Dive Brief:
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on Thursday approved Xcel Energy’s plan to build and own 460 MW of solar next to its roughly 1,780-MW Sherco coal-fired power plant, which is being phased out this decade. On the same subject : Astronauts install new rollout solar panels on International Space Station.
The Inflation Reduction Act is likely to reduce the project’s cost to taxpayers by about 30%, offsetting recent increases in its expected capital cost, Matthew Harris, Xcel’s principal assistant general counsel, told the PUC during its meeting. When Xcel proposed the project in April 2021, the company expected it to cost approximately $575 million.
The solar project will take advantage of Sherco’s “increasingly valuable interconnection rights,” according to Kevin Pranis, marketing manager for Laborers’ International Union of North America Minnesota & North Dakota, a union for construction workers that supported Xcel’s plan.
Dive Insight:
The Sherco Solar project is an example of the opportunities and challenges that communities and utilities face across the United States as they move away from fossil power plants. Read also : Why is solar energy sustainable forms of energy ?. A Department of Energy report released this week, for example, found that there are 190 operating coal plants and 125 recently retired plants that could host advanced nuclear reactors.
The PUC’s unanimous decision was a key first step in Xcel’s plan to replace its Sherco power plant in Becker, Minnesota. The utility plans to retire a 682 MW unit next year, followed by a 680 MW unit in 2026 and the final 517 MW unit in 2030.
Xcel’s Sherco Solar project grew out of a request for proposals that was won by National Grid Renewables. Despite concerns the RFP was flawed, the project was supported by the Minnesota Office of the Attorney General, which represents taxpayers, unions, local communities and groups such as the Clean Grid Alliance and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.
In April, Xcel asked the PUC to suspend its application due to lack of a supply chain and the US Department of Commerce’s solar cell anti-dumping investigation. About three months later, the utility urged the agency to move forward with its review of the project, even though it would cost “significantly” more than originally expected, according to a memo PUC staff prepared for the agency’s commissioners.
Under a provision intended to protect ratepayers, if a pending solar RFP issued Aug. 1 results in deals at a lower cost than the recently approved Sherco Solar project, Xcel will limit its initial cost recovery under a rate rider to the lower amount. If the project exceeds the cost limit, Xcel could seek to recover all of its costs when the project expenses are shifted from the rider to the utility’s rate base.
In the pending RFP, Xcel is looking for at least 900 MW of solar or solar combined with energy that could be operational by the end of 2025. A third of the capacity would reuse the interconnection rights of the Sherco plant.
These interconnection features are a key aspect of the project. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator gives the owner of a retired power plant three years to reuse the plant’s interconnection rights, which cannot be transferred to another entity.
In MISO, those rights become more valuable, according to LIUNA Minnesota & Taken from North Dakota.
“It is critically important … that we preserve increasingly valuable interconnection rights, which we believe will only grow in importance and value over the coming decades as we try to build more renewable energy to replace fossil fuels,” Pranis said during the PUC meeting.
Planned renewable energy projects that union tracks in Minnesota and North Dakota have hit a “transmission wall,” according to Pranis. Few have been able to obtain interconnection agreements, which are necessary to gain access to the network, he said, noting that some have been left out due to a lack of transmission.
Xcel is still trying to understand exactly how the IRA will affect the project, Harris said, noting that the utility company is working with the Internal Revenue Service on pending guidance on how the law should be interpreted.
Xcel expects the Sherco Solar project to create more than 900 union construction jobs with approximately $115 million in wages and generate $240 million in local benefits over the life of the project.
Also, the project will provide an opportunity for 75 participants in Xcel’s Laborforce Development and Training pilot program, which is for people from traditionally underserved communities, according to the utility.
“By investing in this huge solar energy project now, Minnesotans will see the benefits of a cost-effective resource that will reduce pollution and provide reliable service into the future,” Minnesota PUC Chair Katie Sieben said in a statement. “Sherco Solar is one of the most important renewable projects in Minnesota history and I am proud of the collaborative work of so many.”
