Search results for: “solar”
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Solar power: the economics?
Levelized costs of solar electricity are estimated at 7c/kWh in our base case, but can realistically range from 4-40c/kWh. This data-file is a breakdown of solar costs, as a function of capex, opex, insolation, curtailment and decline rates. Solar can be highly competitive, up to 35-50% of many power grids.
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Wind and solar capacity additions?
Global wind and solar capacity additions reached 600GW pa (AC-basis) in 2024, which is 2x higher than in 2021 and 10x higher than in 2011. The pace of gross wind and solar capacity additions can rise by a further 5x by 2050, bringing wind and solar to 60% of a greatly expanded global power grid…
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Solar insolation: by latitude, season, date, time and tilt?
Solar insolation varies from 600-2,500 kWh/m2/year at different locations on Earth, depending on their latitude, altitude, cloudiness, panel tilt and panel azimuth. This means the economics of solar can also vary by a factor of 4x. Seasonality is a key challenge at higher latitudes. Active strategies are emerging for orienting solar modules.
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First Solar: thin film solar breakthrough?
First Solar is a solar manufacturer with capacity to produce 8GW of solar panels per year, using CdTe thin film technology. It has production in the US and uses 60% less energy than photovoltaic silicon. Efficiency is interesting. It is usually lower for CdTe than c-Si, but 70% of First Solar’s patents target improvements.
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Solar: energy payback and embedded energy?
What is the energy payback and embedded energy of solar? We have aggregated the consumption of 10 different materials (in kg/kW) and around 10 other energy-consuming line-items (in kWh/kW). Our base case estimate is 2.5 MWH/kWe of solar and an energy payback of 1.5-years. Numbers and sensitivities can be stress-tested in the data-file.
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Solar+battery co-deployments: output profiles?
Solar+battery co-deployments allow a large and volatile solar asset to produce a moderate-sized and non-volatile power output, during 40-50% of all the hours throughout a calendar year. The smooth output is easier to integrate with power grids, including with a smaller grid connection. The battery will realistically cycle 100-300 times per year.
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Solar trackers: leading companies?
This data-file summarizes the leading companies in solar trackers, their pricing (in $/kW), operating margins (in %), company sizes, sales mixes and recent news flow. Five companies supply 70% of the market, which is worth $10bn pa, and increasingly gaining in importance?
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Solar costs: a breakdown over time?
Utility-scale solar costs have deflated by 75% in the past decade to around $1,000/kW. 60% has been the scale-up to mass manufacturing, and 40% has been rising efficiency of solar modules. Materials costs now look likely to dominate future costs and their trajectory. And advanced materials can help double efficiency again from here? Who benefits?
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Renewable grids: solar, wind and grid-scale battery sizing?
How much wind, solar and/or batteries are required to supply a stable power output, 24-hours per day, 7-days per week, or at even longer durations? This data-file stress-tests different scenarios, with each 1MW of average load requiring at least 3.5MW of solar and 3.5MW of lithium ion batteries, for a total system cost of at…
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Solar volatility: second by second output data?
We have aggregated the volatility and power drops across an entire year of second-by-second solar data. Each day typically sees 100 volatility events where output drops by over 10%, and 10 events where output drops by over 70 events. Volatility also varies day by day.
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