Rooftop solar Distributed Power Plants: A better way to generate electricity
This article was originally published by Solar United Neighbours on 26th August 2024.The solar array on your home is just one system. It lowers your energy bills. And, if you have battery back-up, you feel safe knowing your lights can stay on if the power goes out.
Your solar array can do so much more. It can sync with other systems to provide a meaningful amount of electricity when our utility grid needs it the most. This lowers costs for everyone and makes our electric service more reliable.
Connecting a large amount of solar and battery systems together is called a Distributed Power Plant (DPP for short. It’s also called a Virtual Power Plant). You can think of this as a power plant that is in many places at once. Below we’ll explain why they’re needed, how they work, and action you can take to bring them to your community.
Current utility model is expensive, wasteful
To understand how DPPs work and their benefits, it’s first helpful to understand the way our current electricity distribution system works. To keep our lights on, refrigerators running, and electric toothbrushes powered, utilities must make sure the supply of electricity is greater than the demand. But, too much supply and they end up wasting money by buying unneeded electricity. To make things more complicated, demand for electricity changes constantly. Demand is typically higher during the day and lower at night. It’s higher during the week and lower on the weekends.
So, how do utilities meet this demand? Large, centralized power plants generate electricity. This electricity often needs to travel long distances to power our homes and businesses. Utilities also need to vary how much electricity they generate. At times of highest demand, they’ll buy power from power plants that only turn on when needed. These plants are called “peaker plants.”
The electricity from peaker plants is expensive because these plants don’t run all the time. Utilities pass the costs of running these peaker plants onto us in the form of higher bills. Maintaining this system is expensive. It’s also prone to disruption from storms and other natural disasters. We all pay the costs to maintain this system.
