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By Devonie McCamey

A quick scan of recent energy-related headlines and industry announcements shows rising interest in hybrids — and we are not talking about cars.

Hybrid renewable energy systems combine multiple renewable energy and/or energy storage technologies into a single plant, and they represent an important subset of the broader hybrid systems universe. These integrated power systems are increasingly being lauded as key to unlocking maximum efficiency and cost savings in future decarbonized grids — but a growing collection of National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) analysis indicates there are still challenges in evaluating the benefits of hybrids with the tools used to help plan those future grids.

In comparing hybrids to standalone alternatives, it is important to tackle questions like: Is it always beneficial to combine renewable and storage technologies, instead of siting each technology where their individual contributions to the grid can be maximized? Or are only certain hybrid designs beneficial? Does the energy research community consistently represent the characteristics of hybrids in power system models? And are we using common definitions when studying hybrids and their potential impacts?

Turning over a Magic 8-Ball might bring up the response: Concentrate and ask again.

“At NREL, we’re working to represent hybrid systems in our models in a more nuanced, detailed way to try to answer these questions — and ultimately advance the state of modeling to ensure consistency in how hybrids are treated across different tools,” said Caitlin Murphy, NREL senior analyst and lead author of several recent studies of hybrid systems. “With growing interest in these systems that can be designed and sized in lots of different ways, it’s crucial to determine the value they provide to the grid — in the form of energy, capacity, and ancillary services — particularly relative to deploying each technology separately.”

The results of this body of work highlight some gaps between what different models show and what many in the energy community have — perhaps prematurely — proclaimed when it comes to the value of hybrid systems to the future grid.

“Hybridization creates opportunities and challenges for the design, operation, and regulation of energy markets and policies — and current data, methods, and analysis tools are insufficient for fully representing the costs, value, and system impacts of hybrid energy systems,” said Paul Denholm, NREL principal energy analyst and coauthor. “Ultimately, our research points to a need for increased coordination across the research community and with industry, to encourage consistency and collaboration as we work toward answers.”

First, What Do We Mean When We Talk About Hybrid Systems? NREL Proposes a Taxonomy To Delineate What Makes a System a True Hybrid

Finding answers starts with speaking the same language. To help researchers move toward a shared vocabulary around systems that link renewable energy and storage technologies, Murphy and fellow NREL analysts Anna Schleifer and Kelly Eurek published a paper proposing a new taxonomy.

Schematic showing several proposed technology combinations for hybrid energy systems. NREL’s literature review identified several proposed technology combinations. Blue nodes represent variable renewable energy (VRE) technologies, green nodes represent energy storage technology types, and orange nodes represent less-variable renewable energy (RE) technologies or systems; arcs indicate technology pairs that have been proposed in the literature. PV: photovoltaic; RoR: run-of-river; HESS: hybrid energy storage system; CSP + TES: concentrating solar power with thermal energy storage; the Mechanical storage icon encompasses compressed air energy storage and flywheels, both of which ultimately convert the stored energy to electricity. Source: “A Taxonomy of Systems that Combine Utility-Scale Renewable Energy and Energy Storage Technologies

“Our ability to quantify hybrids’ potential impacts could be hindered by inconsistent treatment of these systems, as well as an incomplete understanding of which aspects of hybridization will have the greatest influence,” Murphy said. “Ultimately, we hope our proposed taxonomy will encourage consistency in how the energy community thinks about and evaluates hybrids’ costs, values, and potential.”

After a thorough literature review, the team developed a new organization scheme for utility-scale systems that combine renewable and energy storage technologies — only a subset of which can truly be called “hybrids.” They came up with three categories based on whether the systems involve locational or operational linkages, or both.

“We found that technology combinations do not represent a meaningful delineation between hybrids and non-hybrids — the nature of the linkages are more important distinctions,” Murphy said.

