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Project developer options to enhance the value of solar electricity as solar and storage penetrations increase

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  • Kim, James Hyungkwan
  • Mills, Andrew D.
  • Wiser, Ryan
  • Bolinger, Mark
  • Gorman, Will
  • Crespo Montañes, Cristina
  • O'Shaughnessy, Eric

Abstract

Increasing the penetration of photovoltaics (PV) reduces the marginal grid value of PV electricity. The declining grid value of PV with higher penetration could limit the technology’s economic attractiveness and future demand. Various strategies have been proposed for preserving this value. Using a consistent framework, we analyze the net value (accounting for both cost and grid value) of more than ten strategies in the United States. Here, grid value is estimated from coincident wholesale power market prices and PV generation using observed historical prices or modeled future prices with up to 30% PV penetration. We find that established and emerging strategies designed to shift the timing of standalone PV generation at the expense of total generation—including orienting monofacial PV modules west or bifacial modules vertically—result in minor net-value benefits or penalties. Adding energy storage to such systems magnifies the net-value loss, because configurations that change the timing of PV production become redundant when the energy-shifting capabilities of storage are added. The largest net-value gains come from strategies that maximize generation (solar tracking plus oversized PV arrays) in conjunction with storage, especially at high PV penetrations. PV systems are long-lived assets. Our results suggest that efforts to promote generation-maximizing strategies today may yield increasing net-value benefits as PV and storage deployments continue to accelerate in the United States over the coming decades.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim, James Hyungkwan & Mills, Andrew D. & Wiser, Ryan & Bolinger, Mark & Gorman, Will & Crespo Montañes, Cristina & O'Shaughnessy, Eric, 2021. "Project developer options to enhance the value of solar electricity as solar and storage penetrations increase," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:304:y:2021:i:c:s0306261921010886
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117742
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    2. Feng Wang & Weiwei Liu, 2024. "The Current Status, Challenges, and Future of China’s Photovoltaic Industry: A Literature Review and Outlook," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-18, November.
    3. Song, Shaojian & Xiong, Hao & Lin, Yuzhang & Huang, Manyun & Wei, Zhinong & Fang, Zhi, 2022. "Robust three-phase state estimation for PV-Integrated unbalanced distribution systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    4. Arsalis, Alexandros & Papanastasiou, Panos & Georghiou, George E., 2022. "A comparative review of lithium-ion battery and regenerative hydrogen fuel cell technologies for integration with photovoltaic applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 943-960.
    5. Gandhi, Oktoviano & Zhang, Wenjie & Kumar, Dhivya Sampath & Rodríguez-Gallegos, Carlos D. & Yagli, Gokhan Mert & Yang, Dazhi & Reindl, Thomas & Srinivasan, Dipti, 2024. "The value of solar forecasts and the cost of their errors: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PB).

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