Part of the BRE Trust

BRE National Solar Centre – Associate Consultant

Ray Noble Thursday 29th January 2015

Storage - with a touch of Solar!

Developed from Space

– Solar modules produce DC electricity from light

– Developed to produce electricity to charge batteries and for use in

remote locations (short term

storage)

Power to the World

– Power for the 2Billion people that have no electricity

– Lighting, water treatment, vaccine refridgerators

– Direct daytime electricity to pump water and make ground fertile

– Direct daytime electricity to operate desalination plants

Grid connected Solar

– Connecting Solar modules together and using an inverter to change DC to AC has become the standard way of using Solar PV

– The massive take up of grid connected Solar resulted in module demand exceeding supply for many years (helped by various Government subsidies)

– A 60 cell standard module has become the basis of the industry

Grid connected or Building connected

– Large Utility scale Solar mounted on the ground is connected directly into the grid (11kV to 132kV)

– Building mounted is connected in parallel to the buildings incoming supply – electricity used direct within the building with any spare exported to the grid

But is this about to change!

– Intermittent renewables create issues for the grid

– But moving the electricity generation by Solar just a few hours solves many problems

– Also charging Storage overnight and re-inject the next morning

– Storage will be part of the solution to our energy / grid problems

Government: Storage at least 10 to 20 years away!

Large scale storage consisting of various techniques:-

• Flywheel

• Compressed Air

• Pumped Storage (Hydro)

• Batteries

• Hydrogen / Fuel Cell

• Thermal

Government: Storage at least 10 to 20 years away!

Large scale storage consisting of various techniques:-

• Flywheel

• Compressed Air

• Pumped Storage (Hydro)

• Batteries

• Hydrogen / Fuel Cell

• Thermal

Storage in some forms is now only 2 to 3 years away, Government are now taking Storage seriously

DNO’s are investigating grid benefit / impact of Storage

– Some grid upgrades could be cheaper using storage!

EV’s are delivering High Capacity batteries

– EV & Hybrid car market is growing

– Packing density of the batteries continues to improve

– Range anxiety issues being tackled (up to 260 miles available on one charge and industry working to improve this to 400 miles

– Lithium Ion batteries are predicted to fall in price by over 50% within 3 years as a result of mass production

EV battery packs

– EV batteries are not made as one large battery, they are small so they can be placed under seats and carpets to keep the centre of gravity low

– 48 batteries in a Nissan Leaf

– These batteries are made in the UK

– Panasonic batteries used in BMW’s EV’s are now finding their way into inverter / storage products eg. Sharp, Samsung

– Nissan Leaf batteries being checked, could be a good opportunity for the UK renewables market

Charging issues

– Fast charging of EV’s can create problems with the grid

– Charging stations likely to have battery storage to allow fast charging

– Charging from Solar produces totally clean transport

Using your EV to power your home

– Charge your EV at work (from Solar) then plug it into your house when you get home

All car manufacturers are making EV’s & Hybrids

What is around the corner?

– Hydrogen Fuel Cell cars go on sale in the USA from 2016 at standard car prices! Some are hybrid electric.

– London have Hydrogen buses (again) and are talking of creating a hydrogen infrastructure

– UK could repeat EV strategy

Global market for Storage

– Storage growth curve similar to Solar – GW manufacturing planned hence predicted price reduction

Standards & Training

– At present there is little or no guidance on the application of Storage

– Standards have been developed for EV’s,(location, connections, cabling, safety) but none for Storage in Buildings

– Germany has invested in stimulating a Storage market

– Storage will be a rapid growth market and we

need to establish standards, certification and training now

Summary - Storage is happening from now!

– Storage is the holy grail of Solar

– Generate electricity in daytime and use it at night

– Connecting storage into the distribution system will allow more Solar to be deployed

– Storage on the distribution system allows the DNO to balance the grid, removing spikes and reduce the number of standby power stations

– Government need to have a serious rethink about the future UK energy mix

– DECC need to keep up with technology advancements.

An update on Solar in the UK

– DECC cannot keep up with the growth and speed of Solar deployment (Ofgem figures way behind)

– Nothing seems to stop Solar (comment from DECC)

– By March 31st 2015 we will be at 8GW deployed

– By March 31st 2016 this will rise to 11GW (with known policy)

– The DECC Solar Strategy expected 10 to 12GW by 2020 (Ministers should never have watered down the 20GW expectation)

– Solar now at a lower cost than Offshore Wind and soon will be equal or lower than Onshore Wind)

– Expect Conservatives to blame Liberals (Ed Davey) over Energy including cost of Renewables and Green Deal..

– New Government will need to have (another) rethink

Government prefer

– Government would prefer Solar on Roofs, particularly Commercial

– Deemed Planning rule (change from 50kWp to 1MWp) should be

announced in March 2015 – it will be 1MWp

– Transferability consultation result, announcement expected early February 2015 – it will be allowed

– DECC still looking at other barriers that are delaying deployment

– DECC want Solar on New Build, particularly BIPV, may get a special tariff

– Solar Fields preferred on “Previously used land” however it is down to the local Planners / Communities

– Community Solar encouraged! (but most confused)

– DCLG (Pickles) only calling in projects as they think that seats they lost to the Liberals (particularly in the SW) can be recovered

Government Estate

– 1GW of Solar on Government Estate – Cabinet Office Program

– Initial phase 500MW by 2016

– First project was to have been a Defra site until a Minister put her foot in it!

– Alternative site about to happen, 69MW on previously used land and will be connected by the end of March 2015!

– Buildings and Land options have been prepared and Planning

applications will be made over the next few months for a variety of projects around the UK

– Cabinet Office want use projects to raise the standards, both products and installers, setting the Solar Industry on a Sustainable

Course for the future!

What can we expect!

– General view in Whitehall is that no Policy changes ahead of the election

– Timescale to make any changes suggest No changes until April 1st 2016 (Window of opportunity!)

– FIT changes to tariffs from 1st April 2015 announced earlier this week as a result of digression formula, reduction of 3.5% on small and large projects

– Pot 1 awards for over 5MW projects under CFD delayed until March 2015

– Pot 2 increased by a further £25m suggests many people will not be happy with Pot 1 awards!! Government surprised by the number of Pot 1 applications

– FIT 2 being prepared ( starts in April 2016 but final details will be decided by the new Government)

Problems for new Government

– Shortage of electricity generation

– Nuclear - Hinkley Point now unlikely (even at 9.2p/kWh)

– Carbon, Capture and Storage not happening

– Fracking will not be the answer (upsetting voters)

– Solar liked by the public and continues to deliver with continued price reduction

– Solar now heading to Grid Parity, which sectors will get their first and when? When do you stop subsidies!

– EU MIP to end in December 2015 (Could see a module price reduction of 20%)

– Normal Energy industry subsidies are through tax concessions!

When could Solar work with tax break, etc!

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Designed correctly, installed once, Solar provides electricity free everyday for 40 years+

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