Greg Brinkman

Bright Future: Solar Power as a Major Contributor to the U.S. Grid

The decreased costs of solar technologies have led to the prospect of a move for photovoltaic (PV ) and concentrating solar power (CSP ) from niche applications to major contributors to the U.S. electricity grid. This development has motivated a number of technoeconomic analyses of the potential deployment of both PV and CSP under varying economic conditions. Two studies sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE ) and completed in 2012 can help us understand the potential opportunities and challenges for solar deployment on a large scale. These studies evaluated both the potential mix of renewable energy technologies that could serve a large fraction of the U.S. electricity demand and the associated evolution of the U.S. grid to 2050.

Renewable Electricity Futures for the United States

This paper highlights the key results from the Renewable Electricity (RE) Futures Study. It is a detailed consideration of renewable electricity in the United States. The paper focuses on technical issues related to the operability of the U.S. electricity grid and provides initial answers to important questions about the integration of high penetrations of renewable electricity technologies from a national perspective. The results indicate that the future U.S. electricity system that is largely powered by renewable sources is possible and the further work is warranted to investigate this clean generation pathway. The central conclusion of the analysis is that renewable electricity generation from technologies that are commercially available today, in combination with a more flexible electric system, is more than adequate to supply 80% of the total U.S. electricity generation in 2050 while meeting electricity demand on an hourly basis in every region of the United States.

Finding Flexibility: Cycling the Conventional Fleet

Adding new generation, load, or transmission to the grid changes the operation of the incumbent power system. Wind and solar generation plants are no different, but their impact on the rest of the grid is exacerbated by the facts that wind and solar energy is nondispatchable and such generators produce variable output. And because wind and solar effectively bid into the market at very low or negative cost, they are preferred resources in the dispatch stack. They are used by system operators whenever possible, unless there are generator operating limits or transmission constraints.

Potential Role of Concentrating Solar Power in Enabling High Renewables Scenarios in the United States

This work describes the analysis of concentrating solar power (CSP) in two studies -- The SunShot Vision Study and the Renewable Electricity Futures Study -- and the potential role of CSP in a future energy mix.

Exploring large-scale solar deployment in DOE's SunShot Vision Study

Large-scale solar deployment is sensitive to several factors including future solar technology price and performance, electricity demand, and the challenges and benefits of integrating solar generation resources. The SunShot Initiative was launched by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 2011 aimed at reducing the cost of solar electricity by about 75% from 2010 to 2020, whereby solar energy could compete with conventional electricity sources without subsidies. DOE conducted the SunShot Vision Study to evaluate the potential impacts of achieving these price and performance improvements, and the underlying modeling analysis suggests that solar energy could satisfy roughly 14% of U.S. electricity demand by 2030 and 27% by 2050. This growth of solar electricity could decrease electric sector carbon emissions by 28% and decrease retail electricity rates by 7% in the year 2050, relative to a reference scenario.

Renewable Electricity Futures Study - Volume One

Renewable Electricity Futures Study - Volume One. This is part of a series of four volumes describing exploring a high-penetration renewable electricity future for the United States of America. This data set is provides data for the entire volume one document and includes all data for the charts and graphs included in the document.

Retrofitting Fossil Power Plants for Increased Flexibility

Increased renewable generation on the grid along with market deregulation has resulted in a significant increase in the cycling of coal and gas-fired power plant. This increase in cycling will result in increased wear-and-tear costs for units that were not traditionally designed for cycling. Asset owners can make operational changes to mitigate the wear-and-tear impact or alternatively retrofit existing units for improved flexibility. With retrofits, these plants can provide increased operational flexibility, or in other words cycle more, but this comes at an initial cost. On the other hand, increased flexibility in terms of faster starts, better turndowns and ramp rates also provides opportunity for the asset owners to recover their costs in the market. This paper evaluates the operational, as well as cost-benefit of retrofitting power plants for flexibility using a portfolio of generation resources in North America.© 2014 ASME