Solar energy Energy Centre summer school in Energy Economics 18-21 February 2019 - Kiti Suomalainen
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Solar energy
Energy Centre summer school in Energy Economics
18-21 February 2019
Kiti Suomalainen
k.suomalainen@auckland.ac.nz
Outline The resource The technologies, status & costs Solar energy in the world Solar energy in New Zealand Research at the Energy Centre
The resource
WORLD ENERGY USE:
18.5 TWy/y
RENEWABLES [TWy/y]:
Solar 23,000
Wind 75-130
Waves 0.2-2
OTEC 3-11
Biomass 2-6
Hydro 3-4
Geothermal 0.2-3++
Tidal 0.3
FINITE [TWy]:
Nat. Gas 220
Petroleum 335
Uranium 185++
Coal 830
• Sun > 1000 x world energy
demand
• 6 hr of sun ~ 1 yr of world
energy demand
• All petroleum < 4 days of sun
• All coal ~ 2 weeks of sun
Source: https://www.iea-shc.org/data/sites/1/publications/2015-11-A-Fundamental-Look-at-Supply-Side-Energy-Reserves-for-the-Planet.pdf
The resource
Capturing solar energy
• Heat – through absorption
• Pools & sanitary water
• Drying (water evaporation) e.g. crops, other foods
• Passive space heating
• Mechanical work -> electricity (solar thermal electricity /
concentrating solar power)
• Photoreaction
• Photosynthesis
• Photovoltaic (PV) effect
Solar photovoltaics (PV)
• Absorption of incident photons to
creates electron-hole pairs.
• Electron-hole pairs will be generated in
the solar cell (provided that the
incident photon has an energy greater
than that of the band gap).
• The pair is separated due to the
electric field existing at the p-n
junction -> electrons flow one way,
holes the other
PV technologies
Most widely used and developed in the world:
Crystalline
95% of global production in 2017
Silicon PV
(c-Si) Efficiency: 16-18%.
5% of global production in 2017
Thin films Costs less in energy and material than c-Si
(a-Si, CdTe, (above)
CIGS) Efficiency: 12-16%
Concentrating Still under development!
solar PV /
Aim: high efficiency using materials that are
advanced thin non-toxic and abundant
films
Efficiency: 20-60%
The solar spectrum
Concentrating solar power (solar thermal electricity) • Generating solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight, or solar thermal energy, onto a small area. • Electricity is generated when the concentrated light is converted to heat, which drives a heat engine (usually a steam turbine) connected to an electrical power generator.
Concentrated solar power
with storage
https://www.solarpaces.org/how-
csp-thermal-energy-storage-works/Large solar power plants (45 MW)
Large solar
power plants
“the largest single-
site project will
generate 700
megawatts (MW) of
power when
completed”Large solar power plants
Solar PV in the world
Source: REN21, 2018European solar PV module Average yearly module
PV Costs: prices by technology and
manufacturer
prices by market in 2015
and 2016
Modules
• Reduction in
processing costs
• Fall in polysilicon costs
• Improvement in PV
efficiencies
Source: IRENA, 2018.PV costs: Detailed breakdown of utility-scale solar PV costs
by country, 2016
breakdown
Source: IRENA, 2018.Concentrated solar power in the world
Source: REN21, 2018CSP cost trends
Source: IRENA, 2018.Solar energy in New Zealand
Installed solar capacity
in NZ: 89 MW Residential
49.4 MW
25.4 MW
Installed solar capacity in
New Zealand per island
Dec 2018 5.7 MW
58.2 MW
SMEs 3.9 MW
31.0 MW
5.3 MW
Commercial 3.1 MW
Source: Electricity Authority,
--- North Island
Electricity Market Information, 3.5 MW
--- South Island
website visited Feb 2019. Industrial 2.6 MWSolar research at the Energy Centre Solar potential of Auckland rooftops using LiDAR data Solar energy and Pacific island grids
Solar potential in Auckland
rooftops using LiDAR data
LiDAR (light detection and ranging) is an optical
remote-sensing technique that uses laser light to
densely sample the surface of the earth, producing
highly accurate x,y,z measurements.
Laser pulses emitted from a LiDAR system reflect
from objects both on and above the ground surface:
vegetation, buildings, bridges, and so on.
One emitted laser pulse can return to the LiDAR
sensor as one or many returns (reflect from multiple
surfaces).
The first returned laser pulse is the most significant
return and will be associated with the highest
feature in the landscape like a treetop or the top of
a building. The first return can also represent the
ground, in which case only one return will be
detected by the LiDAR system.LiDAR data example
LiDAR data Collected by NZ Aerial Mapping and Aerial Surveys Limited for Auckland Council in 2013/2014. Flight info: Altitude 900m, 1600m, 1000m Scan frequency 36Hz, 45Hz, 42.9Hz Average point spacing: minimum 1.5 points per m2 Vertical accuracy: +/-0.1m
LiDAR -> Digital surface model
• Elevation data
• Resolution: 1 m2
• Used to calculate roof
• Slope
• Orientation
Solar radiationSolar potential
Solar webtool: solarpower.cer.auckland.ac.nz
Latest developments:
Investigating PV deployment strategies
Pinehill, Auckland
• New approach:
• Measured solar radiation data as input
• Results saved at hourly level
12 representative days for a year
• Tested on 1 suburb: Pinehill
• Roughly 1000 housesSmall PV systems on all roofs vs. larger systems on “best” 50% of all roofs? Results: PV output
Small PV systems on all roofs vs. larger systems on “best” 50% of all roofs? Results: Economic assessment
Solar and grids:
Challenges in island energy systems
Many island states have high renewable energy Where should the new tech go?
targets, 100%: e.g. Cook Islands, Samoa, Tuvalu,
Vanuatu.
Projects focused on isolated solar/wind/battery
systems – omitting (economic) impacts on grid.
Grids are costly to build and maintain.
Solar + battery project costs vary significantly by
location.
We need to understand how to transition to a
resilient, low-carbon energy system at lowest
system cost.
Source: www.epa.govFuture
research
Solar in island grids
• Develop economic assessment model for exploring optimal deployment path for
solar/distributed generation with option of phasing out the grid.
• Test for one island, produce a model that can be applied to other islands.
• Introduce stochasticity for uncertainty in fuel/carbon price, technology costs, climate change
impacts.
Solar in urban environments
• Investigate optimal deployment strategies under different cost scenarios
• Include demand patternsThank you!
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