A new report states that this year, for the first time in the US, the prices of renewable energy production fell below the prices of energy from renewable sources such as coal. Does the new plan of the Electricity Authority to place solar panels on the roofs mark the turning point in Israel as well?
By Maya Falah, Angle, Science and Environment News Agency
Anyone who has ever used a solar heater probably doesn't need too much explanation why renewable energy is a good thing for the planet: it's very available, it doesn't produce air pollution and it doesn't emit greenhouse gases. But if there was anything that prevented her from breaking forward, it was the financial barrier. And here, it turns out that now it also pays off financially, and immediately: Annual Report who examined the costs in the American energy market, carried out by the American financial company Lazard Ltd., found that the production of electricity from renewable energies (solar and wind) is today cheaper than the production of electricity from consumable sources such as coal and nuclear energy.
And not only is the production of electricity itself cheaper: the report found that the establishment of new renewable energy projects and their operation are even cheaper today in the US in most cases than producing energy from existing facilities that are based on coal and nuclear energy. The report found that in some cases, the construction of new wind and solar energy projects is even cheaper than the construction of stations operating on natural gas.
According to the report, in recent years the production prices of renewable energy continue to decrease consistently: the researchers performed an assessment of the life cycle cost (that is, the costs involved in the production, construction, operation and maintenance) of solar systems and onshore wind farms, and found that their cost in the US decreased by -6 percent in the last year, compared to the life cycle cost of generating electricity from nuclear energy which climbed by no less than 35 percent in the last year, and the cost of coal - which remained constant.
For comparison, the production of electricity from nuclear energy in the USA today costs an average of 14.8 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) - which is about half a shekel, while its production using solar panels will cost only 4.5 cents per kWh, and about 5 cents per kilowatt "Q on average using wind turbines. By the way, the average price of electricity in the US for the consumer is 11 cents per kWh (about 38.5 AJ) - while whose price in Israel for the home consumer higher and stands at 55.3 cents per kWh.
The new report can encourage the supporters of the transition to renewable energy in the US, but the joy is still premature: it is not yet possible to shut down all coal-fired power plants or those based on gas, because in the coming years the US is still not expected to be able to supply the full consumption Its energy is from renewable sources only, and therefore the analysts recommend at this stage to use conventional energy sources (that is, consumables) for backup and supplementation.
Electricity on the roof, Saturdays and holidays
In Israel, the prices of electricity production from renewable energy decreased for the first time Below the prices of coal and gas In 2016. In the tender launched by the Electricity Authority for the production of approximately 1,000 megawatts of electricity from solar energy, the price set was 19.9 agoras per kWh - a price significantly lower than the stated tariff of the Electric Company for the production of a kWh at the existing stations, which was 27 agoras at the time.
In the last few days it was even confirmed Government program whose aim is to catch up with the renewable energy targets to which Israel has committed itself in the framework Paris Agreement, which was signed in December 2015. According to them, Israel is supposed to reach the production of 10 percent of the electricity in the economy through renewable energies by 2020 and 17 percent in 2030. Today Israel produces only 2.6 percent of its electricity from renewable energy, this compared to countries like Germany, which managed to supply 78 percent of the electricity for the country in 2015 from renewable energies only, and like Denmark - which plans to reach a fixed goal of 50 percent of its electricity supply from renewable energy as early as 2020.
In the government's decision, which seeks to try and meet the goals it has committed to, it was decided to increase Israel's reliance on solar panels and less on other projects such as wind energy and energy production from waste - the establishment of which faces many obstacles. As part of a program of the Electricity Authority, it announced that it will encourage private entrepreneurs to place solar panels on the roofs, and to that end will ease the complicated regulation and bureaucracy that are required today for their installation and operation.
Although until today any private person could place solar panels on the roof of his house as part of the "neto meter" program, but as part of the program he could only sell the electricity to the electricity company and receive a discount or credit for his private electricity consumption - something that made the installation of the panels unprofitable Economically for most people, and designated the process only for the crazy to talk. according to the new plan, anyone will be able to use the electricity they produce for their own consumption, and sell the excess (if there is any) to the electric company and receive money for it, not a credit. Together with the plummeting prices of solar panels in recent years, this is probably a worthwhile investment for the consumer, and therefore the Authority expects that many private consumers will adopt the method.
