solar power Archives - Darryn Van Hout

Energy retailers are calling for tarriff reforms to fight solar

Darryn Van Hout — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 02:30:13 +0000

As solar power continues to gain popularity in many parts of Australia, the industry is facing challenges from the big power companies that are lobbying for tariff reform from Federal and State Energy Ministers. In effect what Big Business power companies want to do is charge extra to those that use solar energy.

Electricity networks believe tariff reform is necessary because under the present setup, solar users have an advantage over the power they access on the main grid. On the opposing side, solar energy consultant Nigel Morris said that “solar owners are being discriminated against.”

Tariff reform calls to fight solar advantage

The major electrical networks maintain otherwise, claiming solar users are being too heavily subsidized. In an interview, John Bradley of the Energy Networks Association said his group wants to make sure storage and solar users “meet their fair share” of service on the network.

According to proponents of the tariff reform, changes will save households up to $250 a year and that 65% of customers are going to pay less. If the tariff reform does not go ahead, proponents say in 20 years, the cost of solar will be much cheaper and users will pay 40% less. Furthermore, they claim that homes without solar panels will pay subsidies up to $655 PA.

Solar energy cost is predicted to fall further

The cost to solar panels is getting cheaper and big energy retailers like agl energy are losing money.

However, solar energy advocates say the energy industry feels threatened by the advent of alternative energy and worried about facing an adversary. According to Electricity Economist Bruce Mountain, the electricity networks are losing money as more and more homes now prefer solar energy. Tariff reform lobbying, Mr. Mountain says, is an effort to “to get the revenue back.”

Not only is solar energy usage increasing in homes, but so too are the number of electric vehicles in Australia. As more homes start to store solar energy, more challenges for the electricity networks will come.

Currently the calls for tariff reform changes are being discussed by the Federal and State Energy Ministers. Even as the tariff reform issue is being tackled, observers say the solar energy industry should expect more attacks. Already, one of Australia’s market leading energy providers and the countries biggest coal energy producer AGL Energy, came out with a statement that the tariffs are a “scam” to protect solar powered homes.

AGL on the forefront of calls of tariff reform

The timing of the AGL Energy attack is somewhat odd because just a week before, the company announced that they were going to provide assistance to solar and solar storage. However, supporters of solar energy say this will only be the start of many, as growing acceptance of renewable energy impacts traditional energy companies.

A representative from a major solar energy company said that the proposal for tariff reform is an attempt to make up for the money they lose. Another industry observer said this will be just one of the many “strategies” power companies will use against the solar industry.

Even so, solar and renewable energy advocates say these actions won’t prevent the switch to solar energy. Solar Citizens National Director Claire O’Rourke said that blaming solar owners for the increasing power bills is “misguided to say the least”. According to O’Rourke, the reason why solar energy use is on the rise is because Australians want clean, sustainable and renewable energy.

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Behind the Scenes of the Solar Storage Revolution

Darryn Van Hout — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 23:50:24 +0000

Battery storage is increasingly becoming an attractive and viable option for homes in Australia. The disruptive technology, which is moving faster than expected, is set to revolutionize the way Aussies access electricity–helping more homes to stay independent of the national grid.

Storage batteries are indeed the holy grail of renewable energy and a significant element to the massive transition from fossil fuels. The lithium-ion battery to be precise is the future that is already here with us, a power revolution for our homes.

The storage device, the home battery, is taking power back to the consumer. With Australia being at the forefront of this energy revolution; you too need one of these to experience the potential of a 24-hour renewable power.

An Energy Revolution On The Horizon

While buying home energy storage systems was in the past, an option for most Australians, the batteries and other storage components have been cumbersome, expensive and difficult to operate and maintain. This is one of the reasons why residential energy storage has, up until now been largely confined to storage buffs and off-grid applications.

But, the emergence of the lithium-ion batteries and related technology is shifting all that. The next gen energy storage is expected to be cheaper, better and streamlined. In the near future, plug-and-play, set and forget battery storage for homes will become commonplace in Australian households that use solar.

