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Angelica Ramdhari

Solar Powerhouse Spotlight – Installment #3

Angelica RamdhariClean and renewable energy is an ever-growing, expansive field encompassing numerous technologies and approaches. In this blog post, we’ve narrowed down the conversation to one crucial topic – solar resiliency and battery power. In this special edition of our Solar Powerhouse Spotlight blog series, Marigo Farr, Multifamily Solar Program Manager sat down (virtually) with Angelica Ramdhari, Director of Resilient Solar for a dive deep on all things solar resilience, environmental justice, power outages, and accessibility of battery backups and storage.

*This interview has been edited for clarity and consistency.

Marigo Farr (M.F): What communities are served through GOSR (Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery) projects, and do these neighborhoods overlap with environmental justice communities?

Angelica Ramdhari (A.R): Currently, we are working in south Brooklyn, east Bronx, and the Idlewild watershed communities in Queens since GOSR’s focus is on the communities that organized after Hurricane Sandy. At first, we were looking at how we can help with immediate recovery in the most impacted communities, but then the intent was to help as many low-income folks as possible. This is challenging to do in NYC because many of the places affected by Sandy were actually waterfront communities with both wealthy and low-income populations; the Rockaways is a good example of this mix. The eastern section of the Bronx is another area which is wealthier than other parts of the Bronx but still lost power. That portion of the Bronx in particular is not an environmental justice community. If we look at the area around Kings Highway, which also has a wide diversity of people, incomes, and building uses, these communities were not as affected by Sandy, but they do have the potential to be more heavily impacted by future weather events as the shoreline recedes.

M.F: Could you provide some background on the assessment process GOSR uses to decide which projects to move forward with and where they will be sited?

A.R: Some projects are classified as ‘urgent need’ (that don’t necessarily target low-income communities), and other areas are classified as low- and medium-income (LMI) communities. GOSR has a team that works on developing metrics that determine which specific communities can be designated as LMI. This ensures that funding for storm recovery is equitably distributed and that projects directly benefit low-income people. However, it can be difficult to find places that meet all of these qualifications. Most of the battery back-up projects we are working on are for community buildings, but we do have one site that is residential with a non-profit that has a home for adults with disabilities.

M.F:  What are the costs associated with simple battery back-up for a building that has solar? Any numbers here are helpful to paint the picture of the expense!

A.R: Usually, for a small 20 kWh lithium ion system, it costs $100k to procure, design, and install the battery in New York City. However, this size typically has limited functionality at a community center and would mainly be used to charge cell phones and devices. They would need a system that is 4 mWh to fully sustain the center during a power outage, and they are proposing moving forward with a 600 kWh system priced at $1.5 million. To put this in perspective, the same system in California would probably cost about a third of the price.

M.F: Do you know of any environmental justice organizations that are engaging in the conversation about batteries and grid vulnerability?

A.R: THE POINT CDC (Community Development Corporation) which serves the South Bronx, a prominent environmental justice community, comes to mind. However, the conversation about batteries can be difficult because of the high costs and technological obstacles associated with procurement and installation. The biggest barrier working against resilient solar in NYC is the fact that current solar and storage technology is very expensive and difficult to site in the city. There are many companies elsewhere accelerating the expansion of more cost-effective battery technology without, for example, having to comply with NYC fire code.

 M.F: I know you’ve thought about this a lot—the future of the resilient solar program beyond GOSR. Do you have any ideas about how to move resilient solar forward in NYC? Do you know of other funding streams or agencies that can support resiliency projects now and in the future?

A.R: One unique agency that is working on this is DCAS (Department of Citywide Administrative Services). They are the perfect organization to have an impact, especially in lower-income communities where they are very likely to have a city-based infrastructure. Currently, DCAS is working with GOSR on library projects and is responsible for managing the electric accounts of all municipal bills. DCAS has also looked at solar to power their own sites, and they have a sufficient portfolio where they can do storage for both grid services and backup power. For this kind of large-scale effort to be incentivized, it’s important that the proposed solar projects are multidimensional, meaning that they offer reliable power generation and multiple benefits to the grid and to the community being served.

 

Affordable Housing Photo

Solar Powerhouse Spotlight – Installment 2

In the spirit of the new year, we are excited to feature and celebrate members of the HCS team in our second installment of the Solar Powerhouse Spotlight. We asked our fellow teammates to reflect on the projects as well as initiatives spearheaded throughout the past year, share highlights from their work, and as we ring in the new year, discuss their aspirations for the future of solar in the 2021!

What is one goal are you the proudest to have achieved this year?

José Gálvez Contreras (J.G.C): One project I am proud of is the completion of my very first solar energy project on a mixed-income building which I started to manage when I first arrived at Solar One.

Juan Parra (J.P): I’m really excited that we have started construction for the Community Power projects, where solar is being installed on NYCHA (New York City Housing Authority) buildings, and local residents can buy the energy at a discount, saving them money on their energy bills. As part of the project, we trained 25 NYCHA residents in the skills needed to be an entry-level solar installer, and 15 of the trainees were hired by the installer for this project. We could not have done this without our partners, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Brooklyn Movement Center, the NYC CEC, and Green City Force.

Marigo Farr (M.F): Recommitting to making solar accessible for all, in the form of setting organization-wide racial justice goals for the first time.

Patrick A Owusu (P.O): Hands down has to be hiring my intern.

 

As we bid 2020 a farewell and reflect on the past year, what has been one of your favorite projects of the year?