The resulting categories can help inform policy considerations, as they define system characteristics that could challenge existing permitting, siting, interconnection process, and policy implementations. The taxonomy is also helpful in informing model development efforts, as the categories identify the unique characteristics that must be reflected to adequately represent hybrid systems in a model — including the effects of the linkages on both a project’s costs and the values it can deliver to the grid.

That is where NREL’s next set of analyses comes in.

In a series of recent reports, NREL analysts homed in on a set of technology combinations and linkages that are consistent with a true hybrid system — co-optimizing the design and self-scheduling of linked technologies to maximize net economic benefits.

To do this, NREL modeled hybrid systems using three different tools that underpin many of the laboratory’s forward-looking power system studies. These analyses focus on DC-coupled solar photovoltaic and battery energy storage (PV+battery) hybrids, which are increasingly being proposed for the power system.

Can We Improve How Capacity Expansion Models Assess the Value of PV+Battery Hybrids? “Signs Point to Yes.”

Combining PV and battery technologies into a single hybrid system could lower costs and increase energy output relative to separate systems — but accurately assessing PV+battery systems’ market potential requires improved methods for estimating the cost and value contribution in capacity expansion models, including those that utilities use for integrated resource planning.

In Representing DC-Coupled PV+Battery Hybrids in a Capacity Expansion Model, Eurek, Murphy, and Schleifer teamed up with fellow NREL analysts Wesley Cole, Will Frazier, and Patrick Brown to demonstrate a new method for incorporating PV+battery systems in NREL’s publicly available Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) capacity expansion model.

“The method leverages ReEDS’ existing treatment of separate PV and battery technologies, so the focus is on capturing the interactions between them for a hybrid with a shared bidirectional inverter,” Eurek said. “While we apply this method to ReEDS, we anticipate that our approach can be useful for informing PV+battery method development in other capacity expansion models.”

The research team used the method to explore a range of scenarios for the United States through 2050, using different cost assumptions that are uncertain and expected to influence how competitive PV+battery hybrids will be. These include the cost of hybrid systems relative to separate PV and battery projects, the battery component’s qualification for the solar investment tax credit (ITC), and future cost trajectories for PV and battery systems.

“From the full suite of scenarios, we find that the future deployment of utility-scale PV+battery hybrids depends strongly on the level of cost savings that can be achieved through hybridization. So, greater sharing of balance-of-system costs, reductions in financial risk, or modularity can all lead to greater PV+battery hybrid deployment,” Eurek said. “Deployment is also highly sensitive to the battery component’s ability to arbitrage, based on charging from the grid when prices are low and selling back to the grid when prices are high.”

In all scenarios explored, the synergistic value in a PV+battery hybrid helps it capture a greater share of generation, which primarily displaces separate PV and battery projects. In other words, the model results indicate that there is strong competition between PV+battery hybrids and separate PV and battery deployments — although it is important to note that the modeling does not reflect the faster and simpler interconnection process for hybrid projects, which could shift the competition with other resource types as well. In addition, if the PV+battery hybrid is designed and operated to ensure the battery component can qualify for the solar ITC, that could accelerate near-term deployment of PV+battery hybrids.

The team notes several ways in which future PV+battery system modeling could be improved — regardless of which capacity expansion model is used. A top priority is improving the representation of the battery component, including operations-dependent degradation — which may be distinct for hybrid versus standalone battery systems — and temporary operational restrictions associated with its qualification for the solar ITC. In addition, modeling retrofits of existing PV systems to add batteries may be especially important, since this is often considered one of the fastest ways to get PV+battery hybrids onto the grid.

What About Hybrids’ System-Level Operational Benefits? “Outlook Good.”

The operation and value of PV+battery hybrids have been extensively studied from the perspective of project developers through analyses that maximize plant-level revenue. But hybrid systems’ operational characteristics have rarely been studied from the perspective of grid operators, who work to maintain reliability and maximize affordability by optimizing the performance of a suite of generation and storage assets.

