As more solar capacity has come online in California, grid operators at the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) have observed a drop in net load (or the demand remaining after subtracting variable renewable generation) in the middle of the day when solar generation tends to be highest. When graphed for … [continued]
Researchers are finding ways to reduce curtailment of solar during the day and move the power to the evening high demand period. Batteries, particularly in concert in a Virtual Power Plant (VPP), and now teamed with larger community batteries, may be the key. Can they put the duck to sleep? … [continued]
As more solar capacity has come online in California, grid operators at the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) have observed a drop in net load (or the demand remaining after subtracting variable renewable generation) in the middle of the day when solar generation tends to be highest. When graphed for … [continued]
Unlocking the Value of Electric Mobility Technologies to Drive Efficiency and Reliability Across the Power System
The dreaded duck curve is getting all bent out of shape by COVID-19, and a new open source renewable energy project aims to seize the moment.
The notorious “duck” curve is no obstacle to solar energy grid integration, thanks to some fancy footwork by the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
For several years now, there have been increasing complaints from utilities about the resulting load shape from owners with solar systems. This is the so called “duck curve” which has gotten a lot of attention from utility alarmists. In some sense, it has been a way of claiming that rooftop solar is a profound problem for utilities. We will show here that this problem can be (and will be) solved.
Pintail Power offers a new technology that combines solar power, conventional steam generators, and molten salt storage to take the duck curve.
Episode 38 of Cleantech Talk kicks off with a discussion of how, while China may be overperforming with its solar panel buildout, those panels are underperforming due to the low air quality there. Which is a polite way of saying that coal-combustion aerosols are reducing solar panels’ electricity harvest — by up to a third! (Dark aerosols, like soot, tend to absorb light; other aerosols such as sulfates and nitrates, reflect light. In both cases, the aerosols prevent light from reaching solar panels below.)
The rapid transformation of the electricity sector will make it necessary for utilities to adopt radically new pricing methods, writes Fereidoon Sionshansi, publisher of newsletter EEnergy Informer and editor of a new book, Innovation & Disruption at the Grid’s Edge.
