> For annual cycles, the easier method is simply to overbuild your generation. If you have half as much solar input during the winter, then build twice as much

> For annual cycles, the easier method is simply to overbuild your generation. If you have half as much solar input during the winter, then build twice as much solar. At latitudes such as of New York or London the solar input during the winter is 5 times lower than in the summer, or more. That's because there are three effects that all go in the same direction: shorter day, lower inclination and thicker atmosphere for the rays to cross (because they come more slanted). If you build five times more solar than you need during the summer, it means you have to idle 80% of the capacity at that time. Long before this will happen the marginal profit of building a new solar plant will become negative for the investors, and long before that happens the profit will be positive, but the risk too high for the investors to secure financing.