Gretchen Bradley (G.B): Starting outreach and construction for the Community Power project. The project isn’t finished yet, but beginning to engage potential subscribers and install the solar arrays on NYCHA buildings was a highlight of 2020.

J.G.C: My favorite part of the job during 2020 has been the ability to do more outward-facing outreach through online workshops focused on solar energy technology, environmental justice, and collaborative renewable energy partnerships.

J.P: There are two projects I’ve spent most of my time on this year: Sunset Park Solar and Community Power and it’s hard to pick just one as a favorite. They are similar in many ways: they are both community solar projects where renters can “join” a solar energy system that’s located in their community (but not on their roof). Upon joining, participants will earn monthly credits on their Con Edison bill generated by their share of the solar energy system, so they will be saving with solar energy without installing anything on their roof. Because almost anyone can join, even renters, and there are no sign up costs, these projects are breaking down the traditional barriers to getting solar energy. Both projects are also being driven by partnerships with a cooperative solar developer and local community-based organizations at the center, and providing workforce training and employment opportunities to local residents. Sunset Park Solar is unique because its goal is hyper-local community benefits, while Community Power is unique because it will only be made available to low- and moderate-income households in NYC.

P.O: It’s always fulfilling for me to use my technical skills to maximize solar system designs. More solar means less dependence on dirty fuel sources!

 

How does your work and the broader HCS team’s mission intersect with the broader conversation around racial justice this year? Are there specific avenues you have taken to incorporate a racial justice lens to solar projects?

J.G.C: At HCS, we are deeply committed to make solar energy affordable and available to everyone in New York City. Most of our work focuses on bringing our technical assistance, education, and training especially to those communities that have been deeply disenfranchised for many centuries. My hope is that we continue to do this novel work and grow it at the same time.

J.P: Access to solar energy, or lack thereof, is not just an economic issue, but a racial issue. Our program must ensure that we are delivering on our promise to provide access to solar energy to groups that have been historically underserved by the market, which include communities of color. One of our initiatives that I’m excited about seeks to provide a more direct benefit for the residents of multi-family buildings getting solar energy. Typically, solar energy in multi-family buildings lowers the common area energy costs; we are exploring ways to connect building residents to cost-saving opportunities for their own electric bills, to allow them to see savings in a more direct and tangible way.

M.F: Communities of color have historically borne the brunt of environmental injustice, while also facing challenges accessing the fruits of renewable energy technology. We are hoping to continue working on the latter, and increasing our efforts to develop community solar projects specifically designed for low income and communities of color.

P.O: In terms of outreach, our team mostly focuses on educating communities of color and areas of lower income about solar. These areas are not normally high priority targets for investing time and resources so it makes our efforts all the more important.

Sam Cheng (S.C): I am very glad to be a part of a few racial justice committees within the HCS team. So far, we have had some very productive and generative conversations during these committee meetings surrounding the intersections between environmental justice, racial justice, and affordable solar. One thing we’re working on is building new partnerships with local EJ- and racial justice-oriented organizations in order to connect more communities of color to accessible and affordable solar projects, such as community solar.

 

With solar energy taking huge strides in 2020, how do you envision solar growing its reach in the city in the following year?

J.G.C: Solar energy will become more prevalent as public policy demands inclusion of more renewable energy in how we power our buildings.

J.P: I hope the new mandates that require solar energy on new roofs will increase the number of solar projects. I’m also looking forward to seeing how the CLCPA will support the growth of solar in environmental justice communities. Lastly, community solar, which is critical in expanding access to solar energy, is increasing in popularity, and I hope to see projects that are making a real effort to make their projects more accessible to communities that have been underserved by the solar market in the past.

M.F: I anticipate an unprecedented amount of solar coming online in the next decade, and a positive environmental impact as a result. One part of my vision and hope is to see solar incentives (primarily tax subsidies) evolve to meet the needs of low income communities in particular, because due to the way they are structured, much of affordable housing cannot access them. This evolution that many of us are advocating for is crucial to making sure the growth in solar happens evenly across multiple demographics.

P.O: With consolidated billing for community solar, stable leadership from the federal level, increased awareness of renewable tech and decreasing incentives, I think 2021 will be an important year for the industry. Not only for continued growth but for understanding the future as well.

 

Going into 2021, is there anything you are looking forward to in the solar energy sector or excited to explore in your work?

G.B: 2021 may be the year that the community solar projects I’m working on are fully subscribed, so I’m looking forward to having those subscribers begin to receive solar credits on their Con Edison bills and start saving money on their energy costs.

J.G.C: In 2021, I am excited to continue in assisting more affordable housing buildings go solar throughout New York City while developing research to advance this process.

J.P: I’m excited to see what the new administration will do to accelerate our transition to renewable energy,  and how it will ensure that environmental justice communities have access to its benefits. I am hoping for new incentives, legislation, and funding that allows more projects to be developed, particularly in urban communities of color.

M.F: I’m excited to support NYC buildings in meeting the new requirements about solar for new construction. It’s an exciting moment to see NYC taking leadership on addressing climate change, and it’s also not an easy world for buildings to navigate. Offering technical assistance is one way that our organization can help  the city’s transition to renewable energy, especially focusing on supporting affordable housing break into solar energy.

P.O: I’m most excited to see the number of residential housing installations increase as well as how we can help keep affordable housing incentives strong in the wake of step-downs.

