Solar ... In the news

Martyn1981

I've mentioned these batts before, but looks like the US could be heading towards dispatchable grid viable PV + storage. Excellent.

Large-scale dispatchable solar-plus-storage costs could drop below 10 cents per kWh, Eos claims

“We’re looking at a combined asset, maybe a 90MW solar plant with a 50MW/200MWh battery so a fairly significant size, but the LCOE of that asset is already at today’s pricing below 10 cents per kWh, and riding our wave down the price curve with volume we believe we can get that below 8 cents per kWh,” Bouchard said.

A recent project by AES on the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i will deliver power to the local Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) at US$0.11 per kWh.

Martyn1981

Looks like US Pv has passed the point of no return:

How US solar capacity will double year-over-year

Despite a whopping 4,143MW of solar PV installed in the US in the third quarter of last year, Q4 2016 is expected to surpass that historic total, according to latest figures from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

2016 is set to be a record year for solar on all counts; shattering all previous quarterly installation results.

"Coming off our largest quarter ever and with an extremely impressive pipeline ahead, it's safe to say the state of the solar industry here in America is strong," said Tom Kimbis, SEIA's interim president. "The solar market now enjoys an economically-winning hand that pays off both financially and environmentally, and American taxpayers have noticed. With a 90% favourability rating and 209,000 plus jobs, the US solar industry has proven that when you combine smart policies with smart 21st century technology, consumers and businesses both benefit."

With more than 1 million residential solar installations nationwide and record-breaking growth in the utility sector, the industry is projected to nearly double year-over-year.

and fun in France who are launching new FiT schemes to encourage more PV. I'm not sure what the new ones will be, or if they are just an extension of the current scheme that pays about twice the rate that the UK does (or 4x for roof integrated PV).

European Commission approves new schemes for French solar

Two new programs supporting both residential and largers scale solar will enable France to develop around 2.6 GW of new projects, pushing the country to reach its EU set target of producing 23% of its energy from renewable sources.

The schemes have a provisional budget of €439 million per year and consist of feed in tariffs (FITs) for domestic/commercial rooftops, up to 100 kW in size, and a separate FIT for larger scale installations (100-250 kW and 250 kW+).

silverwhistle

Amusingly I notice that Malcolm Turnbull, the PM of Australia, is reported to have upgraded his PV system at home and installed batteries to deal with the current peak power supply issues in Australia. I believe his policies show he is less than enthusiastic about renewables...

Martyn1981

silverwhistle wrote: »

Amusingly I notice that Malcolm Turnbull, the PM of Australia, is reported to have upgraded his PV system at home and installed batteries to deal with the current peak power supply issues in Australia. I believe his policies show he is less than enthusiastic about renewables...

Yep, he's a big fan of coal, especially cheap clean coal generation. Shame it doesn't exist.

Couple of days ago a couple of the Australia parliament were enthusiastically passing a big lump of coal around as a publicity stunt to show it wasn't deadly.

But that's backfired on them as it was pointed out that the incredible heatwave over there means that houses are consuming around 50% more leccy than normal, and will face a huge leccy bill in a month or so. So 'playing' with coal whilst AGW impacts bills was not the smartest idea they could have had.

Martyn1981

US - Good.

PV keeps speeding up in the US, and has now broken out. Though the headline is more than a little dodgy, as it refers to capacity not generation:

U.S. Solar Surged 95% to Become Largest Source of New Energy


UK - Bad.

There's no way find a positive. The disproportionately low support for PV means it's struggling.

Cuts to subsidy and funding leaves over 70% of councils without a solar strategy

Martyn1981

Cruel article, as only the first paragraph is of interest (to me), almost clickbait

SunPower hits average cell conversion efficiencies of 25% at Fab 4

High-efficiency PV module producer and project developer SunPower has reached a production average cell conversion efficiency of 25% at its Fab 4 facility in the Philippines, the highest in the industry.

Martyn1981

silverwhistle wrote: »

Amusingly I notice that Malcolm Turnbull, the PM of Australia, is reported to have upgraded his PV system at home and installed batteries to deal with the current peak power supply issues in Australia. I believe his policies show he is less than enthusiastic about renewables...

Further to Australia and PV, this article is very interesting. It explains how PV has helped to reduce wholesale leccy prices during the recent heatwave. Or to be more accurate have lessened the vast increase in leccy prices. Householders are being paid A$0-$A$80/MWh whilst prices hit A$1,400/MWh.

It also demonstrates how quickly the wholesale price starts to shoot up once PV generation starts to decline.

This article, and others before stress the need for storage to lower bills, and the advantage of west facing PV, rather than north facing.

If batteries save more than they cost, then perhaps we'll see some increased subsidy support in Australia, and this will hasten the point at which they become viable elsewhere ..... like my garage!

michaels

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Further to Australia and PV, this article is very interesting. It explains how PV has helped to reduce wholesale leccy prices during the recent heatwave. Or to be more accurate have lessened the vast increase in leccy prices. Householders are being paid A$0-$A$80/MWh whilst prices hit A$1,400/MWh.

It also demonstrates how quickly the wholesale price starts to shoot up once PV generation starts to decline.

This article, and others before stress the need for storage to lower bills, and the advantage of west facing PV, rather than north facing.

If batteries save more than they cost, then perhaps we'll see some increased subsidy support in Australia, and this will hasten the point at which they become viable elsewhere ..... like my garage!

I love that N-facing is the good direction, the point about W facing reinforces my point that poorly designed fit schemes may encourage max production rather than most valuable production.

Martyn1981

michaels wrote: »

I love that N-facing is the good direction, the point about W facing reinforces my point that poorly designed fit schemes may encourage max production rather than most valuable production.

Yep. I forget where I read it, but about 2 years ago there was an article from the US saying that they should promote west facing rather than south facing, or SW perhaps.

A slightly higher FiT, say +10% for E or W or E&W would be cool too.

I've got a personal troll on the Guardian that follows me around, and jokes (?) that it's a hate campaign as he doesn't like me talking up RE (he's a nuclear fan). Yesterday he claimed that PV will all shut down on a sunny day due to the grid going over 253V, also that PV shuts down on low grid voltage (not true), and that you need permission to install 4kWp (I've explained many times that it's 3.68kW not kWp) - not bad for one day.

But previously I tried to explain that a south facing install at 50d pitch was probably better than 30d pitch, as the winter gains, and reduced summer export (spill) more than made up for the annual loss of about 1% of generation. He explained that 50d only works in the arctic.

I suspect he's another anti-RE guy spinning negatives just to muddy the waters. Silly people, silly games.

It's a shame folk don't realise how simple and versatile PV is, can't see why it scares them so much? Loads of simple solutions to any problem.

Cardew

Martyn1981 wrote: »

I've got a personal troll on the Guardian that follows me around, and jokes (?) that it's a hate campaign as he doesn't like me talking up RE (he's a nuclear fan). Yesterday he claimed that PV will all shut down on a sunny day due to the grid going over 253V, also that PV shuts down on low grid voltage (not true), and that you need permission to install 4kWp (I've explained many times that it's 3.68kW not kWp) - not bad for one day.

But previously I tried to explain that a south facing install at 50d pitch was probably better than 30d pitch, as the winter gains, and reduced summer export (spill) more than made up for the annual loss of about 1% of generation. He explained that 50d only works in the arctic.

I suspect he's another anti-RE guy spinning negatives just to muddy the waters. Silly people, silly games.

It's a shame folk don't realise how simple and versatile PV is, can't see why it scares them so much? Loads of simple solutions to any problem.

Preserved for posterity!