate change to drive value of rooftop solar University of Michigan researchers have found that the value of rooftop solar will increase by between 5% and 15% by the mid-century across a range of U.S. cities under moderate climate change, and by up to 20% by the end of the century.

50 states of grid modernization North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center’s recent report looks at how states are doing with legislative and regulatory action related to shoring up the power grid.

Sunnova earnings dip, unrestricted cash grows as it mends balance sheet Sunnova Energy International, a residential solar, storage, and adaptive services company, announced declining revenues and an increased focus on cash generation in its Q1 2024 earnings report.

Stem dips on Q1 earnings, announces new solar and storage asset software Stem Inc, an AI-driven software provider for clean energy solutions, posted a 62% slide in revenues year-over-year while net losses grew.

50 states of grid modernization

Anne Fischer — Fri, 03 May 2024 16:14:18 +0000

North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center's recent report looks at how states are doing with legislative and regulatory action related to shoring up the power grid.

The U.S. power grid in use today was built in the 1960s and 70s and is hard pressed to handle the extreme weather events caused by climate change, let alone the renewable energy needed to meet energy goals.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 70% of transmission lines are over 25 years old and approaching the end of their typical lifecycle. Grid upgrades that deploy modern grid technologies are sorely needed, and federal funding is available through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership (GRIP) program, which recently closed applications for up to $2.7 billion in DOE grant funding under a second round.

Grid modernization has been underway in some states more than others, and the North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center recently released The 50 States of Grid Modernization: Q1 2024 Quarterly Report, which looks at legislative and regulatory action related to smart grid and advanced metering infrastructure, utility business model reform, regulatory reform, utility rate reform, energy storage, microgrids, and demand response.

In Q1 2024, according to the report, 49 states plus DC and Puerto Rico took a total of 567 policy and deployment actions, the most common related to policies (133), financial incentives (108), and utility business model and rate reform (93).

Five top policy developments

Maryland: Lawmakers passed the Distributed Renewable Integration and Vehicle Electrification (DRIVE) Act in Maryland that directs the Public Service Commission to develop a program for utilities to establish virtual power plant (VPP) pilots to compensate owners and aggregators of distributed energy resources for distribution system support services.

Massachusetts: Eversource, National Grid and Unitil filed final electric sector modernization plans in January 2024. The plans include a variety of programs and investments, such as VPP programs, advanced distribution management system and distributed energy resource management system investments, resilience upgrades, heat pump integration, and non-wires alternative

Connecticut: The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) issued a set guidelines for utilities’ advanced metering infrastructure plans, including a directive to include advanced time-of-use rates and to use Green Button Connect functionality. Later in the quarter, PURA filed a straw proposal on performance incentive mechanisms (PIMs), which includes four PIMs based on non-wires solutions, equitable reliability, distributed energy resource interconnection, and avoided service terminations.

Colorado: The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved guidelines and directives for VPP implementation in Xcel Energy’s service territory.

Maine: The Governor’s Energy Office in Maine released its final long-duration energy storage (LDES) study that identifies policy considerations and actions for the state to support LDES. The PUC also released a study that examines utility control or ownership of energy storage, finding that utility ownership of storage should only be allowed under certain circumstances.

Top trends

Grid-enhancing technologies can boost the use of any existing transmission system, according to a study by The Brattle Group, which looked specifically at advanced power flow control, topology optimization and dynamic line ratings. The NC State report said use of grid-enhancing technologies (GETs) is a notable trend and noted the following actions:

Virginia lawmakers enacted a bill requiring utility integrated resource plans to include a comprehensive assessment of the application of GETs and advanced conductors. In
Maine legislators enacted a bill requiring the PUC to conduct a review of available GETs that large investor-owned utilities may use to reduce investment needs in grid infrastructure.
Minnesota lawmakers introduced bills requiring utilities to file plans regarding the implementation of GETs to prevent grid congestion at the transmission level.
New York legislators introduced bills that would allow the Department of Public Service to approve requests from distribution companies to develop GETs.

Other states considering legislation initiating studies on GETs include Connecticut and New Hampshire.

Virtual power plants

VPPs give grid operators a utility-grade alternative to new generation and system buildout by automating efficiency, capacity support and offering non-wire alternatives, according to Jigar Shah, director of the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office. “By deploying grid assets more efficiently, an aggregation of distributed resources lowers the cost of power for everybody, especially VPP participants,” Shah said in an article in pv magazine USA.

According to the NC State report, a state policymakers and regulators are taking steps to develop frameworks for VPPs in their states:

Pennsylvania regulators issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking seeking input on VPPs as a potential resource for the state.
Maryland lawmakers passed a bill directing the Public Service Commission to develop a program for utilities to establish VPP pilots, with each investor-owned utility required to propose a pilot or temporary tariff by July 1, 2025.
Colorado PUC issued a decision outlining rules for VPP pilots and acquisition.
California and Hawaii regulators are also advancing expansive programs to promote VPPs.

Microgrids

Microgrids are groups of distributed energy resources, such as solar modules on a home, connected to a battery system, that can disconnect from the grid and operate independently during a power outage. The U.S. Department of Energy has a vision that 30% to 50% of electricity generation will come from distributed resources by 2035, with microgrids playing a key role in the transition.

The NC State report found that a growing number of states are evaluating the potential for microgrids to provide resilience or other benefits in their states.

Colorado Energy Office is currently developing a microgrid roadmap, which will examine how microgrids can improve grid resilience and reliability in the state.
New Hampshire lawmakers recently passed a bill requiring the state’s Department of Energy to study the potential benefits, risks and other factors of developing a microgrid framework.
Rhode Island PUC issued request for proposal for a study related to microgrid program design.
Puerto Rico Energy is examining revisions to its existing microgrid revisions.
Arizona regulators issued a decision prohibiting Arizona Public Service from providing microgrid services.

Lawmakers in California, Iowa, New Jersey, and New York also considered legislation related to microgrid studies during the quarter.

Improve transmission planning and interconnection cost allocation, says SEIA-affiliated group

William Driscoll — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 13:33:58 +0000

Federal regulators should consider specific reforms to improve transmission planning, lower interconnection costs and provide cost certainty, says a group affiliated with the Solar Energy Industries Association.

The Solar and Storage Industries Institute (SI2) has proposed two transmission interconnection reforms for consideration by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

The reform proposals are motivated by concerns that connecting new solar and storage to the transmission grid is “increasingly expensive,” while interconnection wait times and the size of the waiting list have grown.

The first of the two proposals is to develop comprehensive regional transmission planning processes that “integrate the interconnection queue” into overall transmission planning.

The second proposal offers a formula to fairly allocate transmission system buildout and local upgrade costs to interconnection customers.

SI2 is the charitable and educational arm of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

SI2 proposed that the transmission needs of generation projects that have met certain readiness milestones should be entered into the regional transmission planning process. Planners should also evaluate, SI2 said, network upgrades that have been identified multiple times in the generator interconnection process, but have not been constructed due to the withdrawal of the upgrade-triggering interconnection requests.

The proposed interconnection fee would begin with a non-refundable entry fee to enter the interconnection waiting list, or queue. That fee would be applied toward transmission system upgrades identified in the grid operator’s long-term regional transmission plan. SI2 proposed a three-part formula for calculating this fee, based on the cost of planned regional, subregional and local lines.

The second part of the interconnection fee would cover only those local transmission upgrades needed to connect the project to the grid. The paper suggested that under current practice, interconnection customers are sometimes asked to cover the costs of “a massive transmission upgrade located hundreds of miles away.”

The paper said the cost proposal is based on a planning framework in FERC’s proposed transmission planning regulation.

The cost proposal would lower overall interconnection costs and provide cost certainty, SI2 said. Higher upfront costs would reduce the number of projects entering the queue, while with “more rational” costs for interconnection-related upgrades, interconnection customers would be “less likely to withdraw from the queue and less likely to cause restudies that would delay the interconnection process.”

SI2’s paper says that FERC’s Order 2023, which requires grid operators to make certain interconnection reforms, “is a step in the right direction” to resolve transmission interconnection wait times and costs, yet “the underlying problems remain unaddressed” and “there is more work for the commission to do.”

Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA’s president and CEO, said “We need the solutions detailed in SI2’s report to serve growing demand for electricity with reliable, low-cost solar and storage.”

Caitlin Marquis, managing director at Advanced Energy United, said the report “offers thoughtful solutions to making lasting reforms.”

The paper is titled “Game changing interconnection reform: Reshaping transmission planning and realigning incentives.”

Sunrise brief: IRS issues final guidance for clean energy tax credit transferability

pv magazine — Fri, 26 Apr 2024 12:00:01 +0000

Also on the rise: EPA releases final rules on reducing pollution from fossil-fuel plants. Born in the USA: First silicon solar cell celebrates 70th birthday. And more.

EPA releases final rules on reducing pollution from fossil-fuel plants According to the EPA, the climate and health benefits of the rule that plants must control 90% of their carbon pollution substantially outweigh the compliance costs.

U.S. plan to upgrade 100,000 miles of transmission lines in five years As the Inflation Reduction Act ramps up clean energy efforts across the U.S. the Biden administration outlines a plan to enhance transmission lines to accommodate more power.

Born in the USA: First silicon solar cell celebrates 70th birthday On April 25, 1954, U.S. researchers presented the first prototype of a usable solar module. The efficiency at that time was around 6%. A lot has happened since then.

IRS issues final guidance for clean energy tax credit transferability Rules and definitions for the transfer and sale of tax credits, which has quickly grown to a multi-billion-dollar market, largely affirm the proposed guidance from last June.

Improving solar panel recyclability with lasers The National Renewable Energy Laboratory developed a proof of concept for a method to remove polymers from solar panel manufacturing to enable more efficient recycling.

U.S. plan to upgrade 100,000 miles of transmission lines in five years

Anne Fischer — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 17:24:00 +0000

As the Inflation Reduction Act ramps up clean energy efforts across the U.S. the Biden administration outlines a plan to enhance transmission lines to accommodate more power.

As part of Earth Week announcements from the White House, President Biden announced the ambition to upgrade 100,000 miles of transmission lines over the next five years.

Funding is available through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership (GRIP) program, which recently closed applications for up to $2.7 billion in DOE grant funding under a second round. The intention of the program is to fund projects that will upgrade and modernize the transmission and distribution system to increase reliability and resilience to prepare the grid for extreme weather as well as to ensure delivery of affordable, clean electricity to all communities across the nation.

Last October White House Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator Mitch Landrieu and Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm announced $3.46 billion in the first round of GRIP funding, which went to 58 projects across 44 states to strengthen electric grid resilience and reliability across America. Read about the program and its recipients here.

Transmission upgrades will include deploying modern grid technologies such as high-performance conductors and dynamic line ratings that enable existing transmission lines to carry more power.

Recent research from University of California, Berkeley and the consultancy GridLab found that large-scale reconductoring, for example, can unlock renewables near the existing transmission network. The study projected that the optimal added transmission capacity by 2050, allowing for reconductoring, would be about 110,000 GW-miles with restricted buildout or about 210,000 GW-miles with unrestricted buildout. The U.S. Department of Energy has estimated that 54,500 GW-miles of additional within-region transmission capacity is needed for a clean grid.

These efforts align with the move to clean energy as supported by the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

An example of a recently completed transmission infrastructure project is the Ten West Link transmission line, which will play an important role in transmission of electricity from the 25 GW of solar, wind and geothermal permitted on public lands by 2025. The line has begun transmitting electricity and is expected to increase reliability and unlock more than 3.2 GW of capacity from solar projects.

Vice President Kamala Harris attended the ceremony marking the start of construction of the transmission line and commented on its significance.

