Shared Solar Output Data

= "Alongside the growth of solar installation, there has been a growing enthusiasm for sharing data on solar output. One such site is PVOutput.org ". [1]

Discussion

Kerry Burke:

"We tend to think about the cost of power as being related to things such as coal and gas prices, or operation expenses; but a large part of the cost of electricity is simply the cost of money involved in having standby generators ready for that one moment when we all want to use electricity at the same time.

This creates a problem for the owner of a solar or wind farm. Because they can’t guarantee capacity due to the vagaries of weather, in effect, they can only sell energy

But distributed solar is different. The time when we all decide to use a lot of electricity at the same time is when we all turn our air conditioners on mid-afternoon on a scorching hot summer day. At that time, the sun is clearly shining. For distributed solar to be interrupted, it would have to be overcast over an entire capital city, in which case the temperature wouldn’t be that high and we wouldn’t actually need spare capacity.

Alongside the growth of solar installation, there has been a growing enthusiasm for sharing data on solar output. One such site is PVOutput.org. This large sample of real-time solar system behaviour under real world conditions is combined with data from the renewable energy regulator on installation rates. It allows real-time solar generation in the National Electricity Market to be calculated.

Using this data we can have a look at how renewable energy actually handles peak demand." (http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/does-rooftop-solar-power-flow-when-we-need-it)