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A comment on New concentrator could help solar panels capture more sunlight without tracking. Parent comment

Re:New concentrator could help solar panels capture more sun... by Retric on Thursday June 30, 2022 @09:44AM (#31932251)
The gradient is one issue, the other is sending wholesale prices to zero for extended periods most days. That messes with the economy of baseline power generation especially nuclear.
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Re:New concentrator could help solar panels capture more sun... by ZeroGravitas on Thursday June 30, 2022 @12:27PM (#31934890)
Yes, I suppose cheap energy can be seen as a problem if you're an energy seller, not a buyer or user.
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Re:New concentrator could help solar panels capture more sun... by Retric on Thursday June 30, 2022 @01:55PM (#31936084)
Buyers will eventually face a related issue.

To simplify if nuclear/geothermal or whatever was 10c/kWh if sold 24/7 but if wholesale prices are 1c for 8 hours a day then base load generation needs to make up 8x9c = 72c over the other 16 hours. Now prices would hypothetically jump from 10c for those 16 hours to 14.5c for those 16 hours.

It should still be a net savings for the average consumer, but if your business model is based on cheap electricity at 10am to 4am that might flip to 10am to 4pm.

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