Energy Management Strategies for Industrial Facilities in the U.S.

摘要

Solar installations in the U.S. have grown from 2 GW in 2010 to 25 GW in 2015, fueled primarily by falling system costs and the extension of federal tax incentives. The economics of distributed solar are at risk as the industry continues its unprecedented growth. Distributed solar is unable to provide power during peak hours, which typically occurs in the evening time. Furthermore, utility companies are considering net-metering and electricity rate reforms to meet peak hour demand and to better incorporate distributed solar into the electricity mix. There are market opportunities in energy storage, particularly in the commercial and industrial building sectors that typically have demand charges constituting over 50% of the electricity bill. M+W Group (M+W) surveyed the energy storage market for demand charge reduction and for grid-services. Furthermore, M+W characterized electricity demand from an industrial facility and determined that the economics for solar and energy storage are attractive. M+W also made a case for energy efficiency, which has a direct impact in reducing power consumption from the grid.