Re:Solar and batteries to make up 81% of new 2024 U.S. elect...
by dmurray on Friday February 16, 2024 @05:43AM
(#39395349)
> Weirdly the news item doesn't tell what sort of energy storage capacity these battery installation have, only the peak power output of 14.3 GW for this year's addition.
As a rule of thumb, the capacity will be a few hours worth. So if the power rating is 14 GW, maybe that will be 60 GWh of capacity.
That's almost enough to smooth over the most regular fluctuations in solar power: the day-night cycle (especially when you remember that demand drops at night). Not close to being economical for storing power from summer through to winter.
A source [0]:
> The most common grid-scale battery solutions today are rated to provide either 2, 4, or 6 hours of electricity at their rated capacity
As a rule of thumb, the capacity will be a few hours worth. So if the power rating is 14 GW, maybe that will be 60 GWh of capacity.
That's almost enough to smooth over the most regular fluctuations in solar power: the day-night cycle (especially when you remember that demand drops at night). Not close to being economical for storing power from summer through to winter.
A source [0]: > The most common grid-scale battery solutions today are rated to provide either 2, 4, or 6 hours of electricity at their rated capacity
[0] https://www.energysage.com/business-solutions/utility-scale-...