“America is at the start of an historic transition away from fossil fuel plants that pollute our communities and toward cleaner and safer energy sources. To create this clean energy future, we must construct thousands of miles of new high-voltage transmission lines all across our country, said Harris. “All of this also creates jobs — good paying jobs, union jobs. Jobs for IBEW linemen who will build and repair these lines. Jobs for young people looking to start a career in clean energy and the clean energy economy. Jobs that will help our nation finally take on the climate crisis as the crisis that it is.”

Construction of the transmission line at its peak, will bring more than 350 jobs to the region, including more than 250 union construction jobs. As the Ten West Link facilitates new development of renewable energy and energy storage in the rapidly growing Desert Southwest region, it will bring the potential for countless additional jobs.

Sunrise brief: Petition filed to enforce antidumping tariffs on solar imports

pv magazine — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 12:00:32 +0000

Also on the rise: SunPower to close business units, cut about 26% of workforce. Reconductoring could enable 764 GW of transmission-connected solar by 2035. And more.

Petition filed to enforce antidumping tariffs on solar imports A coalition of U.S. solar manufacturers submitted a request for investigation of alleged dumping of Chinese goods in four Southeastern Asian nations responsible for roughly 80% of U.S. solar panel supply.

People on the move: Urban Solar, Kilo Power, Palmetto and more Job moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy transition finance.

NREL updates interactive chart of solar cell efficiency The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has updated its research cell efficiency chart for a range of PV technologies.

A second solar project takes off at JFK airport TotalEnergies began construction of an onsite solar-plus-storage system, providing energy to Port Authority and Con Edison, as well as community solar for area residents.

Reconductoring could enable 764 GW of transmission-connected solar by 2035 Replacing existing transmission lines, known as conductors, with advanced conductors could enable 764 GW of transmission-connected solar by 2035 even if transmission in new corridors was limited, found a study by UC Berkeley and GridLab researchers.

RFP alert: Community choice aggregator seeks renewable energy and storage Central Coast Community Energy announces a request for proposals (RFP) for renewable energy and storage Projects in CAISO territory.

Enphase delivers revenue miss amid softened residential solar demand The company remains profitable, generating $41.8 million in free cash flow, despite a slumping market.

SunPower to close business units, cut about 26% of workforce The company announced plans to wind down its residential solar installation locations and close its direct sales unit.

Reconductoring could enable 764 GW of transmission-connected solar by 2035

William Driscoll — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 16:00:11 +0000

Replacing existing transmission lines, known as conductors, with advanced conductors could enable 764 GW of transmission-connected solar by 2035 even if transmission in new corridors was limited, found a study by UC Berkeley and GridLab researchers.

Large-scale reconductoring can “unlock” renewables near the existing transmission network, says a report from a team of researchers from University of California, Berkeley and the consultancy GridLab.

While other technologies, such as those reviewed in a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) “liftoff” report, could also enable a near-term increase in transmission capacity, the report says reconductoring with advanced conductors “offers the greatest potential to provide substantial capacity increases—up to double, within existing rights-of-way”—a finding consistent with DOE’s report. The authors say that reconductoring projects typically cost less than half the price of new lines for similar capacity increases.

A comparison of legacy conductors and advanced conductors is shown in the image below.

Advanced conductor and ACSR conductor.
Source: Energy Institute at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business

Reconductoring could enable 764 GW of transmission-connected solar by 2035 in “indicative transmission corridors” in a scenario in which the build rate of new right-of-way transmission is constrained, according to a map linked from the report.

Advanced conductors are available from U.S. manufacturers 3M, CTC Global and TS Conductor, the report notes.

DOE aims for a national collaboration to help deploy advanced conductors, energy storage and other technologies to boost grid capacity.

The authors, noting that more than 2 TW of proposed clean generation and storage resources are “stuck in interconnection queues” across the country, say that clean energy project developers face extended delays as “first, multiple interconnection studies must be conducted, and then the necessary transmission improvements must be completed.” Increasing the transmission capacity of the existing system will “unlock” much-needed capacity, they say, not only to integrate clean energy projects already queued, but also to encourage continued renewables development near existing transmission infrastructure.

Savings

Across all scenarios considered in the report, the largest system savings would result from pursuing a strategy of simultaneously reconductoring with advanced conductors and addressing barriers to new greenfield transmission. That strategy would yield cumulative savings of over $400 billion by 2050 compared to a business-as-usual case.

The authors used the ReEDS model to conduct the study, and reached additional findings beyond those they presented in a working paper last fall.

The new study projected that the optimal added transmission capacity by 2050, allowing for reconductoring, would be about 110,000 GW-miles with restricted buildout or about 210,000 GW-miles with unrestricted buildout. The U.S. Department of Energy has estimated that 54,500 GW-miles of additional within-region transmission capacity is needed for a clean grid.

The new report includes reconductoring case studies from around the world, and the report’s landing page offers a paper with policy recommendations.

The report is the fourth in a series of “2035 reports,” following a 2020 report finding that clean power from 2035 is challenging but feasible, a 2021 report showing that electric vehicles could substitute for bulk transmission at lower cost, and a report on the role of offshore wind.

The new report is titled “Reconductoring with advanced conductors can accelerate the rapid transmission expansion required for a clean grid.”

Congress urged to reform clean energy bottlenecks before 2024 election

Ryan Kennedy — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 19:32:08 +0000

Reforms to siting, permitting, and transmission were requested by a coalition of about 200 solar and energy storage companies.

A letter signed by nearly 200 solar and energy storage businesses was sent to Congress, requesting legislation to reform processes that are bottlenecks to clean energy development.

The letter calls for reforms to permitting, project siting, transmission, and public lands access for solar and storage projects. Find the letter and full list of signees here.

Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) president and chief executive officer Abigail Ross Hopper said the hundreds of billions of investment dollars depend on the ability of developers to have clean energy projects sited, permitted, and efficiency interconnected with a modern transmission system.

Wood Mackenzie said the solar industry could reach 673 GW deployed by 2034, but there is a 200 GW difference between high- and low-case solar deployment forecasts. Policy decisions weigh heavily on these outcomes, it said.

“Lawmakers in both parties understand the importance of getting new energy infrastructure built quickly and efficiently,” said Ross Hopper. “Now is the time for policy action to strengthen America’s energy industry and support local economies with jobs and private investments.”

The companies requested the following reforms:

Modernize Federal Energy Permitting: Streamline and standardize the permitting process at the federal level, while supporting environmental safeguards.
Create Project Siting Partnerships at All Levels of Government: Encourage federal, state and local authorities to work together to identify and designate appropriate sites for clean energy development, including on underutilized and disturbed lands.
Build Out Transmission Capacity: Invest in transmission planning, build out, and grid modernization efforts to maximize transmission capacity and unlock the full potential of solar energy, especially in remote regions with abundant solar resources.
Enable Administration to Reach Public Lands Goals: Simplify the process for clean energy generation and transmission projects to access public land leases while maintaining environmental conservation standards.
Foster Interagency Collaboration: Empower federal agencies with siting authority — like the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Bureau of Land Management, and Department of Energy — to create a central clearinghouse for permit applications to ensure a streamlined approval process for critical transmission infrastructure.

Interconnection queues across the United States are piling up with solar and energy storage projects ready to be developed and installed. The sluggish process is creating unprecedented bottlenecks. This is true for developer AES, which has more than 50 GW of capacity waiting to move forward.

“…these projects are ready to move forward and will generate critical economic investment and create jobs in local communities across the country, but they require swift permitting action and transmission infrastructure upgrades to ensure we can advance a clean, reliable energy future,” said Amanda Smith, vice president for external affairs, AES renewables.

Virinder Singh, vice president of regulatory and legislative affairs, EDF Renewables, said current laws are not set to enable the nation to build generation and transmission at the scale needed to support economic growth. He said that federal leadership is needed to “reach the moment.”

“A lack of transmission capacity is the biggest barrier to the continued growth of the renewable industry,” said David Mindham, director of regulatory affairs for EDP Renewables North America. “The proposed reforms will remove these barriers, creating thousands of new American manufacturing jobs and supporting local economies.”

The Department of Energy recently released a roadmap report for meeting the nation’s needs for transmission interconnection reform to support the energy transition. The report presents 35 interconnection improvement solutions developed through a DOE stakeholder engagement process launched 22 months ago, known as the Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) program.

One of the roadmap’s “long-term” solutions is to “explore options” to allow interconnection customers to self-fund and provide their own interconnection studies, subject to transmission provider oversight, rules, and requirements. Tesla said in late 2022 that with access to grid models, the company could estimate a project’s interconnection costs with an informational study in less than two weeks, while two trade groups at that time renewed their call to allow third-party interconnection studies.

DOE aims for national collaboration to deploy advanced grid technologies

William Driscoll — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:00:38 +0000

Advanced conductors and energy storage are among the technologies that have substantial potential to increase transmission capacity, says a Department of Energy “liftoff” report.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) aims to spark a national collaboration to accelerate near-term deployment of advanced grid technologies.

Deploying these technologies on the existing grid could support 20-100 GW of incremental peak demand if installed individually, says a DOE report, or significantly more when installed in “strategic combinations.” If deployed “overnight,” they could help defer an estimated $5-35 billion in transmission and distribution infrastructure costs over the next five years.

The technologies and their “full deployment potential” for expanding capacity on the existing transmission and distribution grids are shown in the image below.

DOE found that advanced conductors have the greatest potential. Energy storage as a transmission and distribution asset, with a potential nearly as high, has recently “started to see greater interest,” the report says.

DOE plans to invest $10.5 billion in deployment of the technologies through its Grid Resilience & Innovation Partnerships program.

Achieving “liftoff” for the technologies within three to five years is possible, DOE said, by deploying for each technology “6-12 large operational, no regrets deployments across a diverse set of utility contexts.”

Deploying the technologies can help utilities and regulators respond to “grid pressures including rapid demand growth, extreme weather, and new energy generation connections,” DOE says.

With efficient investment and cost allocation strategies, the deployments “could happen without directly increasing costs to ratepayers,” says a DOE summary of the report.

New transmission capacity “is still critically needed,” says the report, to interconnect new generation and increase transfer capabilities between regions. Yet the advanced technologies “can help serve as a bridge” as new transmission is developed, and can be incorporated in new expansion as well.

To build industry confidence in the technologies, DOE’s first priority is to foster transparent sharing of outcomes from early deployments of the technologies, “including lessons learned from successes and failures.”

DOE also aims to “advance industry execution know-how, robust planning and investment case approaches, and economic model innovation.”

Seeing roles for grid operators, utilities, regulators, policymakers, and technology providers, DOE suggested for each group “priority actions to pursue today.”

DOE will host a webinar on the report on May 13 at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. The 96-page report is titled “Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Innovative Grid Deployment.”

Sunrise brief: Three-decker, solar and battery powered yacht hits the water in Italy

pv magazine — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 12:15:46 +0000

Also on the rise: Allow solar developers to choose “connect and manage,” says DOE roadmap. Massachusetts city that mandates solar on new buildings celebrates latest success. And more.

Allow solar developers to choose “connect and manage,” says DOE roadmap To speed interconnection of utility-scale renewables and storage projects, a U.S. Department of Energy roadmap sets forth 35 solutions and proposes actions to implement the solutions. The roadmap was developed through a DOE stakeholder process known as i2X.

Three-decker, solar and battery powered yacht hits the water in Italy Silent Yachts launched the first Silent 62 3-Deck yacht, outfitted with 17 kWp of SunPower X400+ rigid glass solar modules and a newly enhanced 350 kWh LiFePO4 battery storage system, propelled by dual 340 kW electric motors.

Specialized EPC contractors key to smaller community solar projects Innovative financing models and supportive policies are needed to make community solar financially viable and attractive to investors.

Massachusetts city that mandates solar on new buildings celebrates latest success Watertown, Massachusetts, a city with a model energy plan, now has a Gold LEED certified building with 252 kW solar and 125 kW storage system, along with 15 EV charging ports.

