Solar Power and the Future
Bryan Whitcomb General Manager, Solar Star Project October 18, 2016 Topics Covered
• Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE) introduction • Solar Technologies – Photovoltaic (PV) and Concentrated PV – Concentrated – Emerging technologies • Solar Star – Large utility-scale solar PV project • Energy Trends • Solar energy trends
2 Berkshire Hathaway Energy
• 11.5 million customers worldwide • 21,000 employees worldwide • $85.0 billion in assets • $18.1 billion in revenue • 32,600 miles of transmission lines • 16,400 miles of natural gas pipeline • More than 33,000 MW owned/contracted generation capacity • 34% renewable or noncarbon • Largest regulated owner of wind (5500 MW) in US BHE Renewables
Unregulated Independent Power Producer (IPP)
Geothermal Wind Solar Hydro
Imperial Valley Projects: 338 MW Bishop Hill II: 81 MW Agua Caliente: 290 MW Wailuku: 10 MW Pinyon Pines: 300 MW Topaz Solar Farms: 550 MW Philippines: 128 MW Jumbo Road: 300 MW Solar Star: 586 MW Grande Prairie: 400 MW Marshall: 72 MW 338 MW geothermal 1,153 MW wind 1,278 MW solar 138 MW hydro
4 Solar Technology – Photovoltaic
5 Solar Technology – Concentrated Photovoltaic
6 Solar PV Plant Overview
Power Conversion Station (PCS) – each PCS has 2 inverters and 1 transformer Common electrical hardware for all electrical energy technologies
7 Concentrated Solar Power
8 Concentrated Solar Power
9 Concentrated Solar – Ivanpah (Primm, NV)
10 Emerging Solar Technologies
• Concentrator PV • Floatovoltaics • Energy Storage – Electrochemical (batteries) – Mechanical (compressed gases, pumped water storage) – Thermal (molten salt – 1474 F) – Chemical (hydrogen fuel cells) • Energy storage will be a key issue in the future – Reduced base load capacity – Increased intermittent renewable sources – Duck curve!
11 Solar Star Project
• 586 megawatt solar photovoltaic project • Spans 3,200 acres in Kern County and Los Angeles County, California • Utilizes approximately 1.7m SunPower E20 435-watt monocrystalline silicon modules mounted on single axis tracking technology • Estimated to displace 570,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually • Equivalent of 108,000 cars off the road annually • Potential to power approximately 255,000 average California households
12 Solar Star Project Site
SS2A Solar Star 3 SS2B
SS1A
Solar Star 1
Solar Star 2 Substation Generation Tie-Line
13 Solar Star Aerial View
SCE Whirlwind Substation
Kern County
Los Angeles County
Solar Star 1 Solar Star 2
14 Solar Star Major Project Milestones
• December 2012 BHE Renewables purchased • January 2013 Construction begins • October 2013 Synchronized with grid • December 2013 57 MW in-service • April 2014 170 MW in-service • November 2014 465 MW in-service • December 2014 354 MW in-service (goal) • June 2015 586 MW in-service • June 2015 505 MW in-service (goal) • July 1, 2015 Achieved commercial Operations • October 2015 Guaranteed substantial completion date
15 Solar Star Facts
• Technology: SunPower Oasis® Single Axis Trackers • Land use: approximately 3,200 acres • No. of panel: 1.7 million • 435 watts per panel • Capacity: 586 MW ac • 749 MW dc
Panels placed end-to-end would reach the Atlantic ocean (2,203 miles)!
16 Revegetation
17 Revegetation
18 Revegetation Results
19 Revegetation Results
20 Vegetation Management
21 US Energy Revolution
• U.S. energy revolution – Largest combined producer of oil and gas in the world – Oil imports lowest in more than 40 years • Changes in fuel mix for electricity – 2016: – Wind (+ 10,000 MW), solar (+16,000 MW), gas (+4,000 MW) – Coal retiring ~ 13,000 MW • Aging fleet; average age is 44 years old • Stringent EPA rules
22 More Renewable Energy – Why?
• Hedge against natural gas prices • Customers want it • Long-term assurance of stable prices (PPAs) • Economic development • Price – near grid parity • Proven technologies that can address state and federal environmental policies (California’s SB 350, Clean Power Plan)
23 Evolving Electrical Generation
24 Renewable Generation
25 Solar Energy Trends
26 Declining Cost of Solar
27 Declining Cost of Solar
Source: http://cleantechnica.com/2014/09/04/solar-panel-cost-trends-10-charts/ 28 Solar Energy Trends – Duck Curve
29 Questions?
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