Quantifying the Importance of Solar Soft Costs: A New Method to Apply Sensitivity Analysis to a Value Function

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sita M. Syal ◽  
Erin F. MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Cost Reduction ◽  
Research Funding ◽  
Value Function ◽  
Cost Model ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Potential Cost ◽  
Industry Growth ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
Solar Research

Abstract This paper presents a new approach to build a decision model for government funding agencies, such as the US Department of Energy (DOE) solar office, to evaluate solar research funding strategies. High solar project costs—including technology costs, such as modules, and soft costs, such as permitting—currently hinder many installations; project cost reduction could lead to a lower project levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and, in turn, higher installation rates. Government research funding is a crucial driver to solar industry growth and potential cost reduction; however, DOE solar funding has not historically aligned with the industry priorities for LCOE reduction. Solar technology has received significantly higher research funding from the DOE compared to soft costs. Increased research funding to soft cost programs could spur needed innovation and accelerate cost reduction for the industry. To this end, we build a cost model to calculate the LCOE of a utility-scale solar development using technology and soft costs and conduct a sensitivity analysis to quantify how the inputs influence the LCOE. Using these results, we develop a multi-attribute value function and evaluate six funding strategies as possible alternatives. We find the strategy based on current DOE allocations results in the lowest calculated value and the strategy that prioritizes soft cost results in the highest calculated value, suggesting alternative ways for the DOE solar office to prioritize research funding and potentially spur future cost reduction.

scholarly journals Redesign of an upwind rotor for a downwind configuration: design changes and cost evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-220
Author(s):  
Gesine Wanke ◽  
Leonardo Bergami ◽  
Frederik Zahle ◽  
David Robert Verelst
Keyword(s):  
Cost Model ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Rotor Blades ◽  
Cost Evaluation ◽  
Potential Cost ◽  
Pure Material ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
Design Changes ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Within this work, an existing model of a Suzlon S111 2.1 MW turbine is used to estimate potential cost savings when the conventional upwind rotor concept is changed into a downwind rotor concept. A design framework is used to get realistic design updates for the upwind configuration, as well as two design updates for the downwind configuration, including a pure material cost out of the rotor blades and a new planform design. A full design load basis according to the standard has been used to evaluate the impact of the redesigns on the loads. A detailed cost model with load scaling is used to estimate the impact of the design changes on the turbine costs and the cost of energy. It is shown that generally lower blade mass of up to 5 % less than the upwind redesign can be achieved with the downwind configurations. Compared to an upwind baseline, the upwind redesign shows an estimated cost of energy reduction of 2.3 %, and the downwind designs achieve a maximum reduction of 1.3 %.

scholarly journals Re-design of an upwind rotor for a downwind configuration: design changes and cost evaluation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gesine Wanke ◽  
Leonardo Bergami ◽  
Frederik Zahle ◽  
David Robert Verelst
Keyword(s):  
Cost Model ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Rotor Blades ◽  
Cost Evaluation ◽  
Potential Cost ◽  
Pure Material ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
Design Changes ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Within this work, an existing model of a Suzlon S111 2.1 MW turbine is used to estimate potential cost savings when the conventional upwind rotor concept is changed into a downwind rotor concept. A design framework is used to get realistic design updates for the upwind configuration as well as two design updates for the downwind configuration, including a pure material cost-out on the rotor blades and a new planform design. A full design load basis according to the standard has been used to evaluate the impact of the redesigns on the loads. A detailed cost model with load scaling is used to estimate the impact of the design changes on the turbine costs and the cost of energy. It is shown that generally lower blade mass can be achieved with the downwind configurations of up to 5 % less than the upwind redesign. Compared to an upwind baseline, the upwind redesign shows an estimated cost of energy reduction of 2.3 % where the downwind designs achieve a maximum reduction of 1.3 %.

Supply chain cost model for prefabricated building material based on time-driven activity-based costing

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 287-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong-Woo Kim ◽  
Seung-Heon Han ◽  
June-Seong Yi ◽  
SooWon Chang
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Cost Model ◽  
Building Construction ◽  
Activity Based Costing ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Material Supply ◽  
Supply Chain Costs

The effect of ‘supply chain management’ can be leveraged when benefits of collaboration within and beyond the capacities of individual organizations are witnessed. One of the primary tasks in reducing total supply chain costs is to understand where the costs occur in a supply chain and how each activity impacts the total supply chain costs. Most supply chains in construction usually involve multiple entities, each one in a different process. A rebar supply chain is one example where many entities are involved in different processes. The supply chain coordinator needs a supply chain cost model, which shows how each activity impacts all supply chain costs to reduce the total costs. The research suggests a supply chain cost model using time-driven activity-based costing. The proposed cost model was applied to a building construction project, followed by sensitivity analysis identifying critical activities. This method can be adapted to analyze other fragmented material supply chains in the construction industry.

