4 ms·

When is there zero sun? I didn't realize that was a possibility on our spinning planet

by WhompingWindows 8y ago

galuano1 8y ago
Cloudy days.
- Retric 8y ago
  Solar still provides power on Cloudy days, just less. Storage is still a poor solution to this problem it’s much cheaper to have excess renuables.
- pjc50 8y ago
  A far more serious consideration for solar is the changing seasons, especially at non-tropical latitudes. I graphed the output of my solar panels (56 north, Scotland) and it's really apparent: https://flatline.org.uk/daystats.html https://flatline.org.uk/daystats.html
  - PhantomGremlin 8y ago
    So those panels are basically useless for 3 or 4 months of the year, i.e. November, December, January, February. Would there be much improvement if you could tweak the orientation to match the seasons? E.g. tilt them down toward the horizon during the winter? It's certainly a huge complication to have motorized panels that move all the time to track the sun. But maybe it wouldn't be that much of a hassle to go out there and manually reorient them (just in 1 axis) a few times a year?
    - pjc50 8y ago
      They're fixed to the roof, so making them movable would be a risk to their safety and wind resistance while being fairly difficult to access (and ladders are dangerous). For a fairly small benefit. It's not just the angle but the sunrise and sunset are a lot closer together.
dragontamer 8y ago
> When is there zero sun? I mean, its not my argument. But... something like the Dust Bowl of the 1930s or even a large volcanic eruption (like the 1980s Mount St. Helen eruption) would block out the sun in a local area for multiple days. But my point being: such disasters are beyond our storage capabilities by several magnitudes. Most energy storage projects are at best, aiming for a few hours of energy storage. Many (ie: Flywheels, typical Batteries, etc. etc.) are aiming for minutes, or even just seconds of grid-energy storage. This idea of days-long or even a week-long energy storage is just devoid from reality.
- Pxtl 8y ago
  There also just aren't that many people above the Arctic circle. 90/10 rule applies here.
elabajaba 8y ago
Extreme north or south. Barrow Alaska gets over 60 days without sun in the winter. A bit further south in more populated regions you only get a few hours of sunlight during the shortest days of the year.

When is there zero sun? I didn't realize that was a possibility on our spinning planet

galuano1 8y ago

Cloudy days.

Retric 8y ago
Solar still provides power on Cloudy days, just less. Storage is still a poor solution to this problem it’s much cheaper to have excess renuables.
pjc50 8y ago
A far more serious consideration for solar is the changing seasons, especially at non-tropical latitudes. I graphed the output of my solar panels (56 north, Scotland) and it's really apparent: https://flatline.org.uk/daystats.html https://flatline.org.uk/daystats.html
- PhantomGremlin 8y ago
  So those panels are basically useless for 3 or 4 months of the year, i.e. November, December, January, February. Would there be much improvement if you could tweak the orientation to match the seasons? E.g. tilt them down toward the horizon during the winter? It's certainly a huge complication to have motorized panels that move all the time to track the sun. But maybe it wouldn't be that much of a hassle to go out there and manually reorient them (just in 1 axis) a few times a year?
  - pjc50 8y ago
    They're fixed to the roof, so making them movable would be a risk to their safety and wind resistance while being fairly difficult to access (and ladders are dangerous). For a fairly small benefit. It's not just the angle but the sunrise and sunset are a lot closer together.

dragontamer 8y ago

> When is there zero sun? I mean, its not my argument. But... something like the Dust Bowl of the 1930s or even a large volcanic eruption (like the 1980s Mount St. Helen eruption) would block out the sun in a local area for multiple days. But my point being: such disasters are beyond our storage capabilities by several magnitudes. Most energy storage projects are at best, aiming for a few hours of energy storage. Many (ie: Flywheels, typical Batteries, etc. etc.) are aiming for minutes, or even just seconds of grid-energy storage. This idea of days-long or even a week-long energy storage is just devoid from reality.

Pxtl 8y ago
There also just aren't that many people above the Arctic circle. 90/10 rule applies here.

elabajaba 8y ago

Extreme north or south. Barrow Alaska gets over 60 days without sun in the winter. A bit further south in more populated regions you only get a few hours of sunlight during the shortest days of the year.