Solar power in Mississippi

Solar panels

Solar power in Mississippi is an underutilized generation method; however, large changes are expected by 2016. The state reached only 1 MW of grid-connected solar electricity in 2013. Rooftop photovoltaics can provide 31.2% of all electricity used in Mississippi from 11,700 MW of solar panels.[1]

In 2011, the Sierra Club sued the U.S. Department of Energy which was providing investment in a coal gasification plant being built by Mississippi Power.[2] In 2012 Mississippi Power had only 0.05% renewables in its power mix. In a settlement in 2014, Mississippi Power agreed to allow net metering, and to offer 100 MW of wind or solar power purchase agreements.[3] Mississippi is one of only two states, along with Florida, to have no potential for standard commercial wind power, having no locations that would provide at least 30% capacity factor, although 30,000 MW of 100 meter high turbines would operate at 25% capacity factor.[4]

Georgia Power which provides energy in southeast Mississippi has started a program to contract for 210 MW of solar power in 2014, possibly increasing to 525 MW. 100 MW would be from small scale distributed installations.[5]

Offering net metering is required by federal law, but Mississippi is one of only four states to not have adopted a statewide policy on net metering, which means it needs to be negotiated with the utility.[6][7]

Statistics

Source: NREL[8]
Mississippi Grid-Connected PV Capacity (MW)[9][10][11][12][13][14][15]
Year Capacity Change % Change
2009 0.1
2010 0.3 0.1 200%
2011 0.6 0.3 100%
2012 0.7 0.1 17%
2013 1.0 0.3 43%
2014 1.0 0 0%
2015 1.1 0.1 10%

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Technical Potential in the United States: A Detailed Assessment
  2. ↑ Sierra Club suing DOE over Kemper coal plant, Mississippi Business Journal, March 11,2011
  3. ↑ pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/mississippi-power-unopposed-to-net-metering--eyes-100-mw-re-procurement_100016057/ Mississippi Power unopposed to net metering, eyes 100 MW RE procurement], pv magazine, 11 August 2014
  4. ↑ Mississippi Wind Power
  5. ↑ Advanced Solar Initiative, Georgia Power
  6. ↑ Freeing the grid
  7. ↑ Mississippi
  8. ↑ "PV Watts". NREL. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  9. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (August 2012). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2011" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
  10. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (June 2011). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2010" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 20. Retrieved 2011-06-29.
  11. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2010). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2009" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  12. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2009). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2008" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  13. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2012). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2012" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). p. 16. Retrieved 2013-10-11.
  14. ↑ Sherwood, Larry (July 2014). "U.S. Solar Market Trends 2013" (PDF). Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC). Retrieved 2014-09-26.
  15. ↑ Mississippi Solar
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