Why DES is the Future of Green Energy Solutions
Distributed Energy Systems (DES) are the central nervous system of the green energy revolution, which is why we’re so big on the thinking behind it, the tools that are modernizing it, and the widespread embrace of the systems for reducing carbon outputs, improving resiliency, and more. Much more.
Here are just some of the reasons we’re so high on DES.
Enhanced Energy Efficiency and Reduced Transmission Losses
- Proximity to Consumption: DES generates power close to where it is consumed, reducing the need for long-distance transmission. This minimizes energy loss, which typically occurs when electricity travels over long distances through power lines.
- Localized Management: Localized production allows for better energy management and utilization. This increases overall efficiency compared to centralized power generation systems that often have to account for a broader range of variables and potential inefficiencies.
Integration of Renewable Energy Sources
- Facilitates Renewable Adoption: DES is often based on renewable energy technologies, such as solar panels, wind turbines, and small-scale hydropower. Their modular and scalable nature makes it easier to integrate these renewable sources into the grid.
- Support for Intermittency: Distributed systems can more effectively manage the variability and intermittency of renewable energy sources. By having a network of distributed energy resources, fluctuations in power generation (e.g., from solar or wind) can be balanced more effectively.
Increased Grid Resilience and Reliability
- Resilience to Disruptions: DES can enhance grid resilience by diversifying energy sources and decentralizing power production. This reduces the impact of natural disasters, cyberattacks, or technical failures that might cripple a centralized grid.
- Microgrids and Energy Independence: Distributed energy systems can operate as microgrids, which can function independently of the main grid during outages. This capability provides reliable power to critical infrastructure and communities, enhancing energy security.
Cost Savings and Economic Benefits
- Reduced Infrastructure Costs: By generating power locally, DES reduce the need for significant investments in centralized infrastructure and long transmission lines. This can lead to lower overall capital and maintenance costs.
- Local Economic Development: Investment in distributed energy systems can boost local economies by creating jobs related to the installation, maintenance, and management of these systems. It also allows for greater community involvement and ownership of energy production.
Scalability and Flexibility
- Modular Implementation: DES is highly scalable. These systems can be implemented on a small scale (e.g., for individual homes or businesses) and gradually expanded, which makes them adaptable to different settings and demand levels.
- Flexibility: DES offer the flexibility to integrate various types of energy resources, including solar, wind, biomass, and even small-scale traditional energy generation methods, thus catering to a diverse range of energy needs and preferences.
Reduction in Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Lower Carbon Footprint: By focusing on renewable sources and improving efficiency, DES help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact compared to conventional fossil fuel-based power plants.
- Promotion of Sustainable Practices: They encourage the adoption of sustainable energy practices and raise awareness about energy consumption and conservation among consumers and communities.
Technological Innovations and Advancements
- Smart Grids and IoT: The advancement of smart grid technologies, combined with the Internet of Things (IoT), allows for better monitoring, control, and optimization of distributed energy systems. This integration supports real-time decision-making and enhances overall grid performance.
- Energy Storage Solutions: Innovations in energy storage technologies, such as batteries and thermal storage, complement distributed energy systems by storing excess energy and ensuring a steady supply when renewable sources are not actively generating power.
Empowerment and Energy Democracy
- Consumer Choice and Control: Distributed energy systems empower consumers by giving them more control over their energy production and consumption. This can lead to greater energy independence and autonomy.
- Community Engagement: They promote community-level involvement in energy generation and management, leading to more democratic and participatory energy systems. This can foster a sense of shared responsibility and stewardship for energy resources.
Wrapping Up
To wrap up things, it’s clear that DES represents a dramatic shift from more conventional, centarlized energy models. By decentralizing these services, DES improves energy efficiencies, resilience, and sustainability. We also believe it will dramatically reduce costs, particularly over time as innovations continue and adoption rates grow.
As the world continues to prioritize reducing carbon footprints and increasing energy security, the role of DES in shaping the future of energy is expected to grow significantly.
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We’re excited to announce that Pasture Voltaics LLC and its unique SunTracker technology have joined the PlanitWorks partner family.
Using raised, high-tensile cables positioned nine feet above the ground to control a solar grid array to track the sun, SunTracker enables ranchers, farmers, Native American tribes, and other entities with vested land management interests to:
- Provide green energy development
- Protect their herds from excessive heat
- Regenerate land
- Feed power back to the grid
The elevated, cabled solar canopy is particularly ideal for livestock, because they provide badly needed shade (for animals and the land), thereby reducing stress on the animals and mitigating evaporation.
