nwdriver,
I agree that some energy can be used as it's available but it still requires some type of storage system. The electric car uses the batteries in the car to store the energy and those batteries are still expensive. I still see the main problem is the difference between summer and winter output. Even in the largest solar plants in the desert where you get very little cloud cover the difference is about twice as much output for the maximum month versus the minimum month. If you generate most of your solar in these areas then it will require additional transmission systems. My system on a monthly basis generated 8 times more in the maximum month than the minimum month. On a daily bases it was 63 times more on the max day versus the minimum day. I would expect that most residential systems will be closer to my output than the large scale plants.
Germany has really pushed solar and wind. Their minimum and maximum outputs for Solar and Wind plus Solar for 2013 were as follows: Monthly solar output was 14.6 times higher in the maximum month versus the minimum month. On a weekly basis it was 33 times higher and on a daily basis it was 100 times higher. Wind helps a lot and the combined output of wind and solar was 2.1 times higher in the maximum month versus the minimum month. On a weekly basis it was 3.95 times and on a daily basis it was 26 times. Currently the the systems for storing electricity are very expensive. Having smart systems will help. I just ordered a timer for charging my NEV at night when my electric rate is lower. This could also be done for my water heater. However, my heating, air conditioning and other appliances are a bit harder to run only when cheap power is available. Even at this time of year I have some days when I use more energy than my solar system produces. During the winter I had some days where my system produced almost nothing.
I agree that some energy can be used as it's available but it still requires some type of storage system. The electric car uses the batteries in the car to store the energy and those batteries are still expensive. I still see the main problem is the difference between summer and winter output. Even in the largest solar plants in the desert where you get very little cloud cover the difference is about twice as much output for the maximum month versus the minimum month. If you generate most of your solar in these areas then it will require additional transmission systems. My system on a monthly basis generated 8 times more in the maximum month than the minimum month. On a daily bases it was 63 times more on the max day versus the minimum day. I would expect that most residential systems will be closer to my output than the large scale plants.
Germany has really pushed solar and wind. Their minimum and maximum outputs for Solar and Wind plus Solar for 2013 were as follows: Monthly solar output was 14.6 times higher in the maximum month versus the minimum month. On a weekly basis it was 33 times higher and on a daily basis it was 100 times higher. Wind helps a lot and the combined output of wind and solar was 2.1 times higher in the maximum month versus the minimum month. On a weekly basis it was 3.95 times and on a daily basis it was 26 times. Currently the the systems for storing electricity are very expensive. Having smart systems will help. I just ordered a timer for charging my NEV at night when my electric rate is lower. This could also be done for my water heater. However, my heating, air conditioning and other appliances are a bit harder to run only when cheap power is available. Even at this time of year I have some days when I use more energy than my solar system produces. During the winter I had some days where my system produced almost nothing.
