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A comment on US DOE to offer $6B to keep struggling nuclear reactors online. Parent comment

Re:US DOE to offer $6B to keep struggling nuclear reactors o... by Manuel_D on Wednesday February 16, 2022 @06:15PM (#30367174)
> Solar is awesome in that yield scales with load peaks.

No, this is the opposite of what is true. In most places, load peaks in the evening, just as the sun sets.

Looking up the data [1], the more nuanced answer is that load peaks in in the evening in the fall, winter, and spring. Only in the summer does solar energy match load.

1. https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=42915

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Re:US DOE to offer $6B to keep struggling nuclear reactors o... by jimmydorry on Wednesday February 16, 2022 @07:16PM (#30367758)
If anyone wants another example, this has data for Australia [1]. Power usage consistently peaks in the late afternoon, typically as everyone ends work for the day [2][3]. Unsurprisingly, this is also around when the price spikes.

[1] https://aemo.com.au/en/energy-systems/electricity/national-e...

[2] https://i.imgur.com/60kGlIR.png

[3] https://i.imgur.com/nRjBjeN.png

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Re:US DOE to offer $6B to keep struggling nuclear reactors o... by widdma on Wednesday February 16, 2022 @08:11PM (#30368339)
It's worth pointing out AEMO's demand is for the grid, and residential solar typically does not show up on the grid. OpenNEM[1] uses estimates of residential solar to approximate the full load.

[1]: https://opennem.org.au/

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