Adjusting the Levelized Cost of Energy for Different Rates of Compensation for Solar Generation: A Case Study

Author(s):  
Peter Schwarz ◽  
Navid Goudarzi ◽  
Ercument Camadan

Abstract The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) was developed for conventional, non-renewable energy sources, and can be misleading for renewable sources. The intermittent nature of renewable energy resources requires further refining the LCOE definition to prevent overvaluing renewables. Utilities must consider revenues as well as costs in comparing renewables to each other, as well as to conventional, non-renewable fuels. This paper explores the utility net revenues from solar energy — revenues from customer grid purchases net of payments made for solar generation by the customer exported to the utility — under three rate alternatives: Net Metering, Net Purchasing, and Gross Metering. Using individual customer data from Austin Energy for solar customers for the year of 2018, the net revenues to the utility under these three mechanisms were studied for two cases: increasing block rates and flat rates. The results demonstrate that even though the levelized cost of solar adoption is unaffected by the choice of rate, solar adoption by the utility is generally most favorable under gross metering, and least favorable under net metering. Moreover, the outcome can differ on whether the utility uses flat rates or increasing block rates, and on the customer’s level of consumption. This work provides a broader system-level understanding of renewable energy technologies that can be used by engineers, researchers, and government agencies when studying the life-cycle cost of power-generating systems.

Decentralized energy model successfully helps rural villages when it comes to supply of electricity because it’s a schematic way of utilization of renewable resources with decrease in the amount of GHG emissions whereas national electricity grid does not provide a solution to the problems faced by rural areas. Renewable energy sources can be use as standalone or in a combination of different resources like solar photovoltaic, biogas system, biomass system, micro-hydro and wind turbines known as hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) with a diesel generator as per the load demand and availability of the resources, which also protects our earth by remarkably decreasing the pollution caused by carbon emissions that we produce. The paper presents a review of various case studies on off-grid electricity generation which can be distinguished on the parameters like Cost of energy (COE), Net present cost (NPC), Levelized cost of energy (LCOE), Levelized unit electricity cost (LUEC), Per unit electricity cost (PUEC) and Life cycle cost (LCC) with respect to grid-connected systems and extension of grid. The paper also details the different initiatives taken by the government of Rajasthan to encourage off-grid generation in Rajasthan. The main motive of this work is to present an efficient hybrid technology combination from a blend of renewable energy resources for electricity generation to meet the electrical need of an off-grid village which is cost-efficient, sustainable, techno-economically feasible and environment friendly


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 2444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Hu

A comprehensive case study on life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) was conducted on a two- story education building with a projected 40-year lifespan in College Park, Maryland. The aim of this paper was to (1) create a life cycle assessment model, using an education building to test the model, (2) compare the life cycle cost (LCC) of different renovation scenarios, taking into account added renewable energy resources to achieve the university’s overall carbon neutrality goal, and (3) verify the robustness of the LCC model by conducting sensitivity analysis and studying the influence of different variables. Nine renovation scenarios were constructed by combining six renovation techniques and three renewable energy resources. The LCCA results were then compared to understand the cost-effective relation between implementing energy reduction techniques and renewable energy sources. The results indicated that investing in energy-efficient retrofitting techniques was more cost-effective than investments in renewable energy sources in the long term. In the optimum scenario, renovation and renewable energy, when combined, produced close to a 90% reduction in the life cycle cost compared to the baseline. The payback period for the initial investment cost, including avoided electricity costs, varies from 1.4 to 4.1 years. This suggests that the initial investment in energy-efficient renovation is the primary factor in the LCC of an existing building.


Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (15) ◽  
pp. 1779
Author(s):  
Syed Rahman ◽  
Irfan Khan ◽  
Khaliqur Rahman ◽  
Sattam Al Otaibi ◽  
Hend I. Alkhammash ◽  
...  

