"California is poised to reduce payments to homes and businesses that go solar for clean electricity they supply to the power grid — a landmark shift in how the state promotes a crucial technology for fighting climate change."
The dirty little secret of solar and wind power is that neither is very consistent. Utility companies have to have standby power for darkness, very cloudy days, and low winds. I remember Southern California days with no wind and great heat: you know when people in the San Fernando Valley MUST turn on A/C.
What is the reliable backup power? Coal, oil, hydro (what about the fish), nuclear (you want three eyed fish and glowing babies?). Renewable energy often increases energy costs because they still need backup power while paying exorbitant rates to buy power from net solar power producers. And I have not even reached the problem of the unrecyclable PV panels I discussed a few weeks ago.
I have a 9.99kw solar system on my roof, and a middling sided battery that powers a few crucial circuits overnight or when the grid goes down.
ReplyDeleteThis is in Colorado where we get a LOT of sun.
The battery would be enough to power the house all night if it was set to drain all the way, but it stops about 1/2 way and starts drawing from the grid so that if something happens before the sun is up there will still be some power left.
I think that in most of California it makes sense for the government to subsidize systems like this as this can take the pressure off the grid during late afternoon and early evening hours.
Understand this isn't about having big fields of solar panels, it's about throwing a bunch of them on roofs. This decentralizes power so that in the event that the grid goes down there's still *some* juice to run essentials, AND takes the top off the peaks.
Of course it would be part of a rational "multi-mode" energy system of nuclear, natural gas, solar, and diesel/gasoline (with a good nuclear system we might be able to make bio-fuels price competitive).
California won't do that because they're not interested in doing right by the peasants, just controlling them.