Allow solar developers to choose “connect and manage,” says DOE roadmap

William Driscoll — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 13:58:22 +0000

To speed interconnection of utility-scale renewables and storage projects, a U.S. Department of Energy roadmap sets forth 35 solutions and proposes actions to implement the solutions. The roadmap was developed through a DOE stakeholder process known as i2X.

Transmission interconnection processes “need to evolve” to handle the larger number of interconnection requests seen in recent years, says a U.S. Department of Energy “roadmap” report.

The report presents 35 interconnection improvement solutions developed through a DOE stakeholder engagement process launched 22 months ago, known as the Interconnection Innovation e-Xchange (i2X) program.

DOE will have an ongoing role in implementing the solutions, it said in a news release, including facilitating solution adoption, providing funding and technical assistance, and supporting the research community.

One of the solutions presented is to “ensure” that generators have the option to elect energy-only interconnection and agree to be “re-dispatched”—that is, curtailed—as needed rather than paying for network upgrades. This approach, known as “connect and manage,” is key to speedy interconnection in Texas.

To achieve this solution, the roadmap proposes actions by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), transmission providers, and interconnection customers.

To achieve this self-funding solution, the roadmap recommended actions by FERC, transmission providers, researchers at DOE and elsewhere, and interconnection customers.

Five of the solutions relate to workforce development, and include highlighting in higher education settings “the important role of interconnection policy and practice in the clean energy transition.”

The report states target timeframes for key metrics, including a 12-month timeframe for a “completed project” to advance from the interconnection request to an interconnection agreement. Among projects that enter the third and final interconnection study phase, the targeted completion rate is 70%, compared to a recent actual percentage of 45%.

While transmission providers “play a central role” in managing and implementing interconnection process improvements, the report notes that “ideas and actions often come from other stakeholders.”

Many stakeholder groups participated in the i2X process to brainstorm and develop solutions, including interconnection customers, state agencies, federal regulators, load serving entities, equipment manufacturers, consumer advocates, equity and energy justice communities, advocacy groups, consultants, and researchers both within and outside DOE.

“Members from all these stakeholder groups should continue to participate in the implementation” of the solutions, the report said, adding that “reform is thus a group effort.”

As DOE developed the roadmap, FERC issued Order 2023, which also aims to reform interconnection. The roadmap “introduces additional ideas that support longer-term interconnection process evolution,” says the report, and its solutions “are intended to complement and support” Order 2023.

DOE will hold a webinar on the roadmap on May 8 at 1 p.m. Eastern time, focused on the roadmap’s solutions and targets.

The department’s 125-page roadmap report is titled “Transmission Interconnection Roadmap: Transforming Bulk Transmission Interconnection by 2035.”

Sunrise brief: California Supreme Court to review rooftop solar net metering

pv magazine — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 12:00:27 +0000

Also on the rise: Renewables and storage interconnection backlog grew about 30% last year. California’s electricity multi-crisis can be aided by virtual power plants. And more.

Renewables and storage interconnection backlog grew about 30% last year The wait for transmission interconnection studies constitutes a “major bottleneck” for solar, storage and wind projects, which accounted for over 95% of all active capacity awaiting studies at the end of 2023, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has reported.

S-5! unveils new mounting systems for rooftop solar S-5!, a supplier of mounting systems, plans to release two new mounting components for rooftop PV systems, including a new mount that allows for module-level power electronics to be attached directly to solar panel frames.

A guide to help homeowners understand how to go solar Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory published an open access guide to rooftop solar and battery energy storage that covers costs, incentives, policies and more.

New quantum solar cell material promises external quantum efficiency of 190% The new material consists of an heterostructure combining germanium, selenium, and tin sulfide, which also integrates atoms of zerovalent copper. It features an average photovoltaic absorption over 80% and could help photovoltaic cells break the Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit, according to its creators.

California’s electricity multi-crisis can be aided by virtual power plants By operating distributed resources like solar, batteries and demand response devices in concert, California ratepayers could be paid $500 to $1,000 per year while improving resource adequacy.

California Supreme Court to review rooftop solar net metering The state’s highest court granted review to a lawsuit challenging a “regressive” rooftop solar policy called NEM 3.0.

Renewables and storage interconnection backlog grew about 30% last year

William Driscoll — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 12:17:15 +0000

The wait for transmission interconnection studies constitutes a “major bottleneck” for solar, storage and wind projects, which accounted for over 95% of all active capacity awaiting studies at the end of 2023, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has reported.

A research report from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that 1,080 GW of solar projects and about 1,030 GW of storage projects await interconnection studies, so they may connect to the transmission grid.

Solar and battery storage accounted for over 80% of new capacity entering the queues in 2023, driving a 30% increase in the waiting lists, known as queues, for interconnection studies.

Storage capacity in the queues grew more than 50% last year. Over half of the battery storage capacity in the queues is paired with some form of generation, typically solar. Wind capacity in the queues rose to 366 GW, while only 79 GW of fossil gas and 2 GW of coal capacity await interconnection studies.

The values were nearly the same as preliminary values published last month in a staff report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

The growing backlog of projects awaiting grid interconnection studies “has become a major bottleneck” for project development, the study said, as proposed projects are “mired in lengthy and uncertain” interconnection study processes. Based on past experience, the study said that “most interconnection requests are ultimately cancelled and withdrawn,” while projects that are built are taking longer on average to reach commercial operation.

Although FERC adopted major interconnection reforms in 2023, the study says most reforms “have not yet taken effect in most regions, with project developers continuing to cite grid interconnection as a leading cause of project delays and cancellations.”

The authors pointed to other project development stages beyond submitting an interconnection request, and then waiting for the grid operator to complete interconnection studies, saying that “projects must also have agreements with landowners and communities, power purchasers, equipment suppliers, and financiers, and may face transmission upgrade requirements.”

Even so, the authors said that data from the queues provides a “general indicator for mid-term trends” in power sector activity and energy transition progress.

Berkeley Lab compiled and analyzed data from the seven organized electricity markets in the U.S. known as RTOs and ISOs, and an additional 44 balancing areas outside of RTOs and ISOs, which together represent over 95% of currently installed U.S. electricity generation.

Total generation plus storage capacity in the queues at year-end 2023 equaled 2.6 terawatts, as shown in the image below, which the authors noted is about eight times larger than the interconnection queue in 2014, and more than twice the current U.S. generating capacity of 1.28 TW.

Berkeley Lab has made available a study abstract, an overview and slide deck, an interactive visualization of the queue data, interactive maps and a data file.

The study’s authors will host a webinar to describe the research and answer questions on April 23 at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

Solar on canals to test potential to conserve land and water in West

Ryan Kennedy — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 20:55:19 +0000

Three large projects in California, Utah, and Oregon will cover water reclamation facilities with solar panels, offering co-benefits for both energy production and water conservation.

Water canals in California, Utah, and Oregon are soon to be outfit with solar panels, as three projects received federal funding through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). IRA set aside $25 million for the design, study, and implementation of photovoltaics co-located with water reclamation facilities.

The three projects will receive a combined $19.5 million to support the projects, which are administered by the Bureau of Reclamation, an agency tackling the challenges of water and power management in the U.S. West.

This IRA carve-out was created with input from California Representative Jared Huffman. The program directed to study the water efficiency gains from covering canals with solar panels.

Solar on canals is a use-case for photovoltaics that is expected to come with significant co-benefits for each technology. The panels provide shade for the water resources, reducing losses from evaporation. In turn, the water cools the solar panels, reducing operating temperature, which improves the efficiency of the panels and slows degradation of the equipment.

“Deploying solar panels on our canal systems is a smart solution to our growing water and energy dilemmas – it harnesses clean energy technology to increase efficiency while reducing our carbon footprint and water loss from canal evaporation,” said Representative Huffman.

The largest of the three projects, located in California, received $15 million through the fund. The San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority will deploy floating solar arrays on the Delta-Mendota Canal. The University of California-Merced will study the project through a public-private partnership.

Researchers will deploy up to three varying floating solar technologies to assess the viability, costs, and benefits of floating solar over canals. The program will validate designs for PV on moving water and explore design and operational challenges associated with the emerging use-case.

A 2021 study conducted at the University of California, Merced and University, Santa Cruz, showed that covering the approximately 4,000 miles of public water delivery system infrastructure in California with solar panels can generate 13 GW of energy annually, equal to about one sixth of the state’s installed capacity and about half the projected new capacity needed to meet the state’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030.

The study modeled that 63 billion gallons of water could be saved annually by covering canals, which is enough to irrigate 50,000 acres of farmland or meet the water needs of more than 2 million residents.

The two other pilot projects are in Oregon and Utah. A $2.55 million-funded project in Oregon will float solar panels on the main canal of the Deschutes Project near Bend, Oregon.

In Utah, $1.5 million in funds are diverted to a project on the Layton Canal near West Haven, Utah. The five-year demonstration project will collect data on technical capabilities and economic feasibility for deploying solar canals at large scale.

In addition to improving PV performance and reducing evaporation, solar on canals is expected to minimize canal maintenance by reducing aquatic plant growth, create land use savings and preserve agricultural lands, and reduce the energy and carbon footprint of water reclamation facilities.

Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Bureau of Reclamation is also investing $8.3 billion over five years for water infrastructure projects, including rural water, water storage, conservation and conveyance, nature-based solutions, dam safety, water purification and reuse, and desalination.

Roadmap to achieving Puerto Rico’s goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050

Anne Fischer — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 17:17:06 +0000

The report defines implementation actions, highly detailed in the PR 100 Final Report, but which are summarized into five actions from immediate to long-term to recurring.

in 2017, when back-to-back hurricanes destroyed around 80% of Puerto Rico’s electric grid and resulted in thousands of lives lost, Puerto Rico passed Act 17, a policy to transition to 100% renewable energy by 2050.

Analysis by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that Puerto Rico has 40GW of solar potential. NREL modeled pathways to the targets set by Puerto Rico’s Act 17: 20% renewable generation by 2022, 40% by 2025, 60% by 2040, and 100% by 2050.

NREL reported that Puerto Rico has 20 GW of utility-scale solar potential, mostly along the coasts, and 20 GW of distributed solar potential. Just 10 GW of solar could meet Puerto Rico’s needs, as estimated by Solar + Energy Storage Association (SESA) president PJ Wilson.

The potential pathways forward in the Puerto Rico Grid Resilience and Transitions to 100% Renewable Energy Study, or PR100, concluded that Puerto Rico can reach its goal of 100% renewable energy by 2050, but there is much work to be done. The researchers created a roadmap outlining near- and long-term actions necessary to move forward toward a renewable and resilient future.

“Over the past year, I’ve visited communities across Puerto Rico, listening to residents’ vision for what a cleaner and more resilient energy future could look like. Now, PR100 is ready to help make them bring those visions to life,” said Jennifer M. Granholm, U.S. Secretary of Energy.

The report identifies three scenarios.

Scenario 1 is defined as the economic adoption of distributed energy resources (DERs) based primarily on bill savings and value of backup power for building owners and Scenario 3 as the maximum deployment of DERs on all suitable rooftops. Scenario 2 lies in between, extending DER adoption to very low-income households (0%–30% of area median income) and those in remote areas who otherwise would not have bought systems. There are also variations to these scenarios, especially when it comes to utility-scale land use, as agricultural land is highly valued in Puerto Rico. There are also variations around electrical load because it’s hard to project that out to 2050.

