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Distributed Generation: Off-Grid Zero-Emission kW-MW 2020-2040

Microgrid forecasts, technology roadmap, opportunities

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This new 230 page IDTechEx report, "Distributed Generation: Off-Grid Zero-Emission kW-MW 2020-2040" concerns electricity production with zero emissions that is off-grid or capable of being off-grid when needed. This is the future of much electric power generation, displacing heating oil to power stations. Distributed generation capable of being islanded is a significant new market opportunity. Over 100 organisations are covered.
 
The report provides technical, market and company information useful to all in the value chain from materials and software suppliers to developers, product and system integrators and facilities managers. It concentrates on the present and the future and in particular benefits to society and opportunities for industry. The report primarily covers advanced countries because they are the largest value market but there is also much information on emerging countries.
 
The executive summary and conclusions is enough for those in a hurry. It embraces market drivers including why grids lose share. It simply presents technology comparisons, timelines and market forecasts unusually for short and long term - 2020-2040 and why 2021 will be a big year for orders and advances. Learn 13 new photovoltaic formats. A wealth of new infograms and graphs grasps the future of zero-emission electricity for buildings, construction, agriculture, mining, electric vehicle charging stations and more with clarity on how the improving microgrid systems design and harvesting fit in and when. From containerised to distributed, it is all here.
 
The introduction gives energy trends, microgrid and energy harvesting design, progress in emerging countries, good and bad practice. Chapter 3 covers the increasingly important containerised and modular ZE microgrids with 19 examples. Chapter 4 "Buildings, vehicles, ships as ZE microgrids" has much that is not covered in other studies, yet large in potential. There are 18 projects and new ideas from IDTechEx. Chapter 5 concerns distributed ZE microgrids across farm, island and so on with six examples assessed. Chapter 6 "New microgrid harvesting formats: roads, windows, other" takes 30 pages to reveal winning applications and technologies for what is coming, with comparison tables and many operating examples from the pioneers. Good and bad are revealed.
 
