{"id":12959,"date":"2016-04-14T15:21:06","date_gmt":"2016-04-14T20:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=12959"},"modified":"2016-04-14T15:48:33","modified_gmt":"2016-04-14T20:48:33","slug":"were-wasting-solar-energy-because-the-grid-cant-handle-it-all-heres-a-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/04\/14\/were-wasting-solar-energy-because-the-grid-cant-handle-it-all-heres-a-solution\/","title":{"rendered":"We&#8217;re wasting solar energy because the grid can&#8217;t handle it all. Here&#8217;s a solution."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12960 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2016\/04\/caligrid_378x235-300x182.jpg\" alt=\"caligrid_378x235\" width=\"300\" height=\"182\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2016\/04\/caligrid_378x235-300x182.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/38\/files\/2016\/04\/caligrid_378x235.jpg 387w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>California has a nice problem: It\u2019s producing so much clean solar energy that the state\u2019s electric grid is at capacity, and sometimes beyond.<\/p>\n<p>As Vox\u2019s David Roberts reports in his excellent <a href=\"http:\/\/www.vox.com\/2016\/4\/8\/11376196\/california-grid-expansion\">piece<\/a> about California\u2019s grid headache, it makes good sense to expand the system by interconnecting state-run energy markets.<\/p>\n<p>But he also notes, at the end of his story, some other and complementary strategies California can use to increase its grid bandwidth \u2013 while accommodating rapidly growing, but variable, renewable energy sources.<\/p>\n<p>Connected grids, alone, are not a long-term fix.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>One such strategy is time-of-use pricing, which encourages customers to shift some of their energy use to predictable and convenient times of day when clean energy\u00a0sources are plentiful, and electricity cheaper.\u00a0This innovative program, soon to be\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/01\/27\/3-ways-to-improve-californias-time-of-use-electricity-pilots\/%20\">piloted<\/a> in California, is expected to lower peak demand\u00a0for energy over time.<\/p>\n<p>Along with increased energy efficiency, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/blog\/2014\/05\/28\/better-energy-storage-and-grid-defection-may-soon-upend-utility-industry\">energy storage<\/a> and distributed power solutions such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/blog\/2015\/03\/04\/why-solar-panels-are-becoming-middle-class-commodity\">rooftop<\/a>\u00a0and community solar initiatives, time-of-use pricing will help California stretch the capacity of its grid.\u00a0Not to mention the fact that customers who sign up for it can pay less for electricity.<\/p>\n<p>It helps us empower people, and to become smarter about how we produce and use energy.<\/p>\n<p>As we continue to ramp up renewable energy sources and move from dirty fuels to clean power, we need solutions that help the system transition seamlessly, efficiently and affordably.<\/p>\n<p>Connecting our patchwork of grids is something we\u2019ll be hearing more about in California and beyond. But let\u2019s not forget the other clean energy solutions we need in tandem to create the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/climate\/cleanenergy\">clean energy economy of the future<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>This blog post originally appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.edf.org\/blog\/2016\/04\/14\/were-wasting-solar-energy-because-grid-cant-handle-it-all-heres-solution\">EDF Voices<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Photo credit:\u00a0<a class=\"owner-name truncate\" title=\"Go to Oran Viriyincy's photostream\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/viriyincy\/\" data-track=\"attributionNameClick\" data-rapid_p=\"31\">Oran Viriyincy<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>California has a nice problem: It\u2019s producing so much clean solar energy that the state\u2019s electric grid is at capacity, and sometimes beyond. As Vox\u2019s David Roberts reports in his excellent piece about California\u2019s grid headache, it makes good sense to expand the system by interconnecting state-run energy markets. But he also notes, at the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3455,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[200,42996,4127,254,84830,177,203,72897],"tags":[53092],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-12959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-california","category-smart-power","category-dynamic-pricing","category-energy-efficiency","category-grid-modernization","category-renewable-energy","category-solar-energy","category-time-of-use","tag-energy-storage"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>We&#039;re wasting solar energy because the grid can&#039;t handle it all. Here&#039;s a solution. - Energy Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2016\/04\/14\/were-wasting-solar-energy-because-the-grid-cant-handle-it-all-heres-a-solution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"We&#039;re wasting solar energy because the grid can&#039;t handle it all. Here&#039;s a solution. - Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"California has a nice problem: It\u2019s producing so much clean solar energy that the state\u2019s electric grid is at capacity, and sometimes beyond. As Vox\u2019s David Roberts reports in his excellent piece about California\u2019s grid headache, it makes good sense to expand the system by interconnecting state-run energy markets. 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