Posted on 03/01/2015 12:12:35 PM PST by Libloather
On the morning of March 20, 2015, a solar eclipse will pass over all of Europe, visible from Turkey to Greenland. A decade ago, that probably wouldn't have mattered to anyone except people who love astronomy (and all the schoolchildren building pinhole cameras to observe the sun.) But now, three percent of Europe's electricity grid comes from solar power, making the March event a proving ground for this renewable energy technology.
In the span of two hours, 35,000 megawatts of electricity will fade from the grid, and then return. To put that in perspective, a typical coal plant in the United States generates about 600 megawatts. The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) calls the eclipse an "unprecedented test for Europe's electricity system."
“It will have a cascading effect,” ENTSO-E spokesperson Claire Camus told the Financial Times. “It’s definitely going to be a challenge for control rooms.”
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
I wonder how much solar power solar cells put out on a cloudy day when sleet and freezing rain are falling on them an coating all the surfaces in 1/4 inch of ice; such as today here in Wash DC?
A scheduled shutdown of 3% is hardly any challenge at all.
Utilities deal with larger unscheduled shutdowns on a regular basis.
This is a story trying to pretend there is a crisis.
Does it get dark at night in Europe? They could have “tested” the system last night.
As I've said before, yelling fire in a crowded theater is pretty much the MSM's whole business plan.
It is difficult to tell. That is why solar is expensive. You have to have multiple inverters to negate the effects of clouding.
multiple inverters to negate the effects of clouding.
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How would that help?
There have been some interesting developments in solar technology over the last few years.
One in particular is the development of a battery back-up.
Elon Musk, who is part of SolarCity is building a massive manufacturing plant to produce these batteries.
I understand the inherent problems of solar and the affects it has on balancing the grid. Having a battery back-up system goes a long way to solve some of these issues.
Ummmm ... they don’t have clouds over there?! ... LOL ...
Musk is a rent seeker. What he will do it is try to get the most government subsidies for his batteries just like Solar City sucks down taxpayer and ratepayer subsidies. I have some solar with no subsidies from either taxpayers or ratepayers. I also have batteries, one of the ways I do not get subsidies. Instead of "selling" overpriced power to the grid, needed or not, while getting power when ever I need (e.g. during solar eclipses, clouds and night) I use batteries.
My batteries cost a lot more than my panels. Musk will not make cheaper batteries, he will make expensive batteries that I will pay for through my taxes.
If something is a good idea, it should not need government subsidies, there should be plenty of private capital willing to fund it.
Well, how do they handle night?
Batteries are a great idea except for the cost. Lots of bad economics comes for the ride with the bad science of catastrophic anthro. global warming.
I’m no expert on the subject however, from what I understand, Musk and his engineers have found a way to produce these “new” batteries at a cost that is substantially lower that what are available today.
Elon Musk is no fool and I doubt he would be making the investment in this new manufacturing plant if its future depended on subsidies.
I’m not here to promote or slam solar either way. I’m just pointing out that there have been some advancements that seem to be moving the industry in the right direction.
I think the industry can’t be discounted out of hand and is worth watching.
The only place the eclipse will be total is in Spitzbergen, where there are no solar power plants. Percent totality is mostly in the low double digits. No problem.
It will perhaps cause a few brownouts in the less developed parts of Europe.
I once talked with a scientist who went to Mexico some years ago to follow an eclipse best seen from there.
He said that as it got dark, all the night bugs and animals came out while the day types shut down. He said that even though he is a modern man with all the knowledge that goes with it, he still had a sudden surge of fear when everything went dark. He then realized just how much ancient man would be stricken with terror.
So Londonistan goes dark for a few hours, then.
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