The report defines implementation actions, which are highly detailed in the PR 100 Final Report, but which are summarized into five actions, with more detail provided in the graphic below:

Immediate actions to build a more robust electricity system and lay the foundation for high levels of renewable energy
Near-term actions to achieve 40% renewable energy while moving toward industry accepted system performance and increasing resilience
Mid-term actions to achieve 60% renewable energy to gain operating experience and be adaptive in system design
Long–term actions on the road to 100% renewable energy where effective deployment and operation of the complex system is achieved
Recurring actions to continually maintain and improve the system and associated planning processes.

The immediate actions are expected to increase system capacity by about 40% (of renewables) by making urgent repairs to the grid. Part of this step is to also incentivize customers to use batteries in a grid-interactive fashion. The Battery Emergency Demand Response Program piloted by the power company, LUMA, is an example of the start of such an effort.

As resilience is the goal of shoring up the grid and adding renewables, the report emphasizes that best practices must be implemented to ensure that the renewables operate effectively. One suggestion is to operate rooftop PV systems as microgrids, to set up virtual power plants, and to add sensing equipment across the distribution and transmission system to help identify problem areas before outages occur.

The report further identifies ongoing, recurring actions that include involving stakeholders as well as building out a workforce to support the renewable energy systems. An estimated 25,000 jobs will be required for the transition to 100% renewables in Puerto Rico, so support for the development and expansion of job training is imperative.

In summary, the report notes that with the completion of the study, it is now in the hands of those who can implement the findings. The full report can be found here.

Sunrise brief: Walmart makes big commitments to solar energy

pv magazine — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 11:44:38 +0000

Also on the rise: Maxeon claims 24.9% efficiency for IBC solar panel. Potential effect of the 2024 solar eclipse on solar energy production. And more.

Iron-based redox flow battery for grid-scale storage Researchers in the U.S. have repurposed a commonplace chemical used in water treatment facilities to develop an all-liquid, iron-based redox flow battery for large-scale energy storage. Their lab-scale battery exhibited strong cycling stability over one thousand consecutive charging cycles, while maintaining 98.7% of its original capacity.

Potential effect of the 2024 solar eclipse on solar energy production To compensate for potential loss of solar energy flowing to the grid, grid operators will have to be ready to rely on other sources to ensure grid stability, as was done during the 2017 and 2023 eclipse episodes.

Maxeon claims 24.9% efficiency for IBC solar panel Maxeon said it has achieved a 24.9% efficiency rating for a full-scale Maxeon 7 solar panel using its IBC technology. The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) confirmed the result.

Walmart makes big commitments to solar energy The retail giant entered multiple new agreements across the U.S. with solar developers, furthering its position as a corporate leader in solar adoption.

Community solar group challenges assertions by CPUC Stating that the California Public Utilities Commission “embraces a myopic view”, CCSA comments characterize the CPUC proposed decision as misguided and misinformed, and determined it will not result in the development of community solar projects as envisioned by the legislature with the enactment of AB 2316.

1100 GW solar and 1000 GW storage now await transmission interconnection Solar, wind and battery storage accounted for nearly 95% of the capacity in transmission interconnection queues as of year-end 2023, based on preliminary data from Berkeley Lab, presented in a staff report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Sunnova becomes exclusive solar provider at Home Depot stores Over 2,000 locations will host Sunnova representatives helping customers start their inquiry into solar, storage, and home energy management.

1100 GW solar and 1000 GW storage now await transmission interconnection

William Driscoll — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 16:50:04 +0000

Solar, wind and battery storage accounted for nearly 95% of the capacity in transmission interconnection queues as of year-end 2023, based on preliminary data from Berkeley Lab, presented in a staff report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

By year-end 2023, 1086 GW of solar projects awaited transmission interconnection, along with 503 GW of standalone storage, according to preliminary data from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). The amount of storage in hybrid projects, such as solar-plus-storage projects, awaiting interconnection at year-end was estimated at 525 GW by LBNL, based on imputed values for missing data when storage capacity for hybrid projects was not reported.

The data were reported in a staff report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

LBNL’s preliminary values for all but one of the resource types awaiting interconnection are presented in the table below from the FERC staff report. The exception is hybrid storage, which FERC staff shows as 299 GW in the table, not LBNL’s preliminary 525 GW, because FERC staff excluded hybrid storage projects for which capacity was not reported.

Solar, wind, and battery storage represented nearly 95% of the total capacity in interconnection queues as of year-end 2023, the staff report said.

Pending transmission interconnection requests at year-end 2023 rose to 11,841, according to LBNL’s preliminary data, representing a 16% increase since year-end 2022 and more than a four-fold increase since year-end 2019, as shown in the table below.

The FERC staff report includes summaries of transmission plans submitted by grid operators to FERC last year, including plans for transmission that could help bring solar and storage projects online.

The transmission plan from California grid operator CAISO included 21 transmission projects at a cost of $5.5 billion to help meet the renewable generation requirements set by state regulators. Some of those projects would enable importing wind power from outside CAISO.

Mid-continent grid operator MISO planned 142 transmission projects to interconnect new generators.

The PJM grid operator stretching from Chicago to New Jersey “identified” 93 transmission projects at a cost of $180 million to support generation seeking interconnection, and “evaluated 227 supplemental projects put forward by transmission owners,” the report said, that would cost $2.4 billion.

The ERCOT grid region in Texas added the most solar of any region last year, as shown in the following chart from the report, showing capacity additions by grid region.

The geographic areas of seven of the nine grid regions referenced in the chart are shown in the map below. The other two regions are the “SERC region,” which is the SERC Reliability Corporation (SERC) area in the Southeast, and the “WECC* region,” which is the Western Electricity Coordinating Council area in the Western states without California’s CAISO region.

The CAISO and ERCOT grid regions account for most of the growth in transmission-connected batteries in the past three years, as shown in the following chart from the report.

Potential effect of the 2024 solar eclipse on solar energy production

Anne Fischer — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 15:14:19 +0000

To compensate for potential loss of solar energy flowing to the grid, grid operators will have to be ready to rely on other sources to ensure grid stability, as was done during the 2017 and 2023 eclipse episodes.

On April 8, 2024, a solar eclipse will start on Mexico’s Pacific coast around 11:07 a.m. PDT, traveling across parts of the U.S. and Canada until 5:19 p.m. EDT. Because the sky will darken completely in the path of totality for up to six minutes, forecasters are looking at the potential effect on solar energy generation.

The last eclipse took place in the U.S. in 2017, and didn’t have much effect on solar energy production, however, solar contributed only 1.3% to the electrical grid at that time, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA estimates that solar will provide 6% of U.S. electricity generation this year—a significant increase over 2017, and enough to cause some concern about the eclipse effect.

Solcast, a solar modeling and forecasting company owned by DNV, reported that the impact on solar generation across the U.S. could be greater than any previous eclipse due to the increased solar power generation.

Solcast used its clear-sky irradiance modeling, assuming no presence of clouds or smoke. Due to ongoing growth in national solar capacity, the grid impact of such major solar events is increasing, and this eclipse will have greater impact on power generation than previous eclipses. The company forecasts that the overall effects of the eclipse will cost as much as 16% of daily total clear sky irradiance in some areas.

Grid operators are preparing for a worst-case scenario, which would be a perfectly sunny day when solar would normally be feeding steadily into the grid. In areas of in the path of totality, solar generation will decrease and then be cut to zero, only to ramp back up again a few minutes later.

According to Solcast, the maximum duration will be over 90 minutes of impacted generation and a total loss of up to six minutes. The effect across the country will be a faster “ramp rate” than normal, which is the rate at which solar generation decreases and then picks back up again.

Across all grids, Solcast estimates calculated maximum losses are up to 39.9 GWh, of which 16.2 GWh will be lost from household rooftop solar. “Whilst it’s too early to predict cloud impacts, the effects of this eclipse will be significant on solar generation across the country,” said Dr. Hugh Cutcher, lead Data Scientist at Solcast.

Texas utility ERCOT, for example, is watching the event, as it provides power to 90% of the state and the state’s grid will be affected by the eclipse from 12:10 p.m. to 3:10 p.m. CDT, or during peak production hours. According to Solcast, ERCOT could experience a loss of nearly 11% of normal generation.

ERCOT posted on X that it is “working on forecasting models to reflect reduced solar power production (similar to a sunset and sunrise in the middle of the day) and does not expect any grid reliability concerns during the eclipse.”

Learning from the past

Looking back at the 2017 eclipse that obscured the sun for 76% of Northern California and 62% of Southern California on August 17, the EIA had estimated that more than 21 GW of installed photovoltaic (PV) systems would be affected. Utilities expected that production from solar plants would fall nearly 66%, with a sharp down ramp followed by an accelerated up ramp. To reduce “strain” on the electric grid, the California Public Utilities Commission President at the time urged residents to cut energy use between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on that day.

Because the ramping down and up had little deleterious effect, a call to curb electrical use is not likely to happen with the 2024 eclipse. In fact, during the 2017 eclipse, which also affected Georgia, Georgia Power “registered barely a blip”. Georgia Power had livestreamed the eclipse and watched solar power dip significantly for the three minutes of the eclipse’s totality and yet there was no failure to the grid.

Sunrise brief: California cuts interconnection costs for distributed solar developers that agree to export limits

pv magazine — Fri, 22 Mar 2024 12:10:48 +0000

Also on the rise: NABCEP conference 2024 shining bright in Raleigh. KKR and EIG invest more than $1 billion in equity and debt financing in Avantus. And more.

KKR and EIG invest more than $1 billion in equity and debt financing in Avantus With this climate strategy investment, KKR and EIG become sole equity investors in Avantus, a company assembling one of the largest solar-plus-storage portfolios in the United States.

California cuts interconnection costs for distributed solar developers that agree to export limits By agreeing to limit exports to the grid at peak generation hours, distributed energy resources like rooftop solar and energy storage can now avoid delays and costly infrastructure upgrades.

NABCEP conference 2024 shining bright in Raleigh The 14th annual continuing education conference of the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners is the largest ever, with over 1,000 registrants.

Sodium-ion batteries – a viable alternative to lithium? While lithium ion battery prices are falling again, interest in sodium ion (Na-ion) energy storage has not waned. With a global ramp-up of cell manufacturing capacity under way, it remains unclear whether this promising technology can tip the scales on supply and demand.

Entries for the pv magazine Awards 2024 are now open The pv magazine Awards celebrate outstanding achievement across the solar and energy storage supply chain, rewarding excellence and innovation within our industry.

Doral Renewables secures $114 million for Ohio solar project The utility-scale solar project will supply power to the PJM regional transmission operator.

Reshaping the solar landscape with aerial imagery Aerial imagery provides location intelligence, offering detailed insights that reveal everything from subtle shading patterns to potential obstacles, empowering engineers to design solar farms with laser-sharp precision.

California cuts interconnection costs for distributed solar developers that agree to export limits

Ryan Kennedy — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 21:35:34 +0000

By agreeing to limit exports to the grid at peak generation hours, distributed energy resources like rooftop solar and energy storage can now avoid delays and costly infrastructure upgrades.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has passed a decision allowing distributed renewable energy resources like residential solar and battery energy storage to interconnect to the grid without triggering grid impacts that require costly infrastructure upgrades.

Under the rulemaking decision, distributed resources can interconnect as a Limited Generation Profile (LGP). This will enable the resources to join the grid without paying grid upgrade fees and delays related to upgrade work. California is the first state to enact such a resolution for distributed energy.

“Limited Generation Profiles specify the maximum amount of electric generation a DER [distributed energy resource] system will export to the grid at different times throughout the year, ensuring that the project is responsive to fluctuating grid constraints at different times,” said the order.

The grid has physical limits on how much electricity it can accept from energy generation sources. Known as hosting capacity, this limit varies widely hour-by-hour, day-to-day and seasonally based on intermittent generation and consumption levels. In the case of solar, California afternoons and sunnier times of the year lead to peak generation levels that may exceed grid limits in some locations.