A typical 1,200-acre installation generates up to 200MW of electricity. Additionally, the cabling systems are based on well-known bridge-building principles, enabling them to withstand the kinds of high winds typical on open ranges.
While Pasture Voltaics does the actual instllations, PlanitWorks is managing all development efforts including planning, permitting, and working with ranchers.
To learn more contact us for a free consultation.
Federal hurdles, including onerous fees and development delays, are seriously hampering tribal nations’ efforts to implement ambitious alternative energy projects that could generate reliable power, new jobs, clean energy, and massive new economic opportunities.
Although the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) committed hundreds of billions to support clean energy initiatives across the country, a perfect storm of interconnection requirements, a high volume of complex interconnection requests, and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) fees to remain in the development queue have all conspired to create a logjam in the system.
This has proved particularly challenging for many tribes, which are looking to alternative energy solutions,(e.g., solar, wind, and geothermal) as reliable sources of power rather than purely green power initiatives.
“Tribes are unfairly being lumped into the same pool as speculative developers,” says Brian McLaughlin, CEO of PlanitWorks. “At the end of the day, these communities simply want access to reliable power. Understandably, they’d like to take charge of their own energy destinies.”
Big Fees Are Impeding Progress
Per FERC’s Order 2023, within 14 to 30 days, all interconnection requests must be accompanied by a commercial readiness deposit of $5 million (reduced from an original $7.5 million). These fees are designed to limit speculative requests from developers that are actually unprepared to perform the work or that abruptly withdraw (the $5 million would cover withdrawal penalties).
But for most tribes, coming up with that kind of money on such short notice is all but impossible. And to reiterate, the tribes aren’t interested in speculating, they’re interested in generating reliable power.
In its August 2023 report to Congress, DOE’s Office of Indian Energy released the results of a tribal survey showing that 72% of tribes had no ownership or control of their electrical infrastructure. The survey also revealed that tribes suffered an average of 10.5 power outages per year compared to a national average of just 1.6 annual outages.
In other words, far from dabbling in speculative bidding for interconnection opportunities, the tribes simply want access to, and some modicum of control over, a reliable power source.
“If you have homes that don’t have electricity in them, do you believe that they’re really thinking about clean energy,” asks Onna Labeu, the Indigenous Power & Light Fund’s managing director and the former director of the Office of Indian Economic Development at the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Labeu added that while it’s understandable the federal government is focused on reducing emissions, it’s important to remember “there are communities that are way ahead of everybody else, but the tribal communities are significantly behind.”
Reliable Power is the Focus
Ironically, Order 2023 is designed to accelerate the approval process for interconnection requests. According to a report by the Berkeley Lab of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, the number of requests in recent years has exploded, most in solar, wind, and storage.
Today more than 10,000 projects (a 40% year over year increase) representing roughly 1,350GW of power generation and another 680GW of storage await approval to connect to the grid. Because part of that effort to speed up things includes the hefty fees to ward off speculative types, tribes are asking for an exemption.
“We have petitioned FERC on behalf of the tribes we serve to waive [or defer] the commercial readiness deposit … and to allow tribes to remain in the interconnection queue,” said Chéri Smith, CEO of the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy.
She noted that large alternative energy projects are “big economic engines” that not only could produce reliable sources of energy, but also generate new jobs and other economic opportunities.
Despite what may seem like a steady drumbeat of bad news regarding electric vehicle (EV) sales and leases, the industry is actually enjoying sufficient growth to suggest it soon may achieve a 10 percent share of the domestic auto industry.
Kelley Blue Book estimates EV sales in the third quarter hit 346,309 units, reflecting a year over year growth rate of 11%. EV sales also established new volume and market share records. Even Tesla, which struggled in the first half of the year, enjoyed strong growth in Q3.
Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of Industry Insights at Cox Automotive, acknowledged much of that growth was likely due to an aggressive slate of government and industry incentives and discounts (at 12%, industry incentives for EVs were significantly higher than the 7% offered for other vehicle types).
But Valdez Streaty believes that “as more affordable EVs enter the market and infrastructure improves, we can expect even greater adoption in the coming years.”
What is perhaps most important is that EV’s domestic market share climbed to 8.9% compared to last year’s rate of 7.8%, leading industry observers to believe a 10% market share may not be far off.