Too much solar power: BTU researchers describe the extent of the problem

In order for the energy transition to succeed, it needs to be tightened up. To this end, the study "Warm light storm - dealing with generation peaks from PV and wind" looks at the problem of overproduction of solar power. A team led by Prof. Dr Felix Müsgens and Silvian Radke from BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg contributed to the study.

"We need to act quickly," says Prof. Felix Müsgens(Chair of Energy Economics in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Energy Systems at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg). If the solar power generated by photovoltaics (PV) continues to be fed into the grids in an uncontrolled manner, this will have negative consequences. According to the study "Warmer Lichtsturm - Umgang mit Erzeugungsspitzen aus PV und Wind", which Prof. Müsgens and other experts worked on as part of the 50Hertz Scientific Advisory & Project Board, there would then not only be a threat of permanent financial imbalance, as there would not be enough demand on the electricity exchanges for the expensive solar power purchased, but also an overload of the electricity grids.

Müsgens and his team have analysed when and to what extent this will be the case using three scenarios up to 2030. These show that urgent measures must be taken in the coming years to "counteract PV feed-in peaks that jeopardise the system", says Müsgens. His work package "Generation surplus - when does the problem become how big?" thus provided the basic data set for the study. It illustrates the challenge for which five measures are proposed at the end in order so that it is possible to react flexibly to the feed-in from wind and solar power plants. These can be outlined as follows:

  1. Large solar plants should respond better to negative prices. Technical and legal hurdles must be removed so that operators can act flexibly.
  2. Smaller annexes should also be integrated into the system and react to market prices. This requires more smart meter technology (intelligent electricity meters), which must be introduced more quickly.
  3. If quick solutions for the controllability of small solar systems cannot be implemented, their feed-in power could be temporarily limited until the technology is ready.
  4. Large electricity consumers such as heating systems can help to relieve the load on the grids. However, there is a lack of clear rules and long-term planning security
  5. Power peaks can be absorbed with batteries. However, operators also need clear guidelines and security for their investments.

According to Müsgens, it is now up to politicians to decide whether, when and which of the measures proposed by the experts should be implemented.

The study "Warm light storm - Dealing with generation peaks from PV and wind" is available here.

Background information:

Members of the 50Hertz Scientific Advisory and Project Board (SAPB), which is a consortium of experts that advises the transmission system operator and researches possible solutions, were commissioned with the study "Warm light storm - Dealing with generation peaks from PV and wind".

The SAPB professors research and teach in the fields of Electrical Engineering, Grid Planning, System Management, Energy Market and System Modelling, Energy Economics and Resource Economics, Energy Law and Digitalisation.

Study work packages and leads:

Package 1 "Generation surplus - when does the problem become how big?":
BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg: Silvian Radke, Prof. Dr Felix Müsgens

Package 2 "Dynamic feed-in tariff - design and evaluation of a variable feed-in tariff for a reaction of small PV systems to negative electricity prices":
Neon Neue Energieökonomik GmbH: Prof. Dr Lion Hirth, Dr Clemens Lohr, Jonathan Mühlenpfordt

Package 3 "Increasing the controllability of small systems":
Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology: Prof. Dr Jens Strüker, Michael Schneider, Paula Heeß

Package 4 "New large loads":
Fraunhofer Research Institution for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Energy: Dr Felix Panitz, Daniel Scholz, Prof. Dr Mario Ragwitz, Dr Clemens Schneider

Other participants:

Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Economics and System Technology: Dr Rafael Fritz
TU Berlin: Prof. Dr Kai Strunz
TU Clausthal: Prof. Dr Ines Hauer
TU Dresden: Prof. Dr Peter Schegner
TU Ilmenau: Prof. Dr Dirk Westermann
TU Vienna: Prof. Dr Bernd Klöckl

Contact us

Silvian Radke
Energiewirtschaft
T +49 (0) 355 69-4513
radkes(at)b-tu.de

Dr. phil. Britta Radkowsky
Kommunikation und Marketing
T +49 (0) 355 69-3837
britta.radkowsky(at)b-tu.de
Photovoltaic annexes are constantly producing electricity, which is a problem. Photo: BTU, Ralf Schuster