Solar ... In the news

Martyn1981

michaels wrote: »

Ie about 10% of UK retail - ouch

Yep. And I assume that the UK could generate perhaps half as much per kWp, suggesting a price twice as high here, so around $0.03/kWh (assuming 15%+ cf from single axis tracking). So around £22.55/MWh v's current wholesale rates at about twice that, and predicted 2030+ wholesale rates of around £45/MWh (today's money).

Explains why solar is predicted to be the single largest source of generation in the world, in the long term, but obviously for countries like the UK, we will probably get the majority of our generation from wind unless we can somehow store vast amounts of cheap solar ..... cheaply.

Martyn1981

Well the 500,000,000 users, sounds ridiculous at first, but gradually grows on you as you read the idea/package. Very cool!

Kingo Looks For 500 Million Off Grid Solar Plus Storage Users !!!8212; Are They Dreaming?

This has been a busy stretch for Kingo, the Guatemala-based company with ambitious plans for installing small scale, hyper-distributed solar plus storage systems in off grid communities. Last August, Kingo closed on a round of $8 million funding to expand operations, and last month it announced that actor and environmental leader Leonardo DiCaprio has joined the company as an investor, and will also act in an official capacity as an advisor.

Kingo launched as a 500-household pilot project in 2014. As of last summer it had already grown exponentially to include 48,000 households in Central America, adding approximately 6,000 new users every month.

Last month Kingo reported a roster of more than 60,000 households and upped its installation rate to 7,000 monthly.

That!!!8217;s nothing. The company is aiming for 1 million users by 2020 and its website lists a goal of 100 million by 2035.

That figure is apparently out of date. In last month!!!8217;s press release announcing the new DiCaprio connection, Kingo cited a goal of 500 million users.

GreatApe

michaels wrote: »

Ie about 10% of UK retail - ouch

The cost of electricity is mostly the cost of getting it to you rather than the cost of the power or conversion. So if you pay 14p a unit about 4p is the electricity the rest is other.

Hence even if you could produce solar power at utility scales for 3p a unit it cuts the cost of power from 14p to 13p a unit certainly welcome but not a huge difference

Urbanization, population growth, lower peak demand thanks to LEDs, and EVs chagrining at non peak times all those could lower overall per unit electricity costs more.

Also the utilities will probably have to switch to higher fixed charges and lower marginal charges in the future (10-20 years out). Instead of charging 10p in standing charges and 14p a unit for 10 units a day = £1.40 a day they should go towards 80p standing charges and 6p a unit or something like that. That would be closer to the economic truth we mostly pay for the non power costs the marginal power cost is closer to (well this is arguable id say 2p but you can use the wholesale cost of 4p if you like).

That type of cost structure coupled with smart metering would be the next phase in decarbing. You need electricity costs closer to marginal prices so people go towards EVs and electrical heating (once the grid is more green).

Martyn1981

This is more of a theoretical example, but goes to show the scale and viability of PV in the US.

All Of US Could Be Powered By Solar Alone?

Critics of solar power are often very wrong-headed about this clean, renewable source of electricity. One of the most misleading claims is that there simply can’t be enough of it to be meaningful. They seem to be unaware of various facts stating solar power in the US could easily supply electricity to 40% of the country or more, at least.

For example, a research study conducted by NREL found that about 40% of US electricity generation could be provided by rooftop solar power. “Across all building sizes, rooftop PV could provide 1.1 TW of electrical power and 1432 TWh of annual energy generation. That’s 39% of total electricity sales in 2013! Two-thirds of this potential comes from smaller residential buildings as opposed to commercial sites, which means that personal consumer decisions to install solar panels can be a primary driver for the industry’s growth.”

Martyn1981

Turns out that damaging a fledgling industry, and reducing deployments, can impact prices. Who'd have thought?

Cost of domestic solar increasing in the UK, BEIS figures reveal

While the government originally committed to bi-annual reviews of the FiT scheme, it has yet to conduct a single review in the 27 months its revised version has been in operation. Earlier this year energy and clean growth minister Claire Perry confirmed that the government had “no plans” to review the actual tariff rates.

Martyn1981

This story caught me by surprise, doubly so when you see that the news article is from Fox News:

Babcock Ranch is America's first solar-powered town


More info here on the development now that residents are starting to move in:

Babcock Ranch aims to be America's greenest city — and an inspiration

With more than 340,000 solar panels in place, Babcock Ranch aims to be the first town in the U.S. powered solely by solar energy. Residents will live in energy-efficient homes and use self-driving electric shuttles to get around. To avoid wasting water, the community is emphasizing less thirsty native vegetation over grass. And all irrigation uses “gray water” reclaimed from the town’s wastewater treatment plant.

Kitson partnered with local electricity provider Florida Power and Light to build the 440-acre field of solar panels, which was finished last year before the first residents moved in. The panels power the town and provide power to surrounding communities, Kitson says.

At the moment, the town taps energy from the grid when there’s not enough sunlight. But Kitson says battery storage facilities are in development to bridge these gaps. “This is something we are proving that can happen and once we’re able to continue building our storage capability here — gosh, that’s the holy grail of renewable energy,” he says.

With only eight full-time residents so far, Babcock Ranch is in its infancy. But Kitson expects 500 people to be living there by year-end and anticipates a community of 50,000 within the next two decades.

Martyn1981

Just another ickle rooftop solar system

Tesla’s solar rooftop array at Gigafactory 1 is starting to take shape

“GF1 is an all-electric factory with no fossil fuels (natural gas or petroleum) directly consumed. We will be using 100% sustainable energy through a combination of a 70 MW solar rooftop array and solar ground installations. The solar rooftop array is ~7x larger than the largest rooftop solar system installed today.”

Martyn1981

Little look at the UK PV industry and it's slow progress in 'coming back'.

The article also points out the economic benefits of demand side generation v's supply side ..... who'd have thought?

The weekend read: Solar’s coming of age in the UK

Martyn1981

The giant UK PV farm is still on the cards:-

Hive, Wirsol 350MW project edges closer, targets 2020 approval

Martyn1981

Incredibly cheap PV contract in the US, but of more interest is how little the extra cost of storage would be, though to be fair, we don't know how many hours (per day) that represents.

New PPA In Arizona Locks In Lowest Solar Prices In US As Demise Of Navajo Station Looms

2.49 cents per kWh is the lowest price for solar power in the US to date. PTM reports there is a deal pending in Austin, Texas at 2.1 cents per kWh, but details of that contract have not yet been made public.

Tesla is bidding on a plan by Colorado’s Xcel Energy to add grid-scale battery storage to an upcoming solar project in that state. The cost of electricity in that proposal from various preliminary bidders ranges from 2.3 to 2.7 cents per kWh. What is really interesting is that adding battery storage only increases those numbers between 0.5 and 0.8 cents per kWh — still less than the wholesale cost of electricity from the Navajo Generating Station. The age of electricity from burning fossil fuels is really coming to an end at long last.