White Paper : Levelized Cost of Renewable Energy in the Lower 48 United States: Blended Solar and Wind

Description: Commissioned by Agenda, LLC and RePower New Mexico, KiloNewton conducted a comparison of solar and wind energy costs to enable companies to make more informed location decisions based on renewable energy needs and specifically discuss the cost advantages of New Mexico solar and wind.

 

White Paper : RESILIENCE OF HIGH-STRENGTH STEEL WIDE FLANGE BEAMS TO CORROSION IN SOLAR GROUND MOUNT SYSTEMS 

Description: We partnered with Attala Steel, a major foundation supplier to the solar industry, to author a paper on the benefits of increasing steel strength more than 50ksi in solar I-beam foundations. We found there are significant opportunities to lower foundation costs on sites which would normally specify heavier I-beam sizes.

 

Sample Buildable Area East/West Slope and Aspect Analysis Map

Description: This map shows an example of analyzing a buildable area for E/W slope and aspect (or the directionality of the slope). Sites can be quickly checked for areas that require additional grading based on your tolerance requirements.

Sample Grading Analysis

Description: Using an iterative process an ideal plane of array is derived row-by-row based on the terrain and relationship to adjacent rows east and west. The ideal planes are then iteratively adjusted directionally to reduce shadowing and meet mechanical tolerances. The optimization process also works to minimize production losses in the north-south direction. Using the ideal planes of array, full-site grading plans are derived using prescribed reveal tolerances. The reveal tolerances are defined for the entire plane, not just the pile locations. This ensures that panels will be free from obstruction during rotation and allows for inherent errors in digital elevation models and surveyed pile locations. The grading analysis is designed to balance cut and fill volumes to avoid the added cost of acquiring fill or disposing cut earth. Compared to other typical grading analyses, KiloNewton’s grading algorithm result in up to 90% less grading.

Sample Terrain Loss Analysis

Description: Losses with respect to terrain are then estimated using site-specific technology (panel, tracker, etc.) and a PVsyst analysis combined with directional analysis of the variation of terrain or planes of array. Losses take into account the variation in terrain from row-to-row, the specific climatology of the site, and the site latitude. The individual row losses identify areas of lost production and potential for further plane of array adjustments, and to evaluate whether more grading will decrease LCOE for the project. For trackers with mechanical blocks, the row-by-row losses are used to analyze or develop blocks to minimize losses. Adding more mechanical blocks inherently reduces terrain losses for those blocks, but also increases the number of motors. The site LCOE is examined during this process to determine the balance between the number of blocks and lost production due to terrain.

 

Sample Grading Sensitivity Analysis

Description: This spreadsheet shows an example of how we can create variations of grading plans, which are used in combination with production effects and reveal requirements, to estimate foundation sizes, grading costs and compare to power production losses to optimize your site design.

 

Sample Specific Production - by Row

Description: With sites being built on terrain with ever increasing difficulty, it is critical to understand how the terrain variation affects your bottom-line. We can analyze shading and incidence angle effects due to terrain on both tracker rows (as shown) and fixed arrays. This includes the capability of assessing the potential relative gains from tracker-optimizing technologies.