According to the Authority's estimates, the program is expected to generate another 1,600 megawatts of solar energy for the economy, which will be added to the approximately 1000 megawatts currently produced from it and an additional 700 from projects that are under construction. The Electricity Authority believes that this government's decision will help Israel to meet the goals it committed to as part of the Paris Agreement, and to reach the 2020 percent renewable energy it committed to in 10 - which is about 3,600 megawatts.
A blessing or a severe blow to the industry?
But not everyone is sure that this is necessarily a positive move as presented by the Electricity Authority, and an official in the solar energy industry expressed concern that the decision could actually harm him: "The program used today - 'net meter' - is an excellent incentive for owners of small roofs (mostly private houses) to place panels on them Solar: The rate the consumer receives from the electricity company for the electricity he produces today is the same price as he pays for it, that is, about 55.3 AJ/kWh. If, following the new program, the consumer will be able to earn 55.3 AJ for each kWh he produces without limit, any consumer who can do so will cover the entire roof area he has with panels because it will be very profitable for him, and it will certainly increase the supply of electricity to the economy from solar energy from small private producers.
"The problem will be for commercial-sized roofs - where, according to what is implied in the announcement of the Electricity Authority, the intention is to issue a tender, which, according to estimates, will only pay a little more than 19.9 AZ per kWh to the consumer for each kWh sold to the Electricity Company," he adds. "This is less than half of what they currently receive for each kWh, and this will make the establishment of the systems unfeasible and unprofitable for them, and will mean that commercial roofs - which represent a very large potential for supplying electricity from solar energy in Israel - will almost never install such systems. The meaning is that this will seriously harm the industry, and it is not certain that it will really allow us to reach in less than three years the supply of about 1600 additional megawatts of solar energy. The Electricity Authority would do well to make sure that the price per kWh that will be determined in the tender does not fall much below the currently accepted rate."
And even if we manage to catch up with our goals and produce more and more electricity from renewable energy, it is important to do it right. Prof. Ofira Ilon, Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Management at the University of Haifa and Head of Environmental Quality at the Shmuel Na'eman Institute at the Technion, while welcoming the intention to expand the use of renewable energies in Israel, claims that there is another step we must take that is even more significant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: "This The most important thing we have to do in Israel is energy efficiency," she says, "that is, even when we introduce renewable energies into the electricity grid, they must end up in a system that is energy efficient - because generating electricity that is lost in the end in an uninformed manner causes unnecessary production of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions , no matter what source it comes from."
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What needs to be set up are solar collectors with a parallel connection to a wind vane so that there will be utilization of the sun and in the winter of the wind.
There is a possibility that it may be expensive to build, but over time it will be cheap under the roads, especially in the south of the country. Put networks of pipes full of water or oil (reminiscent of anti-theft stickers). During the day, the oil or water will produce steam. The steam will be converted to electricity. The asphalt on it absorbs a lot of heat and serves as a guard for the piping
environment and energy »
energy
Why create a solution to a problem that can be prevented in the first place a significant part of it and also that the cost of prevention is negligible compared to the costs of the solution
What a shame ….
It seems that the term "green economy" refers to the green color of the dollar and nothing more
"A blessing or a severe blow to the industry?"
There is no damage to the branch, the one sitting on it will not cut the branch. For example, the Standards Institute has committees whose purpose is to introduce good products for public use. Is it possible to keep this definition of existence as such when an issue arises that will harm your income if it comes to fruition.
The standard Israeli vertical boiler with an accelerator in it summarizes what is written above, the public does not understand the subject. I don't know that it is possible to save more energy without wear and tear and dangers that are sold with a product that is problematic for the consumer but good for the manufacturer's pocket. Personally, I recommend that in cases where damage or disaster occurs that is the result of this "product", do not sue the company that produced the failure, but the body that approved the use in failure Any claim filed against a manufacturer will be rejected with a stand on the standard which is a wall of protection that the manufacturers use…..
What a shame.
The OECD reports stated that corruption in Israel is more than ever, but everyone is satisfied. What you do not know does not hurt.
