Grids & Integration

Good morning – it’s Friday! In today’s pvMB we will also bring you more regulatory capture in New Orleans, NREL’s new database for albedo, and a study that looks at the idea locations for EV chargers in Michigan.

PowerLedger’s xGrid is a blockchain-based electricity trading platform that’s now being used in a Pennsylvania business park, in addition to Chicago, California, a large housing unit in Australia, plus a few more locations.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s move to phase out three gas-fired power plants by 2029 is expected to accelerate the transition to 100% renewable energy by the largest municipal utility in the nation. But there are big questions about the role that local solar + storage will play.

The research and consultancy group’s study of the latest polar vortex shows the need for greater interconnection of grids and 18-40 hours of energy storage in the Upper Midwest under high renewable energy scenarios. It also shows a potential role for nuclear power; but other extreme weather events tell a different story.

Solar, wind and storage can provide 7 essential grid services, which will help enable them to gain an ever-increasing share of electricity generation.

PREPA’s draft IRP calls for rapid deployment of solar and batteries, including the installation of as much battery storage as is currently online in the entire United States over the next four years, in a system broken up into “minigrids”. However, it stops short of utilizing behind-the-meter PV and storage.

NREL has begun an effort to improve its ability to model deployments of variable renewable energy sources across the U.S. power grid. This effort has begot two papers as of yet – one a broad analysis of how four specific models work and how to improve them, and the second a comparison of the varying outcomes of models under normalized conditions.

In our first pv magazine USA morning brief in February, we also give an update on S5!’s patent infringement case, introduce a new director for GRID Alternatives’ Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund, and provide you with a pair of technical reports on DER integration/grid modernization to start your day.

Texas regulators have ruled that any renewable generation source connected to the state’s HVAC grid does not have to account for marginal losses, as the market turbulence it would cause isn’t worth the benefit, and it would go against the original spirit of the project.

Per an analysis by Vibrant Clean Energy, it’ll take approximately 2.8 GW of solar power, 8 GW of wind and 765 MW / 3 GWh of energy storage to allow Colorado to shut down its 4 GW of coal by 2025, while also lowering electric rates by 5%.