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With the rapidly growing interest in bifacial photovoltaics (PV), a worldwide map of their potential performance can help assess and accelerate the global deployment of this emerging technology. However, the existing literature only highlights optimized bifacial PV for a few geographic locations or develops worldwide performance maps for very specific configurations, such as the vertical installation. It is still difficult to translate these location- and configuration-specific conclusions to a general optimized performance of this technology. In this paper, we present a global study and optimization of bifacial solar modules using a rigorous and comprehensive modeling framework. Our results demonstrate that with a low albedo of 0.25, the bifacial gain of ground-mounted bifacial modules is less than 10% worldwide. However, increasing the albedo to 0.5 and elevating modules 1 m above the ground can boost the bifacial gain to 30%. Moreover, we derive a set of empirical design rules, which optimize bifacial solar modules across the world and provide the groundwork for rapid assessment of the location-specific performance. We find that ground-mounted, vertical, east-west-facing bifacial modules will outperform their south-north-facing, optimally tilted counterparts by up to 15% below the latitude of 30°, for an albedo of 0.5. The relative energy output is reversed in latitudes above 30°. A detailed and systematic comparison with data from Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America validates the model presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Capacity expansion planning model for the integration of CSP-TES. • Evaluation of the systemic economic and operational benefits provided by CSP-TES. • Analysis of multiple technology and policy scenarios for the Chilean power system. • Study of complementarities between CSP-TES and other technologies. • Investigation on the role of CSP-TES as a flexibility provider to the system. Abstract This paper presents a study about the impacts of the integration of concentrated solar power (CSP) with thermal energy storage (TES) in electric power systems. The main tool for this study is a comprehensive long-term power system capacity expansion planning model that integrates a specific module to represent the operation of CSP-TES power plants. The model determines the optimal investments on generation and transmission assets over a twenty-year planning horizon, ranging from 2018 until 2037, and employs projections for the various parameters involved (e.g. load growth, capital costs for the different generation technologies, fuels costs). One of the main features of the model is its ability to capture the hourly operational dynamics of the system through the consideration of multiple representative days for each of its investment periods. This feature allows a better understanding of the role of CSP-TES as a significant provider of flexibility to support a high penetration of variable renewable energy sources, as compared with traditional planning models based on load blocks. The model is applied to a case study for the Chilean electricity system. In order to study the impacts of CSP-TES, various scenarios of future capital costs and carbon tax levels are defined and analyzed for two market dominant CSP-TES technologies. The results show that for low CSP-TES capital costs, or high carbon taxes, the integration of CSP-TES in the system is significant towards year 2037, potentially reaching about one third of the total dispatched energy in the Chilean electric power system, yielding important operational, economic, and environmental benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study investigates solar energy justice in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. In 2017, we were engaged by the Saskatchewan Power Corporation (SaskPower), a government owned electric utility, to conduct stakeholder engagement workshops for the development of new solar energy programs in Saskatchewan. In coordination with SaskPower we developed a deliberative dialogue approach to the consultation process. Select stakeholders were invited to participate in a half-day workshop. In this workshop participants were asked for input on the principles that would guide SaskPower’s solar energy strategy, the barriers that prevent solar energy from being installed in the province, and their ideas for effective solar energy programs. Participants worked in small groups to design solar energy programs, creating opportunities for mutual learning and deliberation. This research is the first application of deliberative dialogue to the design of solar energy programs of which we are aware and offers an example of due process in the program design stage of energy planning. We use an energy justice decision-making (Sovacool et al., 2014) tool to evaluate the process of designing SaskPower’s solar energy strategy and the content of recommendations made by participants to answer the question, can due process help to achieve energy justice? Participants in our deliberative dialogue suggested guiding principles that were similar to the dimensions of the energy justice decision-making tool. The deliberative process also highlighted tensions between dimensions of the energy justice decision-making tool. In this paper, we suggest avenues to improve the deliberative dialogue process and conclude that centering due process as a core element of the energy justice decision-making tool can help to achieve energy justice. Our results contribute to the growing field of study on how deliberative dialogue can allow for better decisions in complex fields such as energy policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prospective cost-benefit of CSP (concentrated solar power) is the attention focus for policy-making and investment decisions. In order to analyze cost-benefit evolution of CSP, the paper adopted the net present value and discounted cash flows techniques to develop a mathematical model, and calculated LCOE (levelized cost of energy) of CSP between 2018 and 2050 by taking the CSP industry of China as an example. The results show that: Firstly, CSP has a large potential in the LCOE reduction, and the values of parabolic trough and solar tower CSP systems reduce by 46%–57% and 47%–56% from 2018 to 2050, respectively. Secondly, predicted evolution for the LCOE of CSP strongly depends, not only on the cumulative installed capacity determined by the specific growth paths of Blue Map and Roadmap Scenarios, but also on the learning curves impacted by technical progress and experience