Why We Need More Distributed Energy Generation Now
| July
Last week, over 1 million Texas homes and businesses were without power for days during a severe heat advisory. The outage, the result of Hurricane Beryl, was much more than an inconvenience; hospitals were overwhelmed, and the inability to run air conditioners during the heatwave created a dangerous, life-threatening situation.
As severe weather events increase in frequency and intensity across the nation, this kind of scenario is becoming more common. The good news is that solar and energy storage can help. They can mitigate the effects of climate change that’s contributing to more severe weather, while also helping avoid the resulting power outages.
Achieving energy resilience
It’s no secret that deploying more renewable energy sources like solar is key to limiting climate change. To meet our nation’s climate goals, we need to transition our energy generation away from fossil fuels. That transition will take all kinds of renewable energy deployments, including large utility-scale solar and wind facilities.
But how do we deal with increasingly frequent and lengthy power outages like last week’s in Texas? Our nation’s centralized energy system, designed for a time when most power was generated remotely at large power plants, is not up to the task. It relies on long transmission lines, which are not resilient and which are being challenged by increasingly severe weather, not to mention the increased risks of wildfires caused by downed power lines.
That’s why we also need small, local energy deployments. These distributed energy resources include batteries as well as energy generation facilities like photovoltaic solar installations. Local solar + storage, especially when deployed as part of a microgrid, provides significant resilience benefits.
During a power outage, a microgrid can “island” from the larger grid and continue operating. When the sun isn’t shining, energy stored in the battery can be used until the battery can be charged again. When sized properly, a microgrid can keep critical electric loads online for long periods of time.
The vast potential for rooftop solar
Where do we put all this local solar? A lot of it can be sited on roofs. Rooftop solar includes solar on homes, but solar can also be sited on more than just residential properties. Solar can also be installed on warehouses, parking structures, hospitals, schools, and fire stations, to name a few. These as well as other nonprofits CollectiveSun also works with, such as food banks, homeless shelters, museums, and houses of worship, can all be part of the solution to our national energy needs. These commercial-scale solar installations should be a key part of our country’s energy generation mix.
While many states have supported rooftop solar, much of that has been residential solar. The commercial-scale solar market remains largely untapped, which means there’s a large potential there for siting local solar.
When you combine residential and commercial-scale solar, we have an enormous amount of siting potential for rooftop solar. A 2021 study found that the U.S. has enough space on rooftops to generate as much solar energy as all the energy the nation was generating at the time. In contrast, it would take about 500,000 square miles of land to generate the same amount of solar — an area larger than Texas.
Beyond resilience: Benefits of distributed generation
As significant as the resilience benefits are, distributed energy generation also provides many additional advantages.
Cost savings. Local solar can lower energy bills for homes, commercial businesses, and nonprofits, and it can also lower energy costs for our nation. People often think large solar installations are cheaper because of economies of scale. However, that ignores the significant costs of moving the energy from where it’s generated to where it’s used over expensive transmission lines. A 2020 study by Vibrant Clean Energy found that if the U.S. deployed more distributed renewables along with utility-scale installations, we could decrease carbon emissions by 95% by 2050 while saving $473 billion.
Local economic stimulation. Distributed energy generation creates local jobs that can’t be outsourced in a growing industry. Clean energy job growth was strong even before the Inflation Reduction Act was passed in 2022, and since then, more than 300,000 new clean energy jobs have been announced or created. The Vibrant Clean Energy study found that growing local solar + storage enough to meet our clean energy goals would result in over 2 million direct and indirect jobs by 2050.
Increased access to renewable energy. Commercial-scale solar, especially when deployed by nonprofit organizations that serve communities, provides more access to renewable energy — including those who can’t put solar on their own roof.
Environmental benefits. Distributed energy generation can replace dirty gas-powered peaker plants that are located within communities. These peaker plants are disproportionately sited in historically underserved communities, subjecting already vulnerable populations to greater health and environmental risks.
Moving to distributed energy generation
The recent heatwave and power outage in Texas highlighted the vulnerability of our outdated energy system, which relies on centralized energy generation. By transitioning to a more distributed generation system, we can ensure that everyone has access to life-sustaining energy — and the many benefits of local energy generation. The situation in Texas serves as a reminder that now is the time to make this transition.
Nonprofits are a great place to start. If you’re wondering whether solar, and perhaps energy storage, will work for your nonprofit, don’t hesitate to reach out to CollectiveSun.
