10 Friday Jun 2016
Posted in energy, Solar-Popular Press, Uncategorized
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“In the three months ending March 31, there were 1,665 megawatts (MW) of solar power plants[added to the US power grid] — accounting for 64% of total capacity additions — more than coal, natural gas and nuclear combined”
the article goes on to note that there are currently 26 GW of solar installed in the US. By the end of the year it is expected there will be 40.5 GW, over 3% of the net US generating capacity.
31 Tuesday May 2016
Posted in energy, Hydrogen Economy, scientific journal article, solar fuels
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A technoeconomic analysis on solar hydrogen production was recently published in Energy. Environ. Sci. by Shaner, et al. (Energy. Environ. Sci., 2016, Advance Article). The levelized cost of hydrogen was compared between photovoltaic-electrolyzers (PV-E), photoelectrochemical cells (PECs), and fossil fuel derived hydrogen using steam methane reforming (SMR).
This paper highlights the strengths of PEC systems and outlines the challenges which must be met in order for the technology to become viable. One way to make solar hydrogen production competitive with SMR is to tax the carbon dioxide that is produced. They estimate that for the current PEC technology to achieve hydrogen price parity with SMR, a carbon tax of $1000/ton C02 is required. If a solar concentrator PEC is used, the estimated tax decreases to $800/ton CO2.
05 Thursday May 2016
Posted in energy, solar fuels, Solar-Popular Press, Uncategorized
A winning bid to install solar PV panels at Dubai’s solar power park (which will eventually reach 5 GW capacity by 2030!) came in at 2.99 cents/kWh- a world record:
This data point is a little unique due to the scale of the project, but continues a trend of ever-decreasing costs of solar-produced electricity that are far below grid prices. As solar market penetration increases, this represents a huge opportunity for electrochemical technologies to turn this low cost “clean” electricity into fuels and chemicals.
25 Thursday Feb 2016
Posted in energy, Uncategorized
Here is a recent perspective on (moving away from) fossil fuels in FORTUNE magazine by Prof. Mark Barteau at the University of Michigan:
Why a Production Freeze Won’t Fix the Oil Collapse
As discussed in the article, two common arguments for moving away from fossil fuels have been i.) fossil fuels are quickly running out and ii.) high use of fossil fuels makes us highly dependent on foreign oil reserves. However, developments over the past 10 years or so, including the tremendous growth of fracking in the US, have made both issues less urgent than they have seemed to be in the past. Furthermore, it’s likely that we will remain in this state for a while. If society is going to make a meaningful transition away from a fossil fuel based energy system in a in the near future, it needs to be driven by a conscious effort to do so for the sake of the environment and climate. As noted at the end of the article, it is tempting to continue to reap the short-term profits of cheap and abundant fossil fuels, but there is also a huge opportunity to utilize the financial benefits of cheap oil to help accelerate the transition to a truly sustainable energy system.
27 Tuesday Jan 2015
Posted in Solar-Popular Press
This is an interesting and informative story on the use and challenges of solar energy in rural Africa, where solar technologies have an opportunity to significantly improve quality of life while leap frogging traditional grid-based energy technologies:
http://news.yahoo.com/africas-quiet-solar-revolution-212932127.html
09 Friday Jan 2015
Posted in Solar-Popular Press
Grid parity is the point in time when the price of electricity from solar power (or another resource) becomes equal to the price of electricity from the (fossil-fuel based) electrical grid. Significant decreases in the price of installed solar in recent years has lead to grid parity in a number of countries as well as several states in the US.
According to the following map put together by the Union of Concerned Scientists, grid parity has already been reached or exceeded in 11 states in the US, and it is estimated that number will be up to 28 states by 2017:
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/12/31/2015-solar-energy/
It’s no surprise that sunny CA, AZ, TX are at grid parity given their high solar radiation levels, but its interesting to note that several northeast US states are also considered at grid parity, which likely reflects higher local grid electricity prices in those states than in other regions of the country.
15 Monday Dec 2014
Posted in Solar-Popular Press
According to GTM Research, US utility-scale solar PV projects are commonly reaching power purchase agreements (PPA’s) for 4.5-7.5 cents/kW-hr. These prices are making solar cost competitive with electricity from the grid in a number of U.S. states, a term called “grid parity”.
“This is the first time that we’ve seen, purely on a price basis, that the solar projects made the cut — without considering carbon costs or the need to comply with a renewable energy standard — strictly on an economic basis.” Shayle Kann, VP of GTM Research
Esposito Research Group Blog 