This paper presents a novel, scalable, and modular multiport power electronic topology for the integration of multiple resources. This converter is not only scalable in terms of the integration of multiple renewable energy resources (RES) and storage devices (SDs) but is also scalable in terms of output ports. Multiple dc outputs of a converter are designed to serve as input to the stacking modules (SMs) of the modular multilevel converter (MMC). The proposed multiport converter is bidirectional in nature and superior in terms of functionality in a way that a modular universal converter is responsible for the integration of multiple RES/SDs and regulates multiple dc output ports for SMs of MMC. All input ports can be easily integrated (and controlled), and output ports also can be controlled independently in response to any load variations. An isolated active half-bridge converter with multiple secondaries acts as a central hub for power processing with multiple renewable energy resources that are integrated at the primary side. To verify the proposed converter, a detailed design of the converter-based system is presented along with the proposed control algorithm for managing power on the individual component level. Additionally, different modes of power management (emulating the availability/variability of renewable energy sources (RES)) are exhibited and analyzed here. Finally, detailed simulation results are presented in detail for the validation of the proposed concepts and design process.


Clean Energy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-123
Author(s):  
Manish Kumar Thukral

Abstract Renewable-energy resources require overwhelming adoption by the common masses for safeguarding the environment from pollution. In this context, the prosumer is an important emerging concept. A prosumer in simple terms is the one who consumes as well as produces electricity and sells it either to the grid or to a neighbour. In the present scenario, peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading is gaining momentum as a new vista of research that is viewed as a possible way for prosumers to sell energy to neighbours. Enabling P2P energy trading is the only method of making renewable-energy sources popular among the common masses. For making P2P energy trading successful, blockchain technology is sparking considerable interest among researchers. Combined with smart contracts, a blockchain provides secure tamper-proof records of transactions that are recorded in distributed ledgers that are immutable. This paper explores, using a thorough review of recently published research work, how the existing power sector is reshaping in the direction of P2P energy trading with the application of blockchain technology. Various challenges that are being faced by researchers in the implementation of blockchain technology in the energy sector are discussed. Further, this paper presents different start-ups that have emerged in the energy-sector domain that are using blockchain technology. To give insight into the application of blockchain technology in the energy sector, a case of the application of blockchain technology in P2P trading in electrical-vehicle charging is discussed. At the end, some possible areas of research in the application of blockchain technology in the energy sector are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 56-61
Author(s):  
Ahmet Erhan AKAN

The decrease in fossil-based energy sources and increasing environmental problems increase the tendency to renewable energy sources day by day. The potential of renewable energy sources differs according to the region where the energy will be produced. For this reason, it is crucial to conduct a good feasibility study that deals with the selected systems from a technical and economic point of view before making an investment decision on energy conversion systems based on renewable energy sources. In this study, the most suitable equipment and capacities were investigated by examining the techno-economic analysis of a hybrid system created with wind-solar renewable energies for a detached house, which is considered off-grid, in a rural area of Tekirdağ province (40o58.7ı N, 27o30.7ı E). Investigations were carried out using the HOMER Pro (Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable) program. The wind and solar energy potential of Tekirdağ province were obtained from the NASA renewable energy resources database added to the HOMER Pro program. The daily electricity requirement of the sample house was chosen as 11.27 kWh, and the current peak electrical load was chosen as 2.39 kW. A wind turbine is connected to the AC busbars, solar collectors and battery group connected to the DC busbars, and a converter that converts energy between AC and DC busbars in the energy conversion system. In order to determine the optimum capacities of the system elements, 27486 different simulations were performed by HOMER Pro. The selection of the most suitable system among these was determined according to the lowest net present cost (NPC) value. In addition, the energy production capacities that will occur in the case of different wind speeds were also investigated. Accordingly, the system to be installed with a solar panel with a capacity of 6.25 kW, PV-MPPT with a capacity of 1 kW, 2 wind turbines with a capacity of 1 kW, 8 Lithium-ion batteries with a capacity of 6V-167 Ah, and a converter with a capacity of 2.5 kW has been determined will generate electrical energy of 5433 kWh per year. In addition, it has been determined that 61.8% of this produced energy will be obtained from solar energy and 38.2% from wind energy, and the simple payback period of the investment will be 14 years. It is thought that this study will provide valuable information to researchers and investors.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 2434-2440
Author(s):  
CRISTINA BACĂU ◽  
◽  
NICOLETA MATEOC-SÎRB ◽  
RAMONA CIOLAC ◽  
TEODOR MATEOC ◽  
...  

