[Graeme]

Fixed Charges Aren’t The Answer: Utilities Need New DER Pricing Model

Solar PV, battery storage, and other distributed energy resources (DERs) are becoming cheaper by the day. However, solar-plus-battery economics are not just about what you pay for the system. They’re also about what’d you’d otherwise continue paying to your utility, as well as what you do and don’t pay for on your monthly bill. That’s where pricing structures come into play, and they matter—not just for the timing of cost-effective solar-plus-battery economics but also how investment in solar-plus-battery systems might evolve and what the future electricity grid could look like.

In our recently released report, The Economics of Load Defection, we modeled the dominant electricity rate structures for most customers in the U.S.—a volumetric rate for residential and a three-part rate that included a demand charge for commercial. In both cases we assumed no export compensation, though we considered net metering as a special case in the analysis. The result suggested that solar and battery systems would be an economic supplement to grid-supplied electricity within the next decade for millions of customers, and would ultimately be economic as the primary source of electricity, with the grid as a backup resource. Indeed, these economics might be realized even sooner than we forecast, given recent announcements of battery prices that are five years ahead of our projections. This has profound implications for customers, service providers, utilities, and regulators.

cleantechnica

[Graeme]

Why New Australian Housing Estates May Be Off-Grid

Imagine this: Newly built housing estates that are not even connected to the main electricity grid. Solar and battery storage come standard in new homes, included in the purchase price and mortgage, and effectively providing free electricity. The package may even include an electric vehicle in the garage.

Sound like a dream into the future? Maybe, but not very far into the future. According to players in the battery storage and smart technology markets, it is already happening and housing developers in Australia are exploring exactly these sort of options.

“This is technology of now,” says Philip Keogan, the head of Australian operations for US-based storage software company Sunverge, pointing to developments already under way in California. “We are beyond pilots, beyond trials, this is the technical reality today.”

Not only are developers looking to keep new estates off the grid, but dozens of councils around Australia are looking to do the same with existing communities. They are exploring ways of sourcing all their electricity needs from renewable energy and are considering ways they can buy back the gridfrom the local operators, just as is happening in Europe and in the US.

And remote towns, up to now reliant entirely on imported fossil fuels, are looking to dump that reliance by using battery storage and renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy.

cleantechnica

[Shaved Monkey]

Solar thermal works too well.
I just got a letter from the power company saying they want to test my meter.
I suspect its because of my solar hot water having a connection to off peak power for boosting, that I never use (maybe 4 days in 4 years).

[Graeme]

Wind + Solar Power Systems For Homes Or Businesses

Maine-based Pika Energy* makes some very interesting products. One of its most notable is the T701 residential wind turbine, which has a capacity of 1.5 kW. Another is the REbus microgrid, which can be used to combine its wind turbine with solar panels and connect them all to a home to make a complete, renewable energy system. The system allows 2 kW of solar panels to be connected to it. I recently interviewed a Pika Energy engineer to learn a bit more about these products.

The advantage of a REbus microgrid is that you can generate your own electricity but still be connected to the main grid if you need it. (Most rooftop solar power systems don’t work when the main grid goes down — for example, during a blackout.)


The Pika renewable energy system is compatible with energy storage too, so electricity generated by the wind turbine and solar panels can be stored for future use. “Currently we support most battery chemistries and battery banks with nominal voltages ranging from 24V–48V DC. We are especially excited about emerging battery technologies such as the Tesla Powerwall, and also Aquion batteries.

cleantechnica

[Graeme]

Uber For The Energy Market

New York State is taking center stage in the energy sector after State Regulators and the New York Public Service Commission approved a roadmap for REV, the Reforming Energy Vision initiative. Still in the early stages of definition, the initiative aims at restructuring the traditional electrical utility model with a focus on six core outcomes: customer knowledge, market animation, system-wide efficiency, fuels and resource diversity, system reliability and resiliency, and carbon reduction.

Over the coming year, policymakers, market experts, utilities and private industry will meet to determine how best to serve these six outcomes. However, the initiative already has many in the private and clean energy sectors hopeful for growth of distributed generation, integration of renewable sources, and demand response efficiency measures. Consider these potential benefits a little like Uber for the energy market.

Uber, valued at a staggering $41 billion, disrupted the taxi service industry using today’s mobile technology to virtualize the car service market. The user-friendly marketplace matches the demand of those who want to be driven with the supply of people willing to drive them.

