[RE-wrenches] Fwd: kW/MW v. kWh/MWh

[William Dorsett]

Julie Haugh writes:

"This is part of why there's all the fuss about why renewables are bad
for the electric grid.  It's also why, IMHO, battery backed renewables
need to be considered more in the future -- so the regulation
requirements can be met with the RE systems themselves."

I think east-west tracking can do very much for filling the early morning/late afternoon voids that fixed PV leave in many utility peaks...with much greater reliability than chemical storage or perhaps flywheels. With ~25% fewer modules but giving 200%-300% more peak load power, these spread the power into higher value TOD pricing times. A good graphic is one at:http://www.pvtrackers.com/compare.html. These will not fill the full void, but will greatly reduce the investment needed in battery or other systems to do so.
 
What you lose is the cooling that at least roof rack mounting provides to the building underneath. This can be a reduction of 30% on the air conditioning load in retrofits, but in new construction, a well insulated and reflective roof will do this anyway.

Bill Dorsett 
SunwrightS
1715 Leavenworth
Manhattan, KS 66502
Home/Office 785/539=1956
Cell 785/564-2583
wmdorsett at sbcglobal.net


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