Solar Power

Solar power has replaced wind power to become the largest renewable energy technology in India.

According to data reported by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for January 2021, solar power capacity in India was 38.7 gigawatts. Wind energy capacity was reported to be 38.6 gigawatts.

Solar power overtaking wind power as India’s largest renewable energy technology is no surprise — this was expected for a long time. However, the pace at which solar power capacity has grown has been stellar. Ten years back, solar power capacity was just 18 megawatts, while wind power capacity was at 13 gigawatts (13,000 megawatts). So, during the last ten years, solar power capacity has grown 2,150 times while wind power capacity has grown three times.

There are several reasons behind this exponential growth of solar power. More states in India are blessed with solar energy resources than those endowed with wind energy resources. Except the northeastern states and a few northern states, nearly every Indian state can support large-scale solar power projects. Wind power projects have been concentrated in six to seven states, with most of the capacity installed in coastal states.

Another factor that has supported solar’s rise over wind power is the rapid decline in equipment costs. The price of solar power modules has declined sharply over the last few years, especially due to large production capacity growth from Chinese manufacturers, which supply a large majority of cells and modules used in India. While India is largely self-sufficient in wind energy equipment manufacturing, companies here have failed to launch the largest megawatt-sized turbines seen in the European market.

This decline in cost has also led to a sharp decline in tariff bids submitted by developers. Earlier this year, two tenders witnessed bids of around Rs 2 (2.84¢) per kilowatt-hour, a new record low for solar power in India.

The development of solar power parks that provide the plug-and-play ability for developers to implement projects has been a major differentiator between solar and wind power development. Several states as well as the MNRE focused on the development of large solar power parks of sizes up to 4 gigawatts. No such concerted effort was undertaken for the development of wind power parks.

Finally, successive Indian governments have focused more on solar power development. A national mission for solar power was launched in 2010 while a similar mission for wind energy was launched in 2015. The installation target was also much higher for solar power. India set a target to have 100 gigawatts of solar power and only 60 gigawatts of wind power by 2022. This is in spite of the fact that wind power already had a huge heads-up in terms of installed capacity over solar power when these targets were announced in 2014.

 

 

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A Duke Energy Florida plan that would add 10 solar-power plants faces a challenge at the state Supreme Court.

Attorneys for the League of United Latin American Citizens of Florida filed a notice this week that they are challenging a Jan. 5 decision by the state Public Service Commission to approve what Duke has dubbed the “Clean Energy Connection Program.”

While utilities have rushed to build solar-power plants during the past few years, the Duke program has a financial structure that involves some customers volunteering to initially pay more on their electric bills to help finance the projects — and then receiving bill credits in the future.

The notice filed this week, as is common, does not detail the arguments that the League of United Latin American Citizens of Florida will make at the Supreme Court. But the group, represented by attorneys from the Earthjustice legal organization, has argued that the plan will shift costs and financial risks to the vast majority of Duke customers who do not participate.

“Approving Duke’s program would lead to unfair and discriminatory rate structures that harm Duke’s customer base, particularly low-income customers, while awarding participating customers hundreds of millions of dollars of energy credits,” the Earthjustice attorneys wrote in a December document filed at the Public Service Commission. “As designed, the program depends on allocating all risk to non-participants.”

But in a December document, Duke attorneys disputed the opponents’ arguments and wrote that the program “presents an innovative tool for adding cost-effective solar generation to DEF’s (Duke Energy Florida’s) system for the benefit of all DEF customers, while also responding to specific customer demands for solar generation.”

“The CEC (Clean Energy Connection) Program represents the next evolution in DEF’s commitment to increasing renewable generation and providing its customers with innovative pricing solutions,” the utility said in the document.

The Public Service Commission voted 4-1 to approve the program, which came after Duke, Walmart and the groups Vote Solar and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy negotiated what is known as a “stipulation” about the details.

The program involves building 10 74.9-megawatt solar plants, with two coming online in January 2022, four coming online in January 2023 and four coming online in January 2024, according to Duke’s proposal filed at the Public Service Commission in July. The costs of each plant would range from $102 million to $113 million.

But the dispute about the program largely has focused on its financial structure, with opponents contending that it would disproportionately benefit Walmart and other large customers that would help pay upfront costs and then receive future credits.

But Duke has contended, in part, that the program would benefit all customers because the solar projects would ultimately reduce the need to build costly natural-gas plants and would help reduce carbon emissions.

The Public Service Commission also approved a similar program last year for Florida Power & Light.

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Republished with permission from The News Service of Florida.

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Integrated electricity company EDF has become a shareholder in next-generation utility Bboxx Kenya.

Together the two companies aim to provide access to clean, reliable, affordable, CO2 free energy to more than two million Kenyans with solar home systems by 2025.

Under the terms of the agreement, EDF takes a 23% stake in Bboxx Kenya. In addition to the equity investment, EDF will bring its commercial resources and experience from developing off-grid solutions in several African countries.

