While thermal and solar generation produced well, each above 80 percent of their installed capacities during the hot afternoon, wind generation dipped very low.

Brad Johnson w/ The Texan has more:

https://thetexan.news/texas-power-grid-withstands-mondays-concern-as-summer-heat-rose-and-wind-generation-waned/

If we had normal production instead of that wind, we wouldn't even be having these conversations.

Reported 2-19% of installed capacity of wind power during a peak demand day sound like really crappy reliability and a poor return on investment.

American Hardwood said:

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Reported 2-19% of installed capacity of wind power during a peak demand day sound like really crappy reliability and a poor return on investment.

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What catches the eye though is apparently solar for its part is becoming more successful. This is good news if true.

I have 45 solar panels on my roof. Not to be green but because I don't trust the government to tie its shoes.

titan said:

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American Hardwood said:

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Reported 2-19% of installed capacity of wind power during a peak demand day sound like really crappy reliability and a poor return on investment.

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What catches the eye though is apparently solar for its part is becoming more successful. This is good news if true.

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Solar is still relatively new. I'm waiting to see long term results and costs when replacement and maintenance get factored in. Also, not surprising that solar does well when the sun is shining and it's hot. Check back in with me in January.

Come to think of it, the one thing that should reliably work during a heat wave with blazing sunlight is...solar.

Maybe that is starting to be true.

American Hardwood said:

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titan said:

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American Hardwood said:

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Reported 2-19% of installed capacity of wind power during a peak demand day sound like really crappy reliability and a poor return on investment.

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What catches the eye though is apparently solar for its part is becoming more successful. This is good news if true.

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Solar is still relatively new. I'm waiting to see long term results and costs when replacement and maintenance get factored in. Also, not surprising that solar does well when the sun is shining and it's hot. Check back in with me in January.

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When the sun is shining and it's hot-but-not-as-hot-as-right-now?

Good thing that ****ing piece of **** scum abbott sold out the state to waste a **** ton of money on useless dog**** windmills…

lobopride said:

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I have 45 solar panels on my roof. Not to be green but because I don't trust the government to tie its shoes.

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Same here. We are on College Station utilities so it was a no-brainer. We also took advantage of federal tax credits to purchase them.

BigRobSA said:

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American Hardwood said:

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titan said:

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American Hardwood said:

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Reported 2-19% of installed capacity of wind power during a peak demand day sound like really crappy reliability and a poor return on investment.

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What catches the eye though is apparently solar for its part is becoming more successful. This is good news if true.

---

Solar is still relatively new. I'm waiting to see long term results and costs when replacement and maintenance get factored in. Also, not surprising that solar does well when the sun is shining and it's hot. Check back in with me in January.

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When the sun is shining and it's hot-but-not-as-hot-as-right-now?

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Does outside temperature have a major impact on solar power generation? Sunshine, obviously….

Are you happy with them? Electric bill down? Do tell…. Solar panels hidden on the roof is intriguing….

I am happy with mine. My wife runs a business out of the house so it made a lot of sense.

YouBet said:

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If we had normal production instead of that wind, we wouldn't even be having these conversations.

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I know of severql shuddered power plants here in East Texas.

ERCOT and utilities that can generate power need to start looking into Modular Nuclear with RMEL. I know we are looking at this at the utility where I work. NuScale Power is one of the company making the modular reactors.

BigRobSA said:

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American Hardwood said:

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titan said:

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American Hardwood said:

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Reported 2-19% of installed capacity of wind power during a peak demand day sound like really crappy reliability and a poor return on investment.

---

What catches the eye though is apparently solar for its part is becoming more successful. This is good news if true.

---

Solar is still relatively new. I'm waiting to see long term results and costs when replacement and maintenance get factored in. Also, not surprising that solar does well when the sun is shining and it's hot. Check back in with me in January.

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When the sun is shining and it's hot-but-not-as-hot-as-right-now?

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Good point.

And that's just the thing -- the idea that any ONE source has to do it all may be the error. Find a reliable source for those times when it is not shining, or cold, or otherwise unfavorable to solar. If we can get it to where solar easily handles the sunny times-- like BigRob says, that's the majority here.

If solar can take some of the burden off other sources, seems a good enough option.

We'll, I'm glad my backup generator is finally installed.

BurnetAggie99 said:

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ERCOT and utilities that can generate power need to start looking into Modular Nuclear with RMEL. I know we are looking at this at the utility where I work. NuScale Power is one of the company making the modular reactors.

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Not just modular: we need to be building multiple full scale plants for each major metro area. Grab a standardized and proven design and commission a dozen of em.

Get Off My Lawn said:

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BurnetAggie99 said:

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ERCOT and utilities that can generate power need to start looking into Modular Nuclear with RMEL. I know we are looking at this at the utility where I work. NuScale Power is one of the company making the modular reactors.

