Month: December 2011

Managing grid-connected PV (photovoltaic) Power

Recent research from Strategic Business Insights (SBI) has highlighted that a long-term challenge to the widespread adoption of grid-connected PV (photovoltaic) power is managing the instability that can be introduced into the grid because of the intermittent and variable nature of PV power generation. Every type of solar installation loses power output rapidly when a cloud passes overhead. Cloud cover diminishes a major power source, disrupting power to potentially thousands of customers. Dramatic and immediate shifts in the nature of the power flowing throughout the grid can disrupt distribution across even larger areas because of how interconnected the system is—consider that the Northeastern Blackout of 2003 was traced back to instability caused by a power plant in Ohio.

SBI considers that large-scale grid-tied energy storage is the most direct solution to managing the fluctuations in power output from PV systems. Read more