Additionally- many solar installations (eg farms/residential) are connected to the consumer side (low voltage) of the electricity grid.
All the operators can see (they sit in between the low voltage and the voltage) is that the consumer is now increasingly volatile with his power demands (his solar panels switch off at the worst time etc)
There are entire neighborhoods where the solar panels on the roof don't generate much electricity.
The solar panels turn on. The local power circuit is saturated and the voltage reaches the maximum limit.
The solar panels turn off.
It can be fixed with multi-tap transformers, but the transformers we that are installed have a 25 year lifespan. So do we throw them out and replace them? Replacing the transformers on the poles will only allow the solar electricity to be used in the same suburb. Bigger transformers cost more.
The icing on the cake is that not everywhere would benefit from multi-tap transformers. There would have to be considerable study as to where to put them for the best effect. That takes a long time to do right and it isn't free.
Well, let's not blame solar energy as a whole just yet. It seems that there were two main issues:
Solar panels that were improperly connected to the grid. That is, they had no buffer.
A software issue that decided to disconnect a lot of solar power at once, which exacerbated the cascade once the problem began.
How do you buffer a solar panel to the grid?
I point out that solar panels lose 80% of generation when a cloud covers the site. Unless it is solar/thermal where it loses 100% of generation.
How do you buffer the grid from entire solar generation sites dropping off the grid on cloudy days and then appearing an hour later?
Additionally- many solar installations (eg farms/residential) are connected to the consumer side (low voltage) of the electricity grid.
All the operators can see (they sit in between the low voltage and the voltage) is that the consumer is now increasingly volatile with his power demands (his solar panels switch off at the worst time etc)
There are entire neighborhoods where the solar panels on the roof don't generate much electricity.
The solar panels turn on. The local power circuit is saturated and the voltage reaches the maximum limit.
The solar panels turn off.
It can be fixed with multi-tap transformers, but the transformers we that are installed have a 25 year lifespan. So do we throw them out and replace them? Replacing the transformers on the poles will only allow the solar electricity to be used in the same suburb. Bigger transformers cost more.
The icing on the cake is that not everywhere would benefit from multi-tap transformers. There would have to be considerable study as to where to put them for the best effect. That takes a long time to do right and it isn't free.