In Evaluating Utility-Scale PV-Battery Hybrids in an Operational Model for the Bulk Power System, NREL analysts Venkat Durvasulu, Murphy, and Denholm present a new approach for representing and evaluating PV+battery hybrids in the PLEXOS production cost model, which can be used to optimize the operational dispatch of generation and storage capacity to meet load across the U.S. bulk power system.

Production cost models are an important tool used by utilities and other power system planners to analyze the reliability, affordability, and sustainability associated with proposed resource plans. Here, NREL demonstrated a technique to enhance a production cost model to represent the operational synergies of PV+battery hybrids.

“We used a test system developed for NREL’s recent Los Angeles 100% Renewable Energy Study — replacing existing PV and battery generators on this modeled system with PV+battery hybrids,” Denholm said.

The research team analyzed different scenarios that were designed to isolate the various drivers of operational strategies for PV+battery hybrids — including how the technologies are coupled, the overall PV penetration on the system, and different inverter loading ratios (or degrees of over-sizing the PV array relative to its interconnection limit).

Results show multiple system-level benefits, as the growing availability of PV energy with increasing inverter loading ratio resulted in increased utilization of the inverter (i.e., resulting in a higher capacity factor), a reduction in grid charging (in favor of charging from the local PV, which is more efficient), and a decrease in system-wide production cost.

This chart shows the destination of all PV direct-current (DC) energy collected over the course of a year for simulated PV+battery hybrids as a function of inverter load ratio (ILR). In addition to demonstrating the growing availability of PV DC energy with increasing ILR, the breakdown of utilized PV DC energy indicates that most is sent directly to the grid and 15%–25% is used to charge the local battery. AC = alternating current. Source: Evaluating Utility-Scale PV-Battery Hybrids in Operational Models for the Bulk Power System

“The approach we present here can be used in any production cost modeling study of PV+battery hybrids as a resource in different power system configurations and services,” Durvasulu said. “This is a critical step toward being able to evaluate the system-level benefits these hybrids can provide, and improving our understanding of how a grid operator might call on and use such systems.”

How Could the Value of Hybrids Evolve Over Time? “Reply Hazy, Try Again.”

The third report in the series brings yet another modeling method to the table: price-taker modeling, which quantifies the value that can be realized by PV+battery systems — and explores how this value varies across multiple dimensions.

In “The Evolving Energy and Capacity Values of Utility-Scale PV-Plus-Battery Hybrid System Architectures,” Schleifer, Murphy, Cole, and Denholm explore how the value of PV+battery hybrids could evolve over time — with highly varied results.

Using a price-taker model with synthetic hourly electricity prices from now to 2050 (based on outputs from the ReEDS and PLEXOS models), NREL simulated the revenue-maximizing dispatch of three PV+battery architectures in three locations. The architectures vary in terms of whether the PV+battery systems have separate inverters or a shared inverter and whether the battery can charge from the grid. The locations vary in terms of the quality of the solar resource and the grid mix, both of which influence the potential value of PV+battery hybrids.

“We found that the highest-value architecture today varies largely based on PV penetration and peak-price periods, including when they occur and how extreme they are,” Schleifer said. “Across all the systems we studied, we found that hybridization could either improve or hurt project economics. And no single architecture was the clear winner — in some cases, you want to take advantage of a shared inverter, and in other cases, separate inverters and grid charging are too valuable to give up.”

The results of this price-taker analysis show that a primary benefit of coupling the studied technologies is reduced costs from shared equipment, materials, labor, and infrastructure. But in the absence of oversizing the PV array, hybridization does not offer more value than separate PV and battery systems. In fact, hybridization can actually reduce value if the systems are not appropriately configured — which means appropriately sizing and coupling the battery and likely oversizing the PV array relative to the inverter or interconnection limit.

Another important finding is that both subcomponents stand to benefit from hybridization. As PV penetration grows, the additional energy and capacity value of a new PV system declines rapidly — but coupling the PV with battery storage helps to maintain the value of PV by allowing it to be shifted to periods where the system can provide greater value. In addition, coupled PV can help increase the total revenue of the battery by displacing grid-charged energy, which typically has non-zero cost.

