Turn the sun off!!!

[P-hack]

Except that your EV is going to be plugged in overnight, when the sun isn't shining, adding to the deviations, not typically smoothing out peak solar generation.

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by Cobb

Funny you should mention that. It wasnt long ago when the leaf came out that there were articles about how evs could be used as banks to even out electrical load and how your ev could pay for itself by connecting it to the grid when not being driven.

I believe this was a barmy plan cooked up by the EU to try and regain grid stability, another is smart meters which (allegedly) have the option of allowing "demand" control - i.e. just shutting off consumers when the grid gets too tight, or businesses can volunteer - best wishes for that idea

[CFECO]

I few summers ago, Tucson had some "Brownouts" due to a major power line being shut down due to a wildfire. In order to lessen the possibility of that happening again, the Power Company was going to instal some gas turbine on demand generators, at a large substation near where I live, but a local "Homeowners Association" raised so much stink, the Power Company canceled the plan. I hope the next time the Brownouts have to happen, "That" community gets the Brown. Maybe they could plug in all their Prius's and keep their TV's on.

[Arragonis]

Where would the gas have come from ?

[CFECO]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

Where would the gas have come from ?

An El Paso Natural Gas pumping station located right next to the TUcson Electric Power substation. The NIMBYS in the subdivision, a couple of miles away, complained of the noise and air pollution which would affect them, yet they did not even know that there are gas turbine generators at a site where an old oil fired power plant used to be located.

[Cobb]

VA Power has built a lot of those on demand gas turbine power stations around here too. Ironically they seem to fire up on a lot of major holidays like new years eve, thanks giving, july 4 as well as when the temps sore over 100 and close to zero degrees. Use to be about 5 pm the lights blinked or dimmed when they switched it on.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

...smart meters which (allegedly) have the option of allowing "demand" control - i.e. just shutting off consumers when the grid gets too tight, or businesses can volunteer - best wishes for that idea

So what is so "barmy" about that? It's called load-shedding, and has been done for decades with industrial-scale customers. As for instance water pumps, either for irrigation or into storage tanks: a few hours delay doesn't really matter, so you let the utility shut them down when demand is high, then run later with cheaper electricity.

[Cobb]

When I lived in hampton we had 2 programs. 1 where they controlled the water heater and another that controlled the ac. They say just turning it off for 15 minutes an hour helped demand and gave us a credit on our bill.

In Richmond they have a program for the AC only. Now we could go to the digital meter where we are metered on peak and non peak rates, but the unpeak hours is like 11 to 4 am. Kind of late to wash cloths, dishes, bathe and other power hungry activities.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Cobb

...but the unpeak hours is like 11 to 4 am. Kind of late to wash cloths, dishes, bathe and other power hungry activities.

Pretty easy to put timers on dishwashers & washing machines. As for bath/shower, some of us go to bed late and shower before. Then the hot water re-heats, and is ready for the morning.

[gone-ot]

An "On-Demand" water heater system heats the water only as it's needed. It isn't cheap to buy & install but it only consumes power when called for...the water isn't being continuously "held" at a high constant temperature.