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Rooftop solar panels are flooding California’s grid. That’s a problem. As electricity prices go negative, the Golden State is struggling to offload a glut of solar power (wapo.st)

submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'll note that right now, this is a seasonal issue, associated with moderate springtime temperatures when there is a lot of sunshine available.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Selling the power to other regions is alright, but what I'd really like to see is pumped storage. Even just two grey water reservoirs- massive, probably underground. "Spend" all that free electricity during the solar day. Release that energy as hydropower during the mornings and evenings to reduce surge pricing and demand on the grid. Sell additional power as needed, but don't let solar go to waste.

Batteries are...okay... but lithium ion cells will last 10 or 15 years before needing to be replaced, which seems wasteful when we have perfectly reusable options like pumped storage, which involves a few pumps, a hydroelectric turbine, and two cement or dirt reservoirs, one higher than the other.

I'm sure whatever we do, it will fix itself in time. I just hope CA doesn't permanently cut incentives over this "problem", haha.

[–] tomalley8342 9 points 7 months ago

A few pumps, a hydroelectric turbine, and two reservoirs 30 to 530 times larger than an equivalent lithium ion battery storage site, according to the energy densities listed here: https://cleanenergywiki.org/index.php?title=Storage_Basics