Batteries are so cheap now, solar power doesn’t sleep

Latitude and clouds really matter in these calculations. Further up north, the light gets weaker, so you’ll need to compensate with more panels. Also, the sunny hours fluctuate wildly between the short days in winter and short nights in summer.

The article mentioned Birmingham, and in that case, solar is just one of the many power sources they’ll need. Solar can support the mix, and in the summer it could even dominate for a while. They’ll still need a lot more from other sources.

The closer to the equator you are, the more sense it makes to use solar power. In places like Germany, it’s already fine, in Greece it’s really good. Anywhere south of that, it’s clearly the best solution.

2 comments

I would say, of all the forms of power, solar comes the closest to actually sleeping
Latitude and clouds really matter in these calculations. Further up north, the light gets weaker, so you’ll need to compensate with more panels. Also, the sunny hours fluctuate wildly between the short days in winter and short nights in summer.
The article mentioned Birmingham, and in that case, solar is just one of the many power sources they’ll need. Solar can support the mix, and in the summer it could even dominate for a while. They’ll still need a lot more from other sources.
The closer to the equator you are, the more sense it makes to use solar power. In places like Germany, it’s already fine, in Greece it’s really good. Anywhere south of that, it’s clearly the best solution.