4 ms·

> I'd imagine that somewhere there is always enough wind and sun in Europe. * wind: wind power production scales with the cube of the wind speed [1], so actual

> I'd imagine that somewhere there is always enough wind and sun in Europe. * wind: wind power production scales with the cube of the wind speed [1], so actual production only occurs about 25% of the time [2]. Also huge areas produce at the same time: the size of the average depression [3] can often be as large as the continent. * sun: solar panels don't produce at night. I don't think I need to source that claim. Cloudy weather is not good either. If you want more data, I suggest heading over to https://app.electricitymap.org/map https://app.electricitymap.org/map [1] http://xn--drmstrre-64ad.dk/wp-content/wind/miller/windpower%20web/en/tour/wres/enrspeed.htm http://xn--drmstrre-64ad.dk/wp-content/wind/miller/windpower... [2] https://www.statista.com/statistics/555654/wind-electricity-load-factor-uk/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/555654/wind-electricity-... [3] https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/1000hPa/orthographic=6.42,46.73,1024 https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/1000hPa/...

estaseuropano 5y ago
Cloud is not really such a problematic factor: https://scijinks.gov/solar-energy-and-clouds/ https://scijinks.gov/solar-energy-and-clouds/ And the nice thing about nights is that they are quite predictable. So not a very difficult problem to solve. Tesla power wall (I'd argue overpriced...): $10k [1] Cost of an average nuclear plant today: $20bn [2] (+operating costs) So you could buy and install 2Mio powerwalls for thr price of one nuclear plant. How many powerwalls (or more cost-effective solutions) would you need to balance the demand vs availability of electricity at night? 1. https://solarmetric.com/learn/tesla-powerwall-review-costs-specs/ https://solarmetric.com/learn/tesla-powerwall-review-costs-s... 2. https://thebulletin.org/2019/06/why-nuclear-power-plants-cost-so-much-and-what-can-be-done-about-it/ https://thebulletin.org/2019/06/why-nuclear-power-plants-cos...
- coryrc 5y ago
  Clouds reduce solar about 85% in Seattle.
- bftuh 5y ago
  Nothing in the article you linked to supports your claim that "Cloud is not really such a problematic factor". In fact, the article explicitly states: > However, clouds can block light from the sun. So, do clouds affect the creation of energy by solar panels? Yes, but it depends on the types of clouds and where those clouds are in the atmosphere. > When sunlight hits low clouds, a lot of that light – and heat – is reflected back into space. […] So, if you live in a place that commonly has a lot of low clouds, solar panels might not be able to produce as much energy as they would somewhere else. —— > And the nice thing about nights is that they are quite predictable. So not a very difficult problem to solve. Non-sequitur. The fact that it's predictable doesn't mean it's not a difficult problem.
- inglor_cz 5y ago
  What is the lifetime of a Tesla power wall? Do we even know? New nuclear reactors are expected to run for 60-100 years. This is one of the neglected parameters of such calculations. CAPEX for nuclear is high, but the resulting structure is long-lived, much more so than solar panels (25-30 years) or wind turbines (20 years).

estaseuropano 5y ago

Cloud is not really such a problematic factor: https://scijinks.gov/solar-energy-and-clouds/ https://scijinks.gov/solar-energy-and-clouds/ And the nice thing about nights is that they are quite predictable. So not a very difficult problem to solve. Tesla power wall (I'd argue overpriced...): $10k [1] Cost of an average nuclear plant today: $20bn [2] (+operating costs) So you could buy and install 2Mio powerwalls for thr price of one nuclear plant. How many powerwalls (or more cost-effective solutions) would you need to balance the demand vs availability of electricity at night? 1. https://solarmetric.com/learn/tesla-powerwall-review-costs-specs/ https://solarmetric.com/learn/tesla-powerwall-review-costs-s... 2. https://thebulletin.org/2019/06/why-nuclear-power-plants-cost-so-much-and-what-can-be-done-about-it/ https://thebulletin.org/2019/06/why-nuclear-power-plants-cos...

coryrc 5y ago
Clouds reduce solar about 85% in Seattle.
bftuh 5y ago
Nothing in the article you linked to supports your claim that "Cloud is not really such a problematic factor". In fact, the article explicitly states: > However, clouds can block light from the sun. So, do clouds affect the creation of energy by solar panels? Yes, but it depends on the types of clouds and where those clouds are in the atmosphere. > When sunlight hits low clouds, a lot of that light – and heat – is reflected back into space. […] So, if you live in a place that commonly has a lot of low clouds, solar panels might not be able to produce as much energy as they would somewhere else. —— > And the nice thing about nights is that they are quite predictable. So not a very difficult problem to solve. Non-sequitur. The fact that it's predictable doesn't mean it's not a difficult problem.
inglor_cz 5y ago
What is the lifetime of a Tesla power wall? Do we even know? New nuclear reactors are expected to run for 60-100 years. This is one of the neglected parameters of such calculations. CAPEX for nuclear is high, but the resulting structure is long-lived, much more so than solar panels (25-30 years) or wind turbines (20 years).