![]() Solar can therefore provide grid operators with a fast, almost instantaneously available resource to help balance the grid, potentially distributed across millions of homes in an area. Because a solar plant doesn’t have a lot of mechanical inertia like traditional fossil-fueled turbines, it can respond much more quickly to changes. Solar plants can then respond to increasing demand by releasing the power they were holding back. ![]() Solar can help balance the grid by keeping some generating capacity in reserve. If there is too much or too little generation to serve the current load, over- or under-generation occurs.Ī temporary drop in generation might need to be compensated by ramping up other generators, by reducing load, or by tapping stored energy. With renewables like solar, weather conditions and the daily passage of the sun across the sky introduce additional variability in generation. Generators ramp up and down, and may go offline owing to an equipment fault. Therefore, utilities must carefully balance generation, minute to minute, with power that is being used, also known as load.Ĭonsumers change the load when they turn their devices on and off. Electrical power is generated and then almost instantly consumed by devices in homes and businesses. The electrical grid is not like a grocery store, where products are stocked on the shelf then sold. Balancingīalancing is the task of making sure electricity generation matches consumption. The technologies necessary to achieve safe, secure, reliable, and affordable power delivery fall into four categories: balancing, protection, situational awareness, and utility management tools. Private, cooperative, and public utility companies, federal and state agencies, independent system operators, and others work to ensure safe, reliable electricity is delivered to consumers. Many organizations work together to maintain the grid’s performance through planning and operation. When it comes to systems integration, “planning” refers to near- and long-term power system designs under various generation and load scenarios “operation” refers to real-time sensing, communication, and control that ensure system reliability.
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