Solar + storage for 4.5 cents/kWh.

[begreen]

More on the declining costs of renewable energy.
http://rameznaam.com/2015/08/10/how-cheap-can-solar-get-very-cheap-indeed/

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Looks like good news indeed. Wind seems to be topping out but solar still has a long way to go.

 

[questarthews]

Great article, @begreen.

 

[TonyVideo]

Electric companies currently do not need storage. They need the power the most when the sun is out.

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[EatenByLimestone]

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/competition-offshore-wind-ramps-massachusetts-47966124

 

[sloeffle]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/th...in-the-renewable-energy-revolution-2017-06-14

 

[maple1]

Electric companies currently do not need storage. They need the power the most when the sun is out.

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I can't agree or disagree with that with any certainty, but the OP info talks about 4.5 cents/kwh including storage. Storage seems to be a big question mark still, also per sloeflles link just above. So I am still scratching my head over 4.5 cents/kwh including storage - how can they quote a price like that when storage is still this huge question mark?

(That link also suggests that electric companies do need storage, at times - well, at least could benefit from it greatly vs. firing up a fossil fuel generator from time to time).

 

[Ashful]

Long-term, won't the storage come from 100 million electric cars, plugged into the grid on any given evening? Smart management of a national-scale fleet of electric cars creates quite a bit of storage capacity.

 

[begreen]

The field is changing rapidly. Last year several flow battery technologies were brought to market. There are several other technologies competing to disrupt the market:
http://www.electronicdesign.com/analog/7-energy-storage-disruptors-watch

Long-term, won't the storage come from 100 million electric cars, plugged into the grid on any given evening? Smart management of a national-scale fleet of electric cars creates quite a bit of storage capacity.

That could be, or it could be a combo of homes, businesses and cars. Tech companies though are still going to need local solutions. The power requirements of data centers and cloud computing are enormous.

 

[begreen]

More information on current battery technologies competing in the grid power space.
http://www.powermag.com/battery-storage-goes-mainstream-2/?pagenum=1

 

[woodgeek]

Long-term, won't the storage come from 100 million electric cars, plugged into the grid on any given evening? Smart management of a national-scale fleet of electric cars creates quite a bit of storage capacity.

Probably not. Having a smart charger that puts charge in when the utility is 'flush', e.g. with renewable power, yes. Pulling energy out of the battery to power the grid, probably not much.

The first, demand response helps with RE intermittency.
The second, will wear the battery out prematurely. For example, my LEAF battery costs $6000 has a 24 kWh capacity and is good for say 1000 cycles. Thus, each 24 kWh cycle costs $6 in wear, or $0.25/kWh. While batteries will get cheaper, they will likely be undercut by stationary batteries.

If the power company would pay you to add miles on your vehicle, and the miles actually wore it out like real miles, how much would you charge per mile?

 

[Ashful]

Probably not. Having a smart charger that puts charge in when the utility is 'flush', e.g. with renewable power, yes. Pulling energy out of the battery to power the grid, probably not much.

The first, demand response helps with RE intermittency.
The second, will wear the battery out prematurely. For example, my LEAF battery costs $6000 has a 24 kWh capacity and is good for say 1000 cycles. Thus, each 24 kWh cycle costs $6 in wear, or $0.25/kWh. While batteries will get cheaper, they will likely be undercut by stationary batteries.

If the power company would pay you to add miles on your vehicle, and the miles actually wore it out like real miles, how much would you charge per mile?

I like the way you think, but I was not even thinking of discharge from batteries to fill any deficits, just managing the charging to target the load for the timing of maximum surplus. It's an enormous shock absorber, we'd be foolish not to use it. On this basis, there would be no additional wear and tear on the vehicle of those with predictable schedules.

 

[woodgeek]

Nice EIA article on a renewable energy milestone falling in the US....

Wind and solar in March accounted for 10% of U.S. electricity generation for first time

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=31632#

Partly due to low electricity demand in spring months, expected to repeat in April as well. Also some graphs of utility-scale solar versus 'small solar'.