“As the role of PV+battery hybrids on the bulk power system continues to grow, it will be increasingly important to understand the impact of design parameters on economic performance,” Schleifer said. “Additional analysis is needed to tease out the factors that impact the performance and economics of PV+battery hybrid systems — and give system planners and researchers clearer answers about their possible benefits.”

Working Toward “Without a Doubt:” A Call for Coordination To Resolve the Remaining Unknowns

Looking at this collection of work, one thing is clear: No current model is an accurate Magic 8-Ball for predicting hybrids’ future value — but coordinated efforts to improve our models can bring the research community a step closer to a clear outlook.

And momentum is building: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has convened the DOE Hybrids Task Force — which worked with NREL, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and seven other national laboratories to develop the recently released Hybrid Energy Systems: Opportunities for Coordinated Research, which highlights innovative opportunities to spur joint research on hybrid energy systems in three research areas. That effort touches on the PV+battery hybrids described in this article, and it also considers additional technology combinations that could have a growing role in the future, including PV+windnuclear+electrolysis, and other low-emitting hybrid systems.

“While the power system was originally developed as single-technology plants, and many of our research efforts have been siloed to individual technologies, the DOE Hybrid Task Force represents a step toward collaboration,” Murphy said. “We were able to identify several high-priority research opportunities that span multiple technologies, establish common priorities, and lay a foundation for further dialogue.”

In the days ahead, NREL is uniquely poised to further the validation of hybrid system performance and operation with the Advanced Research on Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) research platform. ARIES introduces both a physical and a near-real-world virtual emulation environment with high-fidelity, physics-based, real-time models that facilitate the connection between hundreds of real hardware devices and tens of millions of simulated devices.

Integrated energy pathways modernizes our grid to support a broad selection of generation types, encourages consumer participation, and expands our options for transportation electrification.

Ultimately, advancing hybrid systems research at NREL and other national laboratories will require more coordination with industry. The DOE Hybrids Task Force report identified the need for a multistakeholder workshop to take a deep dive into what is motivating different stakeholders to propose and deploy different types of hybrid systems.

“By creating opportunities to directly solicit insights from industry, utility planners, and other stakeholders, we can move toward a deeper understanding of what sources of value are driving industry interest in hybrids,” Murphy said. “Is there inherent value that can only be unlocked through hybridization, or is some of the value embedded in the familiar? By adding storage to variable resources, we can make them look and participate more like the controllable resources we are used to having on the power system.

“Bringing the key players together will help us as researchers to recognize these motivations — some of which we might not currently understand — and close the gap in how to represent them in our models.”

Learn more about NREL’s energy analysis and grid modernization research.

Article courtesy of the NREL, the U.S. Department of Energy

Featured photo by Ramón Salinero on Unsplash


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Save $483 on Jetson Canyon electric scooter from $417, portable pellet grill now $251, more

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Save 3 on Jetson Canyon electric scooter from 7, portable pellet grill now 1, more

Spring joyrides are now just as affordable as they are fun, as today’s best deals come headlined by the Jetson Canyon Folding Electric Scooter starting at $417. You can also take a more environmentally-friendly approach to cookouts this spring with this portable Z GRILLS Pellet Grill and Smoker at $251, while getting your yard in shape for get-togethers with a collection of discounted Sun Joe electric tools. Plus, all of the other best new Green Deals landing this week.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Save up to $483 on the Jetson Canyon Folding Electric Scooter starting from $417

Amazon is offering the Jetson Canyon Folding Electric Scooter with two varying discounts based on location, the first of which falls to $417.28 shippedafter clipping the on-page 20% off coupon – and the second falling to $495.52 shippedafter clipping the on-page 5% off coupon. Already down from its $900 MSRP, this is only the fifth discount we have tracked over the course of the last year and comes in as a 54% or 45% markdown off the going rate, saving you a whopping $483 to $404 off the MSRP. You won’t be able to find this particular model on the manufacturer’s website anymore either, as it has been retired since December, but when it was available it was last listed at its MSRP. 

