scholarly journals Cost implications of increased solar penetration and time-of-use rate interactions

Clean Energy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-269
Author(s):  
Dominique Bain ◽  
Tom Acker
Keyword(s):  
Cost Model ◽  
Peak Load ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Electricity Grid ◽  
Load Change ◽  
Marginal Prices ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Locational Marginal Prices ◽  
Grid Operators ◽  
Solar Generation

Abstract Electricity-grid operators are facing new challenges in matching load and generation due to increased solar generation and peak-load growth. This paper demonstrates that time-of-use (TOU) rates are an effective method to address these challenges. TOU rates use price differences to incentivize conserving electricity during peak hours and encouraging use during off-peak hours. This strategy is being used across the USA, including in Arizona, California and Hawaii. This analysis used the production-cost model PLEXOS with an hourly resolution to explore how production costs, locational marginal prices and dispatch stacks (type of generation used to meet load) change due to changes in load shapes prompted by TOU rates and with additional solar generation. The modelling focused on implementing TOU rates at three different adoption (response) levels with and without additional solar generation in the Arizona balancing areas within a PLEXOS model. In most cases analysed, implementing TOU rates in Arizona reduced reserve shortages in the Western Interconnect and, in some cases, very substantially. This result is representative of the interactions that happen interconnection-wide, demonstrating the advantage of modelling the entire interconnection. Production costs were decreased by the additional solar generation and the load change from TOU rates, and high response levels reduced the production costs the most for high-solar-generation cases. Load change from TOU rates decreased locational marginal prices for a typical summer day but had inconsistent results on a high-load day. Additional solar generation decreased the usage of combustion turbines, combined cycles and coal-fired generation.

scholarly journals The Moderate Operation Scales of Apples Based on Output, Profit, and Unit Production Costs in the Shaanxi Province of China

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Congying Zhang ◽  
Qian Chang ◽  
Liqun Shao ◽  
Xuexi Huo
Keyword(s):  
Production Cost ◽  
Cost Model ◽  
Unit Cost ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Shaanxi Province ◽  
Profit Model ◽  
Unit Production Cost ◽  
Net Profit ◽  
Apple Production ◽  
Moderate Scale

In the Shaanxi province, small and scattered plots impede an increase in the efficiency of apple production. Developing a moderate operation scale is a proper tool to solve inefficiencies in apple production, as it enables improving the factor allocation efficiency, resulting in higher yields, higher profit, or lower production costs. However, the moderate operation scales, based on output, profit, and production costs, may be different. This paper aimed to evaluate the moderate operation scale of apples from three perspectives of increasing yields and profits and reducing unit production cost. The study was based on survey data collected from 661 randomly selected apple farmers in eight counties of the Shaanxi province, China. The collected data were analyzed quantitatively by the input-output model, the net profit model, and unit production cost model. The findings show that: (1) The moderate operation scale oriented to increasing apple yields in the Shaanxi province should be 0.87–1.53 ha. (2) The moderate operation scale oriented to increasing the net profit of farmers in the Shaanxi province should be over 1.53 ha. (3) The moderate operation scale oriented to reducing the unit cost of apple production in the Shaanxi province should be 0.20–0.53 ha. The study provides evidence that policymakers should grasp the balance point and find the intersection of the operation scale based on output, profit, and unit production cost when guiding apple growers to carry out the moderate scale. We propose that 0.87–1.53 ha may be a suitable operation scale for apple production in the Shaanxi province at the current stage.

Solar-Driven Sorption Chillers for Residential Space Cooling: A Review of Recent Developments and Possible Applications in Canada

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Bowie ◽  
Cynthia A. Cruickshank
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Peak Load ◽  
Internal Heat ◽  
Electricity Grid ◽  
Residential Sector ◽  
Absorption Chillers ◽  
Space Cooling ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Advanced Cycles

Energy use for space cooling has increased by 156% from 1990 to 2010 in the Canadian residential sector. In many parts of the country, the increasing use of electrically driven air-conditioners has begun to shift the peak load on the electricity grid from the coldest days of winter to the hottest days of summer. Many of Canada’s major electric utilities providers rely on fossil fuels to generate the additional capacity needed to meet the peak demand, resulting in significant greenhouse gas emissions. Solar-driven sorption chillers remain one of the possible solutions for shaving the peak loads experienced by the electricity grid. This paper presents a review of the recent developments in the research of adsorption and absorption chillers, as well as a comparison of the two technologies based on the latest published experimental results found in the literature. Adsorption chillers continue to evolve in their design, including the use of new consolidated and composite adsorbents, the integration of coated adsorbers into internal heat exchangers, and newly developed advanced cycles for heat and mass recovery. While the physical design of adsorption chillers continues to be advanced, the development of absorption chillers for solar cooling applications has largely been focused on optimizing the system as a whole through improved control strategies and the implementation of newly developed high performance solar collectors. Finally, the paper aims to assess the current state of development of solar-driven sorption chillers to provide insight into their applicability in the Canadian residential sector, as well as the remaining challenges facing this technology.

scholarly journals Estimated total costs from non-fatal and fatal bicycle crashes in the USA: 1997–2013

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas W Gaither ◽  
Thomas A Sanford ◽  
Mohannad A Awad ◽  
E Charles Osterberg ◽  
Gregory P Murphy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Cost Model ◽  
Vital Statistics ◽  
Emergency Department Visits ◽  
Injury Surveillance System ◽  
Incidence Data ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Bicycle Trauma ◽  
Bicycle Injury ◽  
Fatal Injuries

IntroductionEmergency department visits and hospital admissions resulting from adult bicycle trauma have increased dramatically. Annual medical costs and work losses of these incidents last were estimated for 2005 and quality-of-life losses for 2000.MethodsWe estimated costs associated with adult bicycle injuries in the USA using 1997–2013 non-fatal incidence data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System with cost estimates from the Consumer Product Safety Commission's Injury Cost Model, and 1999–2013 fatal incidence data from the National Vital Statistics System costed by similar methods.ResultsApproximately 3.8 million non-fatal adult bicycle injuries were reported during the study period and 9839 deaths. In 2010 dollars, estimated adult bicycle injury costs totalled $24.4 billion in 2013. Estimated injury costs per mile bicycled fell from $2.85 in 2001 to $2.35 in 2009. From 1999 to 2013, total estimated costs were $209 billion due to non-fatal bicycle injuries and $28 billion due to fatal injuries. Inflation-free annual costs in the study period increased by 137% for non-fatal injuries and 23% for fatal injuries. The share of non-fatal costs associated with injuries to riders age 45 and older increased by 1.6% (95% CI 1.4% to 1.9%) annually. The proportion of costs due to incidents that occurred on a street or highway steadily increased by 0.8% (95% CI 0.4% to 1.3%) annually.ConclusionsInflation-free costs per case associated with non-fatal bicycle injuries are increasing. The growth in costs is especially associated with rising ridership, riders 45 and older, and street/highway crashes.

Decomposition and Equilibrium Achieving Distribution Locational Marginal Prices Using Trust-Region Method

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 3269-3281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarmad Hanif ◽  
Kai Zhang ◽  
Christoph M. Hackl ◽  
Masoud Barati ◽  
Hoay Beng Gooi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trust Region Method ◽  
Trust Region ◽  
Region Method ◽  
Marginal Prices ◽  
Locational Marginal Prices
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