Techno-Economic Analysis of Solar e-Cooking Systems for Rural Communities in Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol 107 ◽  
pp. 203-208
Author(s):  
Ogheneruona E. Diemuodeke ◽  
Michael Orji ◽  
Clinton Ikechukwu ◽  
Yacob Mulugetta ◽  
Youba Sokona ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Economic Policy ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Solar Pv ◽  
Battery Storage ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
Induction Cooking ◽  
Design Analyses

This paper presents solar PV electric cooking systems to fill the gap of clean energy stove demand in Africa and in particular in rural communities. The design analyses of four different solar PV electric cooking configurations, based on resistive burner and induction burner, are presented. The levelised cost of energy (LCOE) of the solar PV induction e-cooking, with battery storage, is 0.39 $/kWh. Sensitivity analysis was done to ascertain the affordability range of solar PV e-cooking. It was shown that the combination of the reduced cost of investment and good sunshine would most likely make the solar PV induction e-cooking competitive. However, the acceptability of the solar PV induction cooking will require addressing some important technical, economic, policy and socio-cultural related barriers.

scholarly journals LEVELIZED COST OF ENERGY (LCOE) ANALYSIS OF HEXCRETE WIND TOWERS

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Nahvi
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
The United States ◽  
Wind Power Generation ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Energy Output ◽  
Gis Mapping ◽  
Levelized Cost ◽  
Cost Of Energy

Wind power generation has witnessed a dramatic growth in the 21st century. The Department of Energy (DOE) had a vision for wind energy that it would change into an extensively greater part of overall power generation in the U.S. by 2050. As specified by the DOE, wind power generation has grown by trifold from 2008 to 2013. This study presents a constructible, financially feasible alternative wind tower design to the 80 m steel tower platform which has the potential to decrease the overall Levelized cost of energy (LCOE). A hexagonal concrete wind tower solution is evaluated to facilitate the fabrication of a taller wind turbine generator to harvest more powerful, stable, and frequent wind resources for elevating wind energy production to cut down the overall LCOE. Subject matter experts from the industry were benefitted from to develop a process and estimate the cost and schedule of development and assembly of this process. To mitigate uncertainties and quantify risks, a sensitivity analysis was carried out on cost and schedule estimates. Also, estimating LCOE of wind towers is a primary requirement for efficient assimilation of wind power generation in the electricity market. In the state of Iowa, wind power is rapidly becoming a significant electricity generator. Unpredictable outputs and different options for deploying wind towers are one of the major problems of power system operators. Good estimation tools are important and will be needed to integrate wind energy into the economic power plant. The other objective of this research is to propose a GIS-based map to visualize LCOE of different wind tower construction options in various locations. Therefore, wind speed GIS mapping by using weather information will be crucial. Calculation of energy output by applying wind gradient formula to wind speeds energy are performed. The research concludes of Hexcrete towers can be achieved by use of the 120m and 140 m Hexcrete tower platform on certain wind sites in the United States.

Optimal planning and sensitivity analysis of green microgrid using various types of storage systems

2020 ◽  
pp. 0309524X2094147
Author(s):  
Sumit Sharma ◽  
Yog Raj Sood
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Storage Systems ◽  
Operating Cost ◽  
Indian Policy ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
Pumped Storage ◽  
Test Scenarios ◽  
Storage Units

In this article, a green microgrid is suggested which utilizes renewable energy units such as wind, solar, hydro, and biomass in conjunction with energy storage systems like batteries and the pumped storage. Different test scenarios are investigated to optimally use the power generated from the combined usage of the renewable energy units and the storage units. To judge the performance, a comparative feasibility analysis of the proposed approach is carried out to demonstrate the potential findings based on the total net present cost, levelized cost of energy, operating cost, and initial capital cost. In addition, the proposed solution may be subject to various changes in systems configuration with regard to the wind speed, solar radiation, streamflow, and the electric load; therefore, sensitivity analysis is also presented. Moreover, Indian policy interventions are considered to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach for a reduction in the overall revenue of the system.

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