California utilities are required by law to provide an hourly model of the hosting capacity available on the local distribution grid at local node or substation. This hourly report is called an “Integration Capacity Analysis.”

Under the new CPUC ruling, renewable energy developers can now use the Integration Capacity Analysis to ensure a project stays within hosting capacity limits, thereby becoming eligible for interconnection without triggering grid upgrade fees.

The ruling created guidelines for how an LGP is classified and controlled and sets a fixed schedule for export limits that can be adjusted 24 times per year. The LGP structuring was developed with input from the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). It defines the types of power control systems eligible for LGP curtailment, the allowable format of LGP scheduling and how many times per year a project can change output levels, and instances when a utility may curtail power generation.

IREC assisted CPUC in developing the configuration for curtailment and export schedules for LGP. It said the format “will allow projects to design configurations that take advantage of the specific daily and seasonal peak periods that arise at the project’s proposed location on the grid.”

IREC said the LGP resolution “is a satisfactory resolution that mitigates risk for project developers, while providing reasonable assurances for utilities.”

Gwen Brown, vice president of communications at IREC called the ruling “a momentous first for the nation.” However, Brown noted that there is still room for distributed energy resource (DER) operation to evolve beyond the look-ahead fixed-schedule format created by the LGP.

“Under flexible interconnection paradigms, rather than implementing a fixed schedule, DERs would be dynamically controlled to respond to real-time conditions on the grid,” said Brown. “This approach offers some advantages for the grid operator as grid conditions change and needs evolve. However, the costs of deploying the sophisticated communication systems necessary for this approach are considerable and it may take many years before they are widely deployed.”

Brown said both the fixed schedule offered by LGP and more flexible approaches to distributed energy management systems (DERMS) will likely play a role in the integration of resources like rooftop solar and energy storage in the coming years.

“For states that are about to, or have already, deployed a quality hosting capacity analysis, approaches like the LGP may enable more near-term realization of the system benefits and avoided upgrade costs that come with better utilization of DER export control capabilities,” said Brown.

New modular design for offshore floating photovoltaic platforms

Bernadette Geyer — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 14:20:33 +0000

A team of scientists from China and the United States studied ways to optimize floating photovoltaics for offshore use. It found that the robustness of the systems was influenced by the size and number of platforms, as well as the types of connections between platforms.

From pv magazine Global

Researchers from China and the United States have proposed a novel modular floating PV (FPV) solution to assess the behavior of offshore, multi-connected modules under combined wave-wind conditions. The team ─ which included scientists from Dalian University of Technology and the University of Maine ─ analyzed various types of fixed and hinged FPV systems to determine potential approaches to optimization.

“FPV is a complex multi-body system under the coupling action of wind, wave, current, and other multi-physical fields,” the study noted. “It is therefore of immense importance to develop robust engineering methodologies and models to design FPV systems applied to offshore environments.”

The analysis found that as the number of modules increases, motion responses become more pronounced, and the 2 x 2 platform experienced the most significant pitch response of the configurations studied. The team also observed that the additional movement generated by hinged connections resulted in “non-negligible” dynamic response for multi-body FPV systems, while systems using fixed connections showed no significant dynamic response. In addition, researchers observed that the mooring tension of systems with hinged connections was greater than that of systems with fixed connections.

For this study, the group introduced a novel modular design for FPV platforms that incorporated the concept of semi-submersible ocean engineering platforms. It used a catenary mooring system, which is based on a curve that has been commonly used in bridge, ship, and ocean platform moorings. An offshore site in China’s Shandong province was selected for the study, which used frequency-domain analysis and evaluated the overall hydrodynamic performance and behavioral characteristics of multiple types of FPV platforms.

The researchers created the FPV platforms using cylindrical pontoons and heave plates. They mounted solar panels with an inclination of 10 degrees onto steel trusses above the pontoons, with each steel truss providing at least 250 kW of power generation per platform. Motion responses under extreme conditions were examined for moored single, 2 x 2, and 3 x 3 FPV systems.

“The stability of FPV platforms is crucial in preventing the loss of power facilities caused by overturning and minimizes the damage to power transmission cables,” they said. “As a result, mooring design is critical to mitigate the dynamic response of FPV systems.”

The study emphasizes that heave response is influenced by the ratio of mass to stiffness. Researchers observed that the maximum pitch response for the 2 x 2 FPV systems is “obtained when the wave trough is just at the connection position of the two modules and the modules are V-shaped.” However, adding a third row of modules helped to reduce the relative movements, so that “the maximum pitch motion of the 3 x 3 platform” was less than the maximum of the 2 x 2 platform.

Based on their analysis, the team recommends an installation angle of at least 15 degrees for a multi-body FPV system, to reduce both motion and structural responses.

The group’s findings are available in the study “Assessing the dynamic behavior of multiconnected offshore floating photovoltaic systems under combined wave-wind loads: A comprehensive numerical analysis,” published in Sustainable Horizons.

“Optimization of mooring systems could be conducted to further enhance the performance and reduce platform motion responses, such optimizations can lead to potential cost savings, making the overall system more economically viable,” they concluded.

Vehicle-integrated photovoltaics for electric ground transport

Valerie Thompson — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 13:25:32 +0000

Canadian custom module manufacturer Capsolar developed a vehicle integrated PV system (VIPV) for an electric material towing application, reportedly enabling 30% to 40% range increase per battery charge.

From pv magazine Global

Canada’s Capsolar, a manufacturer of vehicle-integrated PV (VIPV) systems, recently completed an electric tow tractor ground transport project.

“We designed, built and installed the solar PV system, including the electronic and physical integrations. It is used at one of the largest US-based automotive industry original equipment manufacturers (OEMs),” Capsolar’s CEO, Samy Benhamza, told pv magazine. “Our customer uses electric ground-support vehicles for heavy-duty material transport.”

The Capsolar system consists of 5.6 kW of power based on 20 solar panels, a high-efficiency controller system, and a data management tracking platform. It enables a 30% to 40% range increase per battery charge, according to Benhamza.

Looking ahead, the Canadian company is in discussion to equip the rest of the OEM’s fleet with “an improved and larger system with higher efficiency.”

The U.S. ground support vehicle project comes on the back of Capsolar completing construction of a 3 MW pilot line at 560.3 m2 facility in Montreal, Quebec.

Capsolar was founded in 2020 and began developing custom PV systems for small vehicles, such as electric golf carts, and has since expanded into electric passenger vehicles, boating and ground transportation applications.

It typically uses cells supplied by US-based manufacturer Maxeon that have 24% efficiency, along with high-efficiency charge controllers to optimize power output. The company can customize module shape, texture, size, and color to match clients’ requests.

A look at the great transformer shortage affecting U.S. utilities

Anne Fischer — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 16:35:50 +0000

An NREL team finds that lead times for transformers has grown fourfold in three years, with orders sometimes taking two years. Additionally price increases of four to nine times have been reported in the past 3 years.

As the clean energy buildout continues to grow, one of the challenges looming over the industry is shortages and price increases in the global transformer market. National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) researchers produced the report, Major Drivers of Long-Term Distribution Transformer Demand, in order to quantify the long-term demand for distribution transformers.

“Distribution transformers are a bedrock component of our energy infrastructure,” National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researcher Killian McKenna said. “But utilities needing to add or replace them are currently facing high prices and long wait times due to supply chain shortages. This has the potential to affect energy accessibility, reliability, affordability—everything.”

Reasons given for the shortages and price spikes include increased raw material demand, pandemic-related shortages and backlogs, labor constraints, shipping issues, and geopolitical tensions. In some parts of the world, the shortages are acute.

Transformers are a necessary piece of the energy puzzle, as they manage the flow of electricity along the power grid by changing high-voltage electricity from transmission lines into low-voltage electricity before it reaches consumers.

“A lot of factors can drive the demand for transformers, which makes long-term forecasting especially challenging,” McKenna said. “For instance, load growth from electrification of buildings and transportation, increased frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events, and the need to modernize aging electrical infrastructure can all impact the future demand for transformers.”

The NREL team is the first to quantify the number, capacity, age, and use of the nation’s current transformer stock. This was no small feat, as the nation’s transformers are owned by over 3,000 municipal, cooperative, and investor-owned utilities. About 20% of transformer capacity is privately owned by large commercial and industrial customers, according to the report authors.

The study found that utilities are experiencing extended lead times for transformers of up to two years (a fourfold increase on pre-2022 lead times) and reporting price increases by as much as four to nine times in the past 3 years.

According to the researchers, the increased demand is due to increased electrification, increased clean energy going to the grid as well as an aging electric infrastructure that needs replacement. Preliminary analysis estimates that overall stock capacity needs to grow 160% to 260% by 2050, compared to 2021 levels to meet increasing energy demands across residential, commercial, industrial and transportation sectors.

The Code of Federal Regulations defines distribution transformers as those that have an input voltage of 34.5 kV or less, an output voltage of 600 V or less, and a capacity of 10–2,500 kVA. For this study the researchers examined transformers up to 5,000 kVA because of the trend of increasing capacities due to electrification and also because of pending revisions in proposed rules. The authors state that they “loosely interpret input and output voltages, given the trend of bidirectional power flow due to distributed energy resources (in particular, solar photovoltaics).”

They also consider step-up transformers, used for renewable energy resources and most battery chains, and manufacturers as distribution transformers. Step-up transformers are used to convert low-voltage electrical generation into high-voltage electricity for long-distance transmission. The demand for these will grow as they are needed to integrate wind and solar farms onto the power grid by adjusting voltages, improving efficiency, and enhancing grid reliability.

Overall, they expect the type of transformers utilities will require is expected to change. Larger transformer sizes will be needed and pad-mount, dry-type, and submersible transformer demand will also increase demand for larger transformer sizes is expected to increase due to electrification. Enhanced reliability and resilience will increase the demand for pad-mount, dry-type, and submersible transformers. As previously mentioned, step-up transformer demand will also increase—all of which will put increased pressure on transformer manufacturing.

The analysis is based on estimating the peak demand that would need to be met by distribution transformers, which considers the increased electricity demand across the economy from scenarios outlined in NREL’s Electrification Futures Study.

An additional finding is that the demand for pad-mounted transformers (top) is expected to increase as utilities replace pole-mounted transformers (bottom) to improve safety and resilience. Images: Getty Images

Image: Getty Images

The insights gained from this work will help stakeholders better understand load metrics, including how an increased electrification scenario affects peak electricity demand, which will enable better distribution planning.

Seven trade groups, for example, have called for $1.2 billion in federal funding to help manufacturers of distribution transformers boost their production capacity, in a letter to U.S. Senate leadership. The letter states that “robust” domestic production of distribution transformers will help ensure a reliable U.S. grid, while also reducing dependence on importing products from overseas.

“The administration is focused on the importance of distribution transformers and other critical components to the reliability of our nation’s power grid,” said Gil Bindewald, principal deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Electricity. “We are grateful for the strong collaboration between all stakeholders that has occurred to-date and hopeful that this cutting-edge analysis will serve as a catalytical foundation to inform impactful solutions that ensure America can meet its emerging energy needs.”

The researchers concluded that demand modeling is critical to gaining a realistic understanding of future utility requirements. The NREL team said it will continue to work with the Office of Electricity and Office of Policy to refine their analysis to help the industry come to consensus on projected transformer demand.

Chevron announces solar-to-hydrogen project in California

Ryan Kennedy — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 23:00:47 +0000

The oil giant expects the facility to produce about 2.2 tons of hydrogen per day by 2025.

Oil major Chevron revealed plans to construct and operate a solar-to-hydrogen production facility in California. The 5 MW project will use solar-generated electricity to split non-potable water into hydrogen fuel.

The project mark’s Chevron’s first direct investment in its own hydrogen project. Deloitte estimates the global hydrogen market will reach $1.4 trillion by 2050.

