Solar Future Studies Part III: Technology Advances for Solar Storage and Deployment

This online engineering PDH interactive presentation provides a summary on the third part of the Solar Futures Study, which includes the discussion of technology advances for solar storage and deployment.

Energy storage is key enabling large-scale solar deployment. The core Solar Futures scenarios deploy hundreds of gigawatts (GW) of storage capacity. Compared to a 2019 installed base of about 24 GW, mostly in the form of pumped storage hydropower (PSH), adding hundreds of GW of new storage would enable a significant shift in how the nation's electric grid is operated. Following a two-decade hiatus of significant storage deployment from roughly 1990 to 2010 due to lower natural gas prices and availability of easily sited and constructed gas peaking plants, several factors have revived interes in solar storage since 2010.

This presentation introduces the third part of the Solar Futures Study which discusses the synergies between solar energy and storage in the Solar Future Visions. It discusses solar-based fuels and opportunities for storage research and development necessary to achieve deep decarbonization. The presentation also explains technology advances for increased deployment including photovoltaics and solar power concentration. It concludes by developing and evaluating solar soft costs, the types of soft costs, and their financing.

This 3 PDH online interative presentation is applicable to governments, businesses, and green energy engineers who are interested in gaining a better understanding of the economic, social, and environmental benefits of clean, zero-carbon electricity.