Huge solar farms are being added yearly in the sunbelt. The US has a regional power distribution system so getting that power up north isn’t really possible today.
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My utility background colors my thoughts on this. In, let’s say the northern half of the country, east or the Mississippi, peak electricity demand is Monday through Friday, 10am to 6pm, memorial day through labor day. That’s when it is hot out and we have to cool offices and businesses as well as many homes. That is the very time solar is at its best. Solar reduces the need for utilities to maintain all this extra capacity that they only need for a very limited number of hours per year. That marginal capacity is always either the most expensive, and/or dirtiest the utility owns. I’m not someone who thinks we should get 100% of power from solar. I just think it’s ability to generate power when demand is highest is a major asset both financially and environmently.
Absolutely. But the land acquisition cost in northern US, combined with lack of winter sun, make it less viable in most places. Hopefully more states will do what Massachusetts does and lease public land without other uses (highway medians and the such) for solar power generation.
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Yes, the Enron times…“operator, i need the price to go up 2 ticks so can you please do a ‘scheduled maintenance shout down’ at your convenience…but if you can hit a peak time the better”
The blackouts that happen now have nothing to do with capacity and everything to do with fire risk management.
It sure can…but imagine the future for a bit…a future when that Tesla solar roof type of tiles are actually cheap enough to compete with asphalt shingles…there will be no reason not to have them. In CA is already mandatory for new constructions to incorporate solar panels so solar tech will only continue to crash in price in the future. If political winds shift and the current tariffs are axed that big price drop may come even sooner than expected.