National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Shows Live Grid Impacts From Total Solar Eclipse

Excerpt:  “‘Total solar installations in the U.S. have increased threefold in the last seven years,’ explained Guohui Yuan of the Solar Energy Technologies Office, which sponsors this study. ‘On a typical spring sunny day, solar photovoltaics will generate about 30% of the electricity used in Texas.’ As solar energy makes up a larger and larger share of our electricity generation, it is important for system operators to know how to meet customers’ energy needs despite celestial or weather-induced reductions in solar irradiance. The current study expands on prior research completed for the 2017 eclipse. … NREL researchers have calculated the maximum power reduction from solar photovoltaics on April 8 in all three interconnection areas in the United States. As the eclipse cuts a path from Texas to Maine, they expect a 71% peak power reduction in the East, 45% in the West, and 93% in the Texas grid, called the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).”