Solar ... In the news

Coastalwatch

Quite impressive considering events this year. Maybe a green recovery is on the cards!

Over 1GW of new solar farms added to UK pipeline during September

Developers and planners of new solar sites are continuing to operate at a frantic pace, with no signs of slowing down. Indeed, there are now several different types of developer vehicles in the mix within the UK, with JV’s being announced almost on a weekly basis.

During September 2020, over 1GW of new large scale solar sites were added to the large-scale ground-mount pipeline, across 28 new locations. This is a new monthly record for capacity being added to the pipeline. The graph below illustrates this now.

https://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/blogs/over_1gw_of_new_solar_farms_added_to_uk_pipeline_during_september

Martyn1981

Big solar and storage news from China and Tibet.

From Mountain High To Valley Low, Solar Power Plants Are Everywhere

The world’s highest solar power plant plus battery storage facility is now operational in Tibet. Developed by PV manufacture Jetion Solar, the 40 MW/193 MWh facility is located in Tibet 4,700 meters (15,400 feet) above sea level. It receives more than 3,2oo hours of sunlight a year according to PV Magazine. Dynavolt Energy Technology owns the facility and supplied the LFP storage batteries for the project.

“Based on the characteristics of local electricity load and the particularity of the Tibet power grid, the project was designed as a full energy storage allocation project,” says Jetion. “The solar arrays will charge the storage during the day and the storage will fully power the grid during the night.”

China’s Largest Solar-Plus-Storage Project Goes Online

Alongside the massive 2.2 GW solar PV park, there’s a 202.86 MW/202.86 MWh energy storage plant. Getting all of that electricity out of the vicinity and onto the broader grid presents its own challenges, and that’s where a 800kV ultra-high voltage power line comes in.

Coastalwatch

Even if certain Utilities don't see the economic benefit of renewable energy sources it would appear that large conglomerates are bypassing them by installing it themselves!

Solar-powered steel production from Lightsource bp’s Bighorn Project in Colorado

The iron and steel sector is the “world’s largest industrial source of climate pollution.” This steel mill in Pueblo, Colorado will be the first in North America to rely on solar power.

The 300-MW Bighorn Solar Project, developed by Lightsource bp and located on mill company land, just closed on a $285 million financing package. Xcel Energy, as the power provider for the steel mill, will purchase the power generated by the solar farm under a long-term contract with Lightsource bp. It’s the largest on-site industrial solar facility, according to the developer.

The deal on the solar project was made last year after Evraz, Xcel’s largest power buyer in Colorado, threatened to move out of state “without assurances of low electricity rates,” as per reporting in the Denver Post.

Kevin Smith, CEO of the Americas for Lightsource, said, “The more than 700,000 solar panels can provide 90% of the plant’s energy needs at peak production” and 95% of the mill’s annual energy demand, according to other reports.

Utility-scale solar developers like Lightsource bp are being kept busy with the proliferation of 100 MW-plus solar projects now in development. These large solar projects are no longer driven by RPS edicts but by corporate buyers and the sheer competitive pricing of solar or solar-plus-storage compared to other generation sources.

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2020/10/05/solar-powered-steel-production-from-the-300-mw-bighorn-pv-project-in-colorado/

Coastalwatch

It seems Solar is having another strong year across the atlantic despite the efforts of a government favouring Fossil Fuels in combination with the ongoing pandemic!

US residential solar set for a record-breaking year — despite and because of 2020

Over the course of this strange year, American residential solar companies such as Sunrun, Vivint, SunPower and Tesla claimed they could weather the Covid storm with remote selling and new online strategies. It turns out they were right. BloombergNEF forecasts that Americans will install 3 gigawatts of solar on residential rooftops in 2020.

BloombergNEF is forecasting that Americans will install a record 3 GW of solar on the roofs of their homes, although those figures might not match expectations from simpler times in late 2019.

Source: BloombergNEF, note: 2020 and 2021 are forecasts

“The push for renewables is really strong,” said Tara Narayanan, an analyst, quoted in the Bloomberg Green piece. “It’s allowed the sector to shake off the worst of the plague and some natural disasters.”

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2020/10/06/us-residential-solar-is-set-for-a-record-breaking-year-despite-and-because-of-2020/?utm_source=pv+magazine+USA&utm_campaign=088891819d-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_80e0d17bb8-088891819d-159341337

Coastalwatch

And further evidence of Solar's popularity in the US even if it is barely half that of the residential market install.

US corporate solar market grew by 1.3 GW in 2019, reaching 8.3 GW total

SEIA’s Solar Means Business report finds that low prices and climate change commitments continue to drive strong corporate interest in solar and storage. Apple, Amazon and Walmart lead the list of top players.