accumulation. Thirdly, to select the sites with higher direct normal irradiation and land cost exemption is crucial to improve cost-benefit evolution of CSP. Lastly, the expected returns (i.e. discount rate) have important effect on the LCOE evolution of CSP, high expected returns lead to high the LCOE, and vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an agent-based model of the technological adoption of solar panels, including potential adopters' characteristics and their interactions. This study analyzes the theoretical impact of seven social influence strategies on the adoption of solar panels by householders within a solar neighborhood in the Providencia district, Chile. In this case study, established adopters account for 0.9% of the population, opinion leaders for 1.3%, and individuals in the network for 97.8%. Considering the population's high-level ambition and tolerance of uncertainty, we found that householders are mainly characterized as optimizers (89.7%), followed by inquirers (7.6%), repeaters (2.3%), and imitators (0.3%) agents. Our agent-based simulation model evaluated the social influence strategies based on economic, environmental, and social benefits. The results show that social influence strategies lead to a 19.27% increase, on average, in the total number of adopters concerning the base case. Then, we performed a multi-objective analysis to select the best adoption strategy. These results show that selecting the most connected agents in the network is a robust strategy the decision-makers have environmental or financial concerns. However, if the decision-makers' primary interest is maximizing the diffusion scope of solar panel neighborhoods, random agent selection is the most advisable strategy, given its ease of implementation. [Display omitted] • Consumat approach and Campbell's paradigm were integrated into a simulation model. • The results from seven social influence strategies are compared. • Selective seeding and random seeding are found to be the most effective strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The substantial increase in deployment of customer-sited solar photovoltaics (PV) in the United States has been driven by a combination of steeply declining costs, financing innovations, and supportive policies. Among those supportive policies is net metering, which in most states effectively allows customers to receive compensation for distributed PV generation at the full retail electricity price. The current design of retail electricity rates and the presence of net metering have elicited concerns that the possible under-recovery of fixed utility costs from PV system owners may lead to a feedback loop of increasing retail prices that accelerate PV adoption and further rate increases. However, a separate and opposing feedback loop could offset this effect: increased PV deployment may lead to a shift in the timing of peak-period electricity prices that could reduce the bill savings received under net metering where time-varying retail electricity rates are used, thereby dampening further PV adoption. In this paper, we examine the impacts of these two competing feedback dynamics on U.S. distributed PV deployment through 2050 for both residential and commercial customers, across states. Our results indicate that, at the aggregate national level, the two feedback effects nearly offset one another and therefore produce a modest net effect, although their magnitude and direction vary by customer segment and by state. We also model aggregate PV deployment trends under various rate designs and net-metering rules, accounting for feedback dynamics. Our results demonstrate that future adoption of distributed PV is highly sensitive to retail rate structures. Whereas flat, time-invariant rates with net metering lead to higher aggregate national deployment levels than the current mix of rate structures (+5% in 2050), rate structures with higher monthly fixed customer charges or PV compensation at levels lower than the full retail rate can dramatically erode aggregate customer adoption of PV (from −14% to −61%, depending on the design). Moving towards time-varying rates, on the other hand, accelerates near- and medium-term deployment (through 2030) but slows adoption in the longer term (−22% in 2050). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A techno-economic analysis is undertaken to assess hybrid PV/solar-thermal (PVT) systems for distributed electricity and hot-water provision in a typical house in London, UK. In earlier work (Herrando et al., 2014), a system model based on a PVT collector with water as the cooling medium (PVT/w) was used to estimate average year-long system performance. The results showed that for low solar irradiance levels and low ambient temperatures, such as those associated with the UK climate, a higher coverage of total household energy demands and higher CO 2 emission savings can be achieved by the complete coverage of the solar collector with PV and a relatively low collector cooling flow-rate. Such a PVT/w system demonstrated an annual electricity generation of 2.3 MW h, or a 51% coverage of the household’s electrical demand (compared to an equivalent PV-only value of 49%), plus a significant annual water heating potential of to 1.0 MW h, or a 36% coverage of the hot-water demand. In addition, this system allowed for a reduction in CO 2 emissions amounting to 16.0 tonnes over a life-time of 20 years due to the reduction in electrical power drawn from the grid and gas taken from the mains for water heating, and a 14-tonne corresponding displacement of primary fossil-fuel consumption. Both the emissions and fossil-fuel consumption reductions are significantly larger (by 36% and 18%, respectively) than those achieved by an equivalent PV-only system with the same peak rating/installed capacity. The present paper proceeds further, by considering the economic aspects of PVT technology, based on which invaluable policy-related conclusions can be drawn concerning the incentives that would need to be in place to accelerate the widespread uptake of such systems. It is found that, with an electricity-only Feed-In Tariff (FIT) support rate at 43.3 p/kW h over 20 years, the system cost estimates of optimised PVT/w systems have an 11.2-year discounted payback period (PV-only: 6.8 years). The role and impact of heat-based incentives is also studied. The implementation of a domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) at a rate of 8.5 p/kW h in quarterly payments leads to a payback reduction of about 1 year. If this incentive is given as a one-off voucher at the beginning of the system’s lifetime, the payback is