Solar Energy Growth Presents Problems for Utilities

Tuesday, 08 November 2011 08:36

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A new study by Accenture is a good news-bad news mixed bag. The good news is, there is a significant increase in solar energy installations by residential and commercial property owners. The bad news is, the growth of solar energy developers could undermine the reliability, safety, and quality of the electric grid power supply for utilities that are not properly prepared.

The Achieving High Performance with Solar Photovoltaic Integration study surveyed 50 executives from 31 North American utilities and found that 38 percent of respondents believe their electric grids will require an upgrade or face operational challenges with a solar photovoltaic (PV) penetration level of less than 15 percent. One out of three said their utility would face similar issues with a solar PV penetration of between 15 and 24 percent.

Distributed generation by residential and commercial property PV systems—which account for more than half of all installations—and developer-owned systems are already causing problems for a significant number of utilities, including high costs to provide reactive power/voltage support, additional interconnection requirements, and grid instability caused by anti-islanding requirements.

Accenture Smart Grid Services managing director, David M. Rouls, says solar power has great potential “as a source of renewable energy as developers continue to innovate and reduce the cost of PV production. However, the large-scale penetration of solar PVs will require Smart Grid planning and changes by utilities to realize its benefits.”

The survey also found that some functional areas in transmission and distribution operations will require upgrade in capability as a result of the increase in solar penetration; utilities are more likely to use automated solutions than real-time manual intervention to mitigate and manage the negative impact of solar PV systems; the most common model for solar PV ownership is customer-owned (51 percent), followed by utility-owned (34 percent), and third-party or developer-owned (15 percent).

Accenture recommends that utilities proactively facilitate solar PV deployment and new ownership models by providing infrastructure, system and processes; accelerate smart grid initiatives in transmission and distribution ; and redesign processes as needed for efficient integration and facilitation of solar PV in the utility system.

For more information, visit www.accenture.com.