Solar panels mounted on rooftops across New England significantly eased overall demand for electricity from the regional grid during an intense heat wave in early July, according to a new analysis.
Jamie Dickerson, senior of climate and clean energy programs at the Acadia Center, said distributed solar generation helped New England electric customers save at least $130 million in wholesale energy costs during the heat event between June 28 and July 4.
“Basically, we saw between 28% and 43% of daily costs were avoided by the distributed solar in the region,” Dickerson said.
Rooftop mounted solar, sometimes called “behind the meter” generation, provides power to offset energy use in individual homes and businesses. But excess electricity is sent onto the local grid, helping meet demand from nearby buildings.
“It’s distributed solar, it is close to where the load is, you know the actual electricity consumption, that means that it effectively reduces the peak demand that is seen on the regional grid,” Dickerson said.
That power also helped ease strain on the regional electric grid as it pushed to meet soaring demand from air conditioning as the region broiled, according to Dickerson.
The Acadia Center analysis found that the region’s rooftop solar was, at times, feeding about 25% of all electric demand.
“Between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on that hottest day of July 2, the distributed solar actually contributed more to the fuel mix than the region’s nuclear fleet,” Dickerson said.
Regional grid operator ISO-New England said in a release this summer that installed solar can reduce demand by more than 1,700 megawatts during normal weather conditions.
Increased rooftop solar generation has shifted the hours of peak summer electric demand from the hottest part of the day around 4 pm into the early evening, according to ISO-NE.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.