3 ms·

I don't think this passes the usual concerns around base load, local energy needs vs. overall network totals, and storage capacity for nighttime use. Maybe that

I don't think this passes the usual concerns around base load, local energy needs vs. overall network totals, and storage capacity for nighttime use. Maybe that's ok. Maybe we just get a ton of solar and what we can't do in batteries we just funnel into carbon sequestration. And at night we just turn off the lights unless it's an emergency or high priority task. But I have my doubts that this is likely to play out...

epistasis 5y ago
It's likely that we will have a ton of excess capacity because solar is so cheap. These are all solvable problems. Christopher Clack has been doing global optimizations for renewable grids for a long time, and finds that lots of upgrades to the distribution grid today, along with additions of storage and distributed solar, is a surprising cost optimal route. People always doubt the new, but it's really hard to prove that it's not possible. And once it's done, it will seem obvious in retrospect.