Pretty sure it’s below freezing in space and we power the ISS with PV.
Well, considering that ERCOT and MISO both just set all time records for wind production over the last week and ERCOT set solar records just earlier today [per gridstatus’ record tracker page](https://www.gridstatus.io/records) I wouldn’t be too worried about it. Snowbird days, where there’s plenty of solar radiation but panels stay nice and cool, are actually perfect for solar and when it’ll perform at its best.
Winterizing turbines is something developers need to be required to do but once the winterization package is done it’s pretty fine.
I hate articles like this.
I will only address solar. Solar is actually better in the cold. The problem is snow and ice (usually 3-5% loss). Clean solar panels with reflection from snow can put out well over rated capacity.
Per the University of Texas report on Winter Storm Uri:”As the extreme cold weather settled over the entire state, the outages increased. From noon on February 14 to noon on February 15, [the offline renewable capacity increased from 15,100 MW to 19,400 MW (+4,300 MW) and the total outages of thermal generators increased from 13,700 MW to 31,100 MW (+17,400)](https://energy.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/UTAustin%20%282021%29%20EventsFebruary2021TexasBlackout%2020210714.pdf)”
Dark secret that the gas people don’t want you to know is that if a gas distribution system loses pressure it could be weeks to months before people get back online.
The events of this current storm cycle and other winter storms need to still be analyzed, but the data so far shows that gas is getting less, not more, reliable. I’m not against gas, but this idea that it is a magic “firm, dispatchable source” is disingenuous at best.
We need a diverse system, including gas, to balance the risk.
Maryland didn’t require Brandon Shores to keep operating, PJM did.
I mean, there’s over 70GW of renewables being connected to PJM in the next 2-3 years. Maybe it’s time to incentivize batteries instead of solar?
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Pretty sure it’s below freezing in space and we power the ISS with PV.
Well, considering that ERCOT and MISO both just set all time records for wind production over the last week and ERCOT set solar records just earlier today [per gridstatus’ record tracker page](https://www.gridstatus.io/records) I wouldn’t be too worried about it. Snowbird days, where there’s plenty of solar radiation but panels stay nice and cool, are actually perfect for solar and when it’ll perform at its best.
Winterizing turbines is something developers need to be required to do but once the winterization package is done it’s pretty fine.
I hate articles like this.
I will only address solar. Solar is actually better in the cold. The problem is snow and ice (usually 3-5% loss). Clean solar panels with reflection from snow can put out well over rated capacity.
https://techlifetoday.nait.ca/articles/2018/solar-shines-in-dead-of-winter-even-in-edmonton
Per the University of Texas report on Winter Storm Uri:”As the extreme cold weather settled over the entire state, the outages increased. From noon on February 14 to noon on February 15, [the offline renewable capacity increased from 15,100 MW to 19,400 MW (+4,300 MW) and the total outages of thermal generators increased from 13,700 MW to 31,100 MW (+17,400)](https://energy.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/UTAustin%20%282021%29%20EventsFebruary2021TexasBlackout%2020210714.pdf)”
Which is nothing compared to the [90 GW of “firm” gas generation that Winter Storm Elliot tripped offline](https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/2024-01/Gas%20Malfunction_brief_1.8.pdf).
Right now ERCOT has [5GW of gas generation in an unplanned outage](https://www.gridstatus.io/live/ercot).
Dark secret that the gas people don’t want you to know is that if a gas distribution system loses pressure it could be weeks to months before people get back online.
The events of this current storm cycle and other winter storms need to still be analyzed, but the data so far shows that gas is getting less, not more, reliable. I’m not against gas, but this idea that it is a magic “firm, dispatchable source” is disingenuous at best.
We need a diverse system, including gas, to balance the risk.
Maryland didn’t require Brandon Shores to keep operating, PJM did.
I mean, there’s over 70GW of renewables being connected to PJM in the next 2-3 years. Maybe it’s time to incentivize batteries instead of solar?