PowerViews

Conferences and Forums

November 26, 2012

Distributed Generation Drives Industry Transformation

Rick Geiger
Executive Director for Utilities and Smart Gr, Cisco

The growth of distributed energy resources and consumer-generated power is creating enormous challenges for energy providers. Utility companies are faced with evolving their current business models to adapt to the shift in revenue driven by new technology. The rise of generation everywhere means more of the electricity used by end consumers is generated locally, rather than generated and delivered by the legacy electric power supply chain.

Legislative requirement for utilities to accept non-utility-owned generation at every point on the grid is one of the central goals of smart grid. Policy goals have been mandated to reduce emissions and avoid building additional conventional generation. Various incentives such as net metering, feed-in tariffs, tax incentives, and mandatory purchase requirements are helping to promote these policy goals. So far, results have been increasing amounts of renewable energy from sources such as wind, solar and other small-to large-scale technologies.

However, in almost all cases, installations of distributed generation are not designed or intended to be completely self-sufficient microgrid or “off-grid” solutions. Residential solar installations generate highly variable amounts of power during the day, but rely on the local utility for power outside of daylight hours and whenever the output of their solar panels is insufficient for their needs. As long as electric utilities remain the supplier of last resort and responsible for reliable power, a more descriptive label could be "Insufficient Generation Everywhere."

Creating a New Business Model

In 2010, only about 0.1 percent of power on the grid originated from Distributed Energy Resources. However, short-term goals set by Renewable Portfolio Standards, plans to increase power from renewable resources in individual states from 15 percent to 33 percent by 2020. Most of this will come from large wind farms, but it will also include increasing amounts of residential and medium scale solar.

Distributed generation at the edge displaces energy that would have been delivered by the grid, reducing the power purchased by those customers. It is an absolute necessity for the electric power industry to create a business model that is sustainable as future revenues from the sale of electric power decline.

An example of what the industry might look like in years to come can be seen in northern Europe, specifically in Germany and Scandinavia. In these countries, some of the world’s largest integration of renewable energy is taking place driven by national policies and generous feed-in tariffs.

go to page: 1 2

We welcome the opportunity to publish your opinions. Please email us at editorial@darnell.com.

White Papers

March 11, 2013

Power Modules for Charger Applications

The Adaptive Cell Converter Topology Enables Constant Efficiency Over Universal Input AC Line in Front-End, High-Density Power Factor Correction Applications

From 48 V direct to Intel VR12.0: Saving "Big Data" $500,000 per datacenter, per year

More White Papers

Design Features

October 22, 2012

Energy Efficiency with Class D Amplifier Modules

Class-D switching amplifiers are helping audio designers create personal multimedia devices and home audio/visual systems that demonstrate how compact and stylish equipment can also deliver high sound quality and high audio output power. The key to this breakthrough, providing freedom from the large and bulky boxes housing traditional audio products, lies in the class-D amplifier’s high energy efficiency, which is typically around 90%. This allows designers to reduce or eliminate heatsinks as well as using smaller-sized PCBs and smaller components such as transformers, connectors and power supplies.

Read this paper

Design Features

October 8, 2012

The Role of Hall Effect Sensors in Power Distribution Infrastructure

Power distribution units (PDUs) form an essential part of modern computing and data communications hardware. They provide multiple outputs for transferring electrical power with maximum efficiency, controlling the power capacity and safeguarding against the possible causes of supply interruption. With an ever increasing need from tech savvy consumers for higher data throughput and greater quantities of data storage capacity, as well as tough international legislation now governing CO&sub2; emissions, the demands being placed on these units are proving challenging for engineering teams to satisfy.

Read this paper

Product Focus

August 13, 2012

The Year in AC-DC Power Supply Technology

The past year witnessed significant new product releases, technological developments, and industry news related to the field of AC-DC Power Supply technology.

Read this paper