Solar ... In the news

silverwhistle

Cardew wrote: »

Your FIT payments + export etc are what? 50+p for every kWh generated - and no requirement to export anything if you can devise ways of using it in house!

You've been told many, many times before, so I can only deduce that you either have learning difficulties or have (for unknown reasons) a slightly over-the-top dislike for PV which causes you to repeat innaccuracies.

As has been pointed out to you on previous occasions it is only the very early adopters who got anywhere near 50p - personally I'm on about a third of that. The FIT was designed to reduce over time alongside reductions in installation costs and has been succesful in achieving that.

As I'm on a low income I'm happy to pay electricity/gas bills of £250 a year, but I'm also pleased to do my bit for the environment. Your cynicism says more about you than it does about those of us who have invested in PV and energy saving.

silverwhistle

Martyn1981 wrote: »

The article doesn't make it clear if this is purely a theoretical figure, as I'd have thought that level of PV would cause major oversupply issues at peak generation times.

Without reading the link, wouldn't the use of aircon in the US closely follow production so that such peaks would not cause the problems they might here? Increased use of electric vehicles may be a part alternative to storage?

I'll read the link later, honest. :-)

Martyn1981

silverwhistle wrote: »

Without reading the link, wouldn't the use of aircon in the US closely follow production so that such peaks would not cause the problems they might here? Increased use of electric vehicles may be a part alternative to storage?

I'll read the link later, honest. :-)

Hiya Silver. To be honest, I really don't know. I did some quick mental juggling and it seemed like a lot of PV. Some thoughts:-

As you say EV's etc may help, as we are talking the future, not today.

A/C will help, but folk like Cardew have been saying for years "PV no good for the UK, but fine for US with daytime A/C", however, their peak is also in the late afternoon, as domestic A/C is switched on as folk get home.

For the UK, grid issues will probably occur at around 25 to 30GWp, with around 20GW of generation. This will be a problem on sunny summer Sunday afternoons when demand is around 30GW, when most days are closer to 40GW. From there I extrapolated ....

UK annual demand ~300TWh, US demand 3,671TWh (from the article 39% = 1,432TWh).

So if US demand is 12 times more than UK, then problems may kick in around 30GWx12 = 360GW. This is an incredibly weak assumption, and I could be out by miles, but the difference between 360GW and 1,118GW is so great, that I think it's safe to assume that there would be problems today, but hopefully storage will help.

Lastly, oversupply isn't a problem in the sense that the grid won't be damaged, Germany has already solved this issue with inverters that shut down as Grid voltage/frequency gets too high. But we should consider peak capping as a form of waste if it happens too much.

I'd also expect an expansion of the chemical storage industry, producing hydrogen (and methane from hydrogen + CO2) when oversupply happens, and prices dip. Not particularly efficient, but if the leccy is cheap!

Mart.

Martyn1981

silverwhistle wrote: »

Without reading the link, wouldn't the use of aircon in the US closely follow production so that such peaks would not cause the problems they might here? Increased use of electric vehicles may be a part alternative to storage?

I'll read the link later, honest. :-)

And another thought (too much coffee!)

Using this sentence:

... potential of 1,118GW of capacity and 1,432TWh of annual energy generation was possible ...

Suggests an annual generation of ~1,280kWh/kWp.

That compares to about 950kWh/kWp for the UK. I'm guessing again, but my system is 800, and a decent south facing system should be 900 to 1,100, so 950 seems a reasonable figure.

That means the US is 33% more productive, so costs should eventually be 25% less than the UK(?)

Given that PV is already cheap, and still falling fast, I'd expect it to be unstoppable on the demand side as it becomes cheaper than leccy supply prices. That'll force up the levels of rollout, unless artificially restrained (like Spain, Nevada etc).

Again, I'm doing a lot of mental number juggling, and could be miles out. But the figures in that article, particularly the quoted paragraph, jumped off the screen at me.

Mart.

Martyn1981

Interesting idea to ensure an even tan on the beach:-

Portable solar-powered tanning panel finds niche audience

A new solar panel – dubbed the "Solar Tanel" – that can help pasty folk of northern stock produce an even, crisp tan all over their body has been developed by researchers at the Institute for Studies in California.

An early prototype of the Solar Tanel, tested at the Institute’s gardens over the past few weeks, produced encouraging results among a variety of volunteers from the laboratory.

Made of a towel-like substance, the Solar Tanel slots easily on to soft ground and is both lightweight and flexible for ease of transportation. The Tanel works in conjunction with human sweat to create dark “damp-spots” that force the user to continuously alter their position, much like a traditional tracker, ensuring the sun’s rays are fully optimized for the duration of the day.

Mart.

michaels

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Interesting idea to ensure an even tan on the beach:-

Portable solar-powered tanning panel finds niche audience



Mart.

Posted jut in time I think - apparently the solar towel company folded at midday on 1st April.

Martyn1981

Solar takes center stage at BNEF Future of Energy Summit

BNEF predicts that 3.43 TW of solar to be deployed globally over the net 15 years. The role of finance and electric vehicles were among the other big topics.

If that excludes existing capacity, then that's an average of 229GWp pa, up from about 60GW now!

BNEF is expecting major investments not only in grid-tied solar but in off-grid as well, and expects 99 million households in the developing world to deploy off-grid solar by 2020.

Hopefully this will negate the need for a lot of new FF capacity being built.

Mart.

tunnel

Is it nearly time to swap our panels?

Oh i can see the anti FiT brigade having heart attacks!!

A new type of solar panel technology capable of turning rain into electricity is being developed by scientists in China. According to a paper published in the Angewandte Chemie journal, the technology combines an electron-enriched graphene electrode with a dye-sensitised solar cell that can be triggered by both sun and rain.

"With an aim of markedly elevating electricity creation, all-weather solar cells are promising to meet the growing energy demands"

Martyn1981

tunnel wrote: »

Is it nearly time to swap our panels?

Oh i can see the anti FiT brigade having heart attacks!!

Hiya T. The 'rainy' panels are only about 6.5% efficient, but it certainly bodes well for the future if the technology improves.

Don't know how much of that 6.5% is down to rain, but it would be odd sitting at home on a black and rainy day, but still generating.

Not sure if some daylight is still needed or not to make it work. But can imagine the anti-FiT boys spitting blood if it generates on a rainy night.

Mart.

theboylard

New template and mobile friendly quoting- useless!!

Anyways, question re tunnels last post about new panels and rain....
Does this men they would be able to produce if raining, at night?
Can see some having kittens if so!

Oh fudge, Mart has just asked it!!!!!!!