How Many Solar Panels Do I Need for a 2000 Sq Home? On average, a 2000 square foot home would need a 4kW system, which means 10,400 watt panels.
How much power can a solar farm produce?
Most solar farms produce more than one million watts, so the shorthand âMWâ (megawatt) is used to express the size of a solar farm.
How much energy can a solar farm produce per day? The solar farm produces about 200 MW per day. There is currently a 550 MW solar farm (The Desert Sunlight Project) under construction in Riverside County, California. The largest solar thermal energy farm in the world is creatively called the Solar Energy Generating System, located in the Mojave Desert in California.
How much power does a 1 MW solar farm produce?
1 megawatt (MW) of solar panels will generate 2,146 megawatts (MWh) of solar energy per year.
How many homes can a 1 MW solar farm power?
To put that number in perspective, the Solar Energy Industries Association (a US trade association) calculates that an average of 1 megawatt of solar energy generates enough electricity to meet the needs of 164 American homes.
How big is a 1 megawatt solar farm?
A 1 watt solar power plant needs about 100000 square feet, which is about 2.5 acres. Due to the fact that large ground mounted solar PV farms require space for other accessories, the total land required for a 1 MW solar power plant will be approximately 4 acres.
How many kWh does a 1mW solar system produce?
1,000kW or 1,000 kilowatts is 1,000,000 watts of DC direct current power is also known as 1 mega-watt or 1mW. This could produce an estimated 112,500 kilowatt hours (kWh) of alternating current (AC) power per month, assuming at least 5 hours of sunshine per day with the solar array facing south.
How much energy do solar farms create?
How profitable are solar farms? As a general rule, 1 acre of solar panels produces approximately 351 MWh of electrical energy per year. The actual profit depends on the Country and State/local radiation (Peak sun hours), but the average is about $14,000.
How many megawatts does a solar farm produce a day?
Breaking down a Megawatt: A Megawatt is enough energy to power about 200 homes for a day. Therefore, a 10-megawatt solar farm can power 2,000 homes per day. The largest solar farm in the world is 648 megawatts powering more than 150,000 homes.
How many homes can a solar farm power?
The 550-megawatt Desert Sunlight Solar Farm will produce enough energy to power 160,000 California homes, USA Today reports.
How big is a 1 megawatt solar farm?
A 1 watt solar power plant needs about 100000 square feet, which is about 2.5 acres. Due to the fact that large ground mounted solar PV farms require space for other accessories, the total land required for a 1 MW solar power plant will be approximately 4 acres.
How much power can you get from a solar farm?
Utility-scale solar farms can have a capacity of anywhere between 1 MW to 2,000 MW. Community solar farms, on the other hand, are typically less than 5 MW in size, and it is not uncommon to find ones that are less than 100 kW.
How much power does a solar farm produce in a day?
The solar farm produces about 200 MW per day.
How many acres are needed for a 1 MW solar farm?
A conservative estimate for the footprint of a solar development is that it takes 10 acres to produce one megawatt (MW) of electricity. This rating accounts for network development around the solar arrays, including maintenance and site access.
Are solar farms worth it?
Solar farms are an attractive long-term investment these days. The income in the solar farm is worth the investment because the recurring income will pay dividends for years. This technology has been said to be the foundation that will enable a clean energy economy.
Is a 10 acre solar farm profitable?
Farm rental prices vary by location but lie somewhere between $500 to $2300 per acre per year. The higher rental prices will be found in states like California, Texas and Nevada. Assuming land leased for a solar farm in Nevada at $2300 per acre, then a 10 acre piece of land will bring in $23000 profit per year.
Is 5 acres enough for a solar farm? As a general rule, a 1 MWac (alternating current) solar farm requires 4-7 acres of land. The key variable in that 4-7 acre range is how sunny it is in your area.
How much profit does a solar farm make?
