Full Title: Good Neighbors on the Grid: Large-Scale Solar, Utilities, and Customers
Author(s): GreenTech Media
Publisher(s):
Publication Date: December 1, 2016
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
An energy system is, in some ways, like a neighborhood. Utilities and other distribution grid operators, DER operators, and end users all affect each other, directly and indirectly. Their differing agendas are, in many ways, complementary. Holistic awareness of an energy neighborhood can yield more robust and mutually beneficial energy systems.
Meanwhile, emerging technologies are creating opportunities to enhance grid capacity and resilience, as well as new business opportunities and economic efficiencies. Key technologies to watch include smart inverters, battery energy storage, and DER management systems. Also, strategies such as orienting solar plants for greater grid compatibility, or power purchase agreements based on time-of-delivery rates, can help solar plants function more harmoniously with utilities and nearby end users.
A holistic perspective can prove especially useful in addressing challenges from the grid-edge solar integration — such as power quality problems, backfeeding, coordinating DERs and centralized generation, and interacting with transmission networks.