Equipped with a 500W motor and a 48V lithium-ion battery, the Jetson Canyon escooter is able to reach top speeds of 15.5 MPH and travel up to 22 miles on a single charge. It comes with three speed modes (up to 3 MPH, up to 10 MPH, and up to 15.5 MPH) that can be controlled via the LCD display that also gives you real-time information on your speed, battery levels, and headlight status. Like many other models of electric scooters, this one features a folding design that makes it far easier to store or transport when you’re not using it.

Z GRILLS CRUISER 200A Pro Portable Pellet Grill and Smoker hits $251

Amazon is offering the Z GRILLS CRUISER 200A Pro Portable Pellet Grill and Smoker for $251.10 shipped. Down from $322, with a higher $335 MSRP, it has seen very few discounts since its release in February 2023, with the biggest of the past year dropping costs to a $215 low. Today’s deal comes in as a 25% markdown off the going rate and lands as the third-lowest price we have tracked – just $36 above the all-time low.

This portable grill and smoker sports a more compact design than other models under the Z GRILLS brand, only measuring 25 inches by 20 inches by 13 inches that makes it easy to transport, set up, break down, and clean – all on the go. It utilizes wood pellets as a fuel source for maximum flavor and reduced emissions lower than that of charcoal. Equipped with upgraded PID controls, this device keeps between its 180-degree to 450-degree temperature range for 8-in-1 functionality: grill, smoke, bake, roast, sear, braise, barbecue, and char-grill. It has 202 square-inches of cooking space that holds up to six burgers, 11 hotdogs, or one full rack of ribs at once – even including a meat probe so you won’t have to sit around babysitting your food as it cooks.

Sun Joe SPX3000 2,030 PSI Electric Pressure Washer now $129

Amazon is offering the Sun Joe SPX3000 14.5A 2,030 PSI Electric Pressure Washer for $129 shipped. It has spent the last year at or returning to $169, with the second half of 2023 seeing regular discounts, but never down farther than $159 – except for a short-lived drop to $110 in October during Prime Deals days. Since 2024 began, we’ve seen the same recurring discount to $129, with today’s deal coming in to repeat the trend as a 24% markdown off the going rate and returning costs to the fourth-lowest price we have tracked – $34 above the all-time low from 2022. Equipped with a 1,800W motor, this electric pressure washer is able to produce a 2023 max PSI and 1.76 GPM. It features two 0.9L onboard detergent tanks to better tackle cleaning projects, as well as Sun Joe’s total stop system that automatically shuts off the pump when the trigger is not engaged to conserve water and costs. It comes with five interchangeable nozzles: zero degrees, 15 degrees, 25 degrees, 40 degrees, and a special soap nozzle.

Spring e-bike deals!

AeroGarden Sprout 3-plant indoor garden from two angles

Other new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.

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GM in talks with CATL to license cheaper LFP EV battery tech and joint North American plant

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GM in talks with CATL to license cheaper LFP EV battery tech and joint North American plant

General Motors (GM) is reportedly in talks with battery giant CATL to license its cheaper LFP battery tech. The plans could include a new joint North American plant to produce the new batteries.

After software glitches, freight delays, and other issues caused GM to miss its EV sales target in 2023, the company believes “production hell” is behind it.

CEO Mary Barra claims 2024 will be “the year of execution” as the automaker looks to get back on track.

GM is ramping up production of its Ultium-based models after it “turned the corner” at its battery factory in Detroit. With several new Chevy EVs rolling out this year, including the Blazer EV, Equinox EV, and Silverado EV, GM looks to build 200,000 to 300,000 Ultium EVs this year.

That would be around 20 times more than the fewer than 14,000 units sold last year. GM is also retiring its best-selling Chevy Bolt, at least in its current form.

With 62,045 Chevy Bolts sold last year, the electric car accounted for over 81% of GM’s EV sales. Barra confirmed GM will launch an Ultium-based Bolt EV next year.

