Techniques for quantifying behind-the-meter solar power generation

Abstract

Techniques for evaluating electricity distribution infrastructures include a method comprising: determining, by a computing device, respective positions for individual solar panels included in a plurality of solar panels located within a geographical region; determining, by the computing device based on the respective positions and meteorological data for the geographical region, respective predicted solar power generation levels for the individual solar panels; determining, by the computing device based on the respective predicted solar power generation levels for the individual solar panels, a solar power generation estimate for the geographical region; and determining, by the computing device based on the solar power generation estimate for the geographical region and one or more properties of an electricity distribution infrastructure for the geographical region, one or more infrastructure modifications for the electricity distribution infrastructure.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 determining, by a computing device, respective positions for individual solar panels included in a plurality of solar panels located within a geographical region;   determining, by the computing device based on the respective positions and meteorological data for the geographical region, respective predicted solar power generation levels for the individual solar panels;   determining, by the computing device based on the respective predicted solar power generation levels for the individual solar panels, a solar power generation estimate for the geographical region; and   determining, by the computing device based on the solar power generation estimate for the geographical region and one or more properties of an electricity distribution infrastructure for the geographical region, one or more infrastructure modifications for the electricity distribution infrastructure.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the computing device based on the solar power generation estimate for the geographical region, whether a sub-region of the geographical region is generating solar power that exceeds an amount of electricity being consumed in the sub-region. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more infrastructure modifications recommend adding one or more energy storage modules to the electricity distribution infrastructure. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more infrastructure modifications recommend adding one or more high voltage power lines to the electricity distribution infrastructure. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more properties of the electricity distribution infrastructure comprise information regarding one or more low voltage power lines, high voltage power lines, transformers, feeders, or substations in the electricity distribution infrastructure. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more infrastructure modifications mitigate at least one distribution impediment that interferes with distributing solar power generated in the geographical region. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one distribution impediment comprises a portion of the electricity distribution infrastructure designed to distribute electricity in one direction. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one distribution impediment comprises a low voltage power line. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the solar power generation estimate for the geographical region comprises respective solar power generation estimates for a plurality of future times. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying, by the computing device on a user interface, a representation of the geographical region depicting respective locations of the one or more infrastructure modifications. 
     
     
         11 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing program instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 determining respective locations of individual solar panels disposed within a geographic area;   computing, based on the respective locations and meteorological conditions for the geographic area, respective estimated solar power generation amounts for the individual solar panels;   computing, based on the respective estimated solar power generation amounts for the individual solar panels, an estimated solar power generation amount for the geographic area; and   generating, based on the estimated solar power generation amount for the geographic area and infrastructure data describing an infrastructure distributing electricity in the geographic area, one or more recommendations for improving the infrastructure.   
     
     
         12 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise generating the one or more recommendations in response to determining that a region of the geographic area generates more solar power than an amount of electrical power being consumed in the region. 
     
     
         13 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more recommendations comprise at least one of recommending installation of one or more electrical energy storage systems within the geographic area or recommending installation of one or more high voltage power lines between regions of the geographic area. 
     
     
         14 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 11 , wherein the infrastructure data comprises one or more properties of one or more low voltage power lines, high voltage power lines, transformers, feeders, or substations located within the geographic area. 
     
     
         15 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more recommendations address at least one impediment to distributing electricity within the geographic area. 
     
     
         16 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise displaying locations of one or more infrastructure modifications included in the one or more recommendations on an image of the geographic area. 
     
     
         17 . A computing system comprising:
 one or more processors, and   one or more memories storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
 determining respective positions of individual solar panels installed within a geographic region; 
 generating, based on the respective positions and weather forecasts for the geographic region, respective estimates of an amount of solar power generated by the individual solar panels; 
 generating, based on the respective estimates of the amount of solar power generated by the individual solar panels, an estimate of an amount of solar power generated within the geographic region; and 
 recommending, based on the estimate of the amount of solar power generated within the geographic region and one or more properties of an electricity distribution system within the geographic region, one or more improvements to the electricity distribution system. 
   
     
     
         18 . The computing system of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more improvements comprise at least one of installing one or more electrical energy storage systems within the geographic region or installing one or more high voltage power lines coupling portions of the geographic region. 
     
     
         19 . The computing system of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more properties describe one or more low voltage power lines, high voltage power lines, transformers, feeders, or substations of the electricity distribution system. 
     
     
         20 . The computing system of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more improvements address at least one aspect of the electricity distribution system that interferes with distribution of excess solar power within the geographic region.