Investigation of Electric Grid Decarbonization for Arizona With Solar Photovoltaic

Abstract Arizona has the highest daily average solar insolation in the United States, with the theoretical capacity to fulfill the electricity consumption of the state and produce excess energy. A solar photovoltaic (PV) energy model is herein developed using the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) insolation data to size solar plants to decarbonize the Arizona power grid. A previous study is used to classify land in Arizona for solar panels according to suitability and the excellent classified land is considered. PV panels are assumed to have a 32-degree tilt facing south, which is calculated to receive the highest annual solar insolation. Monthly electricity consumption data for the state is sourced through the Energy Information Administration (EIA), and PV plants are sized to match the total electric consumption for the month of December. The analysis shows that only ∼0.12% of Arizona’s total land is required to decarbonize the grid and produce 33.23 TWh of excess electrical energy annually, with the bulk of the excess energy generated in the spring and early summer months when consumption decreases, and solar PV generation is high. This excess energy is sufficient to electrify 185% of Arizona’s yearly motor gasoline miles (∼17.9 TWh) and decarbonizing this sector. Similarly, electrification of the state’s heavy transport, which utilizes 95.45 trillion kJs of distillate fuel oil usage, at 0.932 kWh/km required ∼8.45 TWh of electricity and can be decarbonized with the excess energy.