Siting PV plants: a value based approach

The author addresses profit from the angle of increasing the value of PV in a utility market. The analysis is applied to Pacific Gas and Electric Company´s system. Two basic questions are addressed. First, Which is of greatest value to PG&E: a large PV plant or several small plants distributed throughout the system? Second, Where should the plant or plants be sited? The value calculations use simulated performance data based on data from PG&E´s solar insolation monitoring project (SIMP). Fourteen representative sites throughout PG&E´s service territory are evaluated in order to select the site or configuration of sites with the highest value. The results lead to the conclusion that, all else being equal, the highest value is provided by one large PV plant rather than a combination of several smaller plants distributed throughout the service territory.