Hydrogen fuel is created by using electricity to split a water molecule in a process called electrolysis. When it is burned as fuel, it emits water vapor and warm air, rather than carbon dioxide. However, today, about 95% of all hydrogen is produced from steam reforming of natural gas, according to the Department of Energy.

Chevron expects the plant to produce 2.2 tons of hydrogen per day starting in 2025. This is the equivalent of powering 54,000 homes or fueling a vehicle for 132,000 miles, said the company in a press release.

Hydrogen acts as an energy storage medium for renewable energy generators like solar and wind. It is highly dispatchable and long-duration fuel, making it available to serve a different set of use cases than lithium-ion battery storage, which is currently the leading form of new-build storage under development for renewables.

The project is part of Chevron’s plan to reach 150,000 tons of hydrogen fuel production per year, supplying industrial, power, and heavy-duty transportation customers.

The company is spending $2 billion on “lower carbon” projects in 2024, though a significant part of these investments are expansions of renewable diesel and carbon sequestration, rather than an investment in renewables. Chevron announced a $16 billion capital expenditure plan company-wide for 2024.

A recent report from Stanford University showed how hydrogen plus renewables-charged battery storage could help many nations lower their annual energy costs by about 61%.

Last month, utility-scale energy storage company Energy Vault announced a first-of-its kind 293 MWh energy storage and hydrogen project in California. Once complete, it will represent the largest long duration energy storage and green hydrogen hybrid project in the United States.

Amazon Web Services helps Duke Energy complete power flow studies in hours, not months

William Driscoll — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 14:28:40 +0000

Adding residential solar or commercial-scale electric vehicle chargers on a utility’s distribution feeder may require the utility to conduct power flow calculations. Duke Energy can now complete those studies in hours, an Amazon executive said at a policy forum held by ACORE.

A residential customer of Duke Energy who wants to put solar on their roof, or a commercial customer that wants to electrify its fleet of vehicles, may get a faster response from the utility now that it can complete power flow calculations much more quickly.

Amazon Web Services has worked with Duke Energy to develop a custom solution that speeds the power flow simulations, said Nate Hill, head of energy policy for Amazon Web Services. “That’s not even an artificial intelligence product,” it’s “just a solution” that AWS “custom-built” with Duke, he said, speaking at a policy forum held by the renewable energy trade group ACORE.

The solution is designed to help Duke Energy anticipate future energy demand and identify where and how to “update” the distribution grid, said an AWS spokesperson.

Hill predicted “amazing” AI applications in the utility industry and with power grid operators, especially by “combining our forces and brainpower” with the capability of exascale computing at the Department of Energy, and “all the resources and scientists they have in their national lab network.”

AWS was in discussions with grid operator SPP in 2022 about using AI to speed interconnection studies for utility-scale solar, while a NextEra executive was bringing the idea to other grid operators at that time.

Hill added that Amazon is “bullish” on grid-enhancing technologies and similar approaches, saying they should be studied “very seriously,” but added “it’s not a panacea.”

Speaking of the work of Amazon Web Services, Hill said firms are “early in the process” of switching from on-premise data services to cloud services, “and now you layer on top of that this big transition to machine learning, AI.” He said transmission infrastructure “is going to be one of the key ingredients to allow the U.S. to be a dominant force in this big revolution that’s happening right now.” To maintain U.S. leadership, he said “there’s a role for AWS and the datacenter community” to start planning early and providing “accurate forecasts to our partners,” so they can plan ahead and “plan the right grid.”

Transmission build cycle

Jeff Dennis, deputy director for transmission development at the Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment Office, said at the policy forum that “if we improve transmission planning, like we want to, and if we improve permitting, like we want to, we’re going to build a lot of transmission in a short amount of time. That means we’re going to need a lot of workers, we’re going to need a lot of equipment, we’re going to need a lot of supply. DOE is focused on that for sure. And I know many of you are also, but it will be a tremendous build cycle.”

Dennis also spoke about building “no regrets” transmission lines. He referenced DOE’s 2023 National Transmission Needs Study, which projected a need for 54.5 TW-miles of within-region transmission capacity and 125 GW of interregional transfer capacity by 2035, under future scenarios with moderate load but high clean energy assumptions.

Part of the transmission need, Dennis said, is “simply to relieve congestion that is costing consumers hundreds of millions of dollars a year, especially in extreme weather events.” He said “even if we disagree on what the future looks like,” among 200 different scenarios, “we should build the high value connection options that pop out at you,” because those are “no regrets” options.

Cyberattacks and microgrids

Bill Murray, senior vice president of corporate affairs for Dominion Energy, spoke on the same panel and drew a reaction from the audience when he said the utility fields 3 billion cyberattack attempts per month.

“We have robust cyber defenses,” he said, thanking the utility’s federal, state and private sector partners. “But part of it is also looking at the absolute critical parts of your system.” Saying that “all customers are critical; don’t get me wrong” he added that “microgridding is an opportunity that we’re starting to look at more and more.”

This article was amended on March 11, 2024 to state that the power flow calculations performed using the new solution relate to Duke Energy’s distribution feeders, not to its transmission system.

Baltimore Gas and Electric installs battery storage system to manage winter peaks

Kavya Balaraman — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:14:21 +0000

The 2.5 MW/9.74 MWh Hitachi Energy facility helped the utility avoid distribution upgrade costs and also participates in the PJM Interconnection.

Maryland’s largest utility, Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE), has turned to a 2.5 MW/9.74 MWh battery energy storage system to meet high electricity demand during the winter months in Fairhaven, located just south of Annapolis.

The battery system, which is installed at the Fairhaven substation near Chesapeake Bay and began operating in November, is built largely with Hitachi Energy products. It has two battery containers with 48 racks of lithium-ion batteries, the company said, as well as a control system and two new distribution transformers.

The Fairhaven energy storage system was installed to solve a very specific reliability challenge in BGE’s footprint – unlike the rest of Maryland, which tends to see peak electricity demand during the summer, Fairhaven experiences a winter peak due to the usage of electric heaters. Because of this, the area’s total electricity load sometimes topped the capacity of the 34.5kV line in the region.

The new storage system helps address that issue by absorbing energy during times of low electricity demand and then discharging it back to the grid when demand increases. The battery system also allowed BGE to avoid the costs of upgrading some 10 miles of electric distribution infrastructure, according to Hitachi. And after the winter months, when it’s most needed, it can also participate in regional transmission organization PJM’s footprint.

“Participating in these sorts of markets can also help companies align with broader energy goals. Battery projects like the Fairhaven BESS contribute to grid stabilization, offering rapid response capabilities that are crucial for balancing supply and demand,” a Hitachi Energy spokesperson told pv magazine USA.

More broadly, energy storage plays an important role in ensuring reliability throughout different U.S. markets, including the PJM region, which includes 65 million people spread across 13 states and the District of Columbia, the spokesperson said.

“As the energy landscape evolves, the strategic deployment of [battery energy storage] technologies not only optimizes existing infrastructure but also fosters a resilient grid capable of adapting to changing demands, unforeseen events such as extreme weather, and the increasing prominence of renewable energy sources,” they added.

Maryland is aiming to deploy 3,000 MWh of energy storage resources by 2033, and the Fairhaven project is part of this goal, per the 2019 Maryland Energy Storage Pilot Project Act. BGE also deployed a separate battery project in the region – a 1 MW/2 MWh battery located in Chesapeake Beach – in January, 2023, also aimed at shifting energy to times when electricity demand is highest, especially in the winter months.

Both residential and grid-scale energy storage installations are growing across the U.S. A recent report from Wood Mackenzie and American Clean Power Association (ACP) found that the industry installed 13.5 GWh of storage in the first three quarters of 2023, compared to 12 GWh for all of 2022. This figure that could have been much higher, were it not for some 80% of projects in the pipeline being delayed.

Grid operators in California and Texas earn “B” grades, others score poorly

William Driscoll — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 14:30:54 +0000

With two million megawatts of generation and storage projects awaiting interconnection studies across the U.S., a report gives grid operators grades for their interconnection processes ranging from B to D-.

Grid operators in California and Texas received grades of B for their processes to enable interconnection of new generators, primarily renewables and storage, while others received low Cs to a low D, in a scorecard report prepared by the consultancies Grid Strategies and The Brattle Group.

Project developers are awaiting interconnection studies to identify the transmission facility upgrades needed for their respective projects, so they may sign interconnection agreements for construction of the upgrades.

“As is widely recognized, and this scorecard confirms, the progress towards completing those interconnections is slow and puts system reliability at risk,” says the report, published by the trade group Advanced Energy United, which backs carbon-free electricity.

Grades were based on a survey of interconnection customers and analysis of the recent results of each grid operator’s interconnection process.

The ERCOT grid operator in Texas has a “relatively fast and consistent interconnection process, with reasonable costs,” says the report, while noting “challenges” to transmission network upgrade construction that can “slow the process towards the end and result in curtailment of projects that do get built.”

ERCOT uses a “connect and manage” approach to generator interconnection, which a former Cypress Creek Renewables executive has reasoned could also be used in the rest of the U.S.

Executives from Clearway Energy Group and Enel North America have called for combining the connect-and-manage approach with comprehensive regional transmission planning to efficiently interconnect large-scale renewables and storage.

California’s grid operator CAISO “also had a relatively fast and consistent process” for projects submitted before 2020, but since then, CAISO’s process has been “unable to efficiently process applications” due to the large increase in the number of new generator interconnection applications, the report says.

ERCOT and CAISO completed interconnection agreements for more capacity of new generators by the end of 2022 for applications submitted in 2018-2022 than the other five grid regions, as shown in the nearby graph. The graph provides an apples-to-apples comparison because it shows the interconnection agreement capacity executed in each region as a percentage of system peak load.

Most of the grid operators “are undergoing significant efforts” to reform their interconnection practices and policies, the report says, “in response to stakeholder concerns and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Order 2023.”

While the report used generator interconnection process results as the primary scoring factor, the grades were also based on five other factors:

Pre-queue information
Interconnection process design
Assumptions, criteria and replicability
Availability of interconnection alternatives
Use of regional transmission planning.

The report, titled Generator Interconnection Scorecard, is the first-ever attempt to evaluate the grid operators, and may be repeated in future years to assess their progress, the authors said.

Sunrise brief: U.S. residential solar prices drop, strong interest in storage

pv magazine — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 13:08:01 +0000

Also on the rise: Shoals to invest $80 million in Tennessee manufacturing expansion. Beaming radio frequency solar power from space. And more.

U.S. residential solar prices drop, strong interest in storage The 18th edition of the EnergySage Marketplace Report finds the residential solar segment in the U.S. is rocked by persistent inflation, the California NEM 3.0 and rising loan fees. Yet prices have fallen and consumer interest in storage is strong.

Grid operator PJM could add 5.5 GW of renewables with grid-enhancing technologies Deploying GETs technologies in the PJM grid region would have a 70-to-1 benefit-cost ratio, finds an analysis by Quanta Technology. The nonprofit RMI published the analysis, and aims for it to be replicated to evaluate GETs in interconnection studies.

Investment opportunities in Africa’s clean energy transition Leaders from over 15 African countries will meet with U.S. stakeholders to discuss how to ensure the continued, equitable growth of renewable energy projects in each country.

Shoals to invest $80 million in Tennessee manufacturing expansion The electrical balance of systems provider serving the solar industry will move its manufacturing and distribution center to a new, larger facility.

Beaming radio frequency solar power from space Researchers at the California Institute of Technology successfully beamed solar power from space to Earth in July. The experimental microwave-beaming satellite was tested for eight months, uncovering existing strengths and weaknesses that will guide future developments of space solar power.

PV goes portable Portable solar generators are making their way from the fringes of solar and energy storage to become a mainstream consumer item. The rise has been charged by a range of factors that have created massive brands. Where did the sector emerge from, who was buying before, who is buying now, and what’s next?

