The battery storage can really drive up the cost of the system, both from the perspective of the capital cost as well as the energy that is lost in the process of going through the storage. The study assumes that about 50 percent of the energy from the hybrid system would come from PV and the other 50 percent from the fossil-fuel generator. There is a cogeneration part of this equation as well. That s right. By siting the generation very close to the customer, we have an opportunity to provide the customer s thermal energy needs for space and water heating as a second value provided by the fossil fuel generation.
Propane gas appears to be the likely fuel source.
But I d look closely at the five to 15 percent of the system where loads are very low. There are likely to be some cost-effective opportunities for hybrid PV systems even at today s prices. What we are suggesting is that, when lines need to be replaced, managers evaluate the alternative of replacing the lines with hybrid PV systems rather than merely putting in new distribution lines. The co-op is losing money on those lines. Moreover, our study uses U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utility Service statistics that show as many as half of rural co-op lines are at or near their expected life span.