Solar farms typically cost between $0.89 to $1.01 per watt to install. The average 1 MW farm can earn about $43,500 a year selling its electricity to utilities. Landowners who lease their land for a solar farm can earn between $250-$3,000 per acre/year.
Is a solar farm a good investment?
Making an investment in renewable energy provides alternatives to fossil fuels and other non-renewable energy sources. While this is an incredible incentive, it’s also important to consider a solar farm’s return on investment, or ROI. The average ROI for a traditional solar farm is between 10 to 20%.
How much money does 1 acre of solar panels make?
How profitable are solar farms? As a general rule, 1 acre of solar panels produces approximately 351 MWh of electrical energy per year. The actual profit depends on the Country and State/local radiation (Peak sun hours), but the average is about $14,000.
How long does it take for a solar farm to pay for itself?
The most common estimate of the average payback period for solar panels is six to ten years. This is quite broad as there are many factors that will affect the number of years it may take to pay off your panels and the monthly savings you can expect.
Is a solar farm a good investment?
Making an investment in renewable energy provides alternatives to fossil fuels and other non-renewable energy sources. While this is an incredible incentive, it’s also important to consider a solar farm’s return on investment, or ROI. The average ROI for a traditional solar farm is between 10 to 20%.
How much should I invest in a solar farm?
Solar farms cost around $450,000 per acre, although prices may vary depending on your location. For a 1 megawatt solar farm, you would need about six to eight acres of land. Depending on your project, it may cost more to pay for a project based on energy output rather than area.
Is solar farm business profitable?
Solar farms can be very profitable in a wide range possible, between $20000 to $60000 per acre.
What is the ROI on a solar farm?
The average ROI for a traditional solar farm is between 10 to 20%. Most solar farms pay for their system within five to ten years, and then have at least 30 years of free electricity. These are general estimates only.
Is 10 acres enough for a solar farm?
Generally, solar developers will require a minimum of 10 acres of usable land—or 200 acres for a utility-scale project. A good rule of thumb is that 1 kilowatt (kW) of solar panels requires an area of 100 square feet.
How much land do you need for a solar field?
For a typical solar installation, the general rule of thumb is that for every 1kW of solar panels needed, the area needed is approximately 100 square feet. This means that, for a 1mW solar PV power plant, the area required is approximately 2.5 acres or 100,000 square feet.
Is 5 acres enough for a solar farm?
1. Size of the earth. As a rule of thumb, 1 MW of solar energy production will require 4-5 acres of land; the solar panels require 2.5 acres (1kW of solar panels require 100 sq ft) and the rest for solar equipment.
What land is best for solar farms?
If it is a flat, open space that is 20 to 25 acres, your land is a good candidate for a medium-sized solar panel farm. You should also know that once a solar developer installs the solar panels, they will have very little effect on the physical condition of your land.
What happens when solar batteries are full?
If the battery bank becomes full, it will stop absorbing power from the solar system. The solar panels will continue to generate voltage, but that voltage will not be used or stored until energy demand or battery space is available.
What happens to excess solar energy? Unused power from this solar power array will automatically be exported to the power grid, earning the homeowner a credit against future power use on non-sunny days.
Can solar batteries be overcharged?
Will solar panels overcharge a battery? The answer is YES. It is possible to overcharge a battery if batteries are not connected to a charge controller or the charge controller is not properly configured to regulate the amount of power entering the battery.
Can you leave a solar battery charger on all the time?
In general, a solar flow charger can be left connected to a battery all the time. Most commercial chargers are designed to either generate very low power or incorporate overcharge protection. It is always preferable to use a simple solar charge controller with any solar charging application.
What are the symptoms of an overcharged battery?
Overcharging the battery could cause the water and sulfuric acid inside to mix and boil. The result of this could be a battery melting, swelling and/or leaking. And depending on the age of your battery, this could even result in your battery exploding.
Can solar controller overcharge battery?
The job of the solar charge controller is to regulate the power going from the solar panels to the batteries. Overcharging batteries will at least significantly reduce battery life and at worst will damage the batteries to the point that they are unusable.
