Power Grid has a "backflow" problem

[spuwho]

The US power grid is struggling with a new issue called "backflow". Too many people are placing their own excess power back into the grid. Solar, Wind, etc. is getting so cheap and plentiful, its giving the utilities headaches. The answer? Batteries.

Oddly, the report shows Florida doesn't even crack the top 10 in solar capacity. So much for the "Sunshine State".

Per Computerworld:

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2915338/sustainable-it/without-batteries-like-teslas-the-power-grid-could-eventually-break.html

Without Tesla's batteries, the power grid could fail



Backflow from distributed power systems is challenging an antiquated power grid

As the number of solar panels on business and home rooftops multiply, America's power grid is bearing an electrical load that it was never designed to handle: bidirectional power transfer.

"There's no grid system in the world designed for that," said Anise Dehamna, principal research analyst at Navigant Research. "Every grid has been designed for unidirectional flow of energy -- from transmission to distribution to the end user."

With bidirectional power transfer, the utility still sends power to the customer, but with solar panels, the customer can then send excess power back to the utility.

Because power grids evolved organically in a bottom-up manner, as opposed to a centrally coordinated master plan, they were not designed to take on bidirectional power loads. America's utilities are now facing a costly region-by-region infrastructure upgrade as new energy technology, such as smart meters, emerges. Battery storage offers some relief as it can reduce peak load demand on the grid while improving overall system efficiency, according to Dehamna.

The Edison Electric Institute estimated in 2008 that by 2030 the U.S. electric utility industry would need to make a total infrastructure investment of $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion, of which electrical transmission and distribution are expected to account for about $900 billion.

Lithium-ion battery systems, which have become the de facto standard for homes and utilities, like the ones Tesla is planning to announce this week, will enable electricity generated through renewable power, such as wind and solar, to be stored on site.

The power stored in battery systems can be used during peak load hours during the business day in order to reduce draw on the grid. Battery capacity can also be used when power isn't being generated by renewable systems, such as at night and during inclement weather. That also reduces grid demand.

Regions are already suffering from backflow issues

Emerging technologies on the power distribution grid, which include digital "smart" meters, distributed energy resources such as solar power, and greater overall customer engagement, present both technical and policy challenges.

Utilities in regions where solar and wind has grown faster than others are already grappling with the consequences of "backflow," or electricity that's sold back to grid utilities from distributed renewable power generation systems.

The first-ever "Quadrennial Energy Review" report released last week by the White House called for "significant change" to America's aging energy infrastructure, including long overdue upgrades to the U.S. electrical grid to keep up with changing energy needs.

In 2014, renewable energy sources accounted for half of new installed electric-generation capacity, and natural gas units made up most of the remainder. Coal and petroleum consumption was flat. Electricity generation from wind grew 3.3-fold between 2008 and 2014, and electricity generation from solar energy grew more than 20-fold.

In Hawaii, for example, 12% of homes have photovoltaic, or solar, panels -- by far the greatest number for any U.S. state. Residents are dumping so much extra electricity onto the grid that it's struggling to handle the increased capacity. The Hawaiian Electric Company said backflow can destabilize the system.

Germany, where residential customers consume distributed renewable energy 80% of the time and use grid power 20% of the time, is also struggling with backflow issues on an antiquated utility grid.



The U.S. installed 6,201 megawatts (MW) of solar photovoltaics (PV) in 2014 and 767MW of concentrated solar power to reach 20 gigawatts (GW) of total installed capacity, enough to power 4 million American homes. Thirty-two percent of new electric generating capacity came from solar in 2014, and the industry now employs nearly 175,000 workers, according to the National Solar Jobs Census 2014.

Energy demand on the grid could drop by more than 15% due to new energy technologies by 2025, according to a report from Accenture.

Tesla has already been piloting its consumer batteries in 330 homes, mainly in California. The batteries, which were displayed at a conference last year, hold 10 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity. Tesla also showed a 400kWh battery for businesses. The average U.S. household uses about 900kWh of electricity per month, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Tesla's home batteries, which are 2.5-feet wide and 3 feet tall, have a starting retail price of $13,000. However, state energy efficiency rebates can cut that cost in half.



Tesla is in a unique position to offer battery technology for homes and businesses because its CEO, Elon Musk, is also chairman of SolarCity, the largest provider of residential solar systems in the U.S. SolarCity can offer a bundled package of photovoltaic and battery systems. And, Tesla already has systems to regulate power output in its cars, a critical function in distributed power storage systems.

