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The availability of solar power at night or on cloudy days just improved 0% in 16 months. Saying that solar is okay because it's hooked up to the grid is not a

The availability of solar power at night or on cloudy days just improved 0% in 16 months. Saying that solar is okay because it's hooked up to the grid is not an answer, because that's just another instance of a reliable energy source (fossil fuels, nuclear, hydro) bailing out an unreliable one (solar, wind).

durkie 10y ago
this is the same as the "electric cars are actually powered by coal!" argument. it seems like it ignores all side effects of an incremental improvement in pricing/availability of technology: proliferation of EVs leads to removal of internal-combustion cars (all point sources of pollution), in turn leading to lots of cars dependent on the grid for power, in turn leading to that cleaning up power plants instantly cleans up millions of cars. by the same token, price reductions in solar power cost leads to battery storage systems (or other storage systems) being even more desirable and cost-competitive, in turn leading to them being installed in preference over other types of power plants.
Practicality 10y ago
I don't understand why this is a problem. Two things: 1) You're still using MUCH less overall fossil fuels. A 40% reduction in fossil fuel use would do wonders for the world economy and be a huge step forward in reducing emissions. 2) If other people are feeding power back into the grid, then you can be using their solar power. It's sunny somewhere, right?
hueving 10y ago
That same argument could be used to advocate everyone running diesel generators at home 24/7 because of the power outages that occur on the grid. Sure, coal and gas pickup the remaining tab, but even if they are covering half of the usage, that's better than all of it.
heygrady 10y ago
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/08/10/adding-energy-storage-to-home-solar-does-it-make-sense/ http://cleantechnica.com/2015/08/10/adding-energy-storage-to... You can add a battery backup system to cover night-time usage on your own home. The $10k battery system basically doubles the price. But since the solar panel's price just dropped by 50%... Cloudy days you might still be in a deficit. What is so wrong with a mixed system that uses renewables where it makes sense and relies on other sources to fill in whatever gaps appear?

durkie 10y ago

this is the same as the "electric cars are actually powered by coal!" argument. it seems like it ignores all side effects of an incremental improvement in pricing/availability of technology: proliferation of EVs leads to removal of internal-combustion cars (all point sources of pollution), in turn leading to lots of cars dependent on the grid for power, in turn leading to that cleaning up power plants instantly cleans up millions of cars. by the same token, price reductions in solar power cost leads to battery storage systems (or other storage systems) being even more desirable and cost-competitive, in turn leading to them being installed in preference over other types of power plants.

Practicality 10y ago

I don't understand why this is a problem. Two things: 1) You're still using MUCH less overall fossil fuels. A 40% reduction in fossil fuel use would do wonders for the world economy and be a huge step forward in reducing emissions. 2) If other people are feeding power back into the grid, then you can be using their solar power. It's sunny somewhere, right?

hueving 10y ago

That same argument could be used to advocate everyone running diesel generators at home 24/7 because of the power outages that occur on the grid. Sure, coal and gas pickup the remaining tab, but even if they are covering half of the usage, that's better than all of it.

heygrady 10y ago

http://cleantechnica.com/2015/08/10/adding-energy-storage-to-home-solar-does-it-make-sense/ http://cleantechnica.com/2015/08/10/adding-energy-storage-to... You can add a battery backup system to cover night-time usage on your own home. The $10k battery system basically doubles the price. But since the solar panel's price just dropped by 50%... Cloudy days you might still be in a deficit. What is so wrong with a mixed system that uses renewables where it makes sense and relies on other sources to fill in whatever gaps appear?