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Electrical transmission and distribution costs dwarf the cost of solar generation, 1x-5x the cost of solar generation, and you have to beef all that up for uti

Electrical transmission and distribution costs dwarf the cost of solar generation, 1x-5x the cost of solar generation, and you have to beef all that up for utility scale solar. Also, the interconnection queues for attaching your project to the grid are getting astronomically long now, and this is one of the biggest impediments to new renewable generation. One of the most valuable assets of a coal generation sites is its connection to the grid; all the rest of facility might have negative value, but the value of the connection can offset all that. Utility scale solar is great, until you consider how to connect it up to load.

pyrale 4y ago
I'm honestly surprised about transmission and distribution costs dwarfing other costs. In my country, it's about 30% of power cost, and power generation costs here are pretty cheap, considering they've been amortized for a while now. Are you working in an area with a low consumer density? > Also, the interconnection queues for attaching your project to the grid are getting astronomically long now, and this is one of the biggest impediments to new renewable generation. Yeah, that's unsurprising. Power Grids are not something that adapts fast to topological change.
simplicio 4y ago
Those costs are paid either way though, aren't they? At least, it seems that close to 100% of houses with roof-top solar are still grid connected, so I don't really see how they'd achieve any savings related to transmission and distribution.
- epistasis 4y ago
  With no behind-the-meter solar, the peak for T&D is during midday. With behind-the-meter solar, this peak is capped, and if the local solar is allowed to power the rest of the distribution nod with net metering, then that means less transmission too. T&D must be sized for the peak, so lots of residential solar means a lower peak and lower T&D costs. Of course, this goes agains the utility narrative, because they can't admit that or else their regulators might have to allow such residential net metering. Instead, utilities try to frame the argument that solar customers are taking away from their neighbors or somehow not paying their fair share. But when evaluated as a whole system, using massive distributed solar along with utility scale is far cheaper than building it all utility scale due to the T&D savings.

pyrale 4y ago

I'm honestly surprised about transmission and distribution costs dwarfing other costs. In my country, it's about 30% of power cost, and power generation costs here are pretty cheap, considering they've been amortized for a while now. Are you working in an area with a low consumer density? > Also, the interconnection queues for attaching your project to the grid are getting astronomically long now, and this is one of the biggest impediments to new renewable generation. Yeah, that's unsurprising. Power Grids are not something that adapts fast to topological change.

simplicio 4y ago

Those costs are paid either way though, aren't they? At least, it seems that close to 100% of houses with roof-top solar are still grid connected, so I don't really see how they'd achieve any savings related to transmission and distribution.

epistasis 4y ago
With no behind-the-meter solar, the peak for T&D is during midday. With behind-the-meter solar, this peak is capped, and if the local solar is allowed to power the rest of the distribution nod with net metering, then that means less transmission too. T&D must be sized for the peak, so lots of residential solar means a lower peak and lower T&D costs. Of course, this goes agains the utility narrative, because they can't admit that or else their regulators might have to allow such residential net metering. Instead, utilities try to frame the argument that solar customers are taking away from their neighbors or somehow not paying their fair share. But when evaluated as a whole system, using massive distributed solar along with utility scale is far cheaper than building it all utility scale due to the T&D savings.