| ▲ | p1mrx 3 days ago | |
> It's going to happen anyway for at least a large portion of every day simply because it's cheaper. That's precisely why a 24/7 goal matters. Energy is already cheap and clean for a large portion of the day, but covering the rest of the day will require significant investment. | ||
| ▲ | colechristensen 3 days ago | parent [-] | |
The reason electricity is cheap at night is that non-variable sources have fixed cost and the capacity is going wasted when unused. Solar having the daily peak is going to invert this so nighttime electricity is going to get considerably more expensive. Solar maximum is going to be the cheapest electricity of the day. There are a few residential utilities in Australia which give users free electricity for 3 hours a day to encourage users to divert their usage to that period. Widespread solar deployment significantly changes the electricity market. Further deployment is going to push fossil plants to charge higher rates when they're needed to the point where supply outstrips demand and it becomes cheaper to shut down a plant which will further increase overnight prices. | ||