The costs and value of hooking solar up to the grid

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arizona, electric grid, energy storage, fees, hawaii, intermittency, Maine, net-metering, solar

Here is an interesting article discussing fees that various utilities in the U.S. have begun to charge solar PV home owners for hooking up to the grid so that they can buy electricity from the grid when their panels aren’t generating electricity, and sell electricity back tot he grid when they are:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-some-states-are-making-going-solar-more-expensive-2015-12-04

The article mentions a source that says that 40-60% of a solar PV systems output goes back to the grid.

There are a lot of debates right now in this country and throughout the world trying to figure out exactly the value of solar-generated electricity.

If the costs of hooking up to the grid become too high, it will create an incentive for solar home owners to go off grid with home-scale energy storage (e.g. batteries, solar fuels).

 

 

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Energy-Water Nexus in Arizona

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arizona, coal, Colorado River, energy, energy-water nexus, Navajo Generating Station, water

This is an interesting article on energy and water use in the American West, specifically talking about the Navajo power plant in nothern Arizona:

https://projects.propublica.org/killing-the-colorado/story/navajo-generating-station-colorado-river-drought

The Navajo Generating Station is a coal fired power plant that is one of the largest power plants in the West, generating over 2 GW of power.   The plant is instrumental in providing the electricity needed to power pumps that divert millions of gallons of water from the Colorado River over 300 miles and 3,000 vertical feet to Phoenix, Tuscon, and other arid parts of AZ where the water is essential to the existence of those populations centers. In the process, the plant generates 15 tons of coal per minute and accounts for ~ 29% of the state’s emissions from energy generation.

The future of this > 40 year old plant is unclear, especially in a water- and carbon-constrained world, but its story is an excellent example of how energy, water, and climate are vitally connected in many parts of the world. It is an interesting article that is well worth reading.

Navajo generating station in Arizona. https://projects.propublica.org/killing-the-colorado/story/navajo-generating-station-colorado-river-drought