Solar system Archives

Renewables aided 2024 Texas summer power surge, winter challenges remain

January 16, 2025
Solar power and utility-scale batteries played a pivotal role in helping Texas maintain grid stability amid the extreme heat and record high energy consumption during the summer of 2024. However, a new study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas warns that these resources may not be able to handle future energy demands and potential winter challenges.

Last summer, solar energy provided nearly 25% of Texas’ mid-day power needs between June and August. Battery storage systems supplemented this by discharging energy during evening hours. This compensated for declining solar output when the sun went down.

In late August, both solar and battery storage set new records during a peak load event. This performance marked a significant improvement from 2023, as in the summer of 2024, Texas avoided issuing energy conservation appeals to consumers like it had been forced to do multiple times the prior year, demonstrating greater resilience during warmer months.

Winter poses unique challenges

Despite this progress, experts caution that winter poses unique challenges. Peak demand often occurs in the early morning, when solar generation is unavailable and current battery storage capacities may be insufficient for extended demands during extreme cold.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas also projects substantial growth in energy demand due to the expansion of data centers, industrial operations and electrification trends.

By 2030, peak summer load could rise to 148,000 megawatts, significantly higher than the 85,000-megawatt peak recorded in 2024.

Price reductions may deter investment

While solar and battery storage has lowered wholesale electricity prices — benefiting consumers — these price reductions may deter further investment in additional battery storage and dispatchable power generation.

Texas’ energy-only market design, which compensates generators solely for electricity produced, may require adjustments to incentivize new capacity and ensure future reliability.

Additionally, the state’s standalone grid has been criticized for past resilience issues. The federal government has allocated $360 million to create a new connection between Texas and the national grid, although experts estimate this project could take a decade to complete.
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Solar panels costing California residents, why energy bills increased in 2024

December 4, 2024

California’s solar panels are driving up electricity bills for residents while making power cheaper for customers in other states. The Golden State is producing more solar power than it can use, leading to significant energy waste and financial losses.

Over the past 12 months, California curtailed more than 3 million megawatt-hours of solar energy, enough to power over 500,000 homes for a year. This issue has grown as the state’s solar capacity increased about 20-fold over the last 11 years, with the amount of solar energy wasted in 2024 now more than doubling the total in 2021 and climbing eight times higher than in 2017.

Experts estimate the retail value of the curtailed energy in 2024 exceeds $1 billion. California’s sunny climate is ideal for solar energy production, but peak demand typically occurs at night, leaving a portion of what is generated in the daytime unused.

Industrial-scale batteries, which could store excess energy for later use, are costly, often twice as expensive as the solar panels themselves. Most current systems only store energy for four hours, which is insufficient to meet overnight demand.

This oversupply contributed to California’s electric rates being around twice the national average, as residents effectively pay for unused power. Since 2021, the state’s largest utility providers have raised rates by 51%, but the situation could be worse if California was not sending some of its surplus solar energy to other states.

Ultimately, out-of-state utilities benefit more from this arrangement than Californians. For example, Arizona’s largest public utility saved $69 million in 2023 by purchasing California’s excess solar energy, passing the savings on to customers through bill credits. Similarly, New Mexico’s largest utility saved $34 million in 2022 by buying surplus solar power from California.

California’s increasing solar energy production also caused the price of electricity sold out of state to plummet. Prices have dropped so low that they occasionally become negative, forcing solar plants to pay energy traders to take the power.

Despite these challenges, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he plans to add another 70 gigawatts of industrial solar capacity by 2045. The plan requires enough solar panels to cover an area nearly half the size of Rhode Island. The initiative aims to make California’s electrical grid carbon-free over the next two decades, but experts warn that high curtailment rates could hinder this goal.

Newsom’s advisers are exploring solutions, including expanding industrial-scale battery storage to save excess solar power for high-demand periods, attempting to direct more of those renewable energy benefits towards the Californians who paid for it.
Pakistan’s power grid threatened by growing adoption of Chinese solar panels

November 13, 2024
Pakistan is currently experiencing some of Asia’s highest energy prices, as electricity costs have increased by 155% since 2021. With over 40% of the population living below the poverty line, many households are turning to renewable energy — particularly solar power — to offset high electricity bills.

