Integrating Solar PV and

Storage in Smart Grids

Brad Roberts
ESA Executive Director
Power Quality Systems Director
S&C Electric Company

SunSpec Alliance Member’s Summit

January 31, 2012
Las Vegas, NV
 The Grid Connected Energy
Storage Market is Large…..

Estimated Global Installed Capacity of Energy Storage

Source: StrateGen Consulting, LLC research; thermal storage installed and announced capacity estimated by Ice Energy and
Calmac.
Note: Estimates include thermal energy storage for cooling only. Figures current as of April, 2010.
 Significant Events in the
Storage Marketplace

• USA
> AWEA/ESA Joint Statement on the benefits of wind and
storage for a flexible grid
> Formation of the ESA Advocacy Council to form a unified
voice for storage at the Federal level
> New FERC Order 755 on “pay for performance” on ancillary
services
> Potential Federal ITC tax legislation for storage project
investments
> New battery plants coming on line in the US with lower
battery costs
• Europe
> Formation of EASE as a voice for storage at the EU
> Expanding number of storage demonstration projects
 Hierarchy of Grid-Purposed Energy
Storage

Large Central Units

100s of MW
Substation Batteries
10s of MW
Storage at Grid Edge
Graphics adapted from an EPRI Presentation by Joe Hughes 10s of kW
 How do Current Markets Reward the
Unique Capabilities of Energy Storage?
Unique Unique Market Reward for Storage
Capability Benefit Owner

System Fuel Savings

Energy Price Arbitrage
related to time of use
Time
Shifting
System Emissions Savings Mostly None
related to time of use

System Fuel Savings Fuel cost impact usually

related to ramping included Regulation Price

Speed of System Emissions Savings None

Response related to ramping

Reduction in necessary FERC Order 755

Regulation Capacity requires “Pay for
Performance”
Smooth Fluctuation of
Wind and Solar Power None – except Hawaii
 Resource Attributes
Variability Correlation Relative
with Load Cost
Wind High None- Low
Negative
Solar Low Medium Medium
Wind + Solar Medium Low Low-
Medium
Wind + Solar Low High High
+ Storage
 Solar and Wind Power is
Typically Intermittent
Wind Farm Output
1,600
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
-
19:12 0:00 4:48 9:36 14:24

7
 Renewable Energy Integration
Photovoltaic (PV) or Wind Power Smoothing
~ ~

Required Output

Traditional
Generation

Energy Storage can smooth the abrupt changes of renewable generation

to the acceptable limit the grid can handle.
Integrating Solar PV and Storage
in Smart Grids
At all levels of the grid opportunities exist for integration
of solar PV and storage.
• For large-scale applications, typically 1.0 MW and
large, storage can smooth and shift the solar power
to optimize the response to the load.
• At the residential or small commercial level, the
challenge can be greater based on the penetration
level on specific feeders.
• Many utility demonstration projects are underway to
refine the performance of distribution circuits.
 Public Service of New Mexico
ARRA Project for Solar Integration
with Storage
PNM Project to Demonstrate Smoothing
and Load Shifting of Solar Energy

• Project utilizes two advanced lead-acid technologies

from East Penn Manufacturing
• Advanced lead acid for load shifting the solar peak to
allow for dispatching at the highest load peak
• UltraBattery for smoothing of the solar output to
demonstrate the high cycling capability of the technology
• Battery Ratings:
Advanced Lead Acid…..250 kW for 4 hours
UltraBattery…………….500 kW for 30 minutes
 PNM Project Goals
• Test the battery technology in a renewables
integration application
• Measure performance and cycle life over time in a
real world application
• Refine the control system to optimize the utilization of
the battery to maximize daily dispatch of renewable
solar energy on the grid
• There is an additional installation of this battery
chemistry combination in Australia
 Kansas Hybrid Wind Solar &
Storage Project Overview
Use the SPP methodology to establish average
capacity credit for the summer months:
• A stand-alone solar facility yields 50% more capacity
than wind
• A hybrid facility yields 80% more capacity credit than
one wind and one solar stand-alone facility
• A hybrid facility with 6 hours of storage yields 160%
more capacity credit than the stand-alone wind and
solar facilities
• Values based on a hybrid facility of 100 MWs of wind,
20 MWs of solar and 15 MWs of storage for 6 hours.
These are the optimum values for maximum benefit
 Solar & Load in Summer
Daily Averages for Summer Months

► Solar production aligns

well with the demand
MW

PV
profile.
Load

► Average solar profile

does not reflect the
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Time of Day minute-to-minute
Actual Output During Peak Demand variability that can result
from passing clouds.

► There is less variability

in solar production than
MW

PV
Load wind production.

13-Jul 14-Jul 15-Jul

 Project Benefits
Wind Power Benefits:
• Increases amount of wind power available during peak load
periods
• Avoids curtailment of wind allowing storage of excess
capacity typically at night
• Reduces variability by controlling the rate of change in output
power level
• Reduces “extreme ramp events”
• Self-supply reserves
• Increased correlation with load

Solar Power Benefits:

• Smooth rapid power fluctuations caused by passing clouds
• Allows solar power output to be shifted to match afternoon
load peaks (typically 2-3 hours)
 Sample of Solar/Storage projects
under way in the U.S.
• Duke Energy - Rankin Substation
- Sodium Nickel Chloride for PV smoothing
• Duke Energy – Marshall Substation
– Lithium Ion for Peak Shaving
• Chevron Santa Rita Jail Micro grid project
– Lithium Ion for PV smoothing and Load shifting
• San Diego Gas and Electric
– Lithium Ion for PV Smoothing
• PNM ARRA Funded Solar Smoothing and Load Shift
– Advanced lead acid batteries
CES – Community Energy
Storage
d

Distributed Energy Management

Controller (DEM)

Communications

CES Units
…
 Wide-Scale Deployment
of CES
DMS – Situational Awareness

Fleet Management – Set and Forget

Substation Substation 3
Substation
1 2

Feeders & Communication

Infrastructure

Fleet 1 Fleet 2 Fleet 3

Typical CES Installation
 Developing Energy
Storage Markets

• Developing the market mechanisms to

allow storage is the key to success
• Changing 100 years of electrical system
market design doesn’t happen overnight
Questions?