SolarCity already has experience offering financing options to customers, including helping them find government subsidies and setting up lease contracts, since Tesla's residential battery systems prices are expected to be steep, at least initially.

The average cost of consumer-grade battery systems ranges from $13,000 to $20,000, according to Dehamna.

SolarCity has a partnership with Panasonic to produce its lithium-ion batteries and it just entered into a partnership with Nest labs, maker of the Nest Learning Thermostat, which regulates power based on homeowner or business use patterns.

The first 10,000 new customers in California who sign up with SolarCity will receive a Nest Thermostat installed at no additional cost.

Tesla has also been targeting the commercial sector, signing up customers such as Wal-Mart and Cargill, for its battery power systems.



Tesla is far from being the only company entering the energy storage market. Last year, SolarEdge Technologies and Enphase both announced plans to bring a lithium-ion home battery to their solar power management systems.

GTM Research estimates that the U.S. market for energy storage management systems will grow tenfold through 2019, creating a significant opportunity for players in the space.

By 2019, the renewable energy market will be worth $1.5 billion, about 11 times as much as in 2014, according to a March report from GTM Research.

Market research firm Technavio, released a report this week stating that the thermal energy storage market is expected to grow 18.7% every year over the next four years. By 2019, it expects the energy storage market, lead by the U.S. and Spain, to reach $1.3 billion.

Enphase's lithium-ion battery, which will be produced by Japanese-based ELIIY Power, is expected to be available in the second half of this year. The batteries will be roughly one cubic foot in size and offer 1.2 kilowatts hours of power (kWh). In contrast, reports peg Tesla's consumer-grade batteries at 10kWh of capacity with up to 200kWh for utility-grade models.

Enphase has made its bones in the solar power market by selling microinverters. The company has shipped 7.2 million microconverters that are installed alongside photovoltaic systems. Microconverters, like inverters, are used to change direct current (DC) from solar panels to safer alternating current (AC) used by household and business systems.

And, while the focus lately has been on the battery technology, power management is as key to any distributed renewable energy system as anything else, according to Greg Wolfson, senior director of Enphase's storage product line.

As power is produced by rooftop solar panels, it must be balanced with power coming in from the utility grid. Along with a battery and an inverter, battery systems will include hardware appliances running sophisticated power monitoring and management software.

"It's a system approach," Wolfson said. Enphase plans to sell its batteries as part of a modular system that can expand as needs grow. For example, a home could start with one battery, and expand to two, three, even five batteries over time.

"As a home add more photovoltaics, utility rates increase or the homeowner adds a hot tub, they can increase the number of batteries," Wolfson said.

[finehoe]

Utilities wage campaign against rooftop solar

Three years ago, the nation's top utility executives gathered at a Colorado resort to hear warnings about a grave new threat to operators of America's electric grid: not superstorms or cyberattacks, but rooftop solar panels.

If demand for residential solar continued to soar, traditional utilities could soon face serious problems, from "declining retail sales" and a "loss of customers" to "potential obsolescence," according to a presentation prepared for the group. "Industry must prepare an action plan to address the challenges," it said.

The warning, delivered to a private meeting of the utility industry's main trade association, became a call to arms for electricity providers in nearly every corner of the nation. Three years later, the industry and its fossil-fuel supporters are waging a determined campaign to stop a home-solar insurgency that is rattling the boardrooms of the country's government-regulated electric monopolies.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/utilities-sensing-threat-put-squeeze-on-booming-solar-roof-industry/2015/03/07/2d916f88-c1c9-11e4-ad5c-3b8ce89f1b89_story.html

[Dog Walker]

With the fuel rebate, both my residential and commercial electric bills were negative last month.  With a Tesla battery I could disconnect from JEA for everything but HVAC and eliminate the backflow problem from my system.

[Gunnar]

So at 13-20k per (home) battery system, what is the useable lifespan of these batteries ? Just asking because so far I have not seen a battery in any device that had a useable life span of more than 5 years - even if Tesla gets that to 10 or 15 years it would still be $ 1k + per year just for the battery.

[Dog Walker]

The standard warranty for everything associated with solar electric systems is twenty-five years.  If Tesla can't match that standard his batteries are a "non-starter".

[spuwho]

The standard warranty for everything associated with solar electric systems is twenty-five years.  If Tesla can't match that standard his batteries are a "non-starter".

So DogWalker, what batteries are you using now?  Even most deep cycles have a 7 year life depending how deep you take them. Most pay back calculations for an inline system includes a battery swap at the beginning of the 8th year.

