1 mo. ago • 97%

Australia struggling with oversupply of solar power

www.abc.net.au Australia struggling with oversupply of solar power

As Australia surges past a solar-powered milestone, questions turn to how much is too much, and can we hope to store it all?

Housing Bubble 2: Return of the Ugly @lemmy.world Rooftop solar panels to the rescue.

Technology @lemmy.world Australia struggling with oversupply of solar power

23 comments

Interesting how it's phrased as a bad thing. Article was probably sponsored by Big Coal.

37
- Whole of Australia is sponsored by coal
  
  26
  
  To be fair, WA by "natural" gas... /s
  
  5
- Unfortunately it is a problem that needs solving. Electricity needs to be used as it is produced and if its not, it will be a problem. Where i live, the de facto solution today is to heat the oceans. That's not a viable long term solution and why we urgently need to find a way to store energy!
  
  8
  
  While that is true for power plants with spinning turbines, it isn't true for solar power. There is no issue at all when you don't consume all the energy that a solar panel could produce.
  
  5
  
  Can solar panels not be turned off? I see panels that aren't plugged into anything and they don't exactly blow up. Can't they just be turned off when storage reaches a certain capacity?
  
  2
  
  Unfortunately it is a problem that needs solving.
  
  New V2G will help, take it up through the day,. some discharge at night.
  
  And this could be actioned
  
  https://thefifthestate.com.au/the-conversation/if-our-hot-water-heaters-ran-off-daytime-solar-we-would-slash-emissions-and-soak-up-cheap-energy/
  
  2
  
  There's solutions that are kinda okay. For example, hot climates molten salt battery farms are becoming viable, and a big one is now in Australia. We need more battery farms, preferably not made it of lithium or other heavy metals that overheat and blow up. Molten salt batteries don't explode and last a long time, but need to be several hundred degrees to work and are insulated to keep heat in. If they fail they just cool down. If the place shuts down and cools off then they just need to heat them back up and are back in business.
  
  Part of the solution to that is to use waste heat. If they incorporated them into existing power plants, factories, data centers, etc. then that waste heat is put to good use.
  
  2
  
  if it's* not
  
  1
This is a problem created by the suppliers who have kept jacking up prices. What else are people going to do? And the last few years they've upped the daily connection fee so you have to pay them regardless if you use energy or not.

Privatization was a huge mistake.. thanks LNP.

28
This seems like a good problem to have, no? Just need some batteries or some interruptible industrial processes to absorb the excess.

24
Isn't electricity in Australia still something like 40 cents a kilowatt hour?

Apparently not too much solar power to drop the prices a bit.

12
- Depends on the state. I don't think they vary by much though. In W.A. I paid 28.7 cents per kWh. Plus a daily supply charge of 102 cents per day.
  
  Have also had a few hundred dollarbucks worth of credits this year from the state government.
  
  1
That fucking doublespeak clickbait headline, straight out of goddamned Orwell.

11
Plug in more electrical devices!! Buy a wall powered vibrator!

10
I uh... I wouldn't mind if they sent some of that struggle to my country, I think I could bear it.

8
- Yes, I volunteer as tribute!
  
  3
get the government to stop fuckin spiders, put a hybrid system on every house, job fuckin done, (i know it's harder then that but is it really?)

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