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Old 05-23-2018, 04:38 PM   #1836 (permalink)
aerohead
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two weeks/night

Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5 View Post
Doesn't impress me much. Dealing with a cloud transit is child's play compared to weeks of overcast, not to mention just dealing with night. No mention of cost, either. I can accomplish anything if you give me enough money.

Battery systems are probably necessary to buffer up to a couple minutes of erratic power supply / demand, but it's no good for providing hours of power.
Yeah,that'd be the test alright!
I suppose that the premise of the program was just a technology demonstration ,that the technology existed,in which a solar PV sun-related power interruption didn't necessarily mean a grid interruption.
Once they single out the best-fit storage technology,then it's a matter of 'scale.'
Since the 1970s, in Israel,they've used solar ponds for thermal storage.Heat- exchangers submerged within the ponds flash off super-heated working fluid which powers nearby turbo-generators day and night,for 24-hour electrical production.
A college chum worked for Texas Utilities (now TXU).Even the conventional,fossil-fuel-fired power plants had to undergo annual shutdowns for maintenance.
Perhaps Australia ought not put all its eggs in one basket,but disperse it generating capacity geographically,so as not to be completely in 'shade' at least during the day.
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