Journal
SOLAR ENERGY
Volume 208, Issue -, Pages 1068-1077Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2020.08.075
Keywords
Solar photovoltaics; Curtailment; Flexibility; Dispatch; System constraints; Grid policy
Categories
Funding
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) [DE-AC36-08GO28308]
- U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office
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Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems generate electricity with no marginal costs or emissions. As a result, PV output is almost always prioritized over other fuel sources and delivered to the electric grid. However, PV curtailment is increasing as PV composes greater shares of grid capacity. In this paper, we present a novel synthesis of curtailment in four key countries: Chile, China, Germany, and the United States. We find that about 6.5 million MWh of PV output was curtailed in these countries in 2018. We find that: Policy and grid planning practices influence where, when, and how much PV is curtailed; Some PV curtailment is attributable to limited transmission capacity connecting remote solar resources to load centers; PV curtailment peaks in the spring and fall, when PV output is relatively high but electricity demand is relatively low. We discuss available measures to reduce PV curtailment as well as increasing PV curtailment in the contexts of evolving grids and energy technologies.
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