It is nonsense when so many treatises on ZE microgrids stop at wind and solar, so Chapter 7 "Wind, river and sea power as relocatable ZE microgrids" shows how these are increasingly important with many examples of success and predictions but also bad practice is revealed. Many comparison tables and maps are here and airborne wind energy is appraised. Given the importance and rapid improvement of it, Chapter 7 "Emerging photovoltaic technology for microgrids" is one of the longest chapters with many new infograms, comparisons and predictions with examples and latest progress. For example, why is single crystal silicon coming in fast and why has copper indium gallium diselenide CIGS got an ongoing, significant share? Chapter 8 covers appropriate power electronics and battery technology with cost predictions and gaps in the market. "Distributed Generation: Off-Grid Zero-Emission kW-MW 2020-2040" is the latest, most comprehensive and insightful work on this subject. It is based on multilingual PhD level IDTechEx analysts travelling widely with 20 years background and privileged access to data.
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1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
1.1.Purpose and scope of this report
1.2.Why national grids lose share 2020-2040
1.3.Off-grid technologies compared
1.4.Primary conclusions: cost breakdown and action arising
1.5.Comparison of off-grid harvesting technology options for microgrids
1.6.Clean microgrid format options
1.7.Primary conclusions: format, chemistry, physics 2020-2040
1.8.Diesel gensets vs clean microgrids kVA comparison
1.9.Primary conclusions: Buildings and environs as microgrids
1.10.Construction site of the future arriving now with moveable zero emission gensets
1.11.Farm of the future arriving now
1.12.Primary conclusions: Vehicles as microgrids, charging electric vehicles
1.13.Market forecasts and technology timelines 2020-2040
1.13.1.Why the delay?
1.13.2.OG ZE microgrid unit number 1kW-10MW k 2020-2040
1.13.3.OG ZE microgrid unit value 1kW-10MW $k 2020-2040
1.13.4.OG ZE microgrid market value 1kW-10MW 2020-2040
1.13.5.Global microgrid market
1.13.6.Global charging infrastructure : on-road vehicles 2020
1.13.7.Access to electricity by people 2020-2050
1.13.8.Off-grid investment and location
1.13.9.Expected electricity access 2030 assuming universal access.
1.13.10.Addressable market for off-grid solar, millions of households Africa and Asia
1.13.11.Li-ion battery demand, GWh 2020-2030
1.13.12.LIB cell price forecast
1.13.13.Flow battery forecast
1.13.14.Solar car forecast $bn 2020-2030
2.INTRODUCTION
2.1.Increased versatility but winners and losers
2.2.Microgrid design
2.2.1.Basic configurations and V2G
2.3.Why photovoltaics usually wins
2.4.Decentralised microgrids
2.5.Below 100kW wind turbines have become niche
2.6.Wind turbine choices
2.7.Requirements for isolated community microgrids
2.8.Best practice: NREL river turbine Alaska
2.9.Bad practice: fuel cells
2.10.Before its time: Solar Bullet
2.11.2.11 Competition - hydro and hydro with solar
2.11.1.Conclusion
2.11.2.Sounds marvellous
2.11.3.Hydropower with floating solar is better still?
2.11.4.The dark side - cost, delay, new intermittency
2.11.5.The dark side - environmental
3.CONTAINERISED AND MODULAR ZE MICROGRIDS
3.1.Overview
3.2.Transportable microgrids for military, live events, easier installations
3.3.Scale Microgrid
3.4.VERGE, Specialised Solar, KR Power, ECOS, Mobile Solar
3.5.Excellerate
3.6.OffGridBox
3.7.WindKinetic containerised microgrids Kazakhstan, Zambia, Cameroon
3.8.Bad practice with small wind turbines
3.9.Ecocapsule
3.10.Brightfield USA
3.11.SUDI Shade France
3.12.HEP Croatia and Texas example.
3.13.e-move Denmark
3.14.ECOG subsea microgrid
3.15.Solar with river turbines: Sea Bubble water taxi charging
3.16.TwingTec containerised microgrid powered by tethered drone
4.BUILDINGS, VEHICLES, SHIPS AS ZE MICROGRIDS
4.1.Ovida Community Hubs Melbourne
4.2.Solar driveways: City of Prince George Canada, Solar Roadways USA
4.3.Solar greenhouses power robots
4.4.eVcentres UK
4.5.SmartGreenCharge Highways France
4.6.PEARL Project Hawaii
4.7.Tesla
4.8.Other projects
4.9.Leading solar cars compared: Sono, Lightyear, Toyota
4.10.Energy Observer France
4.11.Wind and solar powered ships
4.12.Energy independent electric ship opportunity
5.DISTRIBUTED ZE MICROGRIDS
5.1.Islands: Borkum, Kodiak, King, Porto Santo
5.2.Agriculture: Stone Edge Farm, Solectrac
6.NEW MICROGRID HARVESTING FORMATS: ROADS, WINDOWS, OTHER
6.1.Multi-mode roads and other ground surfaces
6.2.Solar roads: Wattway, Pavenergy, SolaRoad, Solar Roadways
6.3.Gantry vs road surface PV
6.4.Transparent and translucent photovoltaics
6.5.Solar windows: 13 organisations
6.6.Unrollable photovoltaics as microgrids
6.7.SolarGaps solar blinds
6.8.Thin concrete solar: ETH Zurich
7.WIND, RIVER AND SEA POWER AS RELOCATABLE ZE MICROGRIDS
7.1.Overview
7.2.New options beyond solar: relocatable, much less intermittent
7.3.Hype curve for water power and AWE
7.4.Open tide "tide stream" power options mimic wind power options
7.5.Open sea wave power technologies
7.6.Inland water power: sources, location potential
7.7.Overall small hydro potential for steady supply with little or no storage
7.8.Sources and technologies of ocean power for microgrids
7.9.Marine power: sources, location potential
7.10.Where ocean power is both strongest and close to population
7.11.Location of strongest ocean power for replacing diesel gensets
7.12.Small inland hydro <10MW SOFT report
7.13.Wave power <10MW SOFT report
7.14.Tidal stream power <10MW SOFT report
7.15.Minesto Sweden
7.16.Ocean conversion technology winners and losers
7.17.Airborne Wind Energy developers
8.EMERGING PHOTOVOLTAIC TECHNOLOGY FOR MICROGRIDS
8.1.Benefits sought and leaders in providing them
8.2.Photovoltaic trends and priorities 2020-2040
8.3.Huge opportunity for transparent perovskite on mainstream silicon
8.3.1.EPFL, OxfordPV, Swift Solar
8.3.2.OxfordPV
8.3.3.Swift Solar
8.3.4.Perovskite on CIGS vs Si: UCLA
8.4.Silicon the winner so far: variants and successes
8.5.Wafer vs thin film PV 2020-2040
8.6.Five basic PV mechanisms: status, benefits, challenges, market potential
8.7.Important PV options beyond silicon compared
8.8.Production readiness of Si alternatives
8.9.Best research-cell efficiencies 1975-2020
8.10.Solar aircraft and boats show the future
8.11.Flexible thin film versions slowly gain share
8.12.Photovoltaic wild cards: 2D semiconductors, quantum dots, rectenna arrays
9.APPROPRIATE POWER ELECTRONICS AND BATTERY TECHNOLOGY
9.1.Advanced power electronics becomes important
9.2.DC microgrids slowly coming in
9.3.Li-ion battery trends
9.4.Redox flow batteries get a toehold
 

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Zero emission microgrids slice into the energy market to become a massive $350Bn business in 2040

Report Statistics

Slides 249
Forecasts to 2040
 

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