News

Electricity systems are designed to meet peak demand — the maximum load during a specified period, typically in summer — even if that demand occurs only a few hours in a year. Yet most evaluations of electricity efficiency programs focus on reductions in annual energy use. However, these efficiency programs are also delivering peak demand savings at an affordable cost.A new study, Peak Demand... Read more

We are pleased to announce the release of Berkeley Lab’s Distributed Solar 2020 Data Update. These data are available in the form of a public data file, interactive data visualizations, a graphical slide deck summary, and summary data tables. The release provides an updated overview of data and trends for grid-connected, distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, defined to include... Read more

Berkeley Lab collaborated with the Western Interstate Energy Board (WIEB) and the University of Texas-Austin to investigate the implications of a regional resource adequacy (RA) program on utility integrated resource planning (IRP). This report, Implications of a regional resource adequacy program on utility integrated resource planning: Study for the Western United States, is focused on an active... Read more

Please join us on Tuesday, December 8, at 10:00 AM Pacific / 1:00 PM Eastern time for a free webinar presenting highlights from Berkeley Lab’s 2020 utility-scale wind and solar data updates. These annual data products, now in their 14th and 8th years, respectively, compile comprehensive empirical data from the expanding fleet of utility-scale wind and solar projects operating in the United... Read more

We are pleased to announce the release of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 2020 Utility-Scale Solar Data Update. The release provides an updated overview of data and trends in ground-mounted solar projects in the United States that are larger than 5 MWAC, in the form of a comprehensive data file, a briefing slide deck summarizing select insights, and a series of data visualizations.... Read more

Low- and moderate (LMI) income households are less likely than high-income households to adopt rooftop solar photovoltaics in the United States, though policy-makers and others in the industry have increasingly sought out strategies for addressing this inequity. In a new study published in the journal Nature Energy, Berkeley Lab researchers explore the effects of five policy and business models on... Read more

Since at least the late 1970s, electric utilities and their regulators have recognized the value of experimentation to motivate innovation. The industry has a long history of using pilots to help inform future decision making about electric utility rates, customer technology adoption and integration, and even changes to the utility’s regulatory or business model. Although utility pilots have... Read more

We are pleased to announce the release of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Wind Energy Technology Data Update: 2020 Edition. The release provides an updated overview of data and trends in land-based wind energy in the U.S., in the form of a briefing slide deck, a data file, and a series of data visualizations. Highlights this year include: Wind comprises a growing share of electricity... Read more

The rapid growth of rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) systems can pose a number of financial challenges for both electric utility shareholders and their customers. One potential pathway to resolving those concerns involves allowing utilities to own and operate rooftop solar systems. However, the financial impacts of this business model are not well understood.In a new study published in the journal,... Read more

When utilities and regional grid operators plan electricity systems, they estimate the system value of various types of resources. Performance assessments verify whether the expected grid services are actually provided.In the case of distributed energy resources (DERs) that provide demand flexibility — demand response, energy storage and distributed generation — performance assessments... Read more

A new data visualization from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory synthesizes data from generation interconnection queues to illustrate trends in proposed power plants across time and regions. The data compilation demonstrates considerable developer interest in solar, wind, natural gas, and standalone storage plants, as well as growing interest in so-called “hybrid” plants that combine... Read more

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new article in the journal Applied Energy focused on historical trends in the cost and value of land-based wind energy. The study draws on work by a multi-country collaborative organized under the auspices of IEA Wind, focusing on six countries (and the EU): the United States, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden. The study covers an... Read more

We are pleased to announce the release of a new report from Berkeley Lab identifying energy efficiency (EE) and demand response (DR) attributes, utility system conditions, and technological factors that are likely to drive interactions between EE and DR. We developed a conceptual framework intended to address the following question: From the grid operator perspective, how do EE and DR compete with... Read more

New data compilation from Berkeley Lab tracks existing and proposed projects As battery prices fall and wind and solar generation rises, power plant developers are increasingly combining wind and solar projects with on-site batteries, creating “hybrid” power plants. But hybrid or co-located plants have been part of the U.S. electricity mix for decades, with widely ranging configurations that... Read more

Berkeley Lab is pleased to announce a new article recently published in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, titled “System-Level Performance and Degradation of 21 GWDC of Utility-Scale PV Plants in the United States.” This study finds that first-year performance generally lives up to ex ante expectations, while the rate of performance decline over time depends on factors such as... Read more

Supersized wind turbines could deliver $4-5/MWh more in grid benefits than today’s turbine technology, in addition to any direct-cost advantages Study supports need to expand the design space to focus not only on direct-cost minimization, but also on the underlying value of wind to the electricity system A new study by Berkeley Lab, published in the journal Wind Engineering, shows that... Read more

Most PV permitting processes take fewer than 2 months from permit application to a passed inspection, but some customers face substantially longer timelines Differences in permitting authority experience and policies explain some of this variation Local permitting timelines for rooftop solar systems are getting shorter but remain highly variable, according to a new Berkeley Lab study published in... Read more

Solar professionals report that the assumed useful life of PV projects now exceeds 30 years in most cases, with OpEx dropping by 50% over the last decade Longer useful lives and lower OpEx drive down levelized costs The expected useful life of utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) projects has increased over time, while anticipated operating expenditures (OpEx) have decreased, according to new research... Read more

Avoided energy and capacity costs are the primary yardstick utilities use to determine which energy efficiency programs are cost-effective for their customers. But sometimes "non-energy impacts" — not commonly recognized as directly associated with energy generation, transmission and distribution — represent substantial benefits, such as improving comfort, air quality and public health.... Read more

Although AWEA CLEANPOWER has been cancelled this year, much of the education content will be presented via webinars. Four Berkeley Lab Electricity Markets & Policy experts will be presenting sessions on topics spanning the wind industry in the coming weeks.Learn about these events below. Hybrid Projects – The Advantages and Future Implications Wednesday, May 20, 2:00 – 3:30 PM ET/ 11:00 AM... Read more

A new study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) estimates that utility efficiency programs for natural gas achieved energy savings at an average cost to program administrators of 40 cents per therm from 2012 to 2017. (That figure does not include any participant share of the costs.) For comparison, the national average retail price of natural gas during that period was about... Read more

Wind plant performance declines due to plant age in the United States can be partially managed and is influenced by policy, according to a recent study from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).The U.S. is currently the second-largest wind power market globally – supplying 7.3% of the nation’s electricity generation in 2019 – yet this is the first... Read more

Growth in peak demand, higher levels of wind and solar generation, and transportation electrification are raising new challenges for electricity systems. Buildings are a source of demand flexibility that can help meet these challenges cost-effectively. Two new SEE Action Network reports by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, available here (under "Other Publications"), provide resources for... Read more

As battery prices continue to fall and the penetration of variable wind and solar generation rises, power plant developers are increasingly combining wind and solar projects with on-site batteries, creating “hybrid” power plants.New research from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Electric Power Research Institute shows that interest in hybrid plants is high, and that hybridization... Read more

A new report by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory highlights income trends among residential rooftop solar adopters.The study is based on address-specific income estimates and other financial metrics for roughly 1.4 million residential rooftop solar adopters across the country, representing the most extensive analysis of this topic to-date. The study describes the income distribution of solar... Read more