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Agreed. Without some alternative form of energy in the morning and evening we may have already reached the saturation point of solar energy. See the Duck curve
by coryfklein 8y ago
Agreed. Without some alternative form of energy in the morning and evening we may have already reached the saturation point of solar energy. See the Duck curve [1].
Once the heavily regulated energy market has time to adjust to market conditions you are going to see this energy surplus during the day being adjusted for. Where solar panels make economic sense today they may not tomorrow when energy prices for mid-day use plummet due to oversupply.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_curve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_curve
- raven105x 8y agoPrices will not plummet due to oversupply, they will increase as demand decreases to increase profitability. Electricity prices reflect only one thing: how high they can be while still being "affordable". Even now, in most major cities, residential pricing is 10x-50x of business/industrial pricing ...in the same zip code. The cost of production of electricity is almost enitely irrelevant to its' pricing.
- maxerickson 8y agoWhat electric companies have rates like that? In the Midwest it is like a factor of 2 for energy, maybe (residential energy in urbanized areas around here is $0.10-$0.15 per kW-h, with a day charge of ~$0.50).
- maxerickson 8y agoThermal storage is super easy for cooling and can be used to shift the evening load. Just offer economic incentives to put ac on a timer.
- Brakenshire 8y agoEnergy prices plummeting in the middle of the day creates an enormous economic incentive for energy storage or demand shifting, which in turn makes energy in the middle of the day more valuable.