Solar’s Winter Dilemma: Are Home Batteries Enough?
How much energy storage would we need to meet demand every hour of every day with 100% renewable electricity?
Last year, I generated 4800 kWh of electricity from solar panels, the exact amount that I consumed. Is it fair to say that 100% of my energy is solar? Officially the answer is “yes”, thanks to Renewable Energy Credits and net metering provisions. Functionally, it’s a little more complicated.
My house doesn’t have energy storage capabilities, so electricity must be used as it’s produced. I think of net metering as a loan program. When the sun is out, I put energy into the grid. At night, when there’s less demand and fossil fuels make up most of the power supply, I’ll gradually take that electricity back to keep my fridge running. Although I’m tapping into a grid that uses both solar and fossil fuels for power, I have traded the solar I produced during high demand for coal energy I need when demand is low.
In a grid completely sourced from renewables, there’s no one for me to trade with. At times, even meeting demand becomes a challenge because wind and solar are not ‘dispatchable’. Dispatchability refers to a source’s potential to adjust. While all energy sources can technically be ramped at least a little, functionally, natural…
