Monday’s eclipse left millions in North America awestruck. It also raised questions about solar electricity generation at times when the sun isn’t shining; the astronomical event temporarily reduced the generation output of solar panels. The eclipse affected Texas in particular, as solar power is often the second-largest source of midday power generation there, and much of the state saw the sun obscured for 90% or more at the peak of the eclipse. So how did the Texas grid, managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) fare, considering its reputation for fragility during significant winter storms and heat waves? In short, just fine.
The decline in solar generation was substantial but anticipated, so natural gas and coal-fired plants ramped up accordingly, meeting grid demands comfortably. This anticipated switch is not indicative of solar power not being up to the job of providing reliable energy. Rather, it underscores the need to accelerate the connection of battery storage to the power grid to provide power during cloudy or dark conditions.
In fact, while ERCOT saw a reduction of almost 13 gigawatts in solar generation during the eclipse, research by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory showed that at the end of 2022, almost 19 gigawatts of standalone battery storage projects and over 18 gigawatts of solar and battery projects awaited review or approval in the interconnection queue for grid connection.
With that, we can tell that viable solutions exist to improve the consistent availability of renewable energy to the grid, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is actively working to speed up the interconnection process. Meanwhile, consumers and businesses alike need to be patient, and those looking to adopt renewable power themselves should consider pairing solar or wind installations with battery storage to improve the availability of the energy source.
