06-16-2019, 04:51 AM
A very interesting read - although still fairly biased in that it minimizes the challenges, and costs, of transitioning to a fully renewable energy grid. It mentions, but glosses over, the impact of that transition on the poorest residents who have little hope of having the resources for installing a photovoltaic array without it being entirely funded through "public" subsidies. He disparages the utility, claiming that they exaggerated the challenges of installing more PV than the local grid can handle, but then mentions in passing that the island suffered disruptions in power supply because of the instability arising from implementation of PV.
I've seen the power production/demand cycle for Hawaii Island and it is nothing but ugly from an electrical engineering perspective: during the day you can see constant changes associated with PV arrays increasing and decreasing output (as well as "normal" grid variability) that the utility has to respond to on a second by second basis. No doubt the technology exists to deal with those fluctuations, but I have yet to see a legitimate study that details what it will cost to do that on a meaningful scale in Hawaii (or whether Hawaii's economy can stand those costs).
I've seen the power production/demand cycle for Hawaii Island and it is nothing but ugly from an electrical engineering perspective: during the day you can see constant changes associated with PV arrays increasing and decreasing output (as well as "normal" grid variability) that the utility has to respond to on a second by second basis. No doubt the technology exists to deal with those fluctuations, but I have yet to see a legitimate study that details what it will cost to do that on a meaningful scale in Hawaii (or whether Hawaii's economy can stand those costs).