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That's a very narrow way of looking at the problem. It isn't as simple as that. Our electric infrastructure is sized for the peak load. All the power plants,

That's a very narrow way of looking at the problem. It isn't as simple as that. Our electric infrastructure is sized for the peak load. All the power plants, the transmission lines, the substations, the transformers, etc. To the extent that renewable energy can displace peak load, it does reduce the need to upgrade the grid. Thus, a west-facing solar panel can be good for the grid. Because peak load is usually at sunset, the solar panel feeds power into the grid just when it needs it. (A south-facing solar panel maxes out at solar noon, so it doesn't coincide with peak load.) However, this only works if the power source can be counted on absolutely reliably, each day, every day. What if it sometimes rains at sunset? Then all the infrastructure still needs to be sized for the peak load anyway, as though the solar generation didn't exist. But when the sun shines, all that investment is just sitting there doing nothing, not earning any money. You have the same capital costs, but you're now amortizing it over fewer kilowatt-hours. At least solar panels produce next to no power at night, during baseload. Wind doesn't have this nice property.

jessaustin 12y ago
I wrote three sentences; there was bound to be some simplification. The current regime reinforces a number of assumptions about how humans use electricity. One of those is, as you note, that the infrastructure must be built to handle "peak power". The more insidious twin assumption to that one is that "peak power" is a number that falls out of heaven. Both of these assumptions, although largely true in the recent past, are slowly losing their validity. If everyone in my neighborhood installs solar and wind, and as a result the damned power company pulls some accounting tricks and bribes the PUC into raising rates, except the consumer groups whine so they compromise by moving to variable spot rates communicated minute-to-minute (which would certainly help out the power storage businesses mooted elsewhere in this thread), and as a result I have to buy new appliances and HVAC equipment that can intelligently figure out when to draw power, sure... I'll complain, because I'm a cheap bastard. But life will go on.

jessaustin 12y ago

I wrote three sentences; there was bound to be some simplification. The current regime reinforces a number of assumptions about how humans use electricity. One of those is, as you note, that the infrastructure must be built to handle "peak power". The more insidious twin assumption to that one is that "peak power" is a number that falls out of heaven. Both of these assumptions, although largely true in the recent past, are slowly losing their validity. If everyone in my neighborhood installs solar and wind, and as a result the damned power company pulls some accounting tricks and bribes the PUC into raising rates, except the consumer groups whine so they compromise by moving to variable spot rates communicated minute-to-minute (which would certainly help out the power storage businesses mooted elsewhere in this thread), and as a result I have to buy new appliances and HVAC equipment that can intelligently figure out when to draw power, sure... I'll complain, because I'm a cheap bastard. But life will go on.