Solar ... In the news

Martyn1981

I nearly posted this in the other news thread, then remembered this one is solar not PV.

So ..... CSP (concentrated solar power) is making a comeback. South Australia has approved the construction of a 150MW site, that'll have 1.1GWh of storage too, so able to run 8hrs at night.

Shame that CSP isn't viable in the UK (this far from the equator).

BTW, if you haven't noticed a theme yet, it 'always' seems to be SA getting things done, such as the Tesla battery, they are certainly way ahead of the Australian national policies - or should that be policy singular ..... burn more coal.

South Australia Approves World’s Largest Single-Tower Thermal Solar Plant

Martyn1981

I found this article interesting (well a paragraph anyway), but here's why, first.

PV in the US has been quite slow on the demand side, and I and others have often mentioned that it seems very expensive compared to the UK and Germany.

I was aware that marketing and permitting were substantial costs there, whereas in the UK, there is no permitting as it's permitted development for almost all properties, and PV firms spend very, very little on marketing.

What I wasn't aware of though was just how much US permitting was:

Sneaky! US Energy Dept. Enlists Anytown USA In Solar Energy Stealth Attack

SolSmart launched under the Obama administration in April 2016 as a project of The Solar Foundation funded by the Department of Energy. The aim is to “cut red tape, drive greater solar deployment, and make it possible for even more American homes and businesses to access solar energy to meet their electricity needs.”

That red tape can be costly. SolSmart estimates that “inefficient” local permitting processes typically add $2,500 to the cost of a residential rooftop solar installation.

SolSmart is structured as a recognition and mentoring program that can help grow local jobs directly in the solar industry, while also enabling local communities to promote their green brand:

Given that all of the US has better generation (kWh/kWp) than the UK, and the southern half is probably 50% better, then cutting those permitting costs could lead to an explosion in residential PV in the States.

If the US got to about 40-50m household PV systems of 5kWp (around 40% of households), then their annual generation would be similar to the whole UK annual leccy demand. Australia is already up to about 25% of households with PV.

Apologies for the waffle, but my brain decided to put all of this together whilst I was trying to squeeze in some extra zzzz's this morning, and the scale of this potential/future generation shocked me.

Martyn1981

Looks like PV has broken the 100GWp/year barrier. Waiting for exact numbers for 2017, but somewhere north of 100, with predictions of 107GWp for 2018, so looks like another milestone. So when will it hit 200GWp? Previously it's doubled every 2yrs, but I think it's slowing down a bit now.

BNEF Predicts 107 Gigawatts Of Solar In 2018 & $330 Billion In Clean Energy Investment, Again!

Martyn1981

What do you do if you break your 2020 PV target in 2017, well if you are China, just increase the target by 140%.

China’s cumulative PV capacity hits 130 GW, to reach 250 GW by 2020

It says cumulative solar PV installs in China have now reached 130.25 GW, thus outpacing the government’s initial target of 105 GW by 2020.

Martyn1981

Firstly - this article sounds incredible, $0.50/Wp installed PV by 2020, that's phenomenally cheap. A 4kWp £5k install works out at $1.78/wp.

Secondly - not a clue what it's talking about, or how, but fun to note, wait and watch I suppose.

Solar Tariffs Could Be Offset By Ultra-Low-Cost Solar Plans

The recently announced 30% solar tariff could be offset and overwhelmed by new plans announced this week by the Rocky Mountain Institute and 35 solar energy industry leaders, which have committed to developing an ultra-low-cost solar product which could significantly reduce costs to the point that fully installed costs would only reach $0.50 per watt.

Martyn1981

Martyn1981 wrote: »

I found this article interesting (well a paragraph anyway), but here's why, first.

PV in the US has been quite slow on the demand side, and I and others have often mentioned that it seems very expensive compared to the UK and Germany.

Just a follow on to explain why US PV is so much more than UK/Germany, and so, so, so much more than Australia - quite shocking!

How to Halve the Cost of Residential Solar in the US

NigeWick

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Just a follow on to explain why US PV is so much more than UK/Germany, and so, so, so much more than Australia - quite shocking!

And, the Orange Faced Quiff has just increased tariffs on Chinese made solar panels.

Martyn1981

In case there was any doubt about the myth that PV panels consume more energy than they ever produce, here's more on it:

Solar ERoEI Is Actually Really, Really Good

The Fraunhofer Institute in Germany published a document containing similar figures: “The Energy Payback Time of PV systems is dependent on the geographical location: PV systems in Northern Europe need around 2.5 years to balance the input energy, while PV systems in the South equal their energy input after 1.5 years and less, depending on the technology installed.” Its report also noted there was a PV system in Sicily with a payback time of about one year.

Martyn1981

Not sure if this is genius or crazy (perhaps it makes sense if you don't have spare land?)

Dutch consortium plans world’s first “off-shore” floating PV plant for the North Sea

Martyn1981

Push for more PV in London.

London backs solar with funding for 1 GW PV scheme

London has launched a £34 million Energy for Londoners scheme, which includes goal of generating 1 GW of energy from solar by 2030. Shirley Rodrigues, deputy mayor for the environment and energy, presented parts of London’s energy vision this week at the Energy Storage Connected Systems conference.