My question:
why does california sell surplus solar energy to neighboring utilities at a loss? Why don't they just open the solar farm's circuit? That would be cheaper than paying neighboring utilities to give away the energy
I chose its "professional tone" and "long" answer. All underlining and emphasis is mine.
The reply:
California's approach to managing surplus solar energy is a complex issue that involves various economic, technical, and regulatory factors. The state often generates more solar energy than it can consume, especially during peak production hours. This overproduction can lead to what is known as the "duck curve," where the supply of solar energy exceeds demand during certain times of the day. To manage this, California exports excess electricity to neighboring states, sometimes at a loss, due to the lack of sufficient energy storage capacity and the challenges associated with rapidly shutting down and restarting solar farms.
Opening the circuit of a solar farm is not a trivial matter; it involves more than just flipping a switch. Solar farms are integrated into the power grid with considerations for grid stability and energy continuity. Abruptly disconnecting a solar farm can cause voltage fluctuations and reliability issues within the grid. Moreover, the infrastructure for storing excess energy is still catching up with the production capabilities. The state has been investing in battery storage technology to store excess energy, but the current capacity is not enough to handle the surplus generated on the sunniest days.
Financial incentives for solar energy production have also been reduced in an attempt to slow the rate of new solar installations, which contributes to the surplus. However, this is a short-term solution to a long-term problem. The ideal solution would involve enhancing the energy storage infrastructure, improving grid management technologies, and possibly reforming energy market policies to create more flexible and efficient ways to handle surplus energy.
California's experience serves as a case study for other regions increasing their renewable energy capacity. It highlights the need for advancements in energy storage and grid management to fully harness the potential of renewable energy sources. As the technology and infrastructure improve, it is expected that the management of surplus energy will become more efficient, reducing the need to sell excess at a loss or curtail production.
A previous medium length answer said also that there are state incentives for increased renewable energy production or something like that. To me, that implies that maybe the state incentive is larger at times than what they have to pay the other utility to take the energy. Dunno, more questions than answers as always.
I can't figure out how to ask this version of Copilot follow up questions. It used to be easy to do.
I think they can hook up groups of solar panels so that they can bring on or take off a few MW's at a time, and so as not to have to suddenly dump hundreds of MW's in an instant.
I'm going to post this now, but I'll be trying to ask follow up questions one way or another.
= new reply since forum marked as read