Analysis of land availability for utility-scale power plants and assessment of solar photovoltaic development in the state of Arizona, USA

2019 ◽  
Vol 134 ◽  
pp. 1213-1231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debaleena Majumdar ◽  
Martin J. Pasqualetti
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parikhit Sinha ◽  
Beth Hoffman ◽  
John Sakers ◽  
LynneDee Althouse

Development of a utility-scale solar photovoltaic project involves management of various potential environmental impacts, including impacts on wildlife and habitat. Although solar facility construction activities do involve short-term disturbance, responsibly developed solar power plants can provide shelter, protection, and stable use of land to support biodiversity. Land use practices and their relationship to biodiversity are examined at one of the world’s largest solar facilities, the 550 MW Topaz Solar Farms project in San Luis Obispo County, CA, USA. Pre- and postconstruction biological monitoring data indicate similar to higher vegetation productivity on-site compared to reference sites. Postconstruction monitoring has documented the presence of dozens of wildlife species, including several with special conservation status. Best practices in responsible land use utilized in the Topaz project are specified in the categories of community, biology, water, design and construction, and end of life. These practices, as well as future solar project development innovations that reduce ground disturbance, can be applied to enhance biodiversity at other solar facilities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1629
Author(s):  
Qamar Navid ◽  
Ahmed Hassan ◽  
Abbas Ahmad Fardoun ◽  
Rashad Ramzan ◽  
Abdulrahman Alraeesi

The worldwide electricity supply network has recently experienced a huge rate of solar photovoltaic penetration. Grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems range from smaller custom built-in arrays to larger utility power plants. When the size and share of PV systems in the energy mix increases, the operational complexity and reliability of grid stability also increase. The growing concern about PV plants compared to traditional power plants is the dispersed existence of PV plants with millions of generators (PV panels) spread over kilometers, which increases the possibility of faults occurring and associated risk. As a result, a robust fault diagnosis and mitigation framework remain a key component of PV plants. Various fault monitoring and diagnostic systems are currently being used, defined by calculation of electrical parameters, extracted electrical parameters, artificial intelligence, and thermography. This article explores existing PV fault diagnostic systems in a detailed way and addresses their possible merits and demerits.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles W. White ◽  
Walter Shelton ◽  
Nathan Weiland ◽  
Travis Shultz ◽  
John Plunkett ◽  
...  

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1463
Author(s):  
Kwami Senam A. Sedzro ◽  
Kelsey Horowitz ◽  
Akshay K. Jain ◽  
Fei Ding ◽  
Bryan Palmintier ◽  
...  

With the increasing share of distributed energy resources on the electric grid, utility companies are facing significant decisions about infrastructure upgrades. An alternative to extensive and capital-intensive upgrades is to offer non-firm interconnection opportunities to distributed generators, via a coordinated operation of utility scale resources. This paper introduces a novel flexible interconnection option based on the last-in, first-out principles of access aimed at minimizing the unnecessary non-firm generation energy curtailment by balancing access rights and contribution to thermal overloads. Although we focus on solar photovoltaic (PV) plants in this work, the introduced flexible interconnection option applies to any distributed generation technology. The curtailment risk of individual non-firm PV units is evaluated across a range of PV penetration levels in a yearlong quasi-static time-series simulation on a real-world feeder. The results show the importance of the size of the curtailment zone in the curtailment risk distribution among flexible generation units as well as that of the “access right” defined by the order in which PV units connect to the grid. Case study results reveal that, with a proper selection of curtailment radius, utilities can reduce the total curtailment of flexible PV resources by up to more than 45%. Findings show that non-firm PV generators can effectively avoid all thermal limit-related upgrade costs.


Energy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 219 ◽  
pp. 119610
Author(s):  
S. Sreenath ◽  
K. Sudhakar ◽  
Yusop AF

2022 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qusay Hassan ◽  
Saadoon Abdul Hafedh ◽  
Ali Hasan ◽  
Marek Jaszczur

Abstract The study evaluates the visibility of solar photovoltaic power plant construction for electricity generation based on a 20 MW capacity. The assessment was performed for four main cities in Iraq by using hourly experimental weather data (solar irradiance, wind speed, and ambient temperature). The experimental data was measured for the period from 1st January to 31st December of the year 2019, where the simulation process was performed at a 1 h time step resolution at the same resolution as the experimental data. There are two positionings considered for solar photovoltaic modules: (i) annual optimum tilt angle and (ii) two-axis tracking system. The effect of the ambient temperature and wind on the overall system energy generated was taken into consideration. The study is targeted at evaluating the potential solar energy in Iraq and the viability of electricity generation using a 20 MW solar photovoltaic power plant. The results showed that the overall performance of the suggested power plant capacity is highly dependent on the solar irradiance intensity and the ambient temperature with wind speed. The current 20 MW solar photovoltaic power plant capacity shows the highest energy that can be generated in the mid-western region and the lowest in the northeast regions. The greatest influence of the ambient temperature on the energy genrated by power plants is observed in the southern regions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 631
Author(s):  
Sergey BESPALYY

The growth of renewable energy sources (RES) shows the desire of the government of Kazakhstan to meet challenges that affect the welfare and development of the state. National targets, government programs, policies influence renewable energy strategies. In the future, renewable energy technologies will act as sources of a green economy and sustainable economic growth. The state policy in the field of energy in Kazakhstan is aimed at improving the conditions for the development and support of renewable energy sources, amendments are being made to provide for the holding of auctions for new RES projects, which replaces the previously existing system of fixed tariffs. It is expected that the costs of traditional power plants for the purchase of renewable energy will skyrocket, provided that the goals in the field of renewable generation are achieved. This article provides an assessment of international experience in supporting renewable energy sources, as well as analyzes the current situation in the development of renewable energy in Kazakhstan and the impact on sustainable development and popularization of the «green» economy. The study shows that by supporting the development of renewable energy sources, economic growth is possible, which is achieved in an environmentally sustainable way.


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