Big vs. Small Solar Battle Rages On in the New Year

The drop of one well-lit ball in New York City may ring in a new year, even a new decade, but it cannot cool the heated battle in California between proponents of big solar thermal plants and those in favor of small-scale, distributed photovoltaic generation. How it pans out will shape the future of renewable power generation for California and its neighbors in the Southwest. If the scales are tipping in any direction, it’s toward small-scale systems that do not require the controversial and precious time-consuming government permits that have over 100 concentrated solar power (CSP) plants in a perpetual quagmire.

For the last two years, we’ve been hearing that gigawatts of solar thermal power will soon be generated in California’s deserts. But that power hasn’t come, and time and money sit waiting in limbo for that elusive green light. Time, it seems, is running out, according to proponents of utility-scale solar power. Barring permit sluggishness, they point to the fast turnaround for CSP plants, which, while they can take years to put online, produce a lot of power in one place and at a lower cost. We simply do not have the time to wait for small PV costs to go down. We need solar power now.

Yet costs for small-scale systems are dropping, and it’s a primary reason why the argument is tipping toward projects built closer to the point of use. Big solar is stuck due to environmental, land use and natural habitat concerns (the vast majority of pending permits are for projects on pristine public lands). At least with PV, something is happening; projects are moving forward, prices are falling and public resistance is minimal at best.

For PV proponents, social and environmental issues are easily mitigated by placing smaller systems directly into the urban core where electricity is used. Existing transmission lines could be used, and it would turn every home and business into individual power producers, ensuring a wide distribution of power in a literal and economic sense.

Some environmentalists, and especially the utilities that stand to lose much of their clout under a distributed power grid, do not see small-scale solar as feasible. Studies have been released claiming that small-scale can succeed, but many in the energy and solar industries aren’t buying it. Such studies are way too optimistic, they say, and in California, there is simply no way that distributed generation alone can meet the state’s renewable energy demands. That remains the opinion of utilities and government, although red tape still rules the day.

Beyond the ability of distributed solar to meet demands, it is also cheaper by the watt to install concentrated solar thermal power. According to the California Energy Commission, solar thermal power is running at 22.47 cents per kilowatt-hour, while PV hovers above 26 cents, and even that number assumes the project is at least 25 megawatts in size. But that gap has already closed quite a bit and PV proponents see it closing further.

And realistically, it’s hard to imagine an investor-owned utility getting behind a study asserting that smaller is better. Such notions challenge the utility-based power grid that has dominated the entire history of power generation. Putting power to the people will definitely not be as beneficial to profit margins as centralized power under the control of regional utilities. That anti-utility sentiment is fuel for small-scale advocates, especially in California, where resentment toward utility companies can be strong in the wake of the blackouts and price hikes that plagued the state after the turn of the millennium.

Put succinctly, Big Solar opponents ask why we should go to the desert for solar power when we can make it close to home, even on our homes. Small Solar detractors are saying, look, if you want renewable power sooner rather than later, if you want to meet renewable electricity standards, then big solar is how you get what you want. Distributed power is all well and fine, but salvation lies in open desert vistas.

Photo Credit: NY Architecture, Envirothink, & Rain or Shine