Benefits Of The Lithium-ion Batteries

Lithium-ion batteries come in almost any device you can think of – tablets, power tools, cell phones, notebook computers, and electric cars. They have some inherent features that make them distinct from the wet-cell lead acid batteries like those found in your car. These features include:

Lighter
Higher energy density
Lower maintenance
Lower self-discharge
Increased cycle life
No “memory effect”

Battery Storage To Provide ‘zero dollar’ power bills

According to a report by the Climate Council of Australia, a combination of solar panels and home battery storage will be the cheapest way for Australians to power their homes and businesses.

With home battery storage estimated to grow 50-fold in the next 10 years, the report dubbed the Powerful Potential: Battery Storage for Renewable Energy and Electric Cars, predicts that as early as 2018, going off-grid will be cost-competitive with staying connected. The report further indicates that as the feed-in tariffs (FITs) are phased out and grid electricity cost increases, Australia could become the leading market for the solar storage within the same period.

“Anyone who has PV [photovoltaic cells] on their roof knows they’re paid a fraction – maybe a tenth – of what it costs them to buy power off the grid,” the Climate Council’s Andrew Stock said.

“If they have a tool, a battery, that can allow them to store the surplus power during the day and use it at night, it means they’re going to get greater control than they already have over their power bill.”

Bottom line…How Much Will It Cost?

Up until early last year, the cost of a seven kilowatt battery together with an inverter and installation was way above $15,000. However, in the past few months, prices have dropped rapidly by more than a third. The cost is expected to drop drastically with time.

Analysts predict that by 2020, the prices of storage batteries will have fallen and grid-supplied power charges will rise to a level that will make batteries the mainstream solar storage device. This will lead to lower power bills resulting savings in hundreds of thousands of dollars for consumers.

Why Australia Is Predicted To Adopt Home Battery Storage Faster

Half of all Australian households are expected to take up solar systems coupled with home battery storage, creating a potential market growth of $24 billion. Of course, this technology will be disruptive to network operators in the market, and in fact, some companies are already adjusting their power prices to discourage coupling of solar and battery.

The land under has a unique confluence. The country enjoys a lot of sunshine, has a tech-savvy community, its electricity costs have skyrocketed over time, and has a population that really wants immediate change in the energy industry.

“This is perverse, because battery systems, coupled with PV, can actually help networks get much better use out of their assets by smoothing out the demand on the grid,” the Climate Council’s Andrew Stock added.

“That should mean that network companies don’t need to invest anywhere near as much at adding capacity in the future, and they get better use out of the existing capacity.”

Understanding The Grid’s Superstructure

Australia has three main electricity grids- one in WA, another in the Northern Territory, and the Eastern Seaboard grid, which is currently the largest interconnected electricity system in the whole world. This is really complex and one hell of a job managing it.

Mention the term grid and what comes to the minds of most Aussies is energy storage—where power generated from coal or gas is stored and used as needed. Unfortunately, that’s not how the traditional grid works. Apparently, there’s little electricity storage. Generally, demand is met by turning up or down the power stations just the way we turn on or off our lights. However, with the grid, operators have to get it right on a minute-by-minute basis otherwise too much power would blow up our power poles and not enough power would mean blackout. And of course, when the safety mechanisms kick in, so does blackout.

So, how does this massive network keep accurate pace with our modern lives? Well, it takes a complex interaction between grid operators and power generators, all which work through the National Electricity Market (NEM).

What This Means For Power Consumers

This simply means that the more electricity people use, the more expensive it becomes. Based on demand, NEM, the wholesale price for electricity can either go up or down. Everything seems to be under control right now, but what if the energy consumption spikes instantly? Fortunately, the Snowy Hydro Scheme as well as the gas-fired plants can respond immediately to prevent a blackout. All they have to do is twist the tap up and more power is instantly churned out—at the end of the day, they earn a special premium for this. Now, this is where your battery storage comes in handy as a solution to earn you money.
Battery storage is an important element of the switch to renewable energy. As more renewable power is added into the system, the general influx of intermittent energy complicates further the management of the grid.

