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Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

electrek.co

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Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#341

Post by kalleboo »

Kaliboy wrote: post #271
Aurornis wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know how you can be against solar unless you’ve been given some uninformed talking points. Are they against solar subsidies or other policy provisions? It’s hard to understand someone who is against passive energy collection.

The main reason I could think of is when you consider the reality of our electric grid and how it remains stable. Grid inertia is literally maintained by hundreds of thousands of pounds of metal spinning at 50 or 60 hz. So as the grid moves towards solar and wind, it loses inertia. Solar has no inertia and wind is lightweight compared to baseload plants. This makes the grid more sensitive to another that can cause th…

The inertia issue is not some fundamental law of physics, it's just how the DC->AC inverters are commonly programmed, to follow the grid, since that is the easiest way to regulate the grid when non-AC generation is a minority.

The inverters can instead be programmed to form the grid frequency - Australia installed its big battery literally as a much faster way to stabilize grid instability events than spinning up gas peaker plants.

Grids with large amounts of renewables like California are moving toward VPPs (Virtual Power Plants) which are distributed collections of renewables and batteries which are programmed to work in unison to help form the grid, as an easier way to regulate the grid frequency than coordinating each tiny plant separately.

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#342

Post by thrownthatway »

turtlebits wrote: post #326
thrownthatway wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the most difficult part is using a calculator to determine the charge controller capacity.

No, just figure out how much solar you want and buy and accordingly sized charge controller/MPPT. They will all tell you maximum input volts and amperage. You can calculate watts by multiplying those two and just need to wire your panels in a way that doesn't exceed either value.

[dead]

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#343

Post by tootie »

tonymet wrote: post #336
tootie wrote: post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing and we don't have to and idk what you're talking about. I literally have an all-electric home and it's perfectly comfortable. Heat pump works great on the hottest and coldest days (outside temp has been as low 2F as high as 99F). And security benefits are also very much in favor of renewables. There is no global supply chain for wind and sun in the hands of a cartel. You have been suckered by a lot of industr…

residential is a small piece of the pie

Why did you mention being uncomfortable in hot and cold season? I still don't know what you're complaining about. If an industrial process needs a lot of heat, you can burn stuff or use a giant heat pump. It makes no difference. Idk why you think everything is going to shrivel up and stop producing as much because it uses a different energy source. Thermodynamics doesn't care where energy comes from.

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#345

Post by wallst07 »

dalyons wrote: post #176
_ZeD_ wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know some people who are adamantly against solar and wind let me guess... they sell oil?

no, sadly its somehow become part of the global culture war. Fossil is right wing manly dominant power, renewables are woke and womanly and left. Its all electrons how did we get here jesus.

Do you realize you are part of the global culture war by posting your comment?

Did you know Texas produces more solar energy than California? https://insideclimatenews.org/news/05032026/inside-clean-ene...

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#346

Post by wallst07 »

pstuart wrote: post #190
zahlman wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rather than guessing, have you considered asking ? Sure, sometimes people haven't reasoned themselves into positions, and won't simply be reasoned out of them. But understanding others' epistemology is still the first step to changing minds.

>> I know some people who are adamantly against solar and wind I'm guessing about those people. It's very clear that renewable energy is considered to be a liberal ideology by those that oppose renewable energy. > Sure, sometimes people haven't reasoned themselves into positions, and won't simply be reasoned out of them. But understanding others' epistemology is still the first step to changing minds. Both of your po…

You are the one using the term woke, it's no where in the article.

The only people using these terms with regards to solar is terminally online people or people who watch 24/7 news.

Texas has more solar capacity than California, does that make Texas woke?

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#348

Post by wallst07 »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #124
dnautics wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the U.S. administration has chosen to actively fight against it the biggest producer of renewables is Texas, by a longshot. and the state of california just created insane NEM laws that favor the pockets of pg&e (and are shit for the environment) and as a result solar home installations have cratered.

Texas barely scrapes into the top ten red states by percentage of wind and solar, despite its ideal geography.

Texas produces more wind and solar than any other state, what are you talking about?

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#349

Post by PaulDavisThe1st »

tonymet wrote: post #335
PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not aware of anyone saying "we must replace all uses of non-electrical heat pump-based heating with an electrical version". My point, in response to the GGP (?) was the while e.g. gas heating may be in use now, it is not irreplaceable. This is quite different (right now, at least) for something like air transportation, where there is no feasible electrical solution. There is no "project" under discussion.

you questioned "critical". It sounds like you mean that something is not critical if you can imagine replacing it. To me, "critical" means that it is critical to providing the service it provides. i.e. gas is critical to providing food, if the gas stops, the food stops. having a plan doesn't change that. I guess we differ on "critical".

We don't disagree on that. We differ on what is critical.

Clearly energy is critical for food production and drying lumber.

But is gas critical? Well, gas is currently being used for those purposes, and if the gas stopped being available ... the effects would all differ based on the timeline for that.

If the gas stopped overnight, sure, "the food stops".

If the gas is announced as stopping over 5 or 10 years, the food will never stop.

The difference there is not that "gas is critical", it's that "replacing gas will/would take time, and we can't do it immediately". Anything that stops the flow of energy to these processes will screw them up, but an ordered transition from energy source A to energy source B will not do that. Ergo, I conclude that it is not energy source A (gas) that is "critical", but rather energy supply and its orderly and intelligent management and planning.

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#350

Post by qmmmur »

kalleboo wrote: post #341
Kaliboy wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The main reason I could think of is when you consider the reality of our electric grid and how it remains stable. Grid inertia is literally maintained by hundreds of thousands of pounds of metal spinning at 50 or 60 hz. So as the grid moves towards solar and wind, it loses inertia. Solar has no inertia and wind is lightweight compared to baseload plants. This makes the grid more sensitive to another that can cause th…

The inertia issue is not some fundamental law of physics, it's just how the DC->AC inverters are commonly programmed, to follow the grid, since that is the easiest way to regulate the grid when non-AC generation is a minority. The inverters can instead be programmed to form the grid frequency - Australia installed its big battery literally as a much faster way to stabilize grid instability events than spinning up gas…

Western Australia also has a VPP program that is pretty successful.
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