But the figures from a new report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) underline the critical role these corporate commitments to clean energy now play in ongoing market growth — especially in the absence of federal policy.

According to the report, Solar Means Business 2019, U.S. corporations added 1,286 MW of solar projects to the grid last year, accounting for just under 10% of all new solar in the U.S. This year’s figures represent a slight increase over the 1,144 MW installed in 2018, while the cumulative count for corporate solar now stands at more than 8 GW across 38,000 projects.

The fast growth of storage is also pulling more corporate players and larger projects into the solar market. The report highlights projects such as the Rob Roy Gigawatt installations in Nevada, being developed by data center operator Switch and slated to be one of the largest behind-the-meter solar and storage projects in the world.

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2020/10/07/us-corporate-solar-market-grew-by-1-3-gw-in-2019-reaching-8-3-gw-total/?utm_source=pv+magazine+USA&utm_campaign=088891819d-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_80e0d17bb8-088891819d-159341337

Coastalwatch

But, it's not plain sailing everywhere as the case below describes!

Community solar under attack in Colorado

Solar advocates appeal to the courts as the state’s utilities and Public Utilities Commission move to cut bill credits to community solar subscribers — and potentially open the door to further reductions.

The Colorado Solar and Storage Association (COSSA) has filed a legal appeal seeking to overturn a recent rule change from the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) that COSSA claims would cut the bill credits received by community solar subscribers.

At issue is a revision to the rules, which would allow utilities to deduct a demand-side management cost adjustment (DSMCA) fee from the bill credit community solar subscribers receive. COSSA, the state’s solar industry trade association, and other solar advocates have been unsuccessfully fighting the change since December 2019, when it was first proposed by Public Service Company of Colorado — aka Xcel Energy. The court case appears to be a final, last-ditch effort.

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2020/10/06/community-solar-under-attack-in-colorado/?utm_source=pv+magazine+USA&utm_campaign=088891819d-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_80e0d17bb8-088891819d-159341337

Martyn1981

A nice quick article on agrophotovoltaic's.

Agrophotovoltaic News — Bifacial Panels In Germany, Grazing Sheep In Austria

Agrophotovoltaics is a fancy word that means it is possible to combine solar power with farming in a way that benefits both.

Because of all those considerations, solar power plants and farms often compete for the same land. But researchers around the world, led by Fraunhofer ISE in Germany, are finding new ways to combine the two. According to a press release from Germany’s Next2Sun, it is about to switch on an innovative new 4.1 MW agrophotovoltaic installation in Baden-Württemberg that uses 11,000 n-type PERT bifacial solar panels, each with a power output of 380 W. The panels are mounted on 5,800 vertical racks that cover about 14 hectares of land. Annual output for the facility is expected to be 4,850 MWh and the electricity produced will have a wholesale value of 6 cents per kilowatt hour.

Martyn1981

Extracts from this week's Carbon Commentary Newsletter:

1, Steel. The $285m financing was completed for a 300 MW solar farm on land largely owned by an electric arc steelmaker in Colorado, currently the state’s largest single electricity user. The farm, using the relatively new bifacial panels, will provide over 90% of the plant’s annual electricity demand. But it will not have electricity storage, meaning it will exporting during the day and importing at night. Having threatened to move away from Colorado, the Russian owner of the plant changed its mind when offered competitive rates from the solar farm, developed by Lightsource bp. Lightsource claims that this will be the largest on-site solar project in the world. It will also represent a contribution to BP’s promise to create 5 GW of annual renewables.

Martyn1981

Global news on solar is great, but note the article refers to clean power meeting 80% of growth in leccy over the next decade (not existing demand).

IEA: Solar growth to lead renewables charge

Solar power growth will lead the expansion of renewables in the next 10 years, according to the International Energy Agency's World Energy Outlook 2020.

In the report's "stated policies scenario", which reflects current announced policy intentions and targets, clean power is set to meet 80% of global electricity demand growth over the next decade.

Martyn1981

A nice little milestone for S. Australia.

Solar meets 100 per cent of South Australia demand for first time

The combination of rooftop and utility scale solar met 100 per cent of demand in South Australia for the first time on Sunday, reaching a milestone that will surely be repeated many times over – and for longer periods – in the future.

The milestone was reached at 12.05pm grid time (Australian eastern standard time), with rooftop solar providing 992MW, or 76.3 per cent of state demand, and utility scale solar providing a further 315MW – meaning all three of the state’s big solar farms, Bungala 1m Bungala 2 and Tailem Bend were operating at full capacity.