Solar-plus-storage dominating future U.S. power grid
A report from Berkeley Lab reveals a significant expansion of solar-plus-storage facilities in the U.S. power plant market, highlighting an evolution from frequency to arbitrage and curtailment mitigation markets. The best is yet to come, as ongoing price decreases are still being absorbed by the market and are already being used to fill the interconnection queues with terrawatts of capacity.
U.S. solar industry on track to install 250 GW in five years
According to the U.S. Solar Market Insight Q3 2024 report, in the two years since passage of the IRA the solar industry has added 75 GW of new capacity to the grid, representing over 36% of all solar capacity built in U.S. history.
Reaching 45% solar generation would save Southeast utilities $20 billion/year
Annual savings of $20 billion are possible across six Southeastern states by reaching 45% solar generation by 2035, according to a national laboratory study.
Thin-film tandem solar in the U.S.
Tandem solar-cell technology featuring silicon has been widely researched but materials such as perovskites, paired with established thin-film solar or with other perovskite cells, are pointing to a new development path.
Completing Western transmission lines would enable 73 GW of renewables and storage
The benefits of completing 12 Western transmission projects, as identified in a federal study, will form the region’s new baseline for a forthcoming National Transmission Planning Study.
New refrigerant may improve coefficient of performance of air-source heat pumps by up to 21%
Developed by a Chinese research group, the novel refrigerant is made of a mixture of carbon dioxide (CO2) and a non-flammable hydrofluoroolefin. It has slightly higher costs compared to conventional compounds, but its creators claims these costs could be significantly reduced with large-scale industrial production.
Surging electricity demand puts pressure on utility planning
ICF report says retiring legacy fossil fuel plants will be more challenging.
Using surplus PV power for seasonal underground thermal storage
Scientists have proposed a new system that uses surplus PV energy in the spring and the autumn to charge up underground thermal energy storage for later use in the summer and winter. They have simulated it on a school facility in Seoul, with a few optional configurations for thermal storage. Power savings were up to 39%.
Software will complete first-stage interconnection studies in one day, firm says
As a grid operator works to automate its phase 1 study process for interconnecting solar, storage and other generating projects, the firm developing the automation software says the study process will take just one day.
DOE calls for faster interconnection of distributed solar and storage at lower cost
Solar and storage systems smaller than 50 kW would receive an interconnection agreement instantly when requesting one, under 2030 targets in a draft Department of Energy roadmap.