Nearly 800 MW of solar bound for the Texas grid Enel North America announced its 297 MW Fencepost solar project is operational, while Clearway Energy Group‘s 452 MW Texas Solar Nova complex is complete.

Grid operator PJM could add 5.5 GW of renewables with grid-enhancing technologies

William Driscoll — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 16:30:05 +0000

Deploying GETs technologies in the PJM grid region would have a 70-to-1 benefit-cost ratio, finds an analysis by Quanta Technology. The nonprofit RMI published the analysis, and aims for it to be replicated to evaluate GETs in interconnection studies.

The PJM grid operator could enable interconnection of 4.8 GW of solar and 0.7 GW of wind capacity by 2027 through 95 deployments of grid-enhancing technologies (GETs), found an analysis produced by the nonprofit RMI. GETs would also enable 1.1 GW of stand-alone storage plus additional storage co-located with new solar.

The GETs would cost $100 million and yield production cost savings of $7 billion over six years, mostly due to the lower cost of operating renewable energy generators enabled by GETs, the report says. That translates to a 70-to-1 benefit-cost ratio, as shown in the graph below.

GETs could save project developers collectively “hundreds of millions of dollars” in interconnection costs compared to default network upgrades, the study says, as shown in the image below, while the project-level savings “could be the difference” that allows a developer to build a project “instead of dropping out of the queue.” GETs can also be installed more quickly than other network upgrades.

GETs were compared to the network upgrade options of reconductoring (using existing transmission towers to support new high-capacity advanced conductors) and rebuilding transmission lines (replacing both the towers and the conductors). These other options would yield an approximate 10-to-1 benefit-cost ratio, as indicated in the image above comparing their costs to GETs costs.

The $7 billion in production cost savings from installing GETs would not accrue to project developers, although under the current participant-funded upgrade paradigm, developers would pay for the $100 million in GETs installation costs.

GETs can enable rerouting of power flows to avoid congested lines, and provide real-time weather data to enable more power to flow through a line when conditions allow, for example due to the cooling effect of wind. The three GETs considered are dynamic line ratings, advanced power flow controls, and topology optimization, all of which are explained in the report. GETs have been used in Europe for decades, the report says.

To take advantage of GETs, the study says grid operators and utilities will need to adopt new modeling approaches, such as including GETs in power flow studies, and operational changes such as integrating GETs into existing energy management system software.

A previous study by The Brattle Group found that GETs could enable 40 MW more solar and 2.6 GW more wind power in Kansas and Oklahoma within four years.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order 2023 requires transmission providers such as PJM to evaluate, when conducting interconnection studies, several advanced transmission technologies listed in the order, according to the law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth. The listed technologies include advanced power flow control devices and advanced conductors but not dynamic line ratings or topology optimization, the firm says, noting that the order requires transmission providers to explain their evaluation results, but gives them sole discretion whether to use any given technology.

The RMI report says PJM and other grid operators “should build on FERC’s order and include GETs as standard network upgrade options for generator (and new load) interconnection.” RMI adds that “enhanced transmission planning and build-out is the long-term solution to addressing our capacity-constrained electric grid.”

Methods

In what the study says is a first-of-its-kind analysis, Quanta Technology started with a dataset of projects in five states that are waiting in PJM’s interconnection queue. Quanta conducted power flow modeling—a key step in any interconnection study—to consider each GET individually and then in combination. Quanta projected cost savings through production cost modeling.

RMI said its goal was to develop a “transparent and replicable approach” for analyzing GETs in interconnection studies.

Amazon provided funding for the analysis and report, in line with its commitment to power its operations with 100% renewables by 2025, said Abhishek Sharma, head of energy strategy for Amazon Web Services. An Amazon executive previously described how artificial intelligence could speed interconnection studies for large-scale renewables projects.

Other contributors to the study included GETs vendors such as LineVision and Smart Wires, which provided data and technology-specific information for the modeling, and NewGrid, which conducted topology optimization modeling.

RMI offered detailed recommendations for applying the study’s findings within PJM and nationwide:

PJM should institute robust evaluation of GETs for interconnection and transmission planning
Transmission owners should deploy their first GETs projects and create systems for routine deployment
Renewables project developers should propose GETs as part of their interconnection requests
State regulators should provide utility oversight and guidance to maximize the potential for cost-saving GETs adoption
FERC should pursue a comprehensive national regulatory framework that supports GETs adoption.

PJM is the world’s largest wholesale electricity market, the report says, serving 65 million people; its service area is shown on map above. Wind and solar combined provided less than 5% of generation in the PJM region last year. PJM has instituted a pause on new interconnection applications until 2026.

Beaming radio frequency solar power from space

John Fitzgerald Weaver — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 15:51:56 +0000

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology successfully beamed solar power from space to Earth in July. The experimental microwave-beaming satellite was tested for eight months, uncovering existing strengths and weaknesses that will guide future developments of space solar power.

Researchers have been attempting to beam solar power to earth in recent years, with some demonstrations showing the possibility is real. Pricing estimates for this source of electricity vary widely, with recent headlines from parties soliciting business with the U.S. Space Force suggesting that solar power could be delivered at $0.025/kWh, while a NASA document released in January, “Space-Based Solar Power” suggested a range between $0.61/kWh to $1.59/kWh.

The California Institute of Technology (CalTech) group that initially measured solar power being beamed from space released a paper on the topic, “Wireless Power Transfer in Space using Flexible, Lightweight, Coherent Arrays.”

In the most basic description, the solar panels on the satellite convert the sun’s photons into DC electricity, which the RF integrated circuit (RFIC) then turns into radio frequency (RF) power, which can be beamed to other space vehicles or to earth.

CalTech’s Microwave Array Power Transfer Low-earth-orbit Experiment (MAPLE) was designed to test the wireless transfer of electricity portion of the equation. The cube satellite was attached to a spacecraft last year, and tested successfully. In this case, the source of the electricity was the spacecraft’s – the Vigoride-5 spacecraft from Momentus, Inc. – solar panels.

In the future, the authors envision many of these systems deployed across an highly coordinated area of space, arranged and delivering energy as a phased array.

The project attempted three beam-to-Earth experiments, on May 23rd, 2023 UTC, June 30th, 2023 UTC, and July 28th, 2023 UTC. All three experiments were successfully detected. Specific measurements, including a Doppler shift and power level, aligned with orbital predictions and data from larger spacecraft. The researchers’ techniques improved with each measurement, with the final experiment providing the largest continuous set of data.

Figure 11: Interior of MAPLE during a power beaming experiment on March 15th, 2023 – 4:40 AM UTC. A lit LED (center) indicates power transmission to the (sidewall) rectenna.

The main subcomponents of the MAPLE are:

– Two custom 16-channel silicon RFICs

– An array of 32 flexible co-cured dipole antennas

– A flexible printed circuit board (PCB) on which the RFICs and antennas are mounted (“flex array” or FA)

– A rigid PCB with voltage regulation, on-board telemetry, and redundant microcontrollers (“aggregation panel” or AP).

– Two rectenna arrays.

– Two narrow field-of-view cameras.

– Two wide field-of-view cameras.

The flexible PCB antennas and RFICs constitute the “GU array.” They are responsible for generating and transmitting RF power wirelessly. The rectennas receive the wirelessly transmitted RF power from the GU array and convert it to DC power. The microcontroller on the Main Board controls the execution of the focusing algorithm that continually controls and optimizes the actions of the RFICs and GU array.

Image: NASA

Besides cost, one technical barrier that will need to be overcome is the loss in power that occurs in the transfer process (this is where the focused phase arrays come into play). pv magazine USA is not qualified to comment on the ideas associated with solving the efficiency program, nor how to calculate the efficiency – so we asked ChatGPT to read the paper linked to above and help describe the power efficiency of the system.

The end efficiency value is defined as being infinitesimally small, approximately 2.23 * 10-11 % (0.0000000000223%), or 22.3 trillionths of a percent. While the following comparison isn’t completely analogous, one can gain an order of magnitude: to reach the efficiency of a modern solar panel on Earth, which is around 20%, the overall efficiency would need to increase roughly five trillion times.

Sunrise brief: Super Bowl to be hosted in first 100% renewable energy NFL stadium

pv magazine — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 13:23:13 +0000

Also on the rise: Utah bill proposes rooftop solar net metering rate protection. Battery storage plus hydrogen can enable a reliable, cheap clean energy transition. And more.

Nextracker makes its mark in distributed energy generation Nextracker inked agreements with channel partners trained to resell the company’s flagship NX Horizon solar tracker to help scale DG sales to the commercial and industrial segment.

Battery storage plus hydrogen can enable a reliable, cheap clean energy transition A Stanford University report found that transitioning to clean energy could enable many countries to reduce annual energy cost by around 61%.

RFP alert: DOE to provide $1.2 billion for transmission buildout The RFP will use capacity contracts to commit DOE to purchase up to 50% of the maximum capacity of a transmission line.

Super Bowl to be hosted in first 100% renewable energy NFL stadium The Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas sources 10 MW of off-site solar, as well as wind, geothermal and hydroelectric power, among other sustainability measures.

Utah bill proposes rooftop solar net metering rate protection In the wake of net metering cuts leading to an industrywide implosion in California, Utah regulators are proposing a law that would increase compensation for exporting rooftop solar generation.

Yaskawa Solectria Solar to exhibit U.S.-made utility-scale inverters In partnership with solar panel manufacturer First Solar, the company developed the inverters to reduce degradation rates.

People on the move: GlidePath Power Solutions, Onyx Renewable Partners, and more Job moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy transition finance.

RFP alert: DOE to provide $1.2 billion for transmission buildout

Anne Fischer — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 16:34:57 +0000

The RFP will use capacity contracts to commit DOE to purchase up to 50% of the maximum capacity of a transmission line.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a request for proposals (RFP) for the second round of the Transmission Facilitation Program.

The DOE plans to deploy up to $1.2 billion to accelerate transmission buildout through capacity contracts. The goal is to help unlock billions of dollars of state and private sector capital to build projects to modernize the power grid and increase its reliability.

DOE’s National Transmission Needs Study, released October 30, 2023, estimates that the U.S. must more than double existing regional transmission capacity by 2035 and expand existing interregional transmission capacity by more than fivefold to maintain reliability, improve resilience to extreme weather and other disruptive events, relieve congestion, and provide access to low-cost clean energy. In addition, the study found that 54,500 GW-miles of within-region transmission must be added for a clean grid under “the most likely power sector future.” Interregional transfer capacities to transmit electricity between regions would also need to increase by nearly 125 GW, the study said.

“There’s no way around it: to realize the full benefit of the nation’s goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035, we need to more than double our grid capacity,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “President Biden’s historic clean energy legislation is helping modernize the nation’s transmission to deliver reliable, more affordable energy to every American community in turn driving down costs for American families and generating good paying jobs for American workers.”

The RFP will use capacity contracts to commit DOE to purchase up to 50% of the maximum capacity of a transmission line. Transmission infrastructure financing relies on demonstrating to potential investors that the line has committed customers; however, customers often can’t commit until they are sure a project will be developed and available when needed. To increase the confidence of investors and potential customers, the capacity contract establishes the agency as an anchor customer who can provide certainty and reduce the risk of project developers under-sizing needed transmission capacity projects. DOE will sell its capacity rights in these projects to other customers to recover its costs.

The RFP builds on the first solicitation issued in 2022. DOE announced it entered into the first round of capacity contract negotiations in October 2023 for up to a total of $1.3 billion with three transmission lines crossing six states that will add 3.5 GW of additional grid capacity throughout the U.S., equivalent to powering approximately 3 million homes, and creating more than 13,000 direct and indirect jobs. The selected projects include the Cross-Tie 500kV Transmission Line in Nevada and Utah, Southline Transmission Project in Arizona and New Mexico, and Twin States Clean Energy Link in New Hampshire and Vermont.

