The systems can get extremely large.
UPS = United Parcel Service
UPS = Uninterruptible Power Supply
Fairbanks UPS batteries
Cheers..
Posted on 04/18/2015 7:10:33 AM PDT by ckilmer
This article sounds like someone who is TRYING to sway everyone in the direction that this is currently happening.
In my opinion... IT'S NOT.
My mistake. That is a 100KW capable, powered to 80KW.
and enough run-time to make me tired just looking at it.
as with most fluff articles.. no hard numbers.
Its easy to say x cost y with wind and make it look good if you take installed CAPACITY / COST
The problem is that well... CAPACITY / COST = LIE
GENERATION / COST = TRUE COST
Example
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_Texas
Texas has 12355 MW-Capacity so at max cap = 148260 (2013) per year (Cap x 12 months)
actual generation 35874 (2013)
meaning that the Generation is 112386 MW per year Less than Capacity.
if my math is correct that means a Capacity is 3.13x generation.
and is not scalable nor on demand.
Soon we will only be able to see
“O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties,
above the fruited plain “
in a CGI movie.
Isn’t it in reality solar/natural gas power?
“I saw an idea once where the solar plant pumps water into a reservoir during the day and produces electricity at night with hydro.”
I’ve seen that discussed as well, and of course in theory it would work, but I don’t know that it’s practical. It would take a lot of water and some big reservoirs.
I believe that is called gravity storage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Coulee_Dam#Power
the Grand Coulee dam is a good example of that system.
(really all dams are but GC is in part a active vs solely passive system)
My cat sits for hours in the window and never seems to get any more energetic as a result.
Depends a lot on geography. In the upstate region of the Carolinas, they use excess juice from their nukes to pump water up into reservoirs in the Appalachian foothills; during the day they release that water to spin turbines to help handle peak demand.
As regards solar and wind, I seriously doubt they’re economical enough to have any more than limited value in isolated areas - they can augment traditional methods, but in most cases any major solar or wind operation will need traditional back-up (nowadays gas-fired turbines, I believe): the grid doesn’t tolerate interruptions real well, and any sudden occurrence of overcast or calm on a segment heavy reliant on solar and/or wind is an invitation for a major grid crash.
And with increased building of solar and wind, free flying birds and bats will become a thing of the past, seen only at the local zoo, next to the honey bee exhibit.
If I can get on the internet to see the radar, and on the ham radio to work with the net, I'm a pretty happy camper. I don't deliver millions of packages a day.
/johnny
What's powering those ovens?
just wondering ...
O2
Sounds like the regulators have finally succeeded in making coal too expensive to be practical.
Fairbanks UPS batteries
Cheers..
I thought the issue wasn’t creating solar and wind energy but storing it and or deliivering it any real distance?
You guys can keep the monster battery rooms. If it takes more than one pickup truck to carry it, I dang sure don't need it here at the house.
/johnny
The last part of your phrase is absolutely crucial for stability on the modern grid. Generating assets have to be dispatchable, and wind and solar are not. You either have them or you don't. And demand-side management isn't going to cut it in a large, geographically dispersed, modern industrialized country like the US and others.
Keeping the modern electric grid running reliably and stable over an incredibly dynamic range of loads and generating sources is an amazingly complex and sophisticated process. It is a true miracle of state-of-the-art technology that few understand and even fewer appreciate. It delivers a vital product to almost everyone who wants and needs it, literally at the flip of a switch. And when large numbers of people are forced to do without it for very long, even as short as a day, it makes headlines across the country.
In your case I would have a panel with 4 connected. They can last for days without charge. They are heavy.
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