S.C: I am excited to continue working alongside José, HCS Solar Researcher and Program Manager, in support of his research surrounding just transitions. Through this research, I am looking forward to learning more about the role of intermediary organizations (like Solar One) in moving us toward a resilient and inclusive green economy.

 

Resilience and Batteries

Resilience and batteries. While the combination of these two terms may sound foreign to the average ear, for those in the solar and renewable energy sector, the two are almost inseparable. In Here Comes Solar’s (HCS) first installment of our “Solar Powerhouse Spotlight” series which highlights leaders in the field and community, we had the opportunity to catch up with Derek Nelson, former Senior Associate of HCS’s Resilient Solar Team and current Renewable Energy Project Manager at the New York Power Authority (NYPA). We chatted about resiliency within an urban setting, the evolution of the renewable energy field, his tenure at Solar One, and how New Yorkers can pave the way for solar energy initiatives in their communities. 

HCS: The solar, renewable, and clean energy solar field is one of innovation and growth.What was the driving force behind your interest and passion for solar? Was there anything that attracted you to exploring this sector?

DN: Honestly, my interest in the environment and climate change is driven mostly by my love of animals. I studied primate evolution in college, but made the switch to clean energy policy and advocacy when I realized the gorillas I was studying were on track for extinction by the time I hit middle age. Helping prevent that extinction started to feel much more important than understanding their evolutionary history. That could wait. 

HCS: From your time at Solar One, was there a resilience, battery project, or aspect of your role that you felt a strong connection with throughout its development and implementation?

DN: I loved every opportunity I had to show people just how excited they should be about batteries. It’s hard to overstate how transformative they can (and hopefully will!) be for the way we generate and consume electricity, but it’s also hard to describe that transformation in clear terms. I really enjoyed trying to tell a simple, compelling, and fun story about the energy storage revolution to anyone who would listen.

HCS: What will you miss the most about Solar One (aside from creating informative battery videos)? 

DN: The camaraderie with my brilliant, kind, and feisty colleagues. It’s an incredible and never-boring group of people, and I’ll dearly miss playfully arguing with them about every last thing (especially about how important nuclear power is!).

HCS: With respect to your new role at NYPA, is there something you are excited to learn and dive deeper into?

DN: I’m really excited to transition from a focus on smaller batteries that power individual buildings to larger batteries that power the grid itself. Both forms of energy storage are vital to the clean energy transition, but I’m particularly drawn to the potential of large-scale batteries to replace gas-fired plants in New York.

HCS: What do you envision will be the future of solar and renewable energy in NYC? How can fellow New Yorkers contribute to the resiliency of solar in their communities? 

DN: Every New Yorker should either have solar on their roof or, if that’s not feasible, subscribe to a community solar project. To improve resilience, though, they will have to get more creative, since batteries remain expensive and difficult to site in NYC. I think the solar plus storage projects deployed at community facilities with Solar One’s help will be the first of many in the City. After these are built, I hope they will inspire other communities to push for resilient solar at their own libraries, schools, and emergency response organizations.

New Law Requires Solar on NYC Buildings

You may have heard about New York City’s new Climate Mobilization Act, but did you know that it includes a requirement to install solar on many NYC buildings?

In April 2019, the New York City Council passed the Climate Mobilization Act: a series of local laws that will dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from New York City’s buildings, which are responsible for 67% of the City’s carbon footprint. The law that received the most attention was Introduction 1253-C, which will establish limits on carbon emissions for buildings greater than 25,000 square feet, driving these large buildings to reduce energy consumption or purchase carbon offset to avoid hefty fines starting in 2024. The bill’s final details were hotly contested by the real estate industry, making for a political showdown that received significant media attention. Meanwhile, the City Council also passed a solar (or green roof) mandate which flew under the radar but goes into effect this year and covers even more buildings! 

Read more +

Announcing Sunset Park Solar

Here Comes Solar is thrilled to announce that we and our partners were selected by the New York City Economic Development Corporation to develop Sunset Park Solar, a 672 kilowatt-DC community shared solar project on the roof of the Brooklyn Army Terminal.

The project will be New York City’s first community solar project owned and operated by a cooperative for the benefit of local residents and businesses. The project team includes Solar One, UPROSE, Co-op Power, Resonant Energy and 770 Electric Corp. This project is an embodiment of UPROSE’ vision for community-owned renewables in Sunset Park. The system will be installed by a local workforce including job trainees, and the system will be owned by Co-op Power’s NYC Community Energy Cooperative and UPROSE, a Sunset Park-based environmental justice organization.

Read more about the project in this Fast Company article or visit the project’s bilingual (Spanish/English) website sunsetparksolar.org to sign up!

What’s So Fun About Batteries?!

Chapter V. Grid is Great

“The energy storage revolution will abandon today’s boring, antiquated, mostly uni-directional grid for the dynamic grid of the future.”

Well, it’s been a while. I’ve been terribly negligent, haven’t I? My apologies. Damned Sisyphus changed the blog’s login credentials without telling me. The mutinous monarch had grand designs for a blockbuster series of posts on his locomotive exploits, titled – what else? – The Fast & The SisyPhurious.

There was even a poster:

 

 

What a dork, huh?

 

♦♦♦♦

 

Here at WSFAB, we’re often asked, “How can I go off-grid?”

Our answer, more often than not? “Please don’t.”

