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I think that's over thinking it. If solar panels get cheap enough, companies will find a way to make it reliable. It's not terribly difficult (or expensive, com
by pkulak 15y ago
I think that's over thinking it. If solar panels get cheap enough, companies will find a way to make it reliable. It's not terribly difficult (or expensive, comparatively) to store energy when size and weight are not a concern. You can use huge tanks of molten salt, for example. But in the short term, you could just hook a bunch of panels up alongside a normal natural gas plant. Just spin the gas up when it's cloudy or at night. The nice thing is that in a lot of places where it's hot and sunny often, electricity use tracks sunlight due to air conditioning. Natural gas already supplements coal plants all over the country. It would be no different.
- anamax 15y ago> It's not terribly difficult (or expensive, comparatively) to store energy when size and weight are not a concern. You can use huge tanks of molten salt, for example. Yet, PG&E pumps water uphill at night so it can get more hydro during the day. Maybe they made a big mistake, but I'd like to see some actual numbers. PG&E isn't perfect, but they're not obviously incompetent either, so .... To put it another way, if you're correct, you're ignoring gobs of money. > The nice thing is that in a lot of places where it's hot and sunny often, electricity use tracks sunlight due to air conditioning. Most places don't have air conditioning.