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Half of California's Solar Power Sometimes Goes to Waste


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Original fairly techy and detailed report here:

 

https://ecoblock.berkeley.edu/blog/californias-growing-solar-and-wind-problem/#

 

Summary here:

 

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-11-24/california-has-so-much-solar-power-that-increasingly-it-goes-to-waste

 

 

So, will we get the same thing here one day?

 

 

 

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From the last story:

 

Gov. Gavin Newsom's advisors and those who manage the state's electric grid say they are working to reduce the curtailments, including by building more industrial-scale battery Storage facilities that soak up the excess solar power during the day and then release it at night.

 

Which is sensible, if overdue.

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I'm thinking that we're going to end up flipping from E7-like cheap night leccy to cheap day leccy and expensive night time, no? Well, at least in the summer. On Octopus Agile (which is meant to reflect the 1/2 hour market rates) by and large I'm seeing fairly flat rates throughout the day & night except for Octopus's artificial bump between 4 & 7pm.

Edited by Alan Ambrose
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10 hours ago, Alan Ambrose said:

I'm thinking that we're going to end up flipping from E7-like cheap night leccy to cheap day leccy and expensive night time, no? Well, at least in the summer.

You're right - In France that seems likely from next summer. According to the Regulator: To take account of changes in the electricity production mix and the abundance of summer photovoltaic production, stakeholders are being consulted on the gradual adoption of summer afternoon off-peak hours from August 2025"

 

Original in French: https://www.cre.fr/actualites/toute-lactualite/la-cre-consulte-sur-le-futur-tarif-dutilisation-des-reseaux-publics-delectricite-turpe-7-transport-et-distribution-pour-la-periode-2025-2028.html

 

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Re: Triads. Goodness gracious, the production of leccy is complicated. It’s reassuring to know that it all revolves around tea:

 

Triads typically occur on a Monday to Thursday, during periods of particularly cold weather, at around 5-7pm – when industrial demand and the domestic tea-time period coincide.

 

And it is going to waste if you’re the guy that footed the capital cost for the PV array. Or even the society that conspired to make productive capital available for investment. No?

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16 minutes ago, Alan Ambrose said:

And it is going to waste if you’re the guy that footed the capital cost for the PV array

In economics, as opposed to accountancy, if you get your expected return on capital investment i.e. 6%, then it does not matter what happens to any excess.

17 minutes ago, Alan Ambrose said:

Or even the society that conspired to make productive capital available for investment

This is where venture capitalism comes into play, they can decide that 6% return on investment is not enough and start to skew the market.

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