 

In the popular imagination, energy storage is all about quitting the grid. Indeed, since the rise of solar photovoltaics a few decades ago, lead acid batteries and solar have made a great pair in remote areas. With the solar powering loads and charging the battery for night-time use, a well-designed, off-grid solar + storage system can provide clean, reliable electricity 24/7.

 

So, what’s the problem? For remote installations, there isn’t one. Wherever you are, it is costly to connect a house (or any other electric load) to the grid, but these interconnection costs skyrocket the farther you get from dense webs of distribution wires. This isn’t surprising. Where there is little infrastructure ready to serve a new load, and new wires must run long distances to reach that load, interconnection gets pretty pricey. The pricier it gets, the more attractive off-grid solar + storage becomes. But – if you are close to the grid, it’s probably cheaper to go with grid-tied solar and pull power from the grid at night.

 

Here’s the cost comparison in its simplest form:

Off-grid solar + storage cost = Solar and storage installation cost + storage replacement cost (if necessary)

-versus-

Grid-tied solar cost = Solar installation cost + interconnection cost[note]This comparison requires a few basic assumptions:
The solar will operate for 25+ years.
The off-grid solar + storage will meet all electricity needs that would otherwise have been met by the grid-tied option.
If the storage must be replaced in ~10 years (since most batteries lose degrade more quickly than solar PV), projected replacement costs will be included.[/note]

 

If your home is a sylvan backwoods cabin or a sun-dappled island bungalow, going off-grid could very well be the cost-effective choice. But such cases are hugely outnumbered by those for which grid-tied solar is the cheaper option. And believe it or not, off-grid solar + storage is often less environmentally friendly than grid-tied solar. This is because no battery is perfectly efficient at charging and discharging – about 20% of the energy with which it’s charged will be lost by the time it’s discharged.[note]And don’t forget about the human and environmental costs of manufacturing, shipping, and installing batteries. Exporting directly to the grid is much more efficient, meaning grid-tied solar offsets more carbon-intensive grid power.[/note]

 

The gist? In broad strokes, energy storage is reinventing the way we generate, deliver, and value power. But unless you’re out in the middle of nowhere, off-grid solar + storage is typically less cost-effective than grid-tied solar. And that’s fine! Because there are plenty of other reasons to add batteries to grid-tied solar, and if we want to build the dynamic grid of the future, we’re going to need a lot of batteries on the grid.

 

♦♦♦♦

 

Batteries have many flattering traits. Most flattering of all is the load “flattening” they can provide to the grid, by charging when the load on the grid is light, and discharging when it’s heavy. This helps shift solar power to night-time, wind power to low-wind-time, and excess power of all kinds to peak-time. All three of these power-shifting behaviors can drive down electricity costs for utility customers and significantly reduce carbon emissions.[note]Of course, the use of renewable energy at times when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing is essential if we want a low-carbon grid. But what’s the benefit in shifting non-renewable power from off-peak to on-peak times? “Peakers” are our nastiest, most carbon-intensive power plants, and they’re used exclusively during – you guessed it! – peaks. If we can flatten grid peaks enough, the peakers won’t need to turn on, leading to enormous carbon reductions. Energy storage is already beating peakers at their own game and, before long, might render them obsolete.[/note]

 

You don’t have to run the Hoover Dam or Grimes’ boyfriend’s Australian apparatus to contribute – there are many ways in which a more modest grid-tied energy storage system can get paid to flatten loads. Better yet, such batteries can multitask. That is, they can smoothly alternate between different behaviors, maximizing usefulness and profitability. This is known as “value stacking.”

 

Check out all of the fun values in this stack!

 

  • Demand charge reduction – A customer with a monthly peak demand above 10 kW pays a “demand charge” that increases with the size of their peak. A battery can flatten the curve by discharging during peaks, thereby lowering their bill. This is the simplest revenue-generation method for behind-the-meter batteries, since it doesn’t require registration for any utility or agency energy programs.
  • Rider Q – Under Con Ed’s Rider Q tariff, a customer can opt into a rate with daily kW peak and off-peak hours. The customer then pays demand charges if they consume during peak hours, but is no longer charged for a monthly kW peak. A battery can generate significant savings by charging off-peak and discharging on-peak.
  • Demand response – Demand response generates value for the utility by flattening kW peaks at the distribution level. Operationally, it’s a lot like demand charge reduction, except that it targets peaks on the grid instead of at a customer’s meter. Depending on a battery’s size and availability, it can participate in several different Con Ed demand response programs.
  • Load shifting / Energy arbitrage – If a customer pays variable time-of-use rates, their battery can charge when energy’s cheap and discharge when it’s expensive, helping the customer avoid peak kWh pricing. This is called “load shifting.” Energy arbitrage is similar, except the battery sends power to the grid during peak hours, maximizing the rate it’s paid for energy exports. Right now, energy arbitrage has uncertain regulatory support, but it’s likely to be viable soon.
  • Non-Wires Alternatives (NWA) – By performing load-flattening much like that required by demand response, a well-placed battery can obviate the need for grid transmission and distribution upgrades. Con Ed will pay installations that reliably provide these services. NWA programs are very likely to become more prevalent and accessible as distributed energy resources proliferate in Con Ed territory and new transmission and distribution upgrades become necessary.

 

Admittedly, if you’re new to this stuff, this might feel less like a nice, neat “stack,” and more like a Jenga tower. But everybody’s pretty new to this – you’re ahead of the game just for getting this far!

