4 ms·

No one has ever suggested throwing out all other power generations in favour of only one renewable method. Power storage is relatively easy too, even on huge sc

No one has ever suggested throwing out all other power generations in favour of only one renewable method. Power storage is relatively easy too, even on huge scales. Look at the way compressed air can be stored in caves or pumping water into hydro dams for some large scale examples of power storage that exist right now. Hydroelectric power provides a huge amount of baseload for some regions already. Also gas , biomass and geothermal work perfectly well at night (when load is much lower because industrial users use far more power).

brc 15y ago
>No one has ever suggested throwing out all other power generations in favour of only one renewable method And I didn't either. I just said Solar will always remain niche because of the inherent characteristics of it. You can't make the sun shine 24 hours a day, day in, day out and create baseload power. You can add capacity and use storage, but you'll never be able to make it competitive as you do so, because your efficiency drops as you do. You can be passionate about solar, but you can't ignore the facts. >Hydroelectric power provides a huge amount of baseload for some regions already. Agreed. Hydro is a fantastic power source and should be expanded because it brings water supplies and electricity, two of the building blocks of civilisation. And this has nothing to do with solar. >when load is much lower because industrial users use far more power Large industrial users like aluminium smelting will run whenever the power is cheapest. If that means smelting at night, they will. Worker overtime is a fraction of the savings they will make through cheaper power Aluminium is literally congealed electricity. Again, nothing to do with solar, but I thought I would add it. Bottom line ; solar will always remain niche, it will have an important part to play in sunny regions where it correlates well with power usage for cooling, but it will never displace baseload power generation by other means.
- Tsagadai 15y ago
  My point was that it can take up most of the load in the day and then other methods can take the load at night. Niche does not mean unimportant. Solar could easily produce about 90% of power for some regions (remember, electricity is a valuable export commodity) and other methods will take up the load at night. That is where we are going and that is what the article is about. Once the price gets down low enough solar will become the first choice and other choices will just support it, much like coal or natural gas is that choice at the moment. Economics is a very powerful force.
- sebbi 15y ago
  The sun is shining 24 hours a day ... it never stops shining. One could imagine big solar farms in space where there is no shadow or a global energy network if political issues are solved. The EU is already considering building huge solar farms in the Sahara desert, not exactly a stable region right now, but eventually just a tiny bit of desert will be enough for the whole continents energy needs. Just saying ...

brc 15y ago

>No one has ever suggested throwing out all other power generations in favour of only one renewable method And I didn't either. I just said Solar will always remain niche because of the inherent characteristics of it. You can't make the sun shine 24 hours a day, day in, day out and create baseload power. You can add capacity and use storage, but you'll never be able to make it competitive as you do so, because your efficiency drops as you do. You can be passionate about solar, but you can't ignore the facts. >Hydroelectric power provides a huge amount of baseload for some regions already. Agreed. Hydro is a fantastic power source and should be expanded because it brings water supplies and electricity, two of the building blocks of civilisation. And this has nothing to do with solar. >when load is much lower because industrial users use far more power Large industrial users like aluminium smelting will run whenever the power is cheapest. If that means smelting at night, they will. Worker overtime is a fraction of the savings they will make through cheaper power Aluminium is literally congealed electricity. Again, nothing to do with solar, but I thought I would add it. Bottom line ; solar will always remain niche, it will have an important part to play in sunny regions where it correlates well with power usage for cooling, but it will never displace baseload power generation by other means.

Tsagadai 15y ago
My point was that it can take up most of the load in the day and then other methods can take the load at night. Niche does not mean unimportant. Solar could easily produce about 90% of power for some regions (remember, electricity is a valuable export commodity) and other methods will take up the load at night. That is where we are going and that is what the article is about. Once the price gets down low enough solar will become the first choice and other choices will just support it, much like coal or natural gas is that choice at the moment. Economics is a very powerful force.
sebbi 15y ago
The sun is shining 24 hours a day ... it never stops shining. One could imagine big solar farms in space where there is no shadow or a global energy network if political issues are solved. The EU is already considering building huge solar farms in the Sahara desert, not exactly a stable region right now, but eventually just a tiny bit of desert will be enough for the whole continents energy needs. Just saying ...