Posted on 01/19/2022 6:40:28 AM PST by devane617
Last year saw Australians install rooftop solar like never before, with 40% more installed in 2021 than in 2020. Solar system installations now make up 7% of the energy going into the national electricity grid.
Alongside the greater uptake of utility-scale solar (such as solar farms), this means cheaper and cleaner electricity is fast becoming a reality, putting the country on track to meet international climate targets.
But such a dramatic surge in solar output also poses challenges for Australia's power system for two main reasons.
It results in increased periods of large oversupply when weather conditions favor solar energy. This leads to energy being wasted due to the need for solar curtailment—when a solar system shuts down or stops exporting energy to the grid to counter the energy spike.
On the other hand, there is little solar generation during peak demand hours in the morning and evening. This requires more expensive generators to run.
These are huge problems from a market operations perspective, as the pressure on the system may result in blackouts and disruptions. It also creates large price swings for retailers, which then can increase costs for consumers. As a result, we may see it become more expensive to decarbonise the national energy market.
Don’t they know that all they have to do is to consult with Greta & AOC for all the answers. lol /S
The non-engineers are FINALLY waking up to what the power engineers have been saying for decades.
I see Australia as the new “East Germany”.
It’s also exposing the problem of power companies using solar as part of the power grid. It creates the exact same problem. If you could just “switch on” a power station when needed, this wouldn’t be a problem. But you can’t.
For solar to really be practical, there has to be a way to store all that extra energy and then release it when the sun is weak or gone. Maybe use it to pump water uphill during the day, and get hydro power at night from the water flowing back down. Something like that.
you would think they would find a way of storing the extra energy for use later.
But I am just a layman.
California has reduced rates for electricity generated by solar and connect fees. The California power plants already figured that one out.
Solar makes a lot of sense if you are living in a desert like the Aussies.
But to be useful you really need battery storage which are about $10K to power an average house.
The authorities in Canberra should order the Sun to shine at night to equalize the strain....................
Exactly.
Of course the Green-folks will only focus on the fact that too much energy is made. Enough to waste.
I guess all the homeowners will have to start buying gigantor battery storage units.
Half the planets solar sources send their power to a sunlight-producing geostationary orbiting satellite on the other side of earth. Likewise, for the other half of the planet.
Voila!
Complete electrical power for the entire world!
24-hour solar power on your home roof, either from the sun, or from the sun-light-producing satellite at “night”.
Someone just needs to change their clocks so that morning starts well after the sun is up. My layman’s WAG is four hours later. C’mon man!
The answers are well-established. Simple, in the sense of simple to express, not simple to build.
1) More battery storage.
2) Dynamic pricing. (We won’t pay nighttime prices for your unneeded daytime energy.) This will encourage #1.
The pump water thing is a pretty good idea.. I read many years ago, I think it was in Mechanics Illustrated, that a heavy flywheel is more efficient than a battery.
Imagine a flywheel that drives a generator that is also a motor. During the day, the solar cells power the “motor” to run the flywheel in reverse, causing it to pull a very heavy weight up a tall shaft. Then, at night, the heavy weight is released, powering the flywheel - and the generator.
You could even ensure it gets “stuck” at the top until you wake up early in the morning to get your day stared. You release the weight and everything is powered by the flywheel until the sun comes up and the whole thing is repeated.
I have a friend who “stores” power in huge flywheels for some east coast power companies. They use it for surge capacity.
L
I like the water storage concept for wind energy as well and have seen a proposal to build a demo system. It would work with solar as well, but the difference is, since people like to live where the sun shines a lot, the solar resource is pretty good near large population centers. But the best wind resource tends to be in unpopulated rural areas, requiring expensive transmission lines to take the power to where it is needed. Using wind to pump water into an elevated storage reservoir and then generating hydro power when the wind isn’t blowing seems to make sense conceptually at least.
Rooftop solar is fine too, as long as you apply actual facts rather than the opinions of the FR energy engineers.
To me, this is the one place where solar makes sense - on homes. Its personal choice, its dispersed, and it can be tailored to fit individual situations - thus making it much more stable.
Huge solar farms on utility scale, seem to make zero sense.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.