[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

FACT CHECK: True,

when solar first started, NYPSC mandated that Niagara Mohawk, which had the lowest cost of electric generation in the Northeast, accept power from solar generation. The cost to upgrade the mechanical systems to electronic systems to accept the irregular flow from solar, was not yet accepted into the rate base for the mandated return, and the company went bankrupt. . .

So be careful what you wish for.

Weather based electrical generation is inherently unstable as weather is inherently random and unstable. The solar based infrastructure requires electronic switching devices to manage the instability (think passing clouds) along with the steady legacy generation. Electricity can't be easily stored on very large scales. . .

The UK found out one day when the sky was overcast and the wind didn't blow at all anywhere. . they had to fire up back up coal plants at a very large incremental cost to maintain adequate power supplies to the grid. It might be sustainable, but instability might be more expensive than legacy stable, such as nuclear power.

your small implementation is not the same as at massive scale. . . scaling can be exponentially more difficult and expensive. .

former utility finance guy

Still scratching my head why we are not generating more electricity from nuclear power