Is it that simple? the higher the temps in Texas the less wind there is?
High pressure means NO wind
Is it that simple? the higher the temps in Texas the less wind there is?
It’s my understanding that at its best it provides roughly 60% of the power needed?
Then add to that hot windless days,like you said, and it’s even less.
Yup. That's problem #1 for wind energy in the south. It'd be like depending on only solar power for heating up north: when it's colder (winter) there's less sun.
I live in Alabama (similar temps to the northern half of Texas) and have solar panels that work well for me (by "working well" I of course don't mean I'm off-grid, I still have to buy power from the grid when solar fails). Because I live on top of a hill (read lots of wind) I thought about a small wind turbine to provide power on days I get little sun (like during a storm when I get lots of wind but little sun). While researching it I realized that during storms I don't need much power anyway (because the storm cools the temps, making me not have to run the A/C as much). But during hot times (when I need power the most) I tend to have less wind (which is okay because my solar almost always produces well at those times).
One factor that may play a role is that hot air is less dense, so assuming equal wind speed the hotter it gets the less force the wind exerts against the turbine blades. I live in Denver, and being at high altitude we have lots of experience with how lower air density affects the efficiency of things like computer cooling fans. Though the reverse process of a wind turbine, the principle is the same. A computer that has adequate cooling at sea level can easily overheat in Denver unless you manually increase the RPM of the fans because for each revolution of the fan blades it is moving fewer air molecules.
To further illustrate the wind turbine issue, just imagine one in a vacuum. How much electricity would that one generate?
The main problem is that Federal subsidies and policies push unreliable renewables without forcing renewable providers to pay for the needed backup capacity of fossil fuel generators or electrical storage.
The Texas state GOP, of course, is a wholly paid subsidiary of the investor class and so also fails to provide any rational regulation.
Simply stated, hot domes have stagnant air under them. No local pressure differential. We have that this week in the Pacific Northwest also. Will be 110° inland temperatures with no wind at all.
>>...when it gets hot the wind stops.<<
When the wind stops it gets hot.
Texas shouldn’t be depending on wind turbines, to power the state, period.
Look how that worked out during the statewide freeze.
ERCOT is ran by a bunch of bureaucrats.