Utilities who bill for "time of use" generally have more punitive rates during the day time because of higher demand (and also send these flyers suggesting you use electric washers and dryers closer to midnight).

The fact that people are at work doesn't imply a drop in usage - they just start consuming electricity at the office, retail location, etc.

I suspect that the increased demand such as air conditioning or business-related electrical usage peaks during the daytime (business hours). In hotter climates, air conditioning is a substantial user of electricity, even to the point where some places have to ration their usage of it. Solar puts electricity back on the grid at the time when it's most in demand.

Well in general demand peaks midday while household usage is u-shaped (morning and evening peaks). This makes sense, since when people go to work they are not at home and their work energy use tends to be higher than home energy use. But if you don't like that explanation, simply look at any price curve for any of the organized electricity markets (they are public) and you will see demand and price peaks mid-day.

Aha... so do you have a typo in your answer?

> Solar production peaks midday

should have been

> Solar consumption peaks midday

?

Electricity consumption peaks mid-day, solar or not. Solar production happens to also peak mid-day, which is great because it coincides with the peak consumption period, which makes it more valuable.

No. Solar consumption does peak midday but that is trivial because electricity is nearly always used when it is produced. Electricity demand, which is basically the same thing as consumption, peaks midday (as do prices). And solar production peaks midday. The fact that solar production matches demand is a nice feature of solar that I think militates in favor of net-metering policies.

Ok, I get it... I misread and misunderstood your comment in a few different ways :)

Industrial machinery for facilities that don't run 24 hrs/day increase the draw energy during business hours.

air conditioners in the desert