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Not just modular: we need to be building multiple full scale plants for each major metro area. Grab a standardized and proven design and commission a dozen of em.

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But alas, this would fix the problem.

For a multitude of reasons, no politicians actually want to fix it. It's infuriating.

it seems that diversification of our power grid might be a good idea.

Bottlerocket said:

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Are you happy with them? Electric bill down? Do tell…. Solar panels hidden on the roof is intriguing….

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Our electric bill was $75 last month.

Solar makes complete sense to me in our part of the world. It just becomes a cost/benefit equation on when the ROI makes sense for me. Up until now, it never did although I understand those numbers are getting more favorable. When it does, I'll look into it.

Wind is a total damn crapshoot unless you live in Corpus Christi. Coincidentally, they have a massive wind farm in Portland right outside Corpus. I would assume that one is one of the most productive wind farms in the country, but I have nothing to prove that other than Corpus being the windiest spot in the country.

YouBet said:

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Solar makes complete sense to me in our part of the world. It just becomes a cost/benefit equation on when the ROI makes sense for me. Up until now, it never did although I understand those numbers are getting more favorable. When it does, I'll look into it.

Wind is a total damn crapshoot unless you live in Corpus Christi. Coincidentally, they have a massive wind farm in Portland right outside Corpus. I would assume that one is one of the most productive wind farms in the country, but I have nothing to prove that other than Corpus being the windiest spot in the country.

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I live in Corpus Christi and drive by that wind farm frequently. You would be surprised at how often those mills aren't turning for whatever reason. A lot of times overnight and in the mornings the wind isn't blowing much or at all like you would think. It picks up as the day goes on. But that also correlates with an increase in demand too so maybe it is a wash.

When we get stuck in a high pressure bubble (and it happens just about every summer) it generally means a lot of heat, no rain... AND very little wind!

Good thing we're relying on Windmills for our peak electoral load!

Just wait until all those Texas made Tesla's hit the street.

Solar panels deteriorate over time due to UV light and they also do not like hail. Long term cost of solar panels is not being properly factored. If it were not for the tax credits people would not put them in.

lobopride said:

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I have 45 solar panels on my roof. Not to be green but because I don't trust the government to tie its shoes.

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But you trust mother nature to always provide sunlight when you need it.

Houstonag said:

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Solar panels deteriorate over time due to UV light and they also do not like hail. Long term cost of solar panels is not being properly factored. If it were not for the tax credits people would not put them in.

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Precisely. The systems might be all well and good when they are brand new, but over time, they are going to need maintenance and replacement. They aren't cheap and I want to see life cycle costs. Cheap monthly bills may not be all that great if you have a few thousand dollars worth of maintenance every few years.

Not to mention the damage a poor installation can do to a roof, which I hear is a problem. Which brings up another question, what do you do when you have to re-roof? Who removes the solar panels? How do insurance companies deal with these, especially in windstorm areas?

Haha, no I have a dual fuel generator too.

Smart man.

lobopride said:

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I have 45 solar panels on my roof. Not to be green but because I don't trust the government to tie its shoes.

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But you will gladly decorate your home with government subsidized PV panels.

American Hardwood said:

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Houstonag said:

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Solar panels deteriorate over time due to UV light and they also do not like hail. Long term cost of solar panels is not being properly factored. If it were not for the tax credits people would not put them in.

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Precisely. The systems might be all well and good when they are brand new, but over time, they are going to need maintenance and replacement. They aren't cheap and I want to see life cycle costs. Cheap monthly bills may not be all that great if you have a few thousand dollars worth of maintenance every few years.

Not to mention the damage a poor installation can do to a roof, which I hear is a problem. Which brings up another question, what do you do when you have to re-roof? Who removes the solar panels? How do insurance companies deal with these, especially in windstorm areas?

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We had to get a new roof after all the hail last spring. The solar panels are only on the sides and back of our house but our insurance covered the cost of SunPro coming to remove and then reinstall the panels after the work was done. The panels are not permanently installed. If we ever decided to move (which we don't plan on doing), we can take the panels with us to install on the next house.

Another thing, though...we got the panels a few years back and saw savings but not as much as we could because of the City of CS's metering policies. They would buy our surplus at the wholesale rate during the day but then at night, we would have to buy it back at retail instead of a net-metering system. For that reason, we bought a pair of batteries and have seen much greater utility savings (not to mention we never lost power during the winter weather event of 2021).

Quote:

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For that reason, we bought a pair of batteries and have seen much greater utility savings (not to mention we never lost power during the winter weather event of 2021).

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Your solar company that set you up needs to make a commercial out of that. That's the kind of thing that does persuade.

Not sure I'm up for a full array yet, but I'm very intrigued by a home backup battery that can be charged slowly over time by a couple of mobile panels.

As the price of them continues to drop though, it just makes so much sense in our part of the world.

Yes. Not sure I see your point.