Chevy-Bolt-EV
Chevy Bolt (Source: GM)

It will offer “an even better driving, charging, and ownership experience.” According to Barra, it will be the first Ultium EV in North America to feature LFP batteries.

GM looks to CATL for cheaper LFP battery tech

According to a new report from CarNewsChina, GM is in talks with CATL to license its LFP battery tech. The plans also reportedly include building a joint North American factory to make the batteries.

Details are scarce, but the plant will likely be in the US or Mexico. It will be similar to the agreement between CATL and rival Ford. Ford announced a $3.5 billion investment last February to build a new LFP plant (BlueOval Battery Park Michigan).

Chevy-Blazer-EV-prices
2024 Chevy Blazer EV (Source: GM)

The plant is expected to begin producing LFP batteries in 2026 to power Ford’s next-gen EVs. Ford reached an agreement with CATL to license its LFP battery tech. The American automaker will manufacture the cells with knowledge from CATL.

Under the GM deal, CATL would be responsible for building the production lines, supply chains, and other equipment while GM handles the CapEx.

GM's-new-Bolt-EV
2023 Chevrolet Bolt EUV Redline Edition (Source: GM)

GM CFO Paul Jacobson said the new Bolt EV will save the company billions by using LFP batteries.

Both automakers look to sidestep federal regulations requiring EV batteries to be produced in North America to qualify for a tax credit.

Electrek’s Take

If true, the news could be significant. For one, South Korean and Japanese battery makers dominate the North American market, with LG, Samsung SDI, SK, and Panasonic controlling 80% of the market.

However, these battery makers have largely missed the opportunity with LFP batteries while China’s CATL and BYD took control of the market. LFP batteries are cheaper to produce which could give automakers an advantage going forward.

Several automakers, including Ford and GM, have announced plans to introduce more affordable EVs as demand for lower-cost electric options climbs.

The Late Post claims CATL has reduced the cost of its batteries to 400 yuan ($55) per kWh, compared to 600 yuan ($83) per kWh with NCM batteries. This could translate to significant savings as American automakers look to cut costs and break even with EVs.

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A dealership marked up a Hyundai IONIQ 5 N’s price by $20k

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A dealership marked up a Hyundai IONIQ 5 N's price by k

Hyundai just released the IONIQ 5 N’s price just a couple weeks ago, and a California dealer has already marked the MSRP up on the automaker’s newest, most powerful EV by $20,000.

Redditor u/Qball1754 wrote in a post on the r/Ioniq5 subreddit yesterday that he’s a Hyundai influencer and the owner of a Veloster N. Hyundai told him that Ontario Hyundai in California had the IONIQ 5 N in its possession, so he went to the dealership to buy it and was greeted by an eye-watering markup of $20,000, which took the price from $67,685 to $87,685:

Here’s what u/Qball1754 – aka David De Rigo, according to his Instagram account – had to say on Reddit:

First off, my sales person was super nice and pushed hard to work something out. Aside from that my experience wasn’t the best, there’s a 20k markup that is non-negotiable and was told corporate made the decision on it since it was delivered like that (I don’t buy it) Other dealerships are gonna charge a higher markup on the car from what I was told as it’s an “exotic” Hyundai will not do a lease for the car or any EV credit and finance only. Sales/finance manager were really disrespectful over pricing and me knowing about their allocations and being an Nfluencer.

Electrek’s Take

The IONIQ 5 N is a serious performance vehicle. Its dual electric motors can deliver up to 641 horsepower (478 kW) from an 84 kWh battery and achieve 0-60 mph in an unbelievable 3.25 seconds. But is it “exotic” enough to justify a $20k markup?

It’s only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, and the dealership is going for the “don’t ask, don’t get” approach. But it sounds like they threw up all sorts of arbitrary conditions and rules. Way to sell cars and build your reputation, folks – especially with an “Nfluencer.”

Click here to find a local dealer that may have the Hyundai IONIQ 5 in stock.–ad*


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Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –ad*

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