anarchiddy

Who let Tim Pool in here

I agree though, fuck private providers

If it was a public utility i'd feel very differently.

Yep, I agree

Every politician will eat shit when they have something that they want

"Rubio apologizes for ‘below the belt’ remarks about Trump’s appearance"

It's been assumed that whoever the democratic nominee is will win since Adams is extremely unpopular and so is the republican party in NY generally

Of course Cuomo running independent complicates it, and the democratic party not enthusiastically endorsing Mamdani certainly doesnt help. Then again, the party had a 30% approval rating last i checked, so maybe that actually helps....

But he's the most popular debut candidate since AOC, so he still has a very good chance.

From the pov of the utility, sure. But in terms of absolute energy use it's possibly the only way to account for that fluctuation.

This is why this debate is so frustrating - producing energy from solar is of huge benefit, but instead of talking about how best to put that production to use, we're talking about the problem it creates for utilities who don't want to adapt to the distributed production.

Essentially, yea. That, and reduced demand from people setting their thermostats to relax their cooling temps while they're away from home. We should honestly be grateful that we're able to produce so much more energy from solar than what we need for active cooling. It's a good problem to have.

I'm not really saying that the curve itself is changing (sorry, I was really not clear), only that those other variables reduce actual energy demand later in the day because of the efficiency gains and thermal banking that happens during the peak energy production. The overproduction during max solar hours is still a problem. Even if the utility doesn't have a way of banking the extra supply, individual customers can do it themselves at a smaller scale, even if just by over-cooling their homes to reduce their demand after sundown.

Overall, the problem of the duck curve isn't as much about maxing out the grid, it's about the utility not having instantaneous power availability when the sun suddenly goes down. For people like me who work from home and have the flexibility to keep my home cool enough to need less cooling in the evening, having solar power means I can take advantage of that free energy and bank it to reduce my demand in the evening.

I get what you were saying now, but having solar would absolutely reduce my demand during peak hours.

I don't know how to answer that question.

For the same reason we want to subsidize solar production in residential construction even though it's more efficient and cost-productive to do it at-scale. Having energy production and storage at the point of use reduces strain on power infrastructure and helps alleviate the types of load surging ayyy is talking about.

It's not a replacement for modernizing our power grids, too - it simply helps to make them more resilient.

Ok now go just one step further and ask yourself what variables factor into this.

There's a reason that pattern exists, and it isn't because solar and cooling hours don't align.

This curve has changed somewhat since this study in 2016. More efficient home insulation, remote working, and energy-efficient cooling systems have large impact in this pattern. But assuming you have a well-insulated home, setting your thermostat to maintain a consistent temperature throughout the day will shift this peak earlier and lower the peak load at sunset, when many people are returning home. More efficient heat pumps with variable pressure capabilities also helps this a lot, too.

Given just how many variables are involved, it's better to assume peak cooling load to be mid-day and work toward equalizing that curve, rather than reacting to transient patterns that are subject to changes in customer behavior. Solar installations are just one aspect of this mitigation strategy, along with energy storage, energy-efficient cooling systems, and more efficient insulation and solar heat gain mitigation strategies.

If we're discussing infrastructure improvements we might as well discuss home efficiency improvements as well.