In a First, Solar Was Europe's Biggest Source of Power Last Month

Re:In a First, Solar Was Europe's Biggest Source of Power La... by Animats on Saturday July 12, 2025 @01:29AM (#44539560)

Here's the CAISO wind graph. This is the total wind energy from four large states. Note that the low point is 1/7 that of the peak, which is around noon.[1] Here's the PJM wind graph.[2] Low point is about 1/4 the peak, again, around local noon.

It just doesn't "average out" across even a sizable country.

[1] https://www.caiso.com/todays-outlook/supply

[2] https://dataviewer.pjm.com/dataviewer/pages/public/wind.jsf

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Re:In a First, Solar Was Europe's Biggest Source of Power La... by ceejayoz on Saturday July 12, 2025 @09:31AM (#44541936)

Now click the demand view.

It goes dramatically up and down on a daily pattern, too.

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Re:In a First, Solar Was Europe's Biggest Source of Power La... by Animats on Sunday July 13, 2025 @11:28PM (#44556181)

The demand curve and the wind curve are not synchronized in any way. Solar at least peaks with peak air conditioning load.

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Re:In a First, Solar Was Europe's Biggest Source of Power La... by ceejayoz on Monday July 14, 2025 @09:47AM (#44560217)

If only we could store some energy for a while!

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