Solar wasted watts/volts

Harvey51 wrote:
Anyone got an explanation for what Ontario Hydro does when it’s heavily subsidized solar panels produce too much power? They give it to their good neighbours in the northern states, and sometimes pay those power companies to take it. I suspect it is due to deals made by politicians that require the utility to buy all the solar power available at prices 5 to 10 times the cost of other power sources. Electricity behaves logically but politics often doesn’t.

Pretty darn close for a guess. I forget the name of the act down here in the States but it basically states that anyone who wants to put generation on the grid cannot be denied from doing so. This, coupled with the tax credits/subsidies, winds up placing large surpluses of energy on the grid at times when wind blows and sun shines.

Because they are getting a tax credit, if you tell them to shut off their solar/wind, they tell you to stuff it, because they're getting paid $38/MWh for the energy they're producing, even though nobody needs it. So then they sell the energy for near-zero or even negative prices and still make money.

This places the burden on other generation facilities (mainly thermal) to "regulate" the grid, which is basically balancing load and supply. In return, they can purchase this surplus energy for a fraction of what it costs them to generate and save their customers money. An added benefit is that they don't have to burn coal/gas to do it which reduces emissions and also reduces chemical costs, etc.

We do this in our fleet on a daily basis. It all falls under the umbrella of what is called an "Energy Imbalance Market" or EIM. The more people you have participating, the more money there is to be "made". "Made" is in quotes because for a regulated utility, you don't "make" any money. You are really saving money, and these savings are passed back to the customer in the form of lower net power costs.

In a sense, it's win-win, unless you're the American taxpayer that's paying for the subsidies.