reduced by about 2 years. With a RHI rate of 20 p/kW h (about half of the FIT rate) PVT technology would have approximately the same payback as PV. It is concluded that, if primary energy (currently dominated by fossil fuels) and CO 2 emission minimisation are important goals of national energy policy, PVT systems offer a significantly improved proposition over equivalent PV-only systems, but at an elevated cost. This is in need of careful reflection when developing relevant policy and considering technology incentivation. Currently, although heat outweighs electricity consumption by a factor of about 4 (by energy unit) in the UK domestic sector, the support landscape has strongly favoured electrical microgeneration, being inclined in favour of PV technology, which has been experiencing a well-documented exponential growth over recent decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Nigeria Power sector is on the precipice of financial and technical collapse. Recovering the financial deficit of over US$3.1 billion created within three years (ex-post reform), and the struggle to increase the grid power access above 4000 MW for about 200 Million people are some of the key burning issues in the sector. Given that about 87 million people do not have access to the grid in Nigeria, this paper proposes reverse auction market design for decentralized offgrid solar PV deployment as a potential solution for the Nigeria Power sector. First, it reviews reverse auctions in SSA, the key market design variables and the requirements for a successful solar auction plus storage technology design. Second, it argues that reverse auctions can be successfully run in Nigeria with well-designed market variables. Third, it provides the market design variables adaptable to the Nigeria case to achieve a successful auction run. Finally, it argues that these variables should be built on a foundation of a robust institutional and regulatory framework to be successful. This paper thus recommends designing reverse auctions for offgrid/minigrid solar PV plus storage technology as a potential solution to increase power access and to attract investment considering the financial and grid constraints in the Nigeria Power sector. Furthermore, it recommends that grants for offgrid electrification with Solar Home Systems for rural areas should be further explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has matured to become a technically viable large-scale source of sustainable energy. Understanding the rooftop PV potential is critical for utility planning, accommodating grid capacity, deploying financing schemes and formulating future adaptive energy policies. This paper demonstrates techniques to merge the capabilities of geographic information systems and object-specific image recognition to determine the available rooftop area for PV deployment in an example large-scale region in south eastern Ontario. A five-step procedure has been developed for estimating total rooftop PV potential which involves geographical division of the region; sampling using the Feature Analyst extraction software; extrapolation using roof area-population relationships; reduction for shading, other uses and orientation; and conversion to power and energy outputs. Limitations faced in terms of the capabilities of the software and determining the appropriate fraction of roof area available are discussed. Because this aspect of the analysis uses an integral approach, PV potential will not be georeferenced, but rather presented as an agglomerate value for use in regional policy making. A relationship across the region was found between total roof area and population of 70.0m2/capita±6.2%. With appropriate roof tops covered with commercial solar cells, the potential PV peak power output from the region considered is 5.74GW (157% of the region’s peak power demands) and the potential annual energy production is 6909GWh (5% of Ontario’s total annual demand). This suggests that 30% of Ontario’s energy demand can be met with province-wide rooftop PV deployment. This new understanding of roof area distribution and potential PV outputs will guide energy policy formulation in Ontario and will inform future research in solar PV deployment and its geographical potential. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Despite the global context, only 6% of Australia's total energy consumption was derived from renewables, while 86.3% of electricity was generated from fossil fuels. However, this trend has been disrupted by the recent decommissioning and closure of a fleet of ageing coal power plants, along with the country's international commitments to reduce fossil fuel emissions. Currently, Australia is at a crucial stage of its transition to renewable energy adoption. With the purpose of providing an updated depiction of renewable energy, related policy and the way ahead in the Australian context, this research paper presents a systematic review of contemporary literature from the perspectives of energy potential, utilisation and policy incentives. The research analysed a total of 118 documents using an interpretivist epistemological lens; emergent findings offer an evidence-based, lucid account of advancements in the renewable energy market. Polynomial regression analysis is also conducted on secondary data obtained from the literature to predict trends in the electricity generated by different sources of renewable energy. The work also identifies several areas that require attention, including: (1) the most recent time-varying feed-in tariffs (TV FiTs) which offer the innate potential to alter consumer attitudes toward power usage at peak times, thereby improving grid security; (2) the increasingly popular integration of waste-to-energy with other sources of renewable energy emerges as a viable complementary solution to meet energy demands; (3) the increasing utilisation of subsidised geothermal energy installations which are set to rise exponentially in the future; and (4) the use of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) for developing renewable energy generation infrastructure and how this investment may facilitate the national transition to renewable energy adoption. This research contributes to the existing body of knowledge by raising awareness of the current state of renewable energy in Australia, along with proposing pragmatic recommendations for overcoming any challenges posed. As a comprehensive reference, this study provides practitioners and policymakers with thorough, reliable and collated information on Australia's current renewable energy position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]