Small solar systems electricity rates below retail in Germany
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Posted on Oct 1, 2012
In Germany now, the latest phase of the feed-in tariff (FIT) renewable energy legislation is moving towards the point where generators will operate in a world where the electricity they produce costs less than other non-renewable and polluting sources like fossil fuels and uranium (nuclear). A challenge for the rapidly growing renewable energy sector now that production levels are reaching 20-30% of demand, is how to handle continued growth while retaining a stable grid?
The beauty of renewable energy, especially the small scale systems now reaching grid party is that they can quickly resolve the grid stability issue while at the same time allowing for continued unconstrained growth. As solar and other renewables continue to decrease in cost, non-renewables continue to increase as the resources they require as a source fuel become more scarce and more expensive to transport. By actually disconnecting from the grid, small scale systems can actually instantly become twice as cost effective as grid power, since about half of the price of grid based electricity is the grid itself (service, delivery, maintenance and line loss compensations). The critical technical challenge in this scenario is batteries for cost effective storage locally.
One of the great books written by the father of the solar revolution, Hermann Scheer, Energy Autonomy, make this point quite clearly. Ultimately, local renewable energy systems that can remove the need for the grid, provide the most cost effective energy source, while at the same time creating economic, and related political autonomy. As Scheer has said, people who don't control their own energy supply, don't control their own democracies. Energy autonomy enabled through Scheers FIT legislation now sits at the beautiful moment when grid parity will drive solar systems operators, especially at the small scale, to disconnect from the grid, combined with emerging battery technologies to create a world where freedom and economic stability can be realized. Think about it, small scale finally has the advantage. Time to start installing your own solar system.