A public webinar will be held at 3 p.m. Eastern on February 21, 2024. The Grid and Transmission Programs Conductor provides more information on programs administered by DOE, as well as questions concerning the ability to pair different funding opportunities offered across the Department.

DOE’s Grid Deployment Office expects to release a separate RFP focused on public-private partnerships to build transmission infrastructure that connects isolated microgrids to the grid in Alaska, Hawaii and U.S. territories.
Learn more about the Grid Deployment Office.

The impact of climate-based PV panel degradation rates on inverters

Emiliano Bellini — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 17:18:06 +0000

New research from Belgium shows the importance of assessing inverter reliability by including climate-based PV panel degradation rates. The scientists found that, especially in hot and arid climates, PV inverters should be designed with parameters above the standard value.

From pv magazine Global

Scientists at Belgium’s Hasselt University have discovered that climate-based solar module degradation rates could have a significant impact on power electronics in PV systems.

In the study “Assessing the impact of PV panel climate-based degradation rates on inverter reliability in grid-connected solar energy systems,” which was recently published in Heliyon, the academics warned that using similar climate-based degradation rates for PV systems in all climate zones worldwide represents an “unrealistic approximation” that can lead to misleading results. “This can result in the over- or underestimation of PV lifetime and subsequently impact the power electronics reliability estimations,” they added.

The research group evaluated the panel degradation rates based on climatic stresses in three distinct geographical locations: Genk in Belgium, Accra in Ghana, and Kabd in Kuwait. These locations represent moderate, hot and humid, and hot and dry climates, respectively.

It used a physics-based approach that considered meteorological data such as ambient temperature, irradiance, wind speed, and direction, as well as material properties like optical, thermal, and electrical constants, and thicknesses of each layer in the module. It also took into account panel parameters such as temperature coefficients, external quantum efficiency, and interconnect layout.

The researchers explained that insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), which are the switching devices in the PV inverter, are extremely sensitive to high temperatures and, without proper management, can lead to failures or reduced lifespan.

“Every time that an IGBT is turned on, there will be power losses generated inside the material layers, and these power losses can generate heat inside the IGBT,” they explained. “Consequently, each activation induces a thermal cycle attributed to these power losses.”

The team analyzed the potential degradation rates in a standard 4 kW PV system including a DC-DC boost converter and a single-phase inverter using four IGBTs with a voltage rating of 700 V and a current rating of 40 A. It considered a scenario without solar module intrinsic degradation rate and a scenario taking into account intrinsic PV degradation rate.

Through a series of simulations, the researchers found that the inverter in the PV system located in Kabd has a much shorter lifespan than inverters located in Genk and Accra.

“The PV inverter in Kabd experiences substantial thermal stresses without the effects of PV degradation, and the IGBT may fail in just 5 years, leading to PV inverter failure in just 3.8 years,” they stressed. “With the introduction of linear PV degradation, the PV inverter’s lifespan in Kabd will increase to 5.8 years, but still falls short of the other two locations. The physics-based PV degradation model will raise Kabd’s lifespan to around 6.5 years.”

The group concluded that deploying PV systems in hot and arid climates could require different parameters for inverter design. “These results demonstrate the importance of incorporating various factors and parameters when assessing the reliability of a PV inverter and its switching device,” it stated.

PV commissioning times up by 6 months over past 20 years, claim scientists

Emiliano Bellini — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 18:19:35 +0000

Scientists in Switzerland used project-level data from BloombergNEF to analyze completion times of renewable energy projects across 48 countries. They have found that average commissioning times have increased over the past two decades for all clean energy technologies.

From pv magazine Global

Researchers at Switzerland’s ETH Zürich have conducted an extensive analysis on the commissioning timelines of a set of renewable energy projects deployed worldwide between 2005 and 2022 and have found, surprisingly, that completion times increased on average over the past two decades.

The academics investigated, in particular, the timelines of 12,475 projects using PV, wind onshore, wind offshore, biomass, and run-off-river hydropower spread across 48 countries. “The regions are defined as per World Bank country and lending group classification and sorted continently into Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and non-OECD groups, as those in the OECD group tend to be wealthier countries,” they explained.

Their analysis considered project size, technology, project and developer characteristics, project site, and a project’s related market. They utilized project-level data sourced from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BloombergNEF) and other country-level data and environmental data from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Worldwide Governance Indicators, among others.

“We only considered projects where permitting and commissioning dates are recorded in the data and where a country has at least five transactions for any given technology,” the group specified. “The sourced data include details on installed capacity, names of actors developing the projects, project geocoordinates, permitting dates, and commissioning dates.”

One of the first conclusions drawn by the scientists is that, although PV is the technology that requires the least time to commission, the completion times for the deployment of utility scale solar plants in many countries increased from 2015 to 2022. “The findings further indicate that the mean time for deployment has increased for all technologies in the OECD and non-OECD groupings, except for biomass electricity in non-OECD countries,” they stated.

Referring to the critical factors that may delay projects, the academics said size has an “insignificant” impact and added that developers’ experience is, instead, a significant predictor of commissioning times, although only for PV and wind onshore. “This is likely due to low experience build-up in the other technologies due to relatively low deployment compared to solar PV and wind onshore,” they emphasized, noting that the presence of a domestic developer or a state-owned company may speed up deployment.

The analysis showed that completion times for PV and wind onshore increased by 0.5 years and 0.9–1.2 years respectively for OECD and non-OECD countries. “The upward trend also holds for different regions within the OECD and non-OECD groupings, with only Europe and Asia-Pacific showing a reduction in commissioning times for small hydro RoR and biomass electricity respectively,” the researchers noted.

The analysis also showed that factors such as currency devaluation and GDP contraction, as well as the COVID-19 crisis, had a significant impact on project timelines. It also showed that the average project size for solar PV during the 2005-2022 period is 17.3 MW in OECD countries and 34.4 MW in non-OECD countries.

The research group presented its findings in the study “A global analysis of renewable energy project commissioning timelines,” published in Applied Energy. “Future research could strengthen the econometric analysis with other potential factors and variables, and potentially apply them to energy technologies beyond renewables, such as electricity storage or grid assets, which might shed light on the robustness of our framework,” the scientists concluded.

Sunrun solar-plus-storage powers the grid during peak demand

Ryan Kennedy — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 21:33:06 +0000

In partnership with utility Pacific Gas and Electric, the residential solar installer enrolled distributed batteries to serve the grid during times of peak demand.

Residential solar installer Sunrun has partnered with utility Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) to enroll solar and energy storage customers in a program called Peak Power Rewards, which compensates customers for dispatching power during times of peak demand on the grid.

Sunrun enrolled 8,500 customer systems in California, operating the assets as a distributed network that forms a power grid. Under the program, the assets delivered an average of 27 MW of power during peak hours for over 90 days consecutively.

“PG&E was able to confidently rely on the renewing daily resource of Sunrun’s fleet of home solar and storage systems,” said Mary Powell, chief executive officer, Sunrun. “We are rapidly transitioning to a storage-first company and the results of this partnership highlight the unique capability that distributed power plants provide communities.”

The distributed solar and storage assets provided an instantaneous peak output of nearly 32 MW and frequently provided up to 30 MW of power, enough for more than 20,000 homes.

Sunrun said it managed the fleet of home batteries and provided power to PG&E in the same way a traditional centralized power plant would. However, the program was operational within six months of signing the contract with the utility, a timeframe that far outpaces the development cycle of utility-scale assets.

Enrolled batteries in the Peak Power Rewards program discharged energy to the grid from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. from August through October, a time of peak electricity demand in California. Customers received an upfront payment of $750 and a free smart thermostat for participating. Sunrun said that batteries enrolled in the program retain enough energy to meet personal, essential needs in the event of a power outage.

“Solar-plus-storage plays a significant role in California’s clean energy future and we’re proud of our customers who are leading the charge with their clean energy adoption. Every day, we’re looking at new and better ways to deliver for our hometowns while ensuring safety, reliability and resiliency for our customers,” said Patti Poppe, chief executive officer of PG&E Corporation.

PG&E has the most behind-the-meter solar installations in the nation attached to its grid, with approximately 820,000 customers connected adding roughly 8 GW of capacity to the grid. The utility said nearly 75,000 PG&E customers have connected energy storage systems to its grid, representing 670 MW of capacity.

“What is happening in California will soon need to be replicated across the country,” said Powell. “Residential solar-plus-storage systems networked together as distributed power plants are answering the demand call by providing flexible, on-demand power stabilization while also guarding against increasing rates.”

Despite adding new value to customers through battery aggregation programs, residential solar installers in California have been faced with increased challenges to acquiring new customers. High interest rates have worsened the return on investment for customers, and the move toward NEM 3.0 has altered the value of exported electricity. The California Solar and Storage Association recommended policy changes to improve market conditions and revive the state’s wounded behind-the-meter solar industry.

Sandia National Laboratories design grid-resiliency algorithm

Jerusha Kamoji — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 19:00:19 +0000

The software includes various tools to isolate downed or damaged lines, automate energy production and consumption regulation and troubleshoot unintentional loops.

A group of researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are studying ways to increase grid resilience to extreme weather storms and hackers. Their idea is to build a self-healing grid through various algorithms coded into grid relays. These detectors would quickly restore power for critical infrastructure, including hospitals, grocery stores, assisted living facilities, and water treatment plants, before operators can implement repairs or provide direction on moving forward.

Researchers at Sandia imagine these grid relays embedded in microgrids of renewable energy supplies and their local energy storage systems. The Sandia project is focused on ensuring these small islands of power around critical infrastructure can automatically heal themselves and connect to share electricity, powering as many users as possible.

Sandia researchers plan to build this resilience by ensuring microgrids can automate functions like balancing energy production with consumption and reconfiguring if part of the system is impaired. The algorithm must also prevent microgrids from forming an unintentional loop in the circuit. All while leveraging device-specific local measurements to avoid the costs of having to depend on power inverters that currently offer the high-speed communications necessary.

Sandia National Laboratories electrical engineer Michael Ropp, who is part of the research team exploring grid resiliency.

Image: Sandia National Lab

When it comes to automating energy production and consumption regulation, the Sandia-led team developed an algorithm based on the process inverters designed to power microgrids use when overloaded. However, instead of stopping to regulate the voltage of the power supply during surcharge, the new system uses the decrease in voltage to signal relays to disconnect power to less vital customers like those in individual homes.

Regarding reconfiguration, the automated process is based on computer-aided design software. The proposed algorithms of three small interconnected microgrids were able to isolate issues, including tree-downed lines or a damaged power plant, and then restore electricity to essential infrastructure.

Researchers state that the current grid is not designed to be stable when operated in a loop, as much of North America’s original infrastructure is compatible with single power lines with a one-way power flow to customers. As the development of microgrids and rooftop solar increases, so does the opportunity for the grid to assemble into an unstable loop. For now, researchers are exploring how local measurements can clarify which sides of a line are already connected, thus forming a loop if the switch were closed.

Researchers have developed a morse-code-like method to troubleshoot unintentional loops. It allows an overloaded line relay to modulate voltage by opening and closing in a particular pattern. The tool also provides relays for lower-priority customers to detect the pattern and disconnect themselves from the line until it isn’t overloaded. Researchers state the method doesn’t need a separate communication system, which adds a level of protection against cyberattacks as it uses the actual power line to transmit a signal.

As researchers streamline each method’s performance, they hope to collaborate with line and load relay manufacturers to test how the algorithms fare when integrated into their products. Preliminary demos would occur in a hardware-in-the-loop testbed, then at test facilities like Sandia’s Distributed Energy Technologies Laboratory.