What does a solar charge controller do when a battery is fully charged?
In most cases where a 6 watt or larger solar panel is installed, the use of a charger controller is highly recommended. In a nutshell, a solar charge controller works like an on and off switch, allowing power to flow when the battery needs it and cutting it off when the battery is fully charged.
Does a solar charge controller stop a battery overcharging?
What Is a Solar Charge Controller? An essential part of almost all battery-based renewable energy systems, charge controllers act as a current and/or voltage regulator to protect batteries from overcharging. Their purpose is to keep your deep cycle batteries properly fed and safe for the long term.
What does a solar charge controller do when the battery is full?
Solar charge controllers redirect or turn off all or part of the array to reduce the current flow to the battery when it is full. If the battery is discharged below a specified voltage, which is a low voltage predetermined point, the disconnection of some or all loads occurs.
How do you know if a solar battery is fully charged?
If the battery has reached the float level, it will be full. Many charge controllers without a display will have a light display that will indicate whether it is in bulk, absorption or floatation phase and, thus, it will also indicate when the battery is full.
How do you know if a solar battery is fully charged?
If the battery has reached the float level, it will be full. Many charge controllers without a display will have a light display that will indicate whether it is in bulk, absorption or floatation phase and, thus, it will also indicate when the battery is full.
What should a 12 volt solar battery read when fully charged?
A fully charged 12 volt battery should read 12.6 volts on the multimeter. If the reading is lower than this, you will want to charge your battery either with a battery charger or by driving your car.
How long does it take for solar batteries to charge?
If a battery is completely drained, a panel can typically charge the battery within five to eight hours. The total charging time varies depending on the state of the battery. If a battery is completely depleted, a solar panel can energize the cells within five to eight hours.
Do solar panels hurt the resale value of your home?
Installing solar panels in a home not only helps lower current monthly utility bills; it can potentially increase a home’s value by up to 4.1% more than comparable homes without solar panels, according to recent solar research conducted by Zillow — or an additional $9,274 for the median home in the United States.
Do solar panels make it harder to sell a house? According to a recent Zillow report, homes with solar panels sell for an average of 4.1% more than comparable homes without solar across the United States. A study conducted by Berkeley Lab also found that homes with solar panels tend to sell faster than those without.
Do solar panels affect appraisal value?
According to the Appraisal Journal, the value of a home increases approximately $20 for every $1 decrease in energy costs. If solar panels save a household $600 a year in electricity bills, the value of that home can increase by $12,000.
How does solar affect appraisal?
For example, some places, such as Riverside, California, observe a more modest value increase, approximately 2.7%, in the value of a home when installing solar panels, while other places such as New York have a larger value addition from around. 5.4%
Do appraisers adjust for solar panels?
If a builder charges a buyer $25,000 for the solar installation on a new home, then an appraiser can adjust up to a maximum of $25,000 for a Comp that does not have the solar amenity.
Do solar panels affect resale value?
Some studies have shown that solar installations increase a home’s resale value by up to $6,000 for every kilowatt of solar panels installed, or about 4.1% of the home’s value. However, this can vary considerably from one geographic location to the next, even for comparable homes with similar solar panel systems.
How much do solar panels increase home value 2022?
Increase in Home Resale Value According to a research study conducted by Zillow, installing a solar panel will increase your home value by an average of 4.1%. In California, where the average property sells for about $758,360, that’s an expected value increase of about $31,093!
Does solar increase home value 2022?
Another huge reason that solar energy will be a trend in 2022 is its ability to increase home values. That’s right, solar panels can increase home values. Multiple studies have shown that homes with solar panels sell for more money.
How much value will solar panels add to my house?
However, recent studies show an average increase in resale value between $4,020 and $5,911 for every 1 kilowatt of solar panels installed. At $4,020 per kilowatt, a 5 kilowatt solar panel installation would add an average of $20,100 to the market value of an average-sized American home.