Solar and Wind + Batteries?

[rangerrebew]

Solar and Wind + Batteries?
15 hours ago Guest Blogger 107 Comments
Can weather-dependent power, when coupled with storage, ever be truly reliable?

Dr. Lars Schernikau: Energy Economist, Commodity Trader, Author
 

A recent report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) [1] has attracted significant attention by claiming that solar and wind plus battery storage can now provide reliable round-the-clock 24/7 electricity at costs competitive with conventional power generation.

The conclusion was quickly echoed by major media outlets, splashed across headlines, suggesting that fossil fuels are no longer necessary to supply us with reliable electricity.

The idea is that…if solar panels generate electricity during sunny days, wind turbines generate electricity when the wind blows, and batteries store excess power for later use, then surely the combination can provide electricity whenever it is needed… right?

THIS IS WRONG!

This claim by the IRENA depends more on how we define reliability than on actual hard-core facts.

Generating electricity on average is not the same as delivering electricity at the exact moment it is required.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/06/28/solar-and-wind-batteries/

[DefiantMassRINO]

... now "cost competitive" after the Government shuttered nuclear, coal, and natural gas power plants while subsidizing solar, wind, and batteries.

Would Biden have allowed offshore oil platforms as expeditiosly as offshore windfarms?  Nope.

Free market competition means all sources of electricity compete in the marketplace with the same rules.  By that benchmark, wind, solar, and batteries are more expensive.  Governments have manipulated the marketplace and restrained free market competition to favor more expensive sources of power.

A wind-only, solar-only, battery-only energy policy is free market economic suicide.

[roamer_1]

Depends on where you are.

I pay around 50 bucks a month for power here.
In my case, The $15k or so it would take to replace that power with solar would take a long, long time to pay off - AND THEN, there would still be a whole lot of time and gas money going to running a jenny during the winter, when there ain't hardly ever enough solar to keep up.

BUT... Remember that property I had that I was working on before my health crashed? Well, that place was no guarantee at $50k, just to get the power delivered, and THEN start paying that fitty every month. At that kind of money, Solar and putting up with a jenny in the winter becomes real attractive.

Solar panels get way cheaper than that. If you look around, you can get them for about half price. And they have gone way up in power generation. When I was messin with it, 250w panels were all the rage - Now it's 450w panels for way less money. Same with the gear - the inverter and charge controller and all that... It's the batteries that cost all the money.

And if you're talking about industrial solar replacing coal or petro-powered generation - It's entirely a pipe dream.

And wind don't matter a row of pins, anywhere.