 

Here’s the thing. Sure, “off-grid” sounds rugged & sexy – but the grid needs our help if it’s going to grow into the cleaner, more dynamic grid of the future. An ever-expanding fleet of small, behind-the-meter batteries are going to be essential to this transformation.

 

Conclusion? Grid-tied is sexy, too. 😉

 

♦♦♦♦

What’s So Fun About Batteries?!

Chapter IV. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

“The energy storage revolution will finally enable the transition to a majority-renewables grid.”

 

“…Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The struggle itself toward the
heights is enough to fill a man’s heart.
One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”

– Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus

 

Myth is right! Imagine me happy? Indeed, that requires some imagination, Albert.

How could I find joy in fruitless labor? I imagine you writing your essay, Albert, if each sentence were to fade from the page the moment you came to a full stop. You would never complete a work, let alone a word. You would create nothing, contribute nothing. Yet you expect you would find joy in this arrangement?! I have my doubts, Al.

But fret not, dear reader! This Corinthian King’s labors have, at long last, borne sweet fruit. I have found rapture in my repetition, transcendence in my trudgery. No longer do I serve a démodé deity; today, I serve The Grid.

Things seem to have changed a bit since I began my ascent several millennia ago.

Among these things:

        1. Nobody worships Zeus and his ilk any more (HA!)
        2. Monarchy is pretty passé now 😢
        3. Sometimes, people brush their teeth
        4. Regenerative braking is a thing

…and that about covers it!
Today, I would like to focus on by far the most thrilling of these developments. If you drive a Prius, you probably know about regenerative braking (“regen”); if you don’t, then you probably don’t. But it’s not just for Prii – regen was first patented in 1907, if not earlier. But what is it?

Vroom.

 

First, consider a traditional, non-regen vehicle. When you pump the brakes, friction is applied to the wheels, converting their kinetic energy into thermal energy. In this process, none of that kinetic energy is destroyed – you and your vehicle just cannot harness it in its new state as “waste heat.”

Instead of applying friction to the wheels (as in traditional braking), regen slows the vehicle simply by cutting power to the motors that turn the wheels. The wheels’ kinetic energy then flows back to the motors, using them as electrical generators to recharge the battery. In other words – when accelerating, the battery powers the motors, which turn the wheels; when regenerative braking, the process is reversed, as the wheels power the motors, which charge the battery. Regen cannot slow a car as rapidly as traditional braking can, so at greater speeds, the vehicle must supplement regen with friction, causing the loss of some kinetic energy as waste heat. But in a modern regen car, about 70%-80% of the wheels’ kinetic energy can be captured and used to recharge the battery. The other 20-30% is lost to standard inefficiencies in the lithium-ion battery charge/discharge process.

You’re probably wondering, “Who cares? What, does Sisyphus have a Prius?!”

Of course I don’t! Even the unusually spacious Prius hatchback can’t accommodate this (literally) damned rock.[note]That said… Toyota, feel free to reach out re: licensing opportunities for the Limited Edition SisyPrius, the first car powered entirely by the curse of a jealous god![/note] No – I am the founder and CEO of Sisyphus Storage, the world’s finest boulder-based energy storage firm. As ever, I shoulder my boulder, but now the ignominious ingot sits in a railcar outfitted with regenerative brakes. When grid operators need electricity stored, I mainline the stuff, supercharging my ascent.[note]I understand that this is an unusual arrangement – at most similar energy storage installations, electricity powers a traditional engine which drives the weighted railcar uphill. Boring![/note] As I near the summit, I lock the car to the tracks. Thus, the electricity fed into the motor (my body) has been converted into gravitational potential energy. When grid operators need to draw power from this “battery,” I unlock the car from the tracks, hop atop my boulder, and speed downhill.

Choo choo! What now?

        1. Gravitational potential energy is converted into kinetic energy, driving the wheels downhill;
        2. Regenerative braking is applied, feeding kinetic energy into motors that convert it into electricity;
        3. Electricity is sent back to the grid;
        4. We slow to a gentle stop at the bottom of the decline. The battery has been fully discharged.

 

 

But… why do any of this? It’s not like you’re actually generating any new electricity, right?

That’s right – I just take electricity from the grid and hold onto it for safekeeping. But this is an extremely valuable service! Grid operators call on me to charge and discharge electricity for all sorts of reasons. Most of the time, they ask me to store excess electricity from wind and solar farms. Since these energy sources aren’t “dispatchable,”[note]A diesel generator is “dispatchable” because, well, it can be dispatched to generate power at any time, as long as you have fuel. Wind and sunlight can’t be stored for future use in the same way… or can they? Such intermittent sources of energy can be made dispatchable if you pair them with energy storage. [/note] they’ll often produce more (or less) power than what customers need at a given moment. Any electricity beyond what’s being demanded by customers has to be safely sent somewhere – this is so vital that sometimes a utility will actually pay a neighboring utility to take its excess power! You won’t be surprised to learn that for-profit corporations don’t particularly relish this scenario.

That’s where I come in. The utility instead pays me to take its excess power, which I use to hustle up my hill. Then, the next time their renewable power plants are under- instead of over-generating, I send my stored energy back to the grid. Voila – we’ve turned the wind and solar farms into dispatchable resources, like traditional natural gas power plants. Of course, my battery is slower-moving than the lithium-ion ones that rule the market – those nimble little guys are great at responding to second-by-second fluctuations in electricity demand and supply. However, I can hold a charge a whole lot longer than they can. Once I’m charged, I can sit on my hilltop perch indefinitely. I can even hold excess solar power from the summer and save it for the shorter, dimmer winter days. Such “seasonal storage” is going to be absolutely vital if we’re ever going to build a majority-renewables grid.