The use of renewable energy resources is gaining more and more ground, thanks to the continuous increase in the price of fossil energy and the decrease in stocks, and the management of waste from nuclear energy production, respectively. The implementation of an energy strategy to harness the potential of renewable energy sources (RES) is part of the coordinates of Romania’s medium – and long-term energy development and provides the appropriate framework for the making of decisions on energy alternatives and the inclusion in the Community acquis in the field. In this respect, a study on the biomass potential of Timiş County and on the possibilities of producing unconventional energy from biomass has been carried out. The study is based on research, data collection from the literature, as well as from official documents or official websites, the processing and interpretation of the data and their quantitative and qualitative analysis. It was concluded that biomass is a promising renewable energy source for Romania, both in terms of potential and in terms of usability.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (19) ◽  
pp. 6169
Author(s):  
Ashish Kumar Singhal ◽  
Narendra Singh Beniwal ◽  
Khalid Almutairi ◽  
Joshuva Arockia Dhanraj ◽  
Ali Mostafaeipour ◽  
...  

The world is moving towards the generation of electricity with renewable energy sources (RES) due to the deterioration of the green environment and trying to replace non-renewable energy resources. The real-time results are achieved with the help of an arm controller, having good controller efficiency with the Waijung toolbox, compatible with MATLAB using STM32ST-link utility. In this paper, the authors are focused on areas such as easy to implement controller efficiency, and real-time solutions for modified direct-control perturbation & observation (DC-P&O) technique based on 32- bit ARM Cortex microcontroller (STM32F407VGT6) with embedded programming using Waijung blocksets, which offers very expected outcomes of the problem to make the stand-alone system efficient with fast-tracking. The observation setup is tested with a 40-watt photovoltaic (PV) panel with resistive load for achieving its stability. The designed algorithm enhances the efficiency of the controller by 84.48% for the real-time parameters of the PV panel at maximum power point (MPP) for a 57% duty ratio.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandros I. Nikolaidis ◽  
Francisco M. Gonzalez-Longatt ◽  
C. A. Charalambous

The continuous increase on the penetration levels of Renewable Energy Sources (RESs) in power systems has led to radical changes on the design, operation, and control of the electrical network. This paper investigates the influence of these changes on the operation of a transmission network by developing a set of indices, spanning from power losses to GHG emissions reduction. These indices are attempting to quantify any impacts therefore providing a tool for assessing the RES penetration in transmission networks, mainly for isolated systems. These individual indices are assigned an analogous weight and are mingled to provide a single multiobjective index that performs a final evaluation. These indices are used to evaluate the impact of the integration of RES into the classic WSCC 3-machine, 9-bus transmission network.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saravanan Dhanushkodi ◽  
Vincent H. Wilson ◽  
Kumarasamy Sudhakar

Abstract Cashew nut farming in India is mostly carried out in small and marginal holdings. Energy consumption in the small scale cashew nut processing industry is very high and is mainly due to the high energy consumption of the drying process. The drying operation provides a lot of scope for energy saving and substitutions of other renewable energy sources. Renewable energy-based drying systems with loading capacity of 40 kg were proposed for application in small scale cashew nut processing industries. The main objective of this work is to perform economic feasibility of substituting solar, biomass and hybrid dryer in place of conventional steam drying for cashew drying. Four economic indicators were used to assess the feasibility of three renewable based drying technologies. The payback time was 1.58 yr. for solar, 1.32 for biomass and 1.99 for the hybrid drying system, whereas as the cost-benefit estimates were 5.23 for solar, 4.15 for biomass and 3.32 for the hybrid system. It was found that it is of paramount importance to develop solar biomass hybrid dryer for small scale processing industries.


Author(s):  
Ioannis Panapakidis ◽  
Georgios Gousis ◽  
Nikolaos Koltsaklis ◽  
Athanasios Dagoumas

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