Truth: Rooftop Solar Capacity Benefits All Ratepayers

[Finishline42]

No matter what the utilites companies say - solar PV is going to dominate the future growth of electricity generation.

The utility and fossil-fuel industries continue to spread a crude canard against the growing popularity of rooftop solar across America.

The lie goes something like this: Households and business that install photovoltaic panels are doing so at the expense of other electricity ratepayers because they are “subsidized” by those that don’t have solar panels.

The truth is this: Rooftop solar provides substantial benefits for everyone, regardless of who installs it. It helps power the homes and shops that adopt it, to be sure, but it has far-reaching benefits for other customers as well. If Jane Doe in Anywhere, USA, puts a solar panel on her roof, every other electricity ratepayer within the footprint of whatever regional grid Jane Doe is tied into will benefit as well.

Bernstein lays out the supporting research in a reported published last month that found that the rapid increase in the amount of solar PV available on the electricity grid in California—a seven-fold expansion in only four years, from 0.7 gigawatts in 2010 to 4.8 GW in 2014— had helped reduce system loads so much that peak prices were put off until later in the day, when demand was lower. Lower demand means lower prices.

[link:http://ieefa.org/truth-rooftop-solar-capacity-benefits-all-ratepayers/|

[NYC_SKP]

1. The fact remains that rate structures have to adapt, local infrastructure improve.

Many parts of the grid, especially at the neighborhood level of distribution, are not robust enough to handle additional unregulated grid-tied distributed generation.

We need to work in a coordinated and non-antagonistic way with utlity providers to move forward.

And if they are an investor owned utility, some customers will have to pay more.

It's a real dilemma, but solveable.

[Finishline42]

3. I agree

What is not talked about by the utilities is line loss. Utilities get paid for what they send to the grid, not what is delivered to another utility hundreds of miles away. And as a result, I agree with you, much of the current grid is outdated and inefficient.

But the fact of the matter is that customers that purchase solar PV for their homes and businesses reduce the amount of power they need from utilities - especially during peak periods - thus reducing the load on the grid. The best part of solar PV is that it works best when the sun is shinning which is when the normal peak loads hit the grid due to A/C usage.

[abelenkpe]

2. K&R

[djean111]

4. I think that corporations not making as much profit is the stumbling block.

If the power companies had managed to get legislation in place earlier, regarding hook-up fees, they would not have a problem with solar - hell, enough solar and good enough storage, they could have just been a fucking clearing house and re-distributor.
My hope is that the entire system will evolve into smaller, local grids, because the giant grids at present are so open to hackers, physical failure, huge infrastructure maintenance, accidents, weather conditions - any of these can plunge millions of homes into darkness and worse.

IMO, solar is a Disruption, and those who make so much money from fossil fuels will fight this change merely for financial reasons. But - change must come. Do any other countries act this way - try and drown disrupting new technologies in order to save the profits for a few? Here, I wouldn't be surprised to see Congress pass a bill that mandates nuclear and fracking and coal mines, and penalizes solar panel installations,

[Finishline42]

5. Almost all utility companies work on a cost plus basis

Almost all utility companies work on a cost plus basis. As a result reducing cost is not a priority.

Solar PV and wind farms work counter to how utilities make their money. Almost all of the cost is upfront but then there are decades of power generation without significant cost. Early payoff of the initial investment undercuts their business model.