However, this growing trend towards solar poses challenges to Pakistan’s power sector, which is already struggling with financial strain and a decline in grid-based energy demand.

In recent years, energy expenses for some Pakistani residents have surpassed their rent payments, prompting a shift toward alternative energy sources.

In the first half of 2024 alone, Pakistan imported $1.4 billion worth of solar panels from China, making it the third-largest buyer of Chinese solar products globally.

For consumers, this renewable energy source can be up to 70% cheaper than relying on the nation’s gas-powered grid. While this transition has provided relief for many Pakistanis, it has intensified challenges for the national power grid.

As more residents choose solar power over grid-based energy, the financial burden on remaining customers has increased, driving officials to consider further price hikes to offset the shortfall.

The nation’s power minister, Awais Leghari, described the situation as a “catch-22,” noting that as more consumers leave the grid, fewer users are left to shoulder the already-high capacity payments, potentially making energy unaffordable for many residents.

This reduction in revenue for the country’s power sector comes as it also deals with over $9 billion in debt, much of it owed to China. Pakistan currently has more Chinese energy financing than any other nation.

With state-run energy consumption at its lowest point in four years, officials are working to renegotiate their debt terms with Chinese creditors to ease financial pressure.
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Solar panels save on energy costs, but make roof repairs more expensive

October 28, 2024
Installing rooftop solar panels can help homeowners reduce energy costs, with experts estimating that the average U.S. household saves around $1,500 annually on utility bills after adding this renewable energy infrastructure. Over the panel’s lifespan, these savings can total anywhere from $28,000 to $120,000, but having them can also make some home renovations more expensive.

Removing and reinstalling solar panels for roof repairs can cost up to $6,000, which amounts to spending around four years worth of savings from the panels. This additional expense delays the break-even point for the solar investment. Typically, a solar system takes around eight to 12 years to pay for itself, but this time period can in some cases be extended by 50% when factoring in the costs of getting those panels out of the way and then back onto the roof again.

The extent to which insurance may help with solar-related costs varies. Some policies will either cover or partially cover the expense of removing and reinstalling panels if the roof repair is due to covered events such as hail or wind damage. However, not all insurance policies include this coverage, and many homeowners who need a roof replacement due to age or normal wear may have to pay for these costs out-of-pocket.

To address these challenges, some solar companies are targeting homeowners who are already planning to replace their roofs. With approximately 5 million homes in the U.S. requiring a new roof each year, solar providers are partnering with contractors to offer combined packages that include both roof replacement and solar installation.

The average cost of a standalone solar installation is around $19,000, while a roof replacement typically costs $10,000, resulting in a total of about $29,000. By combining these services, homeowners can save an estimated $4,000, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. As the adoption of rooftop solar is expected to double by the end of the decade, these integrated offerings could become more commonplace.
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Fossil fuel groups accused of trying to covertly derail Ohio solar project

October 17, 2024
A recent investigation by ProPublica looked into allegations that fossil fuel interests are working to derail a proposed solar energy project in Knox County, Ohio. The investigation suggests that oil and gas companies covertly influenced local opinions by using media outlets and interest groups to spread misinformation.

The Frasier Solar development, which aims to power around 19,000 homes, has faced claims from these reportedly Big Oil-influenced sources that solar panels can depress property values, are toxic, and may be used by China for a potential invasion.

The solar project would cover the equivalent of 635 football fields of farmland with solar panels, although officials have noted that the land could be restored to agricultural use after 40 years.

ProPublica’s report details how fossil fuel interests allegedly worked to exacerbate existing concerns about solar’s impact on farming in Knox County, where agriculture dominates the economy, accounting for nearly 60% of the area’s land use.

Additionally, the Ariel Corporation, a manufacturer of gas equipment, is the area’s largest employer, and has been accused of supporting efforts to kill Frasier Solar.

ProPublica alleges that these efforts extended to local media ownership.

The only newspaper in the region, the Mount Vernon News, was acquired by Metric Media, a company linked to conservative causes and funded by a dark-money group associated with the Koch brothers, who have longstanding ties to the fossil fuel industry.

Following the purchase, the paper shifted from a daily publication to a weekly format, with some residents noting an increase in anti-solar sentiment in its coverage and attacks on local elected officials who did not denounce the renewable energy project.

