Solar ... In the news

Coastalwatch

Could perhaps have posted elsewhere but came across this in PV Magazine so posted here. Interesting the progress being made in Countries who have FF biassed governments yet renewables still manage to make the headlines on the road to net Zero.

City of Sydney flicks the switch to 100% green power

All of Sydney’s operations – including street lights, pools, sports fields, depots, buildings and the historic Sydney Town Hall – will now be run on 100% renewable electricity sourced from local solar and wind projects. The switch is part of a AU$60 million (US$41.5 million) deal with electricity retailer Flow Power, the biggest standalone green energy deal of its kind by a council in Australia.

One of the first projects in Australia to install bifacial panels, the Bomen Solar Farm began exporting to the grid in March. The project was acquired last year by electricity network infrastructure owner Spark Infrastructure, in the company’s major strategic shift towards owning renewable energy generation assets. In addition to the PPA with Flow Power, the Bomen project has a second PPA with Westpac, as part of the bank’s commitment to a 100% renewables target.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/07/02/city-of-sydney-flicks-the-switch-to-100-green-power/

Martyn1981

Quite ambitious plans for PV and storage rollout in the UK.

Green Investment Group forms UK solar, storage team

Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG) and Enso Energy are to work together on an initial 1GW of solar power development in the UK.

The partnership aims to create one of the UK’s largest subsidy-free solar and battery storage portfolios in the country.

Initial projects are grid secured and are being submitted for planning approval, the companies said.

Martyn1981

Carbon Commentary Newsletter extracts:

4, Indian solar auctions. A 2 GW auction produced record low bids, mostly from international companies such as Italy’s ENEL, wanting to get involved in the growth of India’s solar capacity. The lowest offer was around 3 US cents per kilowatt hour. India’s tariffs on Chinese panels are likely to rise by the end of the year in order to encourage the development of domestic manufacturing and the unusually low bids may be the result of bidders seeking to get into the market before costs rise.

Coastalwatch

Quite an output should it all eventually come to fruition. It would be good if it finally gets adopted.

I wonder what output might be achieved if a similar project was adopted here?

‘Massive’ EU rollout of rooftop solar proposed

The European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy has adopted a report supporting a pan-European solar rooftop programme.

The pan-European solar rooftop programme has an aim of “meeting the rooftop potential of the EU”, which could generate around 680TWh per year, according to the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, and promote the deployment of both building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and distributed storage.

https://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/massive_eu_rollout_of_rooftop_solar_proposed

joefizz

Coastalwatch said:

I wonder what output might be achieved if a similar project was adopted here?

Not as much here though, we are far better suited to large scale wind. A lot of europe isnt suitable for wind but is really crying out for solar. Its strange to travel in a lot of places with solar water tanks on the roof but no PV!

Martyn1981

Coastalwatch said:

Quite an output should it all eventually come to fruition. It would be good if it finally gets adopted.

I wonder what output might be achieved if a similar project was adopted here?

‘Massive’ EU rollout of rooftop solar proposed

The European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy has adopted a report supporting a pan-European solar rooftop programme.

The pan-European solar rooftop programme has an aim of “meeting the rooftop potential of the EU”, which could generate around 680TWh per year, according to the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, and promote the deployment of both building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and distributed storage.

https://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/massive_eu_rollout_of_rooftop_solar_proposed

The old figure for the UK was about 20% of domestic properties. [The figure for commercial properties is higher (I believe) but runs into lots of problems with leases v's owned.] So 20% probably means around 5m properties at an old figure of say 3-4kWp average = 17GWp potential on the domestic side.
However, that figure was for properties with southerly facing rooves (SE to SW) and unshaded. Today we can ramp up the figure with E to W, more powerful PV*, shading solutions, and even wall mounted PV for tall properties with unsuitable rooves, so I'd guess at least double, perhaps fourfold.
*Today, my system could be increased on a ratio of roughly 235Wp:400Wp. So 5.58kWp becomes 9.5kWp (though the DNO would scream!)
On the demand side, obviously nothing can really compete with PV, but on the supply side wind may be better, but the economics of PV, even in the UK might still win out.

Martyn1981

India looking towards (or up) building integrated PV for their tall buildings, with the interesting statistic that 70% of the buildings that will exist in 2030, haven't been built yet.

India’s Largest Building Integrated Vertical Solar System & The Road Ahead

michaels

Martyn1981 said:

India looking towards (or up) building integrated PV for their tall buildings, with the interesting statistic that 70% of the buildings that will exist in 2030, haven't been built yet.

India’s Largest Building Integrated Vertical Solar System & The Road Ahead

Perhaps there would be more green mileage at looking at low CO2 concrete than in PV?  (Not saying the vertical PV doesn't make sense just that the environmental impact of that much building will be huge.)

Martyn1981

michaels said:

Martyn1981 said:

India looking towards (or up) building integrated PV for their tall buildings, with the interesting statistic that 70% of the buildings that will exist in 2030, haven't been built yet.

India’s Largest Building Integrated Vertical Solar System & The Road Ahead

Perhaps there would be more green mileage at looking at low CO2 concrete than in PV?  (Not saying the vertical PV doesn't make sense just that the environmental impact of that much building will be huge.)

Or both?

Coastalwatch

Nice to see that even in the US the little guy can get a judgement reversed on an appeal. Let us hope it stands up to scrutiny so Solar can continue being installed across the state without the threat of being penalised when it is!

Discriminatory rooftop solar charges may violate antitrust law

When his electric bill went up by about 65% because he has solar panels on his roof, William Ellis joined three others to file an antitrust lawsuit against their Arizona utility, Salt River Project (SRP), in federal district court. They alleged that SRP aimed “to stifle and eliminate all competition from the growing solar energy market.”

“Applications for solar energy systems in the SRP territory fell by more than 90%” after the new pricing went into effect, the lawsuit said. Under that pricing, customers adding solar would need to pay a higher distribution charge plus a peak demand charge, totaling an average of $600 per year.

When the federal district court dismissed the case, the plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, where they gained support last week from the U.S. Department of Justice. The Department’s Antitrust Division pursues antitrust cases for the federal government, and occasionally offers legal analysis in private antitrust cases.

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2020/07/13/discriminatory-rooftop-solar-charges-may-violate-antitrust-law/?utm_source=pv+magazine+USA&utm_campaign=9f40950e8e-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_80e0d17bb8-9f40950e8e-159341337