South Australia for example has encountered situations where more renewable energy is produced than what people require. The only option has been to export the excess power to others states like Victoria. If this was the case across the entire country, then there would be no place to export this power other than the batteries. Solar battery storage is expected to redefine the energy space. The home batteries are a fundamental game changer and part of the revolution predicted to make renewable power a 24-hour power. These devices will:

Smooth out the grid
Store excess power
Rapidly release power when needed

With over 1.4 million households in Australia having installed solar panels, topping this with battery storage would create the biggest power station in the country’s system.

Energy experts always told us that solar is good, wind is good, but they were not base load power. Well, he lithium-ion storage battery simply that; a battery revolution with base load power.

Want Solar Battery Storage?

You’re not alone—lots of Australian households are already embracing the battery storage to reduce their daily dependence on the conventional power companies that have for decades controlled and manipulated them.

Previously, consumers would pump their excess energy into the grid and get paid seven cents a kilowatt hour. They would buy the same electricity four times this price. With the lithium battery, you’ll earn more money without doing anything except exporting excess power to the grid.

In Summary

Well, this is where we are now. Batteries are the thing that is bringing the ultimate revolution to the 24-hour renewable energy. Fossil fuels will have to go, and with the solar storage, you and your family will contribute to the future we all want.

The post Behind the Scenes of the Solar Storage Revolution appeared first on Darryn Van Hout.

The Past, Present, & Future Of Electricity In Australia

Darryn Van Hout — Tue, 28 Jul 2015 02:33:43 +0000

Let’s be honest, the cost of electricity has made a huge contribution to the high cost of living and the difficulties Australian families experience in balancing their family budgets. According to a survey carried out by Ernst & Young in October 2014, a third of all Australians missed a payment for their electricity usage in the last 12 months.

The fact of the matter is that Australians are hurting and power bills should no longer be a political opportunity for politicians to win votes but a serious concern necessitating realistically lasting solutions. In essence, not even the compensation for households that are least able to afford the rising power prices can have a long-term impact.

In the past five years, electricity prices have skyrocketed by as much as 40 per cent in some states of Australia. When you compare these statistics with other countries like Canada, the United States, the European Union, and Japan, Australian electricity bills are way too high as reported by the Energy Users Association of Australia (EUAA), something the Federal Government blatantly acknowledged but has failed to address.

Electricity prices in Australia over the past 25 years.

The significantly high power prices are generally considered to be fueled by three key factors: deregulation, infrastructure costs/network charges, and introduction of the carbon tax. Despite government efforts to mitigate the high cost of living pressures, electricity bills keep increasing. The good news is that the most sustainable solution to lowering power bills in Australia ultimately lies on the 1.3 million Australian household rooftops. One of Australia’s leading consumer care websites, Australian Solar Quotes*, reports that despite the withdrawal of political support, the uptake of rooftop solar panels is continuing to rise, even in the current economic climate. Is the trend a result of Australia’s earlier solar boom or do the good folks of Australia have little choice but to resort to solar power as an alternative?

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one in five Australian households uses solar energy to power their electrical appliances. Even though the cost savings for investment in solar power are clear, this figure is still surprisingly low considering that the installation of a solar power system is a sure way to reduce a householder’s dependence on the grid with a zero power bill as a real possibility with the latest technological advances.

As mentioned, there are three main factors that result in high electricity prices in Australia. The first is network charges, which in fact account for up to 51% of the total cost of electricity. Next is the cost of transporting the high-priced, premium electricity across poles and wires. Lastly, let’s not forget the subsidies paid by Australians to support renewable energy also contribute to the high power costs. The introduction of the now scrapped carbon tax also had a significant impact on power prices, coming in at 9%.

Fierce competition among energy suppliers forms a vital part of the answer. Many of these companies are global, operating in export markets, and if their electricity prices are forced up, the consequences would be far reaching in terms of loss of jobs, investment, etc.

The federal government acknowledges that power bills are likely to keep rising due to the huge investments needed to maintain network infrastructure. This means that ever-rising electricity prices will still hurt Australian households and impact negatively on businesses.

How Solar Storage Next-Gen Technology is Revolutionizing the Energy Market

As the debate about the factors driving up power prices wages on, renewable energy product manufacturers are busy developing new technologies to drive down electricity prices. With the emergence of innovative solar energy solutions such as lithium-ion batteries, solar storage batteries are poised to dramatically reshape the energy industry in Australia.