Metric Media also launched the Ohio Energy Reporter, which reprinted articles from the Mount Vernon News and featured stories warning of potential negative consequences of solar power, with headlines including “Ohio’s coming ‘solar trash wave’” and “Could the Texas Power Crisis happen in Ohio?”

Beyond media influence, the investigation claims that oil and gas interests also intervened in local politics. ProPublica reports that fossil fuel-backed groups supported county commission candidates who opposed the Frasier Solar project, amplifying their platforms through a political action committee connected to pro-gas campaigns.

Additionally, a former executive of Ariel Corporation, who still has ties to the company, founded an organization that presents itself as a “grassroots” defender of the county. This group has been active in opposing the solar project, using mass texts and organizing events to rally public resistance, with funding and support from current and former employees of Ariel.

The controversy culminated in an August hearing by the Ohio Power Siting Board, which will decide whether the Frasier Solar project can proceed. During the meeting, evidence was presented by both supporters and opponents, revealing fossil fuel industry involvement in the campaign against the solar development. The board’s final decision is expected to take several months.
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Startup aims to overcome a major solar energy problem with space-based power

October 10, 2024
One of the biggest problems with solar energy is that the sun is not always shining on Earth, but in space, this type of power can be collected almost continuously, making it an attractive prospect for overcoming the intermittency of Earth-based renewables. The concept of space-based solar power has been discussed for over a century, though the idea has struggled to gain traction due to technological challenges and high costs.

NASA estimates that space solar power may not be commercially viable until at least 2050. Even then, it could be up to 80 times more expensive than current terrestrial renewable energy sources. However, a new startup, Aetherflux, led by billionaire entrepreneur Baiju Bhatt, is looking to change that outlook.

Bhatt, who co-founded and served as CEO of the financial services company Robinhood, is now turning his attention to space solar energy. He says the goal of this new endeavor is to adapt existing technologies from other industries to make space solar a reality.

“We view this as primarily an engineering and economics problem, not a hard science problem,” Bhatt said. “How can we take technologies that exist today, where even other industries are maturing them, and use those technologies to create something that can happen today?”

Aetherflux plans to gather solar power from space and beam it down to Earth, bypassing the limitations of traditional renewable energy sources that are affected by weather or the time of day. Unlike other space solar projects that rely on large, costly spacecraft, Aetherflux intends to deploy a constellation of smaller satellites. This approach is similar to SpaceX’s Starlink project, which uses a network of small satellites to provide global internet coverage.

“The way that we’re going to be transferring power from space to Earth is actually using a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit,” Bhatt said. “Each one collects power and then uses infrared lasers to find a ground station and transmit power down to it.”

Aetherflux’s initial goal is to generate enough power from its satellites to supply a small neighborhood. The company is aiming to launch its first demonstration spacecraft by late 2025 or early 2026.
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Spain builds solar farm over a cemetery, but did not tell relatives of the deceased

September 30, 2024
Spain is constructing the country’s largest urban solar farm by installing about 7,000 solar panels over cemeteries in the city of Valencia as part of a $3.5 million renewable energy initiative. The project, known as Requiem for Power (RIP), is designed to help the city achieve its goal of reaching climate neutrality by 2030, but some locals are upset that relatives of the deceased were not alerted about this plan.

Unveiled in early September at three cemeteries throughout the city, including the 200-year-old Campanar cemetery, hundreds of solar panels have already begun generating power, with more installations planned as the project progresses. City officials expect the solar farm to reduce over 140 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, equivalent to the emissions from burning 150,000 pounds of coal.

However, family members of those buried in the cemetery claim they were not consulted or informed about the project.

Carlos Mundina, Valencia’s climate and energy transition chief, defended the decision, stated that since the graves in the publicly-owned cemetery were leased for 30 or 50-year periods, all of which have expired, there was no legal obligation to notify the relatives.

Most of the energy produced by this initiative will power municipal buildings, with 25% allocated to support the electricity needs of 1,000 vulnerable households. The Requiem for Power project is expected to be fully operational by the end of the year.
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Does Jupiter’s moon Europa support life? NASA mission aims to find out

September 24, 2024
NASA is just weeks away from its first mission designed to explore Jupiter’s massive moon Europa. Ahead of the historic launch, the agency started releasing videos on Monday, Sept. 23, offering a behind-the-scenes look at what’s going into the Europa Clipper Mission.

