[RE-wrenches] Solar and pumped hydro

[Keith Cronin]

Hi

Have any of you considered using PV to pump water to a holding area and releasing it and capturing the kinetic energy via a pelton wheel/hydro?

If so, what do we think are the efficiencies and value of doing such a project are? Meaning, back of the napkin, PV is + - 77% efficient, minus "x" to pump the water to "x" elevation and the net result of the hydro = "____% efficient"

It would be using the reservoir as the battery.

There is approximately 300' of elevation from the PV system and water source to the reservoir area.

I recall about 15 years ago, I visited a member on this lists Vermont home and he had a pond at the top of his property, but i don't recall how the source got to the reservoir? Might have been naturally fed?

Anyway, the premise is, as grid access becomes more difficult to do, as the utility infrastructure gets saturated, what are our options for folks that want PV, but are limited in how much they are allowed to connect to the grid, without an interconnection study by a 3rd party to increase the comfort of the utility to have more non firm resources on their grid. We are seeing this happen here now and I was wondering if any of you have encountered this or are anticipating this in your areas?

Any suggestions, calcs, recommendations, feedback would be appreciated. 

Keith
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