For those interested, roughly 120 square miles of solar panels, plus a huge amount of batteries, would be needed to replace this plant with ‘sustainable’ generation.
I don’t think solar cells will ever provide a large viable
grid. If people want to create a home power plant using
them, it can make sense.
I use solar cells and batteries to provide some of my
power needs, and use then for times when the power goes out.
If 40% of homes (just a figure tossed out), can become
self-sufficient, that takes a load off the grid.
Businesses still use the most electricity, and I’m not
sure how many of them could use the household model to
become self-sufficient.
Small businesses may be able to. I’d think that could
help them survive power interruptions with a lot less
loss than would have been experienced if they couldn’t.
don’t forget the thousands of tons of necessary DC-2-AC inverters required ...