Re:Solar Just Hit a Record Low Price in the U.S
by rsynnott on Wednesday July 11, 2018 @03:35PM
(#17509679)
This is assuming that you're replacing old, bad power (ie coal, or old-fashioned unresponsive gas plants) with a solar/responsive gas turbine combo. The US still has a fair bit of coal that could stand to be replaced, but I doubt there's enough gas to take up the slack of a solar/gas system without building more.
Re:Solar Just Hit a Record Low Price in the U.S
by ghouse on Wednesday July 11, 2018 @03:41PM
(#17509722)
Over the past decade (since the wide-scale commercialization of fracking in the US), coal plants have been retired or repowered (with gas) at a record pace. I believe the share of generation has dropped from 50% to 30% in that period.
Re:Solar Just Hit a Record Low Price in the U.S
by robocat on Wednesday July 11, 2018 @05:55PM
(#17510588)
> This is only true if the load on the grid is growing. In North America, it is not.
The article I saw the other day showed growth of 4.5% (comparing Q1 2017 with Q1 2018)
Surely that growth in production is matched by a growth in load?
https://renewablesnow.com/news/wind-solar-farms-produce-10-o...
Re:Solar Just Hit a Record Low Price in the U.S
by toomuchtodo on Wednesday July 11, 2018 @10:23PM
(#17511730)
> Surely that growth in production is matched by a growth in load?
It is not, although consumption growth may trend upwards again as transportation is electrified (and oil consumption moves to electrical consumption).
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-03-01/americans...
This is only true if the load on the grid is growing. In North America, it is not. Otherwise, you already have enough dispatchable generation available when the sun isn't shining or the wind isn't blowing.