For many, this summer has been long and hot – very hot. And those high temperatures did more than disrupt summer holidayss. Extreme heat is pushing many people to install air conditioning in places that never needed it before, like the Pacific Northwest and northern states, including Idaho and Montana. This added strain on the grid has caused blackouts and blackouts.
In Texas alone, residents have experienced record high temperatures this summer, with local meteorologists reporting daily high temperatures of over 100 degrees for several weeks in a row. As a result, the Lone Star State was asked to reduce its electricity consumption to avoid grid outages. This kind of request is not new to Californians who have dealt public security power closures (PSPS) for years.
Having reliable power when extreme weather conditions strike is no longer just a matter of convenience. It can have a major effect on your life, from disrupting your work from home to draining your bank account. So, it’s worth asking: when the grid is so overloaded, could distributed resources like solar power help the grid become more reliable?
The rise of renewable energies
The transition to renewable energies is well under way. Wind and solar provided a record 10% of global electricity production in 2021. In the USA, renewable energies have contributed about 20% of total electricity last year, according to the Energy Information Administration.
But we still have work to do. While global energy consumption has declined during the pandemic, energy consumption has more than rebounded, rising 5.5% in 2021, the biggest jump since the 1970s. All of this growth is good news for the economy, but a challenge for the network infrastructure.
Rooftop solar power helps the grid keep running
House solar systems can benefit from network reliability. First, solar power directly reduces demand on the power grid during peak hours. A house with solar panels on the roof does not need as much electricity from the grid because its solar panels often generate enough energy to meet the needs of the house.
Second, solar + storage can improve grid resilience during extreme weather conditions events that are becoming commonplace due to the impact of climate change. Indeed, solar power systems can often operate in an off-grid function, freeing up electricity for the rest of the community.
It’s all about independence
We all love the freedom to set our thermostats as we please. One way to achieve energy independence for your personal comfort (and costs) is to install a solar system with backup power. The Sun Power Solar system, for example, allows consumers to choose to send excess energy back to the grid or store the energy for use during a high-demand event, whether that event is an extremely hot weather spell or a PSPS event scheduled by California utility providers like EGP.
In fact, Solar+ Storage played a unique role for The Golden State in early September when a massive heat wave challenged the California grid. A analysis led by the California Solar + Storage Association (CALSSA) discovered that distributed solar batteries can save the day when Mother Nature takes its toll. California is now home to more than 80,000 grid-connected batteries capable of delivering 900 MW of clean energy. It was exactly what the state needed on September 6, 2022. When demand skyrocketed, these solar batteries kicked in and kept residents from experiencing any sort of power outage. Since then, this event has become a great example of what the future of clean energy looks like with backup power.
Having solar + storage provides peace of mind and helps grid stability at the same time. Like more houses go electric and the network experiences even higher demands of additional loads such as EV chargersevery part of our energy system – from generation to transmission to use – needs to be smarter and more resilient.
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