Conventional solar and wind power have reached an impasse, and to meet the challenges of the future, both must evolve to support wider infrastructural needs.
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IMAGE: Customers with solar distributed generation are making it so utility companies don t have to make as many infrastructure investments, while at the same time solar shaves down peak demands when. view more
Credit: Sarah Atkinson/Michigan Tech
Beyond the environmental benefits and lower electric bills, it turns out installing solar panels on your house actually benefits your whole community. Value estimations for grid-tied photovoltaic systems prove solar panels are beneficial for utility companies and consumers alike.
For years some utility companies have worried that solar panels drive up electric costs for people without panels. Joshua Pearce, Richard Witte Endowed Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Michigan Technological University, has shown the opposite is true grid-tied solar photovoltaic (PV) owners are actually subsidizing their non-PV neighbors.
A new holistic analysis looks at all the ways panels save utilities money.
In fact, researchers say, utilities should be helping panel owners even more.
There’s a persistent myth that says houses with solar panels could raise energy costs for their neighbors. But a new analysis puts that notion to bed, showing that solar panels actually
drop the cost of power, even for nearby houses.
How’s that? Scientists say solar panels lower peak demand on stressed traditional grids and have reduced the amount of infrastructure dollars that energy utilities must invest. By hooking your solar panels to the grid, you’re sneakily a hands-on investor in your local utilities.
Shining a light on the true value of solar power
Sarah Atkinson/Michigan Tech Customers with solar distributed generation are making it so utility companies don’t have to make as many infrastructure investments, while at the same time solar shaves down peak demands when electricity is the most expensive, says Joshua Pearce, Richard Witte Endowed Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Michigan Technological University.
Newswise Beyond the environmental benefits and lower electric bills, it turns out installing solar panels on your house actually benefits your whole community.
For years some utility companies have worried that solar panels drive up electric costs for people without panels. Joshua Pearce, Richard Witte Endowed Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Michigan Technological University, has shown the opposite is true grid-tied solar pho