A study commissioned by UBS, a world-leading investment bank, reveals that solar plus storage is an economically sustainable and low-risk solution for Australian households. For instance, if one million Australian households invest $20 billion in solar storage systems today, this would translate to enough capital for setting up a new LNG export plant.

The emergence of cost-competitive solar storage batteries such as Tesla’s new storage battery is a real revolution for the Australian electricity industry. This advanced battery storage system is poised to have a great impact on utilities, depending upon on how they react. If they embrace it as an opportunity to reduce high power prices, they can provide zero-down solar and battery storage installations to their consumers, thus pushing down costs for Australian households. On the other hand, they can view it as a threat and actively oppose this being launched in the Australian market.

The Tesla Powerwall has the potential to make a huge impact in the global energy industry and is indeed a timely innovation. The lithium-ion battery is one-of-a-kind. It’s designed to enable rechargeable energy storage at residential levels that can be used for load shifting, backing up power for use during an outage, and enabling self-consumption at peak times.

The solar storage battery by Tesla is a step forward for the Australian energy market. As the storage battery is a cheaper (inclusive of the foreign exchange and shipping) and highly efficient option compared to the existing solar power systems in the domestic market, it’s likely to significantly reduce dependence on the grid with a relatively quick payback period.

The new Powerwall from Tesla’s leading US-based energy technology company is an easy-to-handle wall-mounted solar storage unit which can hold a maximum of 10 kWh, delivered at an average of 2 kWh each day. The solution to the high power prices to Australian consumers lies in this innovative solar battery technology.

The price of a 10kWh weekly cycling backup storage system will be $US3,500 and $US3,000 is the price for a 7kWh daily cycling Powerwall. This excludes the cost of inverter (which typically comes with the solar panel system) and installation costs. Everything together is approximately US$500 per kWh, which is way below the existing industry cost which ranges between $US1,000 and $US1,250/kWh. Clearly, there’s great potential for dramatic storage battery cost reduction in coming years, just as the cost of solar panels has plunged in recent years.

The Tesla storage battery’s cost will ultimately deliver power for about $6-8 cents per kWh to any solar system for every Australian household. The combined cost of the rooftop solar and Tesla’s lithium-ion storage will therefore be much cheaper when compared to the coal-fired power delivered via the national grid.

With the new technology, eliminating grid dependence will become a reality for Australian households and high electricity costs will be a thing of the past. Solar + batteries have already been embraced in areas with high electricity prices like Hawaii. Although at the crossroads with incumbent utility companies, Tesla’s solar storage battery has a bright future in the Australian market.

The lithium-ion batteries will see more Australian households maximizing the amount of self-consumption. At the traditional end of power generation, the existing business models based on coal-fired power stations and huge networks of wires and poles will be seriously challenged.

Why Australian Households Should Invest in Tesla’s Solar Storage Battery

Solar + storage is particularly attractive in Australia due to its climate. The idea of generating one’s own electricity and storing it for use at a later time is attractive to Australian households. Solar, compared to other forms of power generation, is cost-effective and convenient with the only big constraint being the availability of adequate space for the panels.

The disadvantage of solar energy is that the sun reaches the panels for only a limited number of hours each day and solar power generation is inconsistent. The storage battery enables the power requirements and pattern of usage of the household to better match power generation.

Before the invention of Tesla’s lithium-ion storage battery, storage was relatively expensive and consumer unfriendly, mostly involving less efficient, heavy, lead-acid batteries requiring more space. However, lithium-ion batteries including Tesla’s PowerWall are changing that. With their costs likely to fall sharply in the near future, more and more Australian households will enjoy the unique features of these batteries:

Much lighter
Occupy less space
Discharged virtually at a constant voltage
Hold charge for extended periods of time

It’s worth noting that Australian households are likely to enjoy reduced power prices through Tesla’s new technology only if the federal government and other stakeholders in the energy industry scale up production of lithium-ion battery housings, energy monitoring, storage battery management systems, and integrated manufacturing of solar energy components including inverters. Whether they take up that challenge, only time will tell.

This article was originally posted on CleanTechnica.com

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