There is an energy crush in the early evenings

In 2013, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) first published the iconic “Duck Curve“, forecasting what would happen with electricity demand in scenarios with a high number of homes with solar panels along with a large amount of electricity generated from solar and wind on a utility scale.

If you were to graph California's power usage throughout the day, a curve would gently rise and then flatten as solar and wind powers are at their peaks and then it begins to drop in the afternoon. Then right as everybody gets off of work, solar ramps down because of the angle of the disappearing sun. Usage ramps up in the evening as people use a bunch of power. This shoots the power load for utilities up until about 9 pm when the power usage peaks and then drops, giving the graph the look of a duck or a goose.

Since this initial publication, the situation in California has unfolded in remarkably similar fashion to what was forecasted. Mid-day solar generation has dramatically reduced the electricity demand supplied by gas power plants. However, all that solar generation begins to ramp down exactly as the evening electricity peak is ramping up. This results in a more pronounced afternoon-to-evening ramp and puts added strain on the more traditional power plants that must be relied on to pick up solar’s slack after the sun sets.



Adding storage to solar power helps this energy crush

It turns out that something that some solar panel customers want can help alleviate this problem. Solar plus batteries, as it turns out, can alleviate this short-term power load while maintaining reliable electricity supply.

A recent report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) outlines exactly why this is the case. Essentially, batteries are great for providing power over short time frames but less ideal for maintaining high power output over long periods of time. The translation is that solar power can sustain energy needs for a long period of time, like from sun up to sun down, every day, then as the sun goes down, batteries both in a residential level, and on an industrial level, would help alleviate this jump in demand for traditional power as the sun goes down.



Residential solar panels help reduce demand from power plants

Basically, As increased solar penetration levels reduce system net demand on the front-end of the evening peak, the overall system peak in net demand becomes “sharper”. That is, the highest levels of utility electricity demand become shorter and less dramatic when solar and storage are incorporated together. The concept is pretty simple, if you want energy for a long period of time because you are binge-watching the Office on your computer all day, you plug into the wall. If you want to watch a couple of episodes while on a plane, you use the battery. It’s the same concept, just on a large scale.

This whole dynamic of residential solar, along with large-scale solar and wind energy production in California is already causing wholesale midday power to become so inexpensive, that keeping traditional power plants online carrying a base load of the state’s power can cost more than it is worth, causing many utilities to reconsider how they deliver Large centralized generators run at constant output for long periods of time generating power at these plants, and it costs more to run these generators, than the company is allowed to charge for power.



Solar plus storage is changing the power market paradigm

Solar plans with battery storage could change this paradigm while alleviating the duck curve at the same time. If properly scheduled, the increased electricity demand from batteries could become a powerful stabilizing force for both the electricity demand curve and, correspondingly, for market prices.

As the grid transforms and market expectations evolve, we are likely to see dramatic shifts in what becomes normal for wholesale electricity market prices. Stabilization of the hourly shape of electricity demand could mean reduced energy prices, evolving net-metering contracts, and less market volatility. Storage is good for solar power, and solar power is good for storage. Utilities could find it more economically optimal to purchase power on the spot market than to fire up aging generators, forcing these units into early retirement.



As the solar panel market evolves, we will see utilities change too

Whatever these fundamental shifts in electricity supply will bring, businesses with a stake in the game will change their business to handle their customer’s needs. Power plants will evolve too. If it makes more sense to have a large scale solar plant with an additional capacity to store power for later, then those companies will close their gas-fired power plants and built more solar plants. As more people switch to residential solar power with attached storage, the electronic grid will look totally different than it does today.

To learn more about how you can participate in the solar power revolution, you can visit HahaSmart, and try out our Price Checker Tool You can design your home solar and get multiple quotes for any budget. We then connect you with HahaSmart verified installers in your area so you can start saving money.

For information relating to going solar don’t forget to visit our solar blog section for more handy guides and articles.

