290MW of solar coming on line

[begreen]

On June 1, 2014, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) recorded a record midday hourly peak of 4,767 megawatts of alternating current (MWAC) of utility-generated solar electricity delivered into the California grid. With rapidly growing utility-scale solar capacity, CAISO has regularly recorded new hourly output records going back to 2010 when it first began publishing the daily data. When the hourly data are averaged over the course of a month to control for weather variation, the average peak hourly generation in May 2014 of 4,086 MWAC was 150% greater than the level in May 2013.

In 2013, 2,145 MW of utility-scale solar capacity entered service in California, of which more than 500 MW came from large-scale solar thermal plants. California accounted for more than 75% of U.S. utility-scale solar capacity installed in 2013.

Total solar electricity output in May 2014 constituted 6% of the total CAISO electricity load that month, compared with 2% in May 2013. However, during the average peak solar output hour, between 11:00 a.m. and noon for May 2014, solar supplied 14% of total power, compared with 6% in May 2013.

http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=16851

 

[woodgeek]

Nice stats.

So Germany is at 36 GW power capacity, about 8X higher than CA, and has an economy 50% larger than California's. In terms of energy with CA having >2X the hours of sunshine, it need only increase the installed capacity less than 2X to match (current) German levels of energy penetration (about 5%).

Since CA PV increased 2.5X (150% increase) last year it could surpass Germany in PV penetration in <1 year at current growth rates, while still having a small fraction of the installed cells.

 

[Laszlo]

I don't doubt we'll develop new, affordable energy storage solutions. It's just that renewables are reaching grid-parity now, with projected prices plummeting even further over the next few years. But with where batteries and energy storage stand now, they'll have a lot of catching up to do (along with modernizing the electric grid). Neither will reverse the economic advantages of using wind or solar, but I'm afraid these two complementary factors will lag compared to new electric generation.

 

[begreen]

There is another issue that Germany ran into that is now being addressed in Europe, but just beginning to be hammered out here. Inverters need to be smart grid aware so that when a large cloud formation covers a significant number of panel arrays they can adjust to help even out the stop/start/on/off nature of solar power. Main grids want continuous power. Smart inverters allow plant level control of output instead of simple local control that is currently used here. (Inverter shuts down when grid frequency is out of spec to protect linesmen from backfeed.) Europe now has a standard for this inverter design but America is lagging. It needs to get a standard in place soon. The sooner the better, otherwise there is going to be a lot of retrofitting as complete communities get solarized.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/california-closes-in-on-smart-solar-inverter-rules
http://www.greentechmedia.com/artic...-of-the-future-starts-with-the-smart-inverter
http://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2014/01/smart-solar-inverter/

 

[DBoon]

I think the cost of battery storage is really missing the point about where the best leverage is for increasing solar and other renewables generation on the grid.

Consider the archaic nature of electricity billing. At the end of the month, I get a bill telling me how much I used and how much it cost for that month - too late to do anything about it to reduce demand, if the price was too high for my liking. This is how most utilities bill for power, and it is based on a utility interest in selling lots of power.

But what if you had an electric meter that showed in real-time what your electricity was costing you, and it was located in a central place in your house. Do you think people would use less when it cost more, say 10x more? Absolutely. If there were real-time price signals, demand could be increased (to use up excess renewable generation) or reduced (at nighttimes, cloudy days, etc.).

Doing something simple like that would be far, far cheaper than trying to have lots of battery storage.

 

[BrotherBart]

But what if you had an electric meter that showed in real-time what your electricity was costing you, and it was located in a central place in your house. Do you think people would use less when it cost more, say 10x more? Absolutely. If there were real-time price signals, demand could be increased (to use up excess renewable generation) or reduced (at nighttimes, cloudy days, etc.).

My Blueline Innovations power monitor does exactly that. For around $90 five years ago.

 

[DBoon]

My Blueline Innovations power monitor does exactly that. For around $90 five years ago.

Hi Brother Bart, so I'm guessing your utility billing is based on a hourly rate? NYSEG doesn't do that, as far as I know.

 

[BrotherBart]

Nope. By the killowatt hour. 1,000 watts used in one hour. There is no other way for electric utilities to bill. In New York your state average per KWH is $0.181. Here it is $0.126.

 

[DBoon]

Nope. By the killowatt hour.

What I meant was, the independent system operator (ISO) for your region/state likely creates the market for electricity pricing, and there is an hourly rate established for wholesale and retail electricity, per kWh. Does your utility bill you at this hourly rate, or do they just bill at some pre-determined rate that is (mostly) disconnected from this instantaneous hourly rate?

 

[BrotherBart]

Flat rate with a power cost adjustment monthly. Based on their cost of power. They get a state approved KWH rate and then apply the cost adjustment over or under based on the cost of power for the month.

They screw around with it and that is why I am on a first name basis with the CEO of the utility. His secretary has to be saying "It's that time of year. He is on line two."

 

[DBoon]

Right, same for me. But when supplies are tight for natural gas, as they were in the Northeast and NY last winter, then the rate can be very different from the flat rate, and you don't know this until you've used a month of electricity - not a really good way to signal a need for demand reduction from the users, but then nobody ever really accused the utilities if genuinely wanted to reduce demand anyways.

 

[maple1]

I don't doubt we'll develop new, affordable energy storage solutions. It's just that renewables are reaching grid-parity now, with projected prices plummeting even further over the next few years. But with where batteries and energy storage stand now, they'll have a lot of catching up to do (along with modernizing the electric grid). Neither will reverse the economic advantages of using wind or solar, but I'm afraid these two complementary factors will lag compared to new electric generation.

Agree completely. The problem with solar is, of course, that it doesn't generate at night. I would think that would pose problems to existing power generation as well - assuming solar really ramps up, conventional would need to ramp down in the daytime when solar is at its peak. Which I would think would in turn introduce inefficiencies in the conventional operations. New storage tech to store the solar, or powerpeaks, would seem to be fundamental to increased solar production. And also to increased wind production - it can blow all night, but can also stop blowing for a while.

 

[Where2]

There is another issue that Germany ran into that is now being addressed in Europe, but just beginning to be hammered out here. Inverters need to be smart grid aware so that when a large cloud formation covers a significant number of panel arrays they can adjust to help even out the stop/start/on/off nature of solar power. Main grids want continuous power.

In that case, what the utility should really want is an automated start/stop switch on my 5kW electric dryer like they already have on my air conditioner compressor unit? Between my A/C compressor unit and my electric panel is a little wall widget box that the electric utility installed and provides a ~$5 credit for every month (for 6 months out of the year). With a signal from their central command, the utility can shut off the 3kW load of my A/C compressor unit in "times of need" to shed grid load. The irony is that the A/C compressor current draw is slightly less than the maximum output I have seen from my 4.4kW PV array. The maximum output from my 4.4kW PV array is considerably less than the 5kW load I can create by hitting the start button on my electric dryer.