At the foundation of the REV initiative is the restructuring of the traditional utility, Con Edison of New York. In its new role, the utility will serve two functions of maintaining the infrastructure for electrical transmission and distribution, which it already does, and second the utility will host a new retail energy transactional market to integrate distributed energy resources and behind-the-meter solutions alongside the traditional power plants. Effective integration of distributed resources in the form of solar, wind, battery, and others will require a virtual, real-time marketplace in which these smaller suppliers can sell energy to the grid by bidding into the market.

Inclusion of these distributed energy resources in a real-time marketplace leads to the second way in which the REV initiative resembles the Uber model. One of the central benefits associated with Uber is the efficiency gained by matching the customer with the nearest available car. Distributed generation provides the same efficiency gains by matching a load demand with nearby generation supply.

cleantechnica

[Graeme]

It’s Time To Make A Decision: What Kind Of Grid Do We Want?

Solar PV and batteries will be part of the grid of the future. But what part? And what sort of grid? The answers are as yet uncertain, but decisions made today will set the grid’s evolution on a trajectory from which it will be harder to course correct in the future. And that evolution and trajectory could differ from one state to another. In creating our most recent report on The Economics of Load Defection to accompany our original report on The Economics of Grid Defection, we sought to establish when, where, and how distributed solar-plus-battery energy storage would challenge the traditional utility business model.

After addressing the question of when these technologies will represent an economic choice for customers, we set out to explore how they would fit into the grid of the future. We have never advocated for grid defection, and we’ll be the first to say that grid defection leads to suboptimal outcomes for customers and utilities alike. However, we might be making choices today that will lead the electricity system in that direction. Conversely, other decisions will make it easier for customers to integrate these distributed energy resources into the grid. Put simply, we’re at a fork in the road and it’s time to make a decision: what kind of electricity grid do we want?

A SPECTRUM OF CHOICES

For customers, it’s not a binary choice, but really a spectrum of options that ranges from full grid service to full grid independence. The options in between are the important ones that so desperately merit our attention today. As the costs of solar PV and batteries decline, customers will invest in systems that best suit their needs and their interests. For most customers, this means reducing their electricity bills, and improving the quality and resilience of their electric service.

cleantechnica

[Graeme]

Renewable Energy Is Looking for This Game Changer

Debates around regulatory rate structures for electricity may not be the most exciting news to follow for investors, but it could drive a multibillion-dollar industry that's upending fossil fuels. Utility rates and policies are what drive returns for solar projects, especially small systems from SolarCity (NASDAQ:SCTY), SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR), and Vivint Solar (NYSE:VSLR).

Rates and policies are also how utilities (driven by Koch funding) are attempting to fight off solar. Minimum bills, fixed charges, and reductions in net metering are all tools that reduce the benefits of residential and commercial storage, making it harder for solar energy to compete.

But fighting the explosion of solar energy comes with trade-offs. If a utility makes it less beneficial to send electricity back to the grid (net metering), they could inadvertently make it more desirable to cut ties with the grid altogether (through energy storage). Some recent rate changes in California could show both good and bad signs for solar energy in the country's most renewable friendly state.


Renewable energy's game changer
Rate structures will evolve around the country over the next few years and the companies who can adapt and adjust will add immense value for shareholders. SunPower and SolarCity have the partnerships in energy storage and demand response to begin rolling out these platforms when the time is right.

Vivint Solar, at least for now, is behind the curve and is just entering the California market. It could pick up ground in the full-service energy business, but for now its business model hasn't evolved a lot since launching as a solar lease company.

Changing rate structures can be a challenge for solar companies but they're also an opportunity in many places. If solar installers can install dynamic energy systems that adapt to rate structures and regulatory policy on the fly, they'll begin creating more value for customers than ever before. That's the next phase in growth for the solar industry and California's rate debates will play a big role in how the industry's growth plays out.

fool

[Graeme]

What It Takes To Create An Off-Grid Household In The Bay Area (California) Using Rooftop Solar & Battery Storage Only (Exclusive)

With the recent announcement of the Tesla Powerwall battery pack, many articles have been written about the possibility of homeowners using it to defect from the grid and live off the grid using rooftop solar generation and battery storage for the times when the sun doesn’t shine. Though such an idea seems very attractive in theory, it comes with significant real-life challenges, especially in a world envisioned to be powered by renewable energy only. This article takes a closer look.

In order to investigate such a scenario, let us start with the energy usage profile of a net-positive household in Bay Area, California – the Energy+ household. This house has been covered in a local newspaper article few years back. It is a standard, all-electric, energy-efficient, 2200 sq. ft. house built to current code. It houses a family of four – two working adults and two kids. For the last four years, this household has remained net energy positive in day-to-day living using an 11 kW rooftop solar array and two EVs – a Chevy Volt which maintains 96% EV mode and a Ford Focus Electric. All EV charging is done at home. As a result, for four years running, this household has not burnt any natural gas, propane, wood, or gasoline in daily life. The local utility company PG&E sends a check to the family at the end of each yearly billing cycle for the excess energy generated.


