A Framework for Incorporating EROI into Electrical Storage

Palmer, Graham

doi:10.1007/s41247-017-0022-3

Cited by 20 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Battery or pumped hydro storage 2-h Li-ion storage increases EPBT ∼ 20 % (reduces EROI ∼ 17 %). With 2-day Li-ion storage and PV overbuild for off-grid solar, EPBT increases 400 % (reduces EROI ∼ 80 %) (Palmer 2013(Palmer , 2017 Investment and output energy form equivalence 'Direct equivalent method' or 'Substitution method'…”

Section: Discussion Of Overall Implications For Eroi and Epbt Metricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Requires technical and reliability analysis of electricity systems and geographic and technology diversity. Examples: Palmer (2013Palmer ( , 2017. 4.…”

Section: Definition Of Eroi and Epbtmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For scenarios where conventional thermal generation capacity is not retained (and where this is not replaced by biomass generation), the storage capacity required for a given level of reliability escalates rapidly with increasing VRE penetration, exhibiting a sharply diminishing return in terms of the reliability outcome obtained for each unit of energy investment (Palmer 2017). This is mostly due to the 'big gaps' problem of extended cloudy periods during winter (Lenzen et al 2016).…”

Section: High-penetration Pv and Storage Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, in summer peaking grids, at low PV penetration 2 h of battery storage without solar overbuild improves the network value of PV, but reduces the EROI by a modest 15% (based on data from Palmer 2017, Table 2). But at near 100% wind and solar penetration, the EROI of the last unit of solar PV with battery storage is reduced by 98.8% due to the problem of diminishing returns (Palmer 2017 , Fig. 7).…”

Section: Effect Of Storage and Overbuild On Nea Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

An Exploration of Divergence in EPBT and EROI for Solar Photovoltaics

Palmer

Floyd²

2017

Biophys Econ Resour Qual

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Solar photovoltaics (PV) is widely regarded as one of the most promising renewable energy technologies. Net energy analysis (NEA) is a tool to evaluate the energetic performance of all energy supply technologies, including solar PV. Results across studies can appear to diverge sharply, which leads to contestation of NEA's relevance to energy transition feasibility assessment and contributes to ongoing uncertainty in relation to the critical issue of the sustainability of PV. This study explores how PV NEA approaches differ, including in relation to goal definitions, methodologies and boundaries of analysis. It focuses on two principal NEA metrics, energy return on investment (EROI) and energy payback time (EPBT). Here we show that most of the apparent divergence between studies is accounted for by six factors-life-cycle assessment methodology, age of the primary data, PV cell technology, the treatment of intermittency, equivalence of investment and output energy forms, and assumptions about real-world performance. The apparent divergence in findings between studies can often be traced back to different goal definitions. This study reviews the differing approaches and makes the case that NEA is important for assessing the role of PV in future energy systems, but that findings in the form of EROI or EPBT must be considered with specific reference to the details of the particular study context, and the research questions that it seeks to address. NEA findings in a particular context cannot definitively support general statements about EROI or EPBT of PV electricity in all contexts.

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Section: Discussion Of Overall Implications For Eroi and Epbt Metricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Requires technical and reliability analysis of electricity systems and geographic and technology diversity. Examples: Palmer (2013Palmer ( , 2017. 4.…”

Section: Definition Of Eroi and Epbtmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: High-penetration Pv and Storage Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Effect Of Storage and Overbuild On Nea Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

An Exploration of Divergence in EPBT and EROI for Solar Photovoltaics

Palmer

Floyd²

2017

Biophys Econ Resour Qual

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…3 However, there are uncertainties regarding exactly how storage technologies should be incorporated into NEA metrics, especially when applied to real-world systems. 19 Attempts have been made to include EROI impacts of optimizing relations between storage, renewable energy capacity, and curtailment. 20 As batteries become more widely available for consumers, it is also interesting to analyze the impact of a decision to install a battery or promote the use of batteries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%