Anyone who has ever used a solar heater certainly does not need too many explanations why renewable energy is a positive thing for the planet - provided there is a balance between prevention and solution - a situation that does not exist and is being moved away from by giant steps: it is very available, it does not produce air pollution and does not emit gases greenhouse. It should be remembered that the issue of pollution is controversial, so what is certain is to reduce excessive consumption and minimize many energy losses in the systems - and there are a great many energy losses that can and should be reduced. But if there was anything that prevented her from breaking forward, it was the financial barrier.
"Economic barrier":
This concept exists in a group of people who have the influence and the ability to decide if, when and what the next step will be, and what motivates them is green energy, of a different kind - green bills.
The investments, (whether the capital was invested from their own pockets or whether, most likely - public capital transferred through agreements) of the "Economic Barrier Group" in tenders at the same time as the low price they will receive from the electricity company from the sale of the electricity they produce will justify the investment only if they have exclusivity, which is not possible in this type of tenders Therefore the low payment was invented and to sell a lot of electricity you need:
Eliminate competitors.
To prevent any possibility of reducing consumption and more than that - to produce wasteful consumption.
An annual report that examined the costs in the American energy market, carried out by the American financial company Lazard Ltd., found that the production of electricity from renewable energies (solar and wind) is today cheaper than the production of electricity from consumable sources such as coal and nuclear energy.
According to the report, in recent years the production prices of renewable energy continue to drop consistently:
The analysts recommend adding at this stage to use conventional energy sources (that is, consumables) for backup and supplementation.
In the government's decision, it was decided to increase Israel's reliance on solar panels and less on other ventures, the Electricity Authority announced that it will encourage private entrepreneurs to place solar panels on the roofs, and for this purpose will ease the complicated regulation and bureaucracy that are required today for their installation and operation.
Although until today any private person could place solar panels on the roof of his house as part of the "neto meter" program, but as part of the program he could only sell the electricity to the electricity company and receive a discount or credit for his private electricity consumption - something that made the installation of the panels unprofitable Economically for most people, and designated the process only for the crazy to talk. According to the new plan, anyone will be able to use the electricity they produce for their own consumption, and sell the excess (if there is any) to the electricity company and receive money for it, rather than a credit. Together with the plummeting prices of solar panels in recent years, this is probably a worthwhile investment for the consumer, and therefore the Authority expects that many private consumers will adopt the method.
"The Electricity Authority is committed to a dramatic increase in the amount of renewable energy produced in Israel in accordance with the policy of the minister and the government" said Eilat. "In the coming weeks, the Authority will continue publishing aggressive regulations and tenders to promote the production of renewable energy facilities while minimizing the cost to the public."
Steinitz said: "This is a policy centered on green energy for the benefit of public health, while setting ambitious goals to meet them. The program includes concessions in solar energy for common buildings for the benefit of citizens and a reduction in costs. Households will be able to generate free electricity from the sun and consume it for their own use."
A blessing or a severe blow to the industry?
But not everyone is sure that this is necessarily a positive move as presented by the Electricity Authority, and an official in the solar energy industry expressed concern that the decision could actually harm him: "The program used today - 'net meter' - is an excellent incentive for owners of small roofs (mostly private houses) to place panels on them Solar: The rate the consumer receives from the electricity company for the electricity he produces today is the same price as he pays for it, that is, about 55.3 AJ/kWh. If, following the new program, the consumer will be able to earn 55.3 AJ for each kWh he produces without limit, any consumer who can do so will cover the entire roof area he has with panels because it will be very profitable for him, and it will certainly increase the supply of electricity to the economy from solar energy from small private producers.
"The problem will be for commercial-sized roofs - where, according to what is implied in the announcement of the Electricity Authority, the intention is to issue a tender, which, according to estimates, will only pay a little more than 19.9 EG per kWh to the consumer for each kWh sold to the Electricity Company," he adds. "This is less than half of what they currently receive for each kWh, and this will make the establishment of the systems unfeasible and unprofitable for them, and will mean that commercial roofs - which represent a very large potential for supplying electricity from solar energy in Israel - will almost never install such systems. The meaning is that this will seriously harm the industry, and it is not certain that it will really allow us to reach in less than three years the supply of about 1600 additional megawatts of solar energy. The Electricity Authority would do well to make sure that the price per kWh determined in the tender does not fall much below the currently accepted rate for their projects."
Well, we already know who finances the more expensive analysts (without harming the dignity of the analysts who serve in the Mishkan) the investment will not be only for those who planned these moves in advance.
