When The Power's Out, Solar Panels May Not Keep The Lights On
The cost of solar panels is falling rapidly in the United States. And as the panels become more affordable, they're popping up on rooftops around the country.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is trying to find better ways to back up its power system against blackouts. And while it may seem counterintuitive, more solar power does not mean fewer blackouts — at least not yet.
The tiny town of Del Norte, in southwestern Colorado, is a perfect example. Despite being covered in solar panels, Del Norte is still at risk of losing power if its main power line goes down.
The answer to that conundrum, analysts say, is finding a way to let clusters of solar panels operate independent of the main power grid.
A Solar-Powered Town, Kind Of
Look out at the forests on the mountainous edges of southwestern Colorado's San Luis Valley, and you see a dull orange hue: broad swaths of dead trees killed by the spruce beetle.
Conditions were different back in the mid-1990s, when Larry Floyd started fighting fires here. "We didn't have as severe a drought, we didn't have as much bug kill," he explains. But today, with those dry, dead leaves, there is a lot more wildfire fuel out there.
That's a concern for Del Norte. Set in the middle of the open, flat, desertlike San Luis Valley, it's far from the forests. But fire still poses a risk to the power supply here, says the town's public works supervisor, Kevin Larimore.
Most of the valley is served by one major line, coming through the mountains and into the valley. "If that line was to go down, then most of the valley, I think, would lose electrical power," Larimore explains.
That's despite the solar panels on the town hall, the town shop and the police department.
Turns out, Del Norte's solar panels are actually dependent on the power grid. And that's how it is with the vast majority of solar panels, explains James Newcomb, a managing director at the Rocky Mountain Institute, a renewable energy think tank in Boulder, Colo.
New Jersey, Newcomb notes, has hundreds of megawatts of solar power. But during Hurricane Sandy, which thrashed the East Coast in 2012, there were widespread blackouts — sometimes for weeks — despite all those solar panels "because it's been connected to the grid in a way that it can't operate if the grid isn't up," he says.
That's frustrating for community planners, who have to stare out at rooftop after rooftop of useless solar panels during these blackouts.
Unlinking Solar Panels From The Power Grid
Newcomb says the system has been designed this way on purpose, to protect workers. Essentially, he says, officials "have built the grid and operate it as one big system." If workers are fixing power lines after a blackout, the lines need to be dead; solar energy can't be running up the wires the wrong way.
But it is possible to fix this problem, Newcomb says. "The transition we're now talking about is one that makes it possible to operate some smaller pieces of the grid independently."
What he's talking about are known as microgrids: tiny grids that can power not just a town's water supply, but even an emergency shelter or a hospital.
To create a microgrid, you need what are called "smart inverters." These sense when the larger grid has gone down and lock off the part that needs to be fixed. It could then use the local solar panels to power emergency services.
Del Norte, Colo., still has "dumb" inverters, so the town has to rely on a diesel generator to back up its drinking water, at least.
The technology to create microgrids is advancing, however. Green Mountain Power, a utility in Vermont, is working on what it says is a first-of-its-kind microgrid powered entirely by solar panels.
This story was reported with Inside Energy, a public media collaboration focusing on America's energy issues.
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Transcript
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
Some sunny news now. The cost of solar panels is falling rapidly - a 60 percent drop in the last three years, according to industry analysts, and that means a lot. More solar is popping up on rooftops around the country. All this comes as the United States is trying to find better ways to protect our power system from blackouts. But as Dan Boyce from member station KUNC reports, more solar does not really mean fewer blackouts, at least not yet.
DAN BOYCE, BYLINE: You look at the forest on the mountainous edges of southwestern Colorado's San Luis Valley, and he sees this dull, orange hue, broad swaths of dead trees, killed by the spruce beetle. When Larry Floyd started fighting fires here in the mid-1990s, conditions were different.
LARRY FLOYD: We didn't have as severe a drought. We didn't have as much bug kill.
BOYCE: So there is a lot more wildfire fuel out there - those dry, dead trees. That's a concern for the tiny town of Del Norte. The San Luis Valley itself is open and flat and pretty much a desert, and Del Norte's kind of plopped right in the middle of it, far from the forest. But the town's public works supervisor, Kevin Larimore, says there is a risk to the power supply.
KEVIN LARIMORE: Most of the valley is actually served off of one line coming in the valley.
BOYCE: One major line coming in through the mountains, through the forest.
LARIMORE: If that line was to go down, then most of the valley, I think, would lose electrical power.
BOYCE: Del Norte, though, it's covered in solar panels.
LARIMORE: The town hall, town shop and at the police department.
BOYCE: Great. Since they're generating all this power, Del Norte's ready for a wildfire, right? Well...
BOYCE: If there is a wildfire that knocks out the power infrastructure, these solar panels won't power the town?
LARIMORE: No, to my understanding they won't.
BOYCE: Weird as it sounds, Del Norte's solar panels are actually dependent on the power grid, and that's how it is with the vast majority of solar panels, says James Newcomb. He's with a renewable energy think tank, the Rocky Mountain Institute in Boulder, Colorado. He gives as an example hurricane Sandy, thrashing the East Coast nearly two years ago.
JAMES NEWCOMB: In New Jersey, there are hundreds of megawatts of solar power.
BOYCE: During Sandy, there were widespread blackouts - sometimes for weeks, but all those solar panels - nothing.
NEWCOMB: Because it's been connected to the grid in a way that it can't operate if the grid isn't up.
BOYCE: And it's ticking off community planners to have to stare out at rooftop after rooftop of useless solar panels during these blackouts. James Newcomb says it has been set up this way on purpose for safety.
NEWCOMB: So we typically have built the grid and operate it as one big system.
BOYCE: And if you have a bunch of workers out fixing power lines after a blackout, the lines need to be dead. There can't be a bunch of solar energy running up the wires the wrong way, but Newcomb says it is possible to fix that.
NEWCOMB: And the transition that we're now talking about is one that makes it possible to operate some smaller pieces of the grid independently.
BOYCE: What he's talking about are...
NEWCOMB: Micro-grids.
BOYCE: Little, tiny grids, and these could allow you to power not only your town's water supply but maybe an emergency shelter or the hospital. To create a micro-grid, you need what are called smart inverters that sense when the larger grid has gone down and lock off the part that needs to be fixed. It could then use the local solar panels to power emergency services.
LARIMORE: Yeah, if we can go back here, I'll show you the inverter.
BOYCE: Del Norte, Colorado still has dumb inverters. So they have to rely on a diesel generator to back up at least the town's drinking water. But the technology to create micro-grids is advancing. Green Mountain Power, a utility in Vermont, is working on what it says is a first-of-its-kind micro-grid, powered entirely by solar panels. For NPR News, I'm Dan Boyce. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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