A Shakespearian Comedy ... Or Tragedy ... In Five Acts -- September 29, 2015

I don't know whether to laugh or cry, as they say in the Midwest. This is the headline: Minnesota Weather Clouds Solar Power Potential. And then the story just gets worse from there.

Apparently, "everyone" from the reporter to the engineers were surprised about the relative lack of sunshine in Minnesota, or at least the lack of predictability. [Note to engineers: the days get shorter in the winter in Minnesota. It's been that way for millenia.]

In Minnesota:

A state mandate requires investor-owned utilities to generate 1.5 percent of electrical power from solar by 2020, one way or another.

So, they have a "Twin Cities solar power demonstration" but it looks like there wasn't a lot of pre-planning.

“We’ve seen pretty significant output differences between December and June and July, which is anticipated, though I guess we didn’t have a firm concept of how large of a difference that might have been, when we started the project,” said Andy Bergrud, senior engineering project manager for Great River Energy.

GRE is owned by 28 member co-ops, making it Minnesota’s second largest electric power supplier to 650,000 ratepayers.

Great River installed a 240 kilowatt solar array at its Maple Grove headquarters in 2014 to test how solar technology performs in Minnesota to improve the design and operation of future projects.

And this is what they found: 

GRE recorded ideal weather conditions — clear, sunny days from sun-up to sunset — just 10 percent of the time. Surprisingly, none of the perfect days came during typically sunnier, summer months.

I think everyone in North Dakota is very, very aware of the bright, sunny days we have most of the winter -- the days are short, but the skies are often clear as can be. That's why the UND aviation school is such a success -- so many clear, cloudless days. At least that's what I remember growing up in Williston.

So, how is the demonstration project going?

Overall, the solar facility produced power at an average of 13.6 percent of its potential capacity, generating enough electricity to supply about 30 homes.

And then this profundity:

John Kearney, a staff representative from Minnesota Solar Industries Energy Association, said the fluctuation of sunshine is factored in to solar power planning. [LOL -- I can't make this stuff up.]

“Solar customers understand how the erratic nature of solar impacts their energy requirements when they make their solar investment,” he said. [Really?]

Is this what they were told? That it would take 17 years to pay back without state subsidies?

While Minnesota’s mandate does not apply to electric co-ops, 13 of GRE’s members have installed small community solar gardens in response to consumer interest.

Lake Region Electric Cooperative customers in Pelican Rapids, for example, can buy a solar panel for 20 years at a cost of $1,400. The investment takes 17 years to pay back without state subsidies, but the co-op has sold out a 40 kilowatt solar set-up, and most of a new 20 kilowatt array.

"Most of a new 20-kilowatt array." Wow. 

I don't know if I'm getting more and more cynical with age, or the more I learn about intermittent energy, the more discouraged I become. 

Much, much more at the linked article.

Remember, this is all being done to help with global warming -- I have no idea how much Minnesota contributes to global emissions of anything, but mandating  investor-owned utilities to generate 1.5 percent of electrical power from solar by 2020 in light of all the new coal plants in India and China (for around 3 billion people) seems incredibly naive. Whatever. All I know is that Minnesota has several world-class colleges and universities, and an incredibly educated and enlightened population with Al Franken as one of their two senators.

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Sea of Love, Tom Waits