MOU signed for world’s largest solar plant

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photovoltaics, power the planet, Saudi Arabia

It was recently announced that a memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed to construct the world’s largest solar photovoltaic (PV) plant in Saudi Arabia. When the sun is shining, the plant will have a generating capacity of 200 GW.  By comparison, the size of this plant (when completed) will be 5 times larger than the total installed PV capacity in the U.S. and nearly 1/5th of the entire electricity generating capacity in the U.S.. You can read more about the planned PV plant here.

This announcement reaffirms what many in the PV and electricity industries already know:  solar absolutely has the ability to power the planet, and it is possible to get to that point in the near future.

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More Solar PV Installed in US in 2016 than Any Other Electricity Source

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coal, electricity, natural gas, photovoltaics

In a preview of a soon-to-be released annual report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the GTM research, it has been reported that the electricity generating capacity of solar photovoltaic (PV) installations added to the US electrical grid in 2016 was higher than any other type of electricity generating technology. 39% of all new electricity capacity, equivalent to around 14.6 GW, was added in 2016, a 95% increase from 2015. Together, new solar and wind installations comprised 65% of all new electricity generating capacity in the US, reflecting the fact that the costs of solar PV installations have been cost competitive with traditional sources across much of the US.

As the price of electricity from solar PV continues to drop, this creates a huge opportunity to use electrochemical technologies to convert low-cost, carbon-free electricity into storable chemicals and fuels.

Plot of new electricity generating capacity in the US by year and type of technology. Source: Source: GTM Research / SEIA U.S. Solar Market Insight Report

Tipping Points for Solar Energy

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coal, energy economics, natural gas, photovoltaics, renewable energy, tipping point, wind

Below is a recent article in Bloomberg that has a bunch of good facts about the state of solar energy. Among them:…..

-“The world …. is adding more capacity for clean energy [solar & wind] each year than for coal and natural gas combined”

-“it’s likely that the total amount of solar photovoltaics added globally [in 2016] will exceed that of wind for the first time”

-“Half the price of coal”- It is noted that a record deal on a PV plant in Chile signed in August of this year came in at $29 /MW-hr – “roughly half the price of competing coal power “.

Here’s the link to the full article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-15/world-energy-hits-a-turning-point-solar-that-s-cheaper-than-wind

World Energy Hits a Turning Point: Solar That’s Cheaper Than Wind

New record for Si photovoltaic module efficiency

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efficiency, photovoltaics, Silicon, solar, SunPower

SunPower recently announced a 24.1% efficient Si PV module- a world record:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelkanellos/2016/06/27/sunpowers-24-1-efficiency-mark-are-we-near-the-ceiling/#1742e8eb2be1

As noted in the article, this is very impressive, especially considering that the theoretical maximum efficiency for a single junction Si solar cell under 1 sun illumination intensity is ~ 29%.

2016 Q1 Solar Installations in the US (and projections)

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economics, photovoltaics, solar

“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”

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/solar-installations-overtaking-all-other-conventional-energy-sources-in-the-us-2016-06-10

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.

 

Technoeconomic analysis on solar hydrogen production

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economics, energy, hydrogen, photovoltaics, solar

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.

 

Solar in the UK

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photovoltaics, solar, United Kingdom

The recent growth in solar and closure of coal plants in recent years has lead to instances this year where solar PV plants generated more electricity than coal in the united kingdom (UK):s

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/13/solar-power-sets-new-british-record-by-beating-coal-for-a-day

The UK plans to phase out coal by 2025. According to the article, about 14% of the UK generating capacity is now solar.

 

Solar Growth in the U.S. and the Federal Investment Tax Credit

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2015, federal investment tax credit, photovoltaics, solar

Although solar PV is now able to compete on its own (ie without subsidies) in many places, the U.S. federal investment tax credit (ITC) has been very important for helping to speed up the adoption of solar PV technology. Since 2005, the ITC has provided a tax credit of 30% of the value of solar projects.

Recently, congress passed a bill that extended the ITC at its current rate out to 2019. This is expected to help maintain the rapid growth of solar PV in the U.S. in the coming years.  In 2015 it is estimated that over 7 GW of new solar PV was installed in the U.S., with over 30% of all new electricity installations in the U.S. through Q3 coming from the solar PV sector.

You can find a nice article that provides more numbers on recent solar PV installations, projections, and the ITC here.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM research also recently released their 2015 Q3 report that is worth glancing at.

 

 

(Subsidized) Cost of Solar now at 5 cents / kWh on average in the U.S.

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photovoltaics, solar, technoeconomics, U.S.

Based on a recent report on utility scale solar in the U.S., the price of electricity from utility-scale solar is in the U.S. is now at 5 cents/ kWh (average)

https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2015/09/30/price-of-solar-energy-in-the-united-states-has-fallen-to-5%C2%A2kwh-on-average/

You can find the full report here.

This number is 70% lower than it was in 2009, and is highly competitive with other power sources (natural gas, coal, wind). This price does includes the federal tax incentive (30%), meaning that the unsubsidized cost would be closer to 7 cents/kWh.

By comparison, the average price that industrial and residential customers pay for electricity in the U.S. this year is around 7  and 13 cents / kWh:

http://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.cfm?t=epmt_5_6_a

Recycling solar panels

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CdTe, EROI, First solar, life cycle analysis, photovoltaics, recycling, solar

During their operation, solar photovoltaic (PV) panels represent the environmental ideal for energy production, generating clean electricity from renewable and abundant sunlight without any associated CO2 emissions.  However, much energy can go into materials processing, manufacturing, installation, and end-of-life decommissioning of a solar cell.  The ratio of the energy produced over the lifetime of the solar panel to the energy input to its construction and decommissioning is called the energy returned on energy invested (EROI), and is an important metric.

Decommissioning at the end of a solar panel’s life is also important because 1.) some solar panels, like First Solar’s CdTe thin film solar cells, contain toxic materials that could be harmful if not recycled or disposed of properly and 2.) the sheer mass of solar panels needed to power the planet’s electricity needs are very large.  In the article below, it is noted that the amount of solar panels needed to produce all of the world’s electricity needs would cover the surface of Spain and weigh approximately 150 million pounds.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/3086616-dark-side-of-the-sun-solar-power-and-global-electronic-waste

First Solar used to have a pre-funded recycling program, in which it guaranteed that it would remove and recycle it’s solar panels at the end of their life. Unfortunately, this policy has been significantly relaxed in recent years.

As engineers, we need to consider not only in-service performance metrics of solar panels such as efficiency and life-time, but also end-of-life metrics such as recyclability, which can greatly influence an overall life cycle analysis and environmental impact. The selection of the materials we use, and how we combine them with other materials at the cell and/or device level, can be very important!

280 MW California flats solar project in California (http://www.firstsolar.com/en/about-us/projects/california-flats )