And even if we manage to catch up with our goals and produce more and more electricity from renewable energy, it is important to do it right. Prof. Ofira Ilon, Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Management at the University of Haifa and Head of Environmental Quality at the Shmuel Na'eman Institute at the Technion, while welcoming the intention to expand the use of renewable energies in Israel, claims that there is another step we must take that is even more significant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: "This The most important thing we have to do in Israel is energy efficiency," she says, "that is, even when we introduce renewable energies into the electricity grid, they must end up in a system that is energy efficient - because producing electricity that is lost in the end in an uninformed manner causes unnecessary production of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions , no matter where it comes from. Certainly, what is more correct than taking steps to prevent the need before feeding and taming it. It is also clear that when the return is low it is necessary to burn more.
Low return = avoiding competitors. Inflow of state budgets.
What can be learned about the economy in Israel from the latest OECD reports
https://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4752333,00.html
What does the term "energy efficiency" mean?
The existence of a situation of energy saving and optimization on all levels or to create a situation where one must sell/produce energy/produce consumers in a quantity planned in advance by the analysts of tender winners?
Infrastructures and energy systems that have been calculated precisely and guarantee that the consumer will not pay less but will consume more and certainly will not have the ability to dismantle and replace systems in the high-rise buildings where he bought an apartment.
What is the public good?
1. A system that really saves energy with low costs because it does not include unnecessary and wasteful systems due to the fact that they are not needed.
2. The prices that are falling and technologies that already exist but are suppressed by trend allow potentially (only and very unfortunate) - saving money, saving energy. Savings in wear and tear in maintenance and insurance obligations and a lot of unnecessary headaches
The energy triangle
Side 1: maximizing the use and efficiency of the energy received from the source. (sun)
Side 2: storage / preservation of this energy
Side 3: minimization of thermal losses on the system.
Positive situation for the public:
Side 1: With the price drops and the improvement of PV technology
Side 2: Storage / conservation of this energy in a private way that is possible with the advancement of battery technology.
Side 3: Minimizing thermal losses on the system. / Minimizing the need to generate energy.
An unseemly focus on energy saving will eliminate a considerable part of the energy generation situation for unnecessary use.
Until now, in high-rise buildings, the possibility of using solar energy was limited to less than a third of the upper floors and the rest of the floors used the basic method of electric heating from the grid. without diesel fuel.
A significant part of minimizing losses, and responsibility towards consumers is not entering into long-term commitments and heavy investments, when there is innovation at the door, especially if it is possible to take first steps on which there is already a return and can be combined later with the latest innovations.
What needs to be done at this stage:
Focusing on minimizing losses of any kind.
Using PVT technology.
Lowering the temperature in the tank and increasing its volume.
Partial heating and full heating without stratification.
Shortening and elimination of hot water piping.
At this stage, many buildings use direct connection of an additional heating element without conversion and without accumulation. integrated network.
In the second stage, adjustment of conversion and aggregation systems for time-focused use to prevent energy losses and reduce network use.
A correct calculation of the energy losses will eliminate the unnecessary need for heavy additional investment of example heat pumps.
Hanan Shaliv
Only solar electricity has so far been proven to be a cheap alternative to electricity from fossil sources. Electric energy from wind is only possible in a few places in the world where there is continuous strong wind, electricity from wind has been tried for decades and has reached the maximum possible. All the talk about developing electricity from wind energy beyond what has been done in the last decades - are fantasies. Electricity from sea waves are fantasies. Electricity from lava heat is only possible in a few places where there is non-violent volcanic activity, as I imagine in Iceland.
Mixing discussion of solar electricity with electricity from fantasy sources is only harmful. Solar electricity will replace only a part of fossil electricity, let's say up to 30% of the consumption, this is because of technical limitations of solar electricity production (such as the lack of production at night and in Beni Segreer). There is also energy that is not profitable to replace with solar energy, for example heating in fusion reactors or fuel for airplanes.
1. The combination of completely clean production (sun, wind, waves, etc.) with improved storage capacity already produces a profitable economic alternative today even without burdening the health expenses that arise as a result of the air pollution at the gas stations.
