California can’t use all its solar power. That’s huge problem.
California is often held up as a model of clean energy leadership, with a goal of reaching 60% renewable energy by 2030. But a major problem is standing in its way: the state can’t use all the electricity it generates during the day. During peak sunshine hours, solar panels produce more electricity than the grid can handle, causing the state to waste a significant amount of potential energy.
A recent study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that California’s grid operators have to curtail, on average, around 7 gigawatts of solar power every day. That’s equivalent to about 10 large power plants. This “curtailment” happens because the grid can’t store the excess energy generated by the sun, and it can’t send it to other states or neighboring regions due to transmission constraints.
The problem is a result of the mismatch between supply and demand. In the first place, California’s energy demand is much higher in the late afternoon and early evening, when people return home from work and start relaxing after dinner. In contrast, most solar panels produce the most energy in the morning and early afternoon, when the sun is high in the sky. As a result, the grid can’t store and distribute the extra energy generated during the day, and it has to discard it.
Moreover, California’s infrastructure is not equipped to handle the intermittency of solar power. The state’s grid is designed to rely on a mix of power sources, including natural gas, nuclear, and hydroelectric, which are more consistent but emit more greenhouse gases. In contrast, solar energy, along with wind power, is becoming an increasingly large portion of the state’s energy mix.
While California is taking steps to address the issue, such as building new energy storage facilities and upgrading its transmission infrastructure, the state still needs to find more creative and cost-effective solutions to deal with this clean energy surplus. The excess solar power is a major asset that should be valued and utilized efficiently, but it requires innovative solutions that can handle the variability of solar energy and keep up with the changing needs of the grid.
