Hourly modeling corrections for accurate solar energy assessment

Solar is lucrative business with high potential return on investment. However, there are some key differences between managing solar assets and managing financial assets. Solar assets entail a layer of complexity with physical and technical moving parts, which have a direct impact on yield and hence the ROI. So, how do you monitor and manage a solar asset to ensure maximum performance over the entirety of the system’s lifetime? In preparation for the inaugural edition of the Solar Asset Management Australia conference, we have joined forces with industry experts from Rystad Energy, Blueshore and Inaccess to bring you an insightful session on the asset management side of utility-scale solar projects in Australia.

Green energy trading is an emerging topic within the power sector that has received relatively little attention to date. Indeed, the phrases “renewable energy” and “power trading” are rarely found in the same sentence. In many markets around the world, intermittent renewable energy sources — primarily wind and solar — are gaining an increasing share of electricity supply, mainly at the expense of coal and nuclear power.

Being a renewable energy operator has become a lot more challenging over the past few years. Gone are the days when an operator could pick a single asset class (wind or solar), sign a long term guaranteed price PPA, and focus on generation only, with no concern about market pricing or energy curtailment. Ironically, this increase in complexity is driven by the very success that renewables have experienced over the past twenty years, adding a record 280GW of capacity in 2020 becoming the second most prevalent power generation source. As the industry has grown in size, the intermittent nature of renewables has become a bigger concern.

They say everything’s bigger in Texas, and soon that could include solar energy. With the nation’s fastest-growing population driving demand, Texas has seen a huge increase in solar installations in recent years. Join us for a panel discussion with three solar leaders in Texas - Bret Biggart (CEO, Freedom Solar Power), Manny Aponte (Texas Market Development Manager, Titan Solar Power), and Mohammed Abdalla (Founder & CEO, Good Faith Energy) - as we explore what factors have influenced solar contractors in the state, lessons other states can learn from their example, and what lies ahead for the future of Texan solar power.