Also, an intelligent battery charge/discharge controller is needed to use the battery cells evenly over time. Such a system will be much more feasible and cheaper as we go towards the tropics, where seasonal insolation variation is less. Conversely, it will be much more difficult to pull this off as we go more towards the northern latitudes and alternative strategies for winter renewable energy generation and seasonal energy storage will be needed. However, based on the above analysis, the possibility of going off the grid with only rooftop solar and battery for a Bay Area household is a dream that seems to be within reach in less than 10 years.

cleantechnica

[Graeme]

Solar & Battery Storage Already Cheaper Than Grid Power In Australia

Australian consumers can already install significant amounts of rooftop solar and battery storage at a cost that is cheaper than electricity from the grid, and the uptake of these two technologies is likely to be “unstoppable.”

This forecast came from Kobad Bhavnagri, the head of Bloomberg New Energy Finance in Australia, while outlining the reasons for the groups bullish forecasts, which predict 33GWh of battery storage and 37GW of solar PV in Australia by 2040.

“Solar and battery storage is simply unstoppable,” Bhavnagri said. He used this graph below to illustrate why.

Retail prices will continue to grow, but even if they remain flat, rooftop solar PV can already provide power to consumers in homes at well below the price of electricity.

Adding one kilowatt-hour of battery storage raises that cost slightly, but is still well below the cost of the grid-sourced power. Even 5kWh of battery storage can be installed and still costs are below that of the grid.

cleantechnica

[Graeme]

VELUX, Little Sun, & Plan International Solarizing Off-Grid Africa

Solar lights are being used more often in Africa, where off-grid areas have poor access to safe and reliable nighttime lighting.

In support of this important trend, thank window manufacturer The VELUX Group and solar light company Little Sun, who are partnering with NGO Plan International to spread the use of solar lights to more off-grid African areas.

The Natural Light Solar Lamp

The three entities will distribute a new solar lamp – the Natural Light solar lamp – in three African countries: Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Senegal. The partnership with Plan International will deliver sustainable solar-powered light through a program that involves and empowers local communities.

Last year, the VELUX Group and Little Sun joined forces to launch the Natural Light – International Design Competition, which challenged design students around the world to produce a design for the Natural Light solar lamp, in order to bring clean, reliable, affordable light to some of the 1.3 billion people worldwide living without electricity. 14,500 Natural Light lamps will be produced based on the competition's winning design and will be distributed by Plan in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Senegal in late 2015 and early 2016.

The Natural Light – International Design Competition

cleantechnica

[Graeme]

First Solar–Funded Study: Utility-Scale Solar Much More Cost Competitive Than Rooftop Solar

A new study has concluded that utility-scale solar PV systems across the US are “significantly” more cost effective than rooftop solar PV systems.

Specifically, the study, conducted by economists at global consulting firm The Brattle Group, found that utility-scale solar PV systems were more cost effective at achieving the economic and policy benefits of PV solar than rooftop or residential-scale solar was.

The study, Comparative Generation Costs of Utility-Scale and Residential-Scale PV in Xcel Energy Colorado’s Service Area, published Monday, is the first of its kind to study a “solar on solar” comparison.

“Over the last decade, solar energy costs for both rooftop and bulk-power applications have come down dramatically,” said Dr. Peter Fox-Penner, Brattle principal and co-author of the study. “But utility-scale solar will remain substantially less expensive per kWh generated than rooftop PV. In addition, utility-scale PV allows everyone access to solar power. From the standpoint of cost, equity, and environmental benefits, large-scale solar is a crucial resource.”

cleantechnica

[Graeme]

Democratizing Energy Generation

In the second half of the 20th century, the personal computer brought on a series of advancement in the spread of information, boosted productivity, and collective intelligence. No one, not even Alan Turing, the inventor of the Enigma code breaking machine in WWII, could have anticipated that simple ones and zeros can have such an impact on society, possibly greater than any technologies ever invented. Now, one-hundred years after the dawn of the industrial revolution, another opportunity precedes us. This time, it is the rising need of global energy security and environmental sustainability that will offer the greatest socioeconomic impact for new technology innovations. But, thus far, only incremental improvements have been made. The prospect of large-scale wind and solar adoption, for example, is limited by the fundamental nature of their intermittency. Notwithstanding, can the next wave of innovation really offer monumental transformations in energy the way computers did for information, productivity and interconnectivity?

cleantechnica