This is all to say – you don’t need a chemical battery to store energy. In fact, depending on your needs, you might prefer to pay a damned, immortal monarch to shove a boulder up a hill. I’m just happy to d-

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

Ah, a demand peak! My apologies, but I’ve got to shove off – duty calls.

Wheeeeeeeee!

 

What’s So Fun About Batteries?!

Chapter III. OMG, Batteries Are so Fun. Can I Get One?

“The energy storage revolution will grant individuals unprecedented control over their energy profiles.”

Welcome back, Friends of WSFAB! Apologies for the delay between chapters. Angelica, Richard, and I have been pretty busy with our day jobs – working with the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR) to deploy solar + storage systems[note] Solar + Storage (AKA Resilient Solar) – Shorthand for a paired solar photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage system. Most solar systems can operate during blackouts only if they are paired with energy storage. Therefore, in order to be considered “Resilient Solar,” a system must include energy storage.[/note] at community organizations around NYC. If you want to get really wonky, check out our first four sites!

We’ll talk more about the GOSR work soon – it’s exciting, groundbreaking stuff. But for now, please admire your friendly neighborhood energy geeks as they cool off between site walks at Birch Family Services:


We listen to our fans here at WSFAB. Here’s some feedback we’ve received from our treasured readers.

          • “Honestly, I really doubted the premise of this series. Like, they’re batteries, okay? They’re not fun. BOY was I wrong! Resilience?[note] Resilience – A power system’s ability to quickly and effectively bounce back from a service interruption. A section of the grid is “resilient” if it can quickly restore power after a blackout. A home, apartment building, or community center is “resilient” if it can provide its own power during a grid blackout, such as from a solar + storage system.[/note] Demand charge reduction? DOPE! Gimme batteries.” – Shane, 24
          • “Before I was a WSFAB subscriber, when I heard the word ‘battery,’ I thought of depleted cell phones. Now? I get so amped that I can’t think straight. It’s actually a little scary.” – Dolores, 36
          • “OMG, batteries are so fun. Can I get one?” – Glenn, 7

         

I feel the same way, Glenn. The answer is… maybe! Let me explain.

Why would you want a battery in your home?

For most people, the main appeal of a residential battery is its ability to provide backup power. If you pair it with a rooftop solar array, you can even recharge the battery day after day during an extended blackout, so you’ll have power when the sun’s not shining.[note]There are plenty of technical caveats to all of this, but I’ll spare you the details for now. Also, for safety reasons, a grid-connected solar array must turn off during blackouts, unless it is able to disconnect itself from the grid, and has a battery to which it can send excess power.[/note] You don’t need me to explain why you’d want backup power during a blackout. But big batteries tend to be expensive – certainly pricier than equivalent diesel generators. Why go with the more expensive option?

Demand charges.

But before I explain what these are, let’s talk about power.

A “kilowatt” is a unit of instantaneous electric power. A lightning strike, for example, carries about 10 million kilowatts in a given moment.[note]Yes, I know, a lightning strike isn’t technically an instantaneous event. (It lasts about 0.00003 seconds.)[/note] This isn’t a terribly useful metric for measuring your electricity consumption at home, though, since you (hopefully) never need nearly that much power at any particular instant. Instead, you draw far less power, but you draw at least some of it every second of every day. Therefore, you pay your electric utility by the “kilowatt hour” (kWh). A kilowatt hour is, you guessed it, a kilowatt of power exerted over the course of an hour.[note]Utility bills also include “fixed charges” – flat fees that cover the basic costs of providing service to a customer – but these make up a small part of your total bill.[/note] A kilowatt hour represents a volume of electricity consumed – you pay for kilowatt hours of electricity at home just like you pay for gallons of gas at the pump.

If you consume enough electricity, though, your utility will start billing you for kW in addition to kWh. Why? Because if you draw a lot of power in a split second – a “peak” in your consumption – they have to make sure they can provide all of that power instantaneously. If many customers peak at the same moment, the utility might need to rev up another power plant to provide enough power. To meet these needs, utilities bill their peakier customers “demand charges” by the kW. Every month, they bill each of these customers for their highest kW peak.

Phew.

I’m sorry, I know this is a lot. The good news is, if you live in an apartment or a small house, you probably don’t need to worry about demand charges on your personal bill. But if you live in a large apartment building, the building itself probably does pay demand charges for its common area loads. These typically include lighting, heating, and air conditioning in hallways, laundry rooms, etc., plus elevators. If your building pays demand charges on its common area bill, then I’m happy to report, Glenn, that maybe you can get a battery!

Batteries are excellent at reducing demand charges. They do this by charging up when your building isn’t using much power, and discharging when your building needs lots of it. (A battery can charge up either from an onsite solar array or directly from the grid.) This can dramatically lower your building’s monthly peaks, leading to much cheaper electricity bills. In this scenario, a battery might be a fantastic investment.

But how can you tell whether your building fits the bill? Let’s get into specifics.

