Solar Cells, Renewable Energy | Solar cells on many roofs: recommends battery backup to avoid grid expansion to the value of NOK 70 billion

One Modern report It shows how solar energy installed on all Norwegian private roofs can be integrated into the energy system in as painless a way as possible.

For 80 percent of Norwegian households, it will be relatively easy to connect to solar energy, because they are connected to strong power grids. For the remaining 20 percent, often in less densely built-up areas with longer and weaker power grids, there are greater challenges that could prove costly to society if other measures are not taken at the same time.

– For the vast majority of people who want to contribute by installing solar cells on their roofs, it will be easy to connect to the power system. More domestic renewable energy production is an important part of the transition we’re going through, and it’s something that grid companies want to facilitate, says Energi Norge’s director of grids and power systems, Christine H. Lind.

Do you use the battery?

The power grid is a splice layer and reinforcements are being made to handle a new transmission of solar energy at the expense of society. This means that all users of the grid, including those who cannot or do not want to install solar, will have to pay for the upgrade needs driven by those installing solar. For the 20 percent where solar cells will result in the need for significant grid improvements, the report suggests different solutions to consider against grid upgrade. Further use of battery technology and production stifling of actions that can reduce costs to society.

– In those cases where the electricity grid does not have enough capacity, we must find smart solutions to ensure that as many people as possible can install solar energy on their roofs. An example of this is the use of batteries to facilitate supply to the grid. Therefore, we think Enova should also support battery technology when it supports solar cells, Lind says.

Storing solar energy in batteries will contribute to increasing the consumption of self-produced energy for the customer, which will have several advantages:

Reduced fees for the client
Online discounted rent for the customer
Lower costs in network investments = lower network rent for everyone

“stroking”

The analysis for which data was used a report Prepared on behalf of RME, with many simplifications. Therefore, the numbers should be viewed as indicative rather than absolute. The table below from the analysis shows that, on average, there are small amounts to be invested in 80 percent of households in the terraced house category, suburban areas or Grisgrindt district 1. In Grisgrindt district 2, which applies to 20 percent of Norwegian households To strengthen the network, between NOK 20 and NOK 70 billion will be required. Production bottlenecks (production constraints) are estimated at a loss of NOK 23 billion, while battery installation is estimated at NOK 21 billion. Thus, most of the costs will come in this category.

online form	Number of customers	Network strengthening [mrdNOK]	throat [mrdNOK]	battery [mrdNOK]
Grisgrendt 1	750,000	8	2	8
Grisgrendt 2	590,000 (18 percent)	20-70	23	21
suburban area	780,000	9	0.6	4
terraced house	1,180,000	–	–	–
sum	3,300,000	37-87	26	33

maximum possible power

In total, the table shows that the necessary investments in the grid could be between NOK 37 and 87 billion if all consumers fed into their assumed maximum throughput at the same time. For comparison, the cost of installing storage batteries in every home is estimated at NOK 33 billion. It is estimated that introducing throttling in order to avoid network preemptions results in a loss of NOK 26 billion. The large gap is due to the fact that the costs of strengthening overhead lines and laying cables have been assessed. The latter is necessary if there is a lot of sunshine, since it will not be possible to further strengthen the low-voltage network.

– We need to bring more renewable energy into the Norwegian energy system. Statnett’s short-term market analysis shows that without solar, we will quickly move towards an energy balance deficit in 2027. We have now identified some different solutions to avoid the scaling up of more private solar power, which we need, leading to significant costs to society. Going forward, we want to work closely with solar players to ensure the best possible use of scarce resources, and the best possible renewable energy in the system, says Lind.