3 ms·
But don’t we want them running at night today vs during the day when more power is used. Scheduling those work shifts at the smelter is going to be annoying. “S
by seanmcdirmid 3y ago
But don’t we want them running at night today vs during the day when more power is used. Scheduling those work shifts at the smelter is going to be annoying. “Sorry Bob, the power market is spiking now, you’ll need to come in 8 hours later to start your shift.”
We can solve this problem simply by closing all our plants and importing more aluminum from Japan.
- mschuster91 3y agoSure but you can predict that there will be no solar power available at night.
- seanmcdirmid 3y agoWe can also predict that higher AC use correlates with more solar power.
- bryanlarsen 3y agoSolar power is greatest at noon. I think Bob would be thrilled to be told that he will be required to work during the day rather than at night.
- seanmcdirmid 3y agoOther energy uses peak during the day, like AC in the summer.
- bryanlarsen 3y agoNot enough to compensate. https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=56880 https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=56880
- seanmcdirmid 3y agoCalifornia is the wrong state to look at AC usage (most people live in big metro areas where AC isn't even ubiquitous, nor needs to be).
- bryanlarsen 3y agoWhich is exactly why California has the highest growth in Air Conditioning usage. Most places were at 90%+ a decade ago; not much room to grow. OTOH SF has grown from 30% to 50%.
- seanmcdirmid 3y agoA lot of that growth is just people moving to heat pumps that can do either, and are perfect for mild climates. California does have a nice advantage in that it has lots of solar near populated areas that have mild climates (well, that mainly means the LA area).