Freezing in the dark. It's what's for supper.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/03/the-folly-of-solar-energy.php
The Folly of Solar Energy
The late January brownout in central Minnesota, during a time of Arctic cold, showed that reliance on “green” energy can be life-threatening. Xcel Energy instructed customers to turn thermostats down to 60 degrees and refrain from using hot water. Xcel went so far as to put some customers up in hotels.
Investigation of the brownout has been informative. The principal problem, given that Minnesota has invested massively in wind energy, was that the wind wasn’t blowing. But there was another problem, too, which came out in testimony before the state’s Public Utilities Commission by an Xcel official. My colleague Isaac Orr explains:
During their testimony, Xcel Energy representatives stated that the company’s solar panels only produced 8 to 10 percent of their potential output because of snow cover.
Everyone understands, I suppose, that solar panels can’t produce electricity at night–which, coincidentally, is when we need to turn lights on. It is less well recognized that in the North, solar panels are also more or less useless during the Winter. But, you may ask, can’t they be cleared off and thus made functional?
Xcel Energy posted a profit of $1.1 billion in 2017, and you’re telling me they can’t pay a high-schooler to scrape off their solar panels for a little extra cash?***To me, the fact Xcel didn’t bother to clear the snow off their solar panels suggests they didn’t think it was worth it, from a cost/benefit standpoint.
I suspect that is exactly right. Utilities know that solar energy is a joke. So, why do they lobby for legislation requiring them to build ever more solar farms?
Yet, Xcel wants to build more solar because they get a guaranteed 7.5 percent profit on every dollar they spend on power plants, including solar panels, whether they produce electricity or not.
Some naive observers assume that the fact that utilities lobby to be required to build wind and solar facilities means they must be a good idea. On the contrary: if they were a good idea, utilities wouldn’t have to lobby to be forced to construct them.
Comments
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Can we just burn wood? Because people will be burning wood.
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You will be shot for religious apostasy. Killing trees and burning wood to release CO2 will be verboten.
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If I like my wood I can’t keep it?WestlinnDuck said:You will be shot for religious apostasy. Killing trees and burning wood to release CO2 will be verboten.
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The problem with solar and wind is storage. Production is fine - but it gets sold out onto the grid during non-peak usage times - so power produced is never going to bring top dollar on the market. In the case of residences or office buildings, the power generated needs to be stored for later use at the same site.
There's some technology coming down the pike for static storage facilities where the batteries are similar to, like, server racks. For a single family home, the racks approximately 10 feet high by maybe 3 feet square. My understanding is that stores about 40 hours of typical use.
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What do you think of this? http://energystorage.org/compressed-air-energy-storage-caesPurpleThrobber said:The problem with solar and wind is storage. Production is fine - but it gets sold out onto the grid during non-peak usage times - so power produced is never going to bring top dollar on the market. In the case of residences or office buildings, the power generated needs to be stored for later use at the same site.
There's some technology coming down the pike for static storage facilities where the batteries are similar to, like, server racks. For a single family home, the racks approximately 10 feet high by maybe 3 feet square. My understanding is that stores about 40 hours of typical use. -
I like nuclear power.
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#metoo. But AOC has taken that off the table. She’s in charge.dflea said:I like nuclear power.
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Haven't seen that. Just looked at a lithium battery based solution. Chinese technology.MikeDamone said:
What do you think of this? http://energystorage.org/compressed-air-energy-storage-caesPurpleThrobber said:The problem with solar and wind is storage. Production is fine - but it gets sold out onto the grid during non-peak usage times - so power produced is never going to bring top dollar on the market. In the case of residences or office buildings, the power generated needs to be stored for later use at the same site.
There's some technology coming down the pike for static storage facilities where the batteries are similar to, like, server racks. For a single family home, the racks approximately 10 feet high by maybe 3 feet square. My understanding is that stores about 40 hours of typical use.
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Bitch.MikeDamone said:
#metoo. But AOC has taken that off the table. She’s in charge.dflea said:I like nuclear power.
She should stop being in charge of whatever she's in charge of. -
Hell no!! Smoke from a wood fire pollutes the atmosphere. You crazy bro?MikeDamone said:
If I like my wood I can’t keep it?WestlinnDuck said:You will be shot for religious apostasy. Killing trees and burning wood to release CO2 will be verboten.