A good energy storage candidate:

      • Pays demand charges ($/kW), in addition to supply charges ($/kWh), on its common area electricity bill. If a building’s “SC” (Service Classification) on its Con Ed account is “EL” (Electric) 5, 8, 9, 12-demand, or 13, you know it pays demand charges. In NYC today, the only easily-accessible revenue stream for a battery is demand charge reduction. Generally speaking, if a battery can’t do demand charge reduction, it can’t pay for itself.
      • Has 200+ square feet available, either on a roof in good condition, in another outdoor space, or in a noncombustible indoor room. Lithium-ion batteries, the most versatile type currently on the market, cannot currently be sited indoors in NYC, so rooftop or other outdoor space is ideal. (If the plan is to power an elevator for multiple days, well over 200 square feet will be needed, unless the project includes solar.) However, advanced lead-acid batteries are nearly as useful, and can be sited in noncombustible indoor rooms.

 

If your building meets both of the above requirements, let’s talk! With utility data and some layout details, we can quickly estimate the size and type of battery you would need to meet your resilience needs, while still providing profitable demand charge reduction.

…but let’s not forget about solar.

After confirming that your building pays demand charges and has a good spot for the battery, the big remaining factor is your solar potential. The usefulness of solar to a battery depends on a few factors – most importantly, the size of your building’s critical load[note]The power loads you’ve decided are most essential during blackouts. These probably include lighting, elevators, device charging, refrigeration, etc.[/note] compared to the size of the battery. If the daily critical load is nearly as large as the battery’s capacity, the battery will only be able to power the building for roughly one day. To maintain power during an extended blackout, this building would need to add solar so it can recharge its battery day after day.

Plus, adding solar to the project will likely improve the quality of the investment, both because solar has a quicker payback period[note]The number of years it takes for a project’s revenues (e.g. demand charges savings) to surpass its costs (equipment, permitting, installation, etc.).[/note] than batteries in NYC, and because tax benefits on the solar can be extended to the battery if they’re deployed together. In other words, while solar is not always essential to a resilient battery installation, it really helps. So if your building meets the two battery viability requirements above, please also keep its solar potential in mind.

Believe it or not, I’ve skimmed over many important details here, but my spiel is already overlong. If you have any questions – or, better yet, building candidates! – shoot me a message at derek@solar1.org or on Instagram at @ResilientNYC.

Be sure to check in on WSFAB next week, when we’ll welcome a very special guest columnist. He’ll walk (trudge? heave?) us through some of the more whimsical methods of energy storage…

VAWyqx

What’s So Fun About Batteries?!

Chapter II. Reinvention in Puerto Rico

“The energy storage revolution will vastly
improve resilience during blackouts.”

Half a year after Hurricane Maria made landfall, over one hundred thousand Americans are still without power in Puerto Rico. Even among those with access to grid electricity, service remains unreliable.[note] Reliability – A power system’s ability to maintain consistent electrical service. This system could be anything from a multi-state section of the electric grid to a tiny off-grid solar system. The fewer interruptions a system experiences, the more “reliable” it is.[/note] You’re probably familiar with some of the unique obstacles Puerto Rico has faced in its slow and incomplete recovery – an outdated electric grid, an insolvent power company, dubious and poorly-considered restoration contracts, a negligent federal government, the island’s geographic isolation, and so on.

If Maria had struck just five or ten years ago, an effective response to these challenges would have been grueling, but relatively straightforward – rebuild the grid and the institutions at fault. Today, the best response requires that we abandon much of what was before – the broken grid, the corrupt energy monopoly, and even the absent federal government.

Puerto Rico isn’t just being rebuilt as it was. It’s being reinvented using the smart, distributed grid of the future.[note]…or, at least, we hope it will be. The recovery has been slow and dysfunctional, but recent reforms to the Puerto Rican Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and investments in distributed renewable energy resources are promising signs.[/note]

Solar PV and energy storage have been central to Puerto Rico’s recovery. A solar + storage[note] Solar + Storage (AKA Resilient Solar) – Shorthand for a paired solar photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage system. Most solar systems can operate during blackouts only if they are paired with energy storage. Therefore, in order to be considered “Resilient Solar,” a system must include energy storage. [/note] system can be deployed in a matter of days, and can provide emissions-free power for years on end without relying on limited fuel or grid service. A diesel generator may be initially cheaper, but it requires a steady stream of fuel (a risky proposition on an island during a disaster), spews dangerous fumes, and will sit idly collecting dust once the grid is back online. In other words, it provides an essential service during crises, but poses its own health hazards and is useless under normal circumstances.

A solar + storage system could not be more different. It typically costs more up-front, but can also perform useful, profitable work every day of its lifespan (25+ years for the PV and 10+ years for the battery).[note]These services include demand charge reduction (trimming expensive fees you pay when you draw a lot of power at once), price arbitrage (filling the battery when grid power is cheap, for use later when grid power is expensive), etc. We’ll unpack these and the many other services in the battery “value stack” in a later chapter.[/note] Moreover, it’s simply a better backup power supply than a generator. Resilient solar is emissions-free, requires little to no maintenance, and its fuel – sunlight – is free and plentiful.

Natural disasters can gravely injure the grid – a grid losing a piece of its distribution system is a bit like a human losing an arm. In this totally-apt analogy, a generator is like band-aid slapped on the wound. Also, this band-aid happens to be a bit poisonous. On the other hand[note][/note], a solar + storage system is like a bionic arm fitted with all sorts of cool hidden tools. Sure, the arm costs more, but while the band-aid might help the wound heal for a few days after the trauma, the arm will be useful every day for years to come. Plus, it’s an excellent conversation-starter. And it’s not poisonous!