NASA is highlighting the efforts of five engineers each week leading up to the launch window of mission, which is starts on Oct. 10. The engineers are working on the giant spacecraft that will explore Jupiter’s moon in search of a “global saltwater ocean beneath its icy shell.”

The spacecraft will orbit Jupiter, and it will collect data with nine instruments and conduct an experiment using telecommunications to gather gravity data on the unforgiving radiation environment of Jupiter.

The length of a basketball court, the Europe Probe is the largest spacecraft ever to be developed for a planetary mission. If NASA finds that Europa is a habitable world, a second Europa mission will return, this time landing there to further study signs of life.

“At the time of launch, I will have been working on the Europa Clipper for a dozen years,” said Dipak Srinivasan, the lead communications systems engineer. “You know, seeing it from its infancy, literal napkin designs of what this spacecraft could look like, to actual realized hardware, to get it on its journey to Europa. It’s just going to be a wonderful feeling.”
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How a startup company plans to harness the power of the sun at night

August 26, 2024
A California-based start-up company known as Reflect Orbital is looking to harness the power of the sun, regardless of the time of day on Earth. The CEO of Reflect Orbital Ben Nowack posted a video on Thursday, Aug. 22, showing the company’s vision of what it hopes to be able to accomplish with a vast array of mirrored satellites in orbit.

Reflect Orbital’s plan is to send up a number of these mirrors piggybacking on other planned rocket launches. Once in orbit, these satellites would pinpoint the sun’s rays onto a precise location on Earth. Nowack said he wants to make as easy logging into a website and using GPS coordinates to pinpoint where exactly a user would want the sunlight to shine.

“The beauty of space is you can put things up there and they stay up for a long time,” said Tristan Semmelhack, the CTO of Reflect. “You this thing up really high and suddenly you have global access to basically any location on Earth if you design it correctly, that’s what’s magical.”

Nowack believes that the technology may one day be used to power solar farms at night. Reflect Orbital plans to launch what it calls its first “deployable reflector” in the coming months.

Reflect Orbital currently has its website focused on both lighting and energy. Lighting portion of the company focuses on bringing a “spot of sunlight” to a particular location on Earth after dark while the energy portion focuses on bringing the sun’s energy to a solar plant at night.
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Mercury may be home to an 11-mile thick underground layer of diamonds

August 2, 2024
Mercury, the smallest planet in the solar system, may harbor a significant amount of diamonds beneath its surface, according to new research. Scientists propose that the planet could contain an underground layer of diamonds that is approximately 11 miles thick.

Just a single cubic meter of diamonds could be worth as much as $70 billion. Given the estimated volume of diamond-rich material, Mercury could hold nearly 300 billion cubic meters, representing a massive fortune.

The formation of these diamonds is believed to have occurred around 4.5 billion years ago, shortly after Mercury itself coalesced from a cloud of dust and gas. At that time, the planet is thought to have been covered by a crust of graphite floating over a molten ocean of magma. Recent studies suggest that this graphite layer played a crucial role in the formation of diamonds on Mercury.

To explore this hypothesis, scientists conducted experiments in which they subjected a variety of elements, including graphite, to the extreme conditions thought to exist on Mercury. Under pressures 70,000 times greater than those found on Earth and temperatures exceeding 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit, the graphite was observed to transform into diamond crystals.

Despite its proximity to Earth, Mercury remains the least explored of the terrestrial planets in the solar system. However, the possibility of a vast wealth of diamonds beneath its surface may drive increased scientific interest in the planet.
Related Stories

Renewables aided 2024 Texas summer power surge, winter challenges remain

Winter poses unique challenges

Price reductions may deter investment

Solar panels costing California residents, why energy bills increased in 2024

Pakistan’s power grid threatened by growing adoption of Chinese solar panels

Solar panels save on energy costs, but make roof repairs more expensive

Fossil fuel groups accused of trying to covertly derail Ohio solar project

Startup aims to overcome a major solar energy problem with space-based power

Spain builds solar farm over a cemetery, but did not tell relatives of the deceased

Does Jupiter’s moon Europa support life? NASA mission aims to find out

How a startup company plans to harness the power of the sun at night

Mercury may be home to an 11-mile thick underground layer of diamonds

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