Oversizing a Renewable System Doesn’t Have to Mean Curtailing Energy

A new research paper describes a method developed to evaluate how good a fit different renewable energy sources are to meet different community heating loads. 

The paper by recent UAF electrical engineering graduate Grace Bolt explains how in microgrids, excess renewable generation often cannot be utilized and must be curtailed. But if the excess generation could be used for heating, then that would enable a higher utilization of the renewable energy source.

Bolt is the lead author of the publication entitled “Modeling and Evaluating Beneficial Matches between Excess Renewable Power Generation and Non-Electric Heat Loads in Remote Alaska Microgrids,” in the journal Sustainability, as part of a special issue titled “Sustainable Development in the Context of Renewable Energy at Different Scales.” 

Co-authors are ACEP staff and faculty members Michelle Wilber, Daisy Huang, Daniel Sambor, Srijan Aggarwal and Erin Whitney.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1740075.