Distributed Small PV Arrays Offer Great Potential: DOE
Wednesday, September 29th 2010 11:54 AM
By GetSolar Staff.
A study released by the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory suggests that a network of small, distributed solar photovoltaic installations may offer the same potential as huge, centralized arrays, reports Reuters.
As California works to approve nine major solar panel installations in the deserts, brownfields and agricultural hinterland of the state, media focus has been on high-profile solar installations that require significant capital commitments. However, one of the persistent downsides of such massive installations is that local weather conditions can greatly affect output: According to the Berkeley Lab, as much as 70 percent in 10 minutes.
Spreading solar panels over a larger geographical area mitigates the problem. According to the LBL study, a distributed network experienced as much as six times less volatility than a centralized site.
"In short time scales, you don’t have to go very far to get the benefits of smoothing," study author Andrew Mills told the news service. "All you have to do is go a little down the road."
The implication, then, is that with enough popular support and demand, individual solar installations could combine with feed-in tariffs and net metering to produce a distributed power generation web that is resistant to both centralized disasters and local fluctuations in sunlight.
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A study released by the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory suggests that a network of small, distributed solar photovoltaic installations may offer the same potential as huge, centralized arrays, reports 