2. The improved house: solar windows, solar tile roof, solar wall colors will produce and sell electricity.
3. This house will also be a "gas station" for any electric vehicle whether private or in some other configuration.
4. More and more "production areas" in the world and in Israel for the capture of solar energy, such as water reservoirs, deserts and other open spaces, as well as any possible roof, will enter the production system.
5. Additional technologies such as capturing the energy of sea waves and tidal currents, pressure strips on trains and roads and other ideas alongside storage methods and improved local production that will save large parts of the electrical energy transportation system will bring about the end of the current energy system within a few decades.
The world is moving towards solar power generation that does not depend on a central Pennsylvania power grid. That's why everything here about agreements between a consumer and an electricity company is not interesting. It is estimated that in 2030 a very significant part (let's say 30 percent) of electricity production will be solar electricity, this is an estimate by the economics company Bloomberg. Already today the cost of solar electricity is a quarter to a half of the cost of fossil electricity, no economic power will be able to stop that. It is likely that in low-rise buildings most of the electricity consumption will be self-contained when huge batteries will be able to store consumption for the nights and days of closure, for those who have a yard generators will provide electricity for several weeks of the year when there will be closure days.
Regarding panels, there is no recycling problem because they will be used for other purposes when they become ineffective. For example, they will become building materials with high resistance to corrosion (instead of the usual ceramics today). There may be a problem of burying batteries, but a solution will surely be found.
The State of Israel is already preparing for the solar era today, only they are not announcing it. In a few years 5 percent of the electricity consumption will be from solar power plants, there are already experimental plants today that are being established according to a tender that ended in March 4016 according to my memory. The Shikun and Binui company, a former Solel Bona, is a prominent participant in the tender.
The world is moving towards solar power generation that does not depend on a central Pennsylvania power grid. That's why everything here about agreements between a consumer and an electricity company is not interesting. It is estimated that in 2030 a very significant part (let's say 30 percent) of electricity production will be solar electricity, this is an estimate by the economics company Bloomberg. Already today the cost of solar electricity is a quarter to a half of the cost of fossil electricity, no economic power will be able to stop that. It is likely that in low-rise buildings most of the electricity consumption will be self-contained when huge batteries will be able to store consumption for the nights and days of closure, for those who have a yard generators will provide electricity for several weeks of the year when there will be closure days.
Regarding panels, there is no recycling problem because they will be used for other purposes when they become ineffective. For example, they will become building materials with high resistance to corrosion (instead of the usual ceramics today). There may be a problem of burying batteries, but a solution will surely be found.
The State of Israel is already preparing for the solar era today, only they are not announcing it. In a few years 5 percent of the electricity consumption will be from solar power plants, there are already experimental plants today that are being established according to a tender that ended in March 4016 according to my memory. The Shikun and Binui company, a former Solel Bona, is a prominent participant in the tender.
A sponsored article without any evidence, just creating expectations to reap profits.
Solar panels pollute no less than generating energy in the usual way.
The creation of the panels, the materials from which the panels are made, after they have consumed their life cannot be recycled.
And that's without talking about the no less bad part, the battery that the panels charge and discharge..
Will not happen in Israel with all the committees and monopolies the left has created
The challenge for humanity now is to find ways to store energy.
Long-term energy storage in an efficient and cheap way will allow humanity to move to a renewable energy economy with almost no carbon fuel use,
By land and possibly also air transport. for heating and lighting, and for all other needs.
And then we will have to be careful that we don't suddenly reach a new ice age which according to some researchers should start now....
There is no way that the interest of the planet will prevail over the interest of the energy tycoons who would prefer the world to be destroyed if you cut back and let them profit. There is nothing to talk about the USA because the dollar is God and in Israel, the Electricity Authority is peddling a transition to clean energy.
So why was it pushed years ago when it was ineffective?
Another problem that was not raised is the size of the open areas occupied by the solar panels
Before bringing another knockout to nature, it is advisable to use areas that humans have already taken over
Parking lots, shopping centers, roofs of houses and more.. It is clear that this makes the infrastructure more expensive in the initial installation
Faced with taking over an open area, but in a long-term overall view, this is the right way for both nature and humans,
As much as it becomes more economically viable even without the subsidies, the pressure to take the few remaining open spaces will increase greatly, if until today in the mix of the renewable energy sector a significant part of the people there entered for a vision of green energy, in the future it will be seen that people for whom money and power are the main engine in the concept will take over the world,