On Apr 24, 4:21*pm, wrote:
On Sat, 23 Apr 2011 23:48:13 -0700 (PDT), harry
wrote:

On Apr 24, 2:17*am, "
wrote:

Whats the differnence beween 3Kw into the system and 3Kw out? Both
pose exactly the same control problems.

You really are clueless. *The sun is pretty well synchronized across a wide
area. *Loads aren't.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

So? *That means the input can be predicted so simplifying the problem.

The real problem with solar or wind being a significant part of the
grid is that you still need virtually 100% of the generating capacity
available to kick in at a moment's notice unless you are willing to
tolerate brownouts and blackouts when a cloud comes over or the wind
stops.

In fact if you watch wind turbines for any length of time you will see
them feathering the turbines to handle load variations while the
fossil plants continue to run.

You are also going to have your whole grid running at the mercy of the
maintenance habits of thousands of homeowners. I wonder what the
reliability rate will be in the out years. You can hate the evil
utility all you like but they do have better maintenance regimens than
the average homeowner and they are better equipped to recover from a
natural disaster.

All this is true. But its renewables or nuclear in the future. (And
nuclear is set back ten years at least after Fukushima) But most of
all it's got to be efficient use of energy. The USA is a long way
behind in that.