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EDF’s investment in Bboxx’s Kenya operations will accelerate expansion into what is currently Bboxx’s largest market. Bboxx manufactures, distributes and finances decentralised solar powered systems in developing countries and has been operating in Kenya since 2011. To date, it has positively impacted the lives of 500,000 individuals, rural households, communities and SMEs across Kenya.

The Kenyan market represents a major growth opportunity for Bboxx and its partners. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Bboxx’s business model has been resilient, with plans to ramp up shop openings across the country to meet growing consumer demand.

As a result, Bboxx and current shareholder African Infrastructure Investment Fund 3 (AIIF3), a fund managed by Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), are contributing further investment in Bboxx Kenya. This builds on momentum from the USD 31 million investment from AIIM in Bboxx’s Kenya, Rwanda and DRC operations in 2019. 

Ashwin West, AIIM Investment Director: “We are excited to be working with EDF in the off-grid energy sector, supporting our shared goal of providing clean, affordable energy to two million Kenyans by 2025. Leveraging accessible technology through strategic partnerships also allows us to bring productive inputs to many and create lasting, impactful change.”

Pay as you go to scale up access to decentralised solar powered systems

This latest step in Bboxx and EDF’s relationship follows the 50% joint venture deal between Bboxx and EDF in Togo, launched in 2018. They recently doubled down on their partnership in Togo, moving beyond Solar Home Systems (SHS) to also include solar-powered irrigation systems for sustainable farming with partners like SunCulture. Bboxx and EDF have worked on various innovative projects in Togo, including launching Tomorrow’s Connected Community where an entire Togolese village is powered by solar energy.

Mansoor Hamayun, CEO and Co-Founder of Bboxx: “Expanding our strong partnership with EDF after success in our Togo joint venture demonstrates our commitment to scale and expand access to essential off-grid solar energy. By forging strategic partnerships with major global firms, we can mobilise substantial investment to accelerate progress towards UN’s SDG 7 – clean energy for all.”

This investment by EDF in Kenya will turbo-charge the roll-out of Bboxx’s Solar Home Systems (SHS) available to customers on a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) basis using mobile money. Bboxx’s management platform Bboxx Pulse, powered by the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, enables remote management and monitoring. This means the company can scale access to clean energy across vast locations.

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Valerie Levkov, EDF’s Senior Vice President Africa, Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean Division: “At EDF, we are excited to build on our existing partnership with Bboxx to further ramp up our common activities in the field of off-grid development in several African countries. We are very happy to work with such a like-minded partner who shares our commitment to building a low-carbon future. Our expansion on the Kenyan market is part of our CAP 2030 strategic goal of tripling our activities at the international level.”

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He hired Accelerate Solar to install solar panels. The work cost more than $71,000, but he says the company promised that Duke Energy would give him a $6,000 rebate and the federal government would give him a $19,000 tax credit, knocking the price down to $45,000.

GEORGETOWN — The Georgetown City Council approved a zoning ordinance on Feb. 18 to allow for solar panels to be installed on various properties across the city.

Solar panels can now be installed on approved residential or nonresidential property, including places such as single family homes and shopping centers, though solar farms are not allowed due to lack of room in the city, said Angela Rambeau, director of planning and community development for the city.

Anyone looking to install a solar panel onto their property must have the appropriate licenses, too.

“If you’re putting it on a roof, the panels can’t extend above the peak. Any cord, any service boxes, anything like that, needs to be hidden from public view.” Rambeau said. “Basically the panels have to be integrated into the style of the building that they can be installed on. They should match the color of the roof, we want these to be as unobtrusive as possible.”

Alan Loveless, Georgetown’s director of electric utilities, said that in the last 2 years, the city has received more inquiries than before from citizens about taking advantage of solar energy.

In response to this, Loveless said the electrical department put together an interconnection agreement that would allow customers to install solar panels and operate them in connection with its system so that any unused energy generated could flow back onto the department’s system.

The recycling allows for customers to be compensated for the energy, Loveless said, to ensure that all customers are paying a fair amount, no matter if they have a solar panel on their property or not.

“Part of the cost that goes into the rate that we normally charge our customer is associated with our cost to purchase power, but then another part of what we charge customers is associated with our cost of owning and operating the distribution system,” Loveless said. “So when a (solar energy) customer generates power on their property and puts it back on our system, we didn’t want to compensate them at the same rate that they pay us because then we would be paying them for the cost of owning and operating our distribution system, which is included in our normal rate, and that’s not fair to our other ratepayers. We will credit them at a rate that is comparable to what we pay for wholesale power.”

Rambeau said that the opportunity to invest in solar energy is good for the city, citing a mutual benefit of lower electricity costs and helping the environment.

“We welcome the opportunity to bring green energy to the city,” Rambeau said. “We try to make the lives of our citizens as comfortable as possible, so if this is an opportunity for them to get some relief from their utility bills and it’s helping the environment as a whole at the same time, then we think that’s a great opportunity.”

Georgetown residents can inquire about installing solar panels on their homes or other properties by reaching out to the electricity department at 843-545-4600.

Follow Demi Lawrence on Twitter @DemiNLawrence.