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In a grid dominated by solar energy production the peak demand on a utility is shifted from the mid-day air-conditioning load to the evening. That's when people
by 205guy 11y ago
In a grid dominated by solar energy production the peak demand on a utility is shifted from the mid-day air-conditioning load to the evening. That's when people go home and turn on lights and use appliances, and there are still some industrial loads. So storing the renewable solar energy for those 3 hours is critical to leveling peaks and reducing the need for standby capacity (the high-cost plant that can be spun up on demand to meet the peak).
- barney54 11y agoThe peak in places like California is not midday, but always in the evening. And the challenge with solar is that the sun has frequently set by then. The chart that describes this problem is called the duck chart: https://www.caiso.com/Documents/FlexibleResourcesHelpRenewables_FastFacts.pdf https://www.caiso.com/Documents/FlexibleResourcesHelpRenewab...
- ZeroGravitas 11y agoThe yearly peak for California, is in the afternoon, on particularly sunny days in July or August. The peak is slowly moving later because solar is shaving that peak and saving everyone lots of money. https://www.caiso.com/Documents/CaliforniaISOPeakLoadHistory.pdf https://www.caiso.com/Documents/CaliforniaISOPeakLoadHistory... Your document shows January and March, which is when the duck issue is at its worst. The peaks in these months are two or three times lower than the yearly peak, when the system has to work at its most stretched. And remember this is net load, as those lines go lower, the actual demand is rising slightly, it's just being provided by solar rather than the utility.
- pilsetnieks 11y agoOn a lighter note, in Britain the peak is at about 9pm when people put on electric tea kettles after football and soaps. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_pickup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_pickup