Quote:
Originally Posted by Azure
I think solar is great, but given how slow the efficiency of the panels is improving, one does wonder how cost effective it really is.
Maybe to replace peaker plants on a small scale, etc....but large scale power production? I dunno.
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https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=42915
It might work OK for some parts of the southern US when peak energy use is around early to mid afternoon, through you'd probably be relying a bit on batteries to get you throguh the following 2 hours. Looking at northern US the peak is so late in the day you would have to store that power for a few hours. But designing an electricity system this way, with solar handling your peak, is a recipe for disaster if clouds roll in. You'd still need contingency for that, like, uh, a real peaker pant.
Really anything you do with solar has to be supplemental to reliable baseload that you can dial down if solar is working well at that particular moment.