CobyRupert
Super Member
^ NorTracNY, This hits on important issues.
IMHO, part of the fix is capitalism. Using "the market".
Right now, I pay the utility (say) $0.15/kw-hr, no matter if it's day or night, sun up or behind a cloud, wind/no wind, or whether I'm using 1kw over 1000 hours, or 1,000kw for 1 hour.
It's an "averaged" cost. It is NOT dependent on the available supply or the public's demand. Say that again slowly. And think about it. Has a "market" like that ever worked anywhere else?
Presently, we don't have real capitalism when it comes to buying/selling power from utility and not just because they're a regulated monopoly. This has never mattered much before when the fuel supply (gas, coal, oil, etc... ) for electrical power doesn't vary hour to hour, minute to minute like it does with solar and wind.
IMHO, the market can help grid instability. Just like when the price that large scale wind farms get for their electricity produced can sometimes go NEGATIVE.
This would require smart meters (maybe even connected to apps on your smart phone, or your "smart" dishwasher, clothes dryer, etc... that only turns on when the price point is hit, etc..).
And it would take people attuned to the market, and their electrical usage.
And if people had a way to store the solar energy, so they could buy/sell it according to the REAL (supply/demand) market, and speculate with it, I think the grid would be more stable.
(The last one is a BIG "if". Some people speculate electric cars may someday provided more of a dual-use transportation/storage function.)
:2cents:
IMHO, part of the fix is capitalism. Using "the market".
Right now, I pay the utility (say) $0.15/kw-hr, no matter if it's day or night, sun up or behind a cloud, wind/no wind, or whether I'm using 1kw over 1000 hours, or 1,000kw for 1 hour.
It's an "averaged" cost. It is NOT dependent on the available supply or the public's demand. Say that again slowly. And think about it. Has a "market" like that ever worked anywhere else?
Presently, we don't have real capitalism when it comes to buying/selling power from utility and not just because they're a regulated monopoly. This has never mattered much before when the fuel supply (gas, coal, oil, etc... ) for electrical power doesn't vary hour to hour, minute to minute like it does with solar and wind.
IMHO, the market can help grid instability. Just like when the price that large scale wind farms get for their electricity produced can sometimes go NEGATIVE.
This would require smart meters (maybe even connected to apps on your smart phone, or your "smart" dishwasher, clothes dryer, etc... that only turns on when the price point is hit, etc..).
And it would take people attuned to the market, and their electrical usage.
And if people had a way to store the solar energy, so they could buy/sell it according to the REAL (supply/demand) market, and speculate with it, I think the grid would be more stable.
(The last one is a BIG "if". Some people speculate electric cars may someday provided more of a dual-use transportation/storage function.)
:2cents:
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