Tesla's car batteries carry a 8 year warranty today in the Model S and they replace them for free if the output drops more than 20% before the 8th year. And this is Lithium-Ion technology, not NiMh like in the Prius and your typical lead-acid that starts the car or boat.

So you are demanding he create a battery that can function at 100% rated output for 25 years?

[St. Auggie]

Tesla announced they will warranty the  new battery for 10 years

[Dog Walker]

The standard warranty for everything associated with solar electric systems is twenty-five years.  If Tesla can't match that standard his batteries are a "non-starter".

So DogWalker, what batteries are you using now?  Even most deep cycles have a 7 year life depending how deep you take them. Most pay back calculations for an inline system includes a battery swap at the beginning of the 8th year.

Tesla's car batteries carry a 8 year warranty today in the Model S and they replace them for free if the output drops more than 20% before the 8th year. And this is Lithium-Ion technology, not NiMh like in the Prius and your typical lead-acid that starts the car or boat.

So you are demanding he create a battery that can function at 100% rated output for 25 years?

My systems are "grid-tied".  They feed a/c power to JEA's grid when my usage is less than my production and take power from the grid when I'm using more than my systems are producing.  No batteries.

[spuwho]

The standard warranty for everything associated with solar electric systems is twenty-five years.  If Tesla can't match that standard his batteries are a "non-starter".

So DogWalker, what batteries are you using now?  Even most deep cycles have a 7 year life depending how deep you take them. Most pay back calculations for an inline system includes a battery swap at the beginning of the 8th year.

Tesla's car batteries carry a 8 year warranty today in the Model S and they replace them for free if the output drops more than 20% before the 8th year. And this is Lithium-Ion technology, not NiMh like in the Prius and your typical lead-acid that starts the car or boat.

So you are demanding he create a battery that can function at 100% rated output for 25 years?

My systems are "grid-tied".  They feed a/c power to JEA's grid when my usage is less than my production and take power from the grid when I'm using more than my systems are producing.  No batteries.

So you just want a battery that is life aligned with your panels.  I guess you are a "non-starter" because they dont exist.

For off grid inline power,  a battery swap is cheaper than using a LPG generator or fuel cell supplement.

Unless of course the USG approves the use of RTG's for home use. Not likely!

[Dog Walker]

Tesla's 10kw battery is only $3K so the shorter warranty isn't a problem.  I have a vision of connecting my HVAC to JEA because they are the big power users and using the Tesla Battery and solar panels to power everything else.  I could do that with only one Tesla battery and not adding any panels.  With two Tesla batteries and more panels I might be able to go off-grid completely.  Need to do the math both for power generation/consumption and for return-on-investment.

Right now my investment in my current system is returning me about 5.5%, much better than money market or CDs.

[spuwho]

Have you looked at any of the dedicated solar powered HVAC's?

[Dog Walker]

Have you looked at any of the dedicated solar powered HVAC's?

My systems (3) were installed about nine years ago when solar power wasn't an option.  They are all the highest SEER available at that time.

We turned off the electric backup to the solar hot water system on April 1 as usual.  We'll turn it back on again next November 1.  Going off grid completely would require upgrading to a closed loop system since water heaters are such power hogs.

[Josh]

Have you looked at any of the dedicated solar powered HVAC's?

None exist as far as I've seen; you'd have to roll your own solution. Those Lennox "solar" HVAC systems only come with enough panels to run 10-20% of the unit. It's basically just a federal rebate cash grab.

[spuwho]

Have you looked at any of the dedicated solar powered HVAC's?

None exist as far as I've seen; you'd have to roll your own solution. Those Lennox "solar" HVAC systems only come with enough panels to run 10-20% of the unit. It's basically just a federal rebate cash grab.

I just did  a Google search and found several suppliers of DC only and AC/DC hybrid systems that arent from Lennox or Carrier.

DC only requires a battery pack with your solar and the AC/DC system runs solar during the day and 220VAC at night.

[UNFurbanist]

Does anyone else think that the City and JEA should be courting Elon Musk to bring his utility level batteries here for a proof of concept 21st century utility system? Imagine if we offered Jacksonville as a test bed for a solar and natural gas hybrid grid model. Actually, I think we should be taking all of his companies very seriously! SpaceX with its rocket recovery barges out of JaxPort and access to the Cecil Spaceport. Tesla with the growing interest in electric vehicles by the NF TPO and JEA not to mention Jacksonville's prime location as a logistics hub. I think we could really bring the tech economy here in full force. We already have GE investing in the city so why not bring more? Im a bit of a Elon Musk fan boy if you couldn't already tell haha