With all this in mind, Solar One donated 13 kilowatts-DC of solar panels to recovery efforts in Puerto Rico. This is not a band-aid solution, but a long-term investment in a cleaner, more reliable, and more resilient[note] Resilience – A power system’s ability to quickly and effectively bounce back from a service interruption. A section of the grid is “resilient” if it can quickly restore power after a blackout. A home, apartment building, or community center is “resilient” if it can provide its own power during a grid blackout, such as from a solar + storage system. [/note] energy sector in Puerto Rico. Our friends at the Coastal Marine Resource Center have done amazing work deploying solar + storage using our panels, as well as PV and batteries provided by other generous partners. CMRC is collaborating with local students (now paid solar apprentices) to install these panels and batteries on shipping containers that will be sited across the island. Each container will be overseen by a local café owner, and will become a long-term resilient communications hub for the community. Better yet, the apprentices’ experience on this project will help them find work in Puerto Rico’s booming solar sector. A hearty thanks and congratulations to these renewable energy gurus:  Lembra Rivera, Andrés Justiniano, Alejandro Rodriguez, Shane Kouba, and Dwayne Escola.

To be clear, this is only a small first step towards a more resilient Puerto Rico. The island is still in crisis, and requires far more support than it’s getting. However, it’s not just the scale, but the nature of this intervention that matters. Puerto Rico – and even New York City – doesn’t need a band-aid solution. It needs a distributed renewable energy revolution.

What’s So Fun About Batteries?!

Chapter I. Gigawhat?

If you don’t follow energy or environmental news closely, you might be surprised by the breathless enthusiasm surrounding batteries these days. No offense to your vintage Furby, but we’re not talking about AAs – or even the high-tech lithium-ion battery in your smartphone – but a diverse cast of energy storage technologies,[note]It’s not just electrochemical batteries that can charge and discharge energy. We’ll explore some of the many other effective, ingenious, and occasionally bizarre energy storage technologies in a later post. For now, please enjoy this sneak peek: VAWyqx[/note] built at every scale, from small systems in homes and businesses to football field-sized batteries in the Australian desert.

But first, let’s define some essential terms. Note that in the energy sector, “reliability” and “resilience” have different, very specific meanings. Feel free to skim this section and return later as necessary.

          • Energy Storage – Technology that stores potential energy for later use. The most common of these is the electrochemical battery, which itself comes in various forms. Other energy storage technologies include pumped hydropower, compressed air, thermal storage, and many more.
          • Battery – A device that stores energy in one or more electrochemical cells, and discharges it in the form of electrons flowing from its negative terminal, or anode. Batteries can be single-use (e.g. alkaline) or rechargeable (e.g. lithium-ion, lead-acid, etc.). Of course, the larger-scale applications we’ll be discussing on this blog use only rechargeable batteries.
          • Reliability – A power system’s ability to maintain consistent electrical service. This system could be anything from a multi-state section of the electric grid to a tiny off-grid solar system. The fewer interruptions a system experiences, the more “reliable” it is.
          • Resilience – A power system’s ability to quickly and effectively bounce back from a service interruption. A section of the grid is “resilient” if it can quickly restore power after a blackout. A home, apartment building, or community center is “resilient” if it can provide its own power during a grid blackout, such as from a solar + storage system.
          • Solar + Storage (AKA Resilient Solar) – Shorthand for a paired solar photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage system. Most solar systems can operate during blackouts only if they are paired with energy storage. Therefore, in order to be considered “Resilient Solar,” a system must include energy storage.[note]There are exceptions to this rule. For example, some solar inverters feature AC plugs which, under good solar conditions, can be used to charge smartphones during a blackout. But for the purposes of this discussion, “Resilient Solar” always includes solar and storage.[/note]

 

Congratulations! You now know more about energy storage than 99% of Americans. However, you might still be wondering what exactly is so exciting about batteries.

Energy storage is revolutionizing the way energy is produced, delivered, consumed, and valued. If managed properly, this revolution will fundamentally transform the energy sector in five ways. The energy storage revolution will:

          1. Finally enable the transition to a majority-renewables grid;
          2. Abandon today’s boring, antiquated, mostly uni-directional grid for the dynamic grid of the future;
          3. Grant individuals unprecedented control over their energy profiles;
          4. Electrify the transportation sector; and
          5. Vastly improve resilience during blackouts.

     

    That’s a lot to take in, and far too much to dig into in one blog post. Fear not – stay tuned right here for new posts that will treat these impacts with the time and respect they deserve.

    Enough with all this blather. How will batteries affect NYC?

    To date, New Yorkers haven’t seen many cutting-edge energy storage systems installed. That’s about to change, thanks to Governor Cuomo’s new energy storage commitment – the country’s most ambitious at a whopping 1.5 gigawatts by 2025.[note]To be clear: this is the most ambitious per capita energy storage goal of any state.[/note] In terms of peak power output, that’s the equivalent of over 4.3 million solar panels.[note]Using 345-watt PV panels.[/note]

    This commitment also aims to employ 30,000 New Yorkers, and is essential to New York’s twin goals of a 50% renewable grid by 2030 and an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

    Suffice it to say that New York is leading the way on energy storage and renewable energy – or, rather, New York will lead the way. First comes the hard work of getting these technologies deployed at scale. That’s where you come in.

    In upcoming chapters, we’ll discuss how you can become the proud guardian of your very own resilient power system.

    P.S. Want to stay hip to the latest in Solar + Storage? Keep an eye on our Instagram, @ResilientNYC.

     


     

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