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Supply and demand
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this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2026
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I mean, a surplus in the electricity grid is actually sort of a problem, especially if you don't have any way to store the extra energy.
we can just put a white blanket on top of the panels...
I'm ignorant of the mechanism of solar panels and electrical grids...do they just explode if they are set up and not draining power?
Because why can't you just cut the inflow of electricity on a signal? I'd appreciate actual answers.
Edit: In fact, I don't see why "just don't send the power if it isn't needed" doesn't work for any power generation source. In lieu of answers, I can imagine the issue is with the non-renewable resources. Maybe you want to spin down burning generators, if you don't need the extra energy. So it's a planning problem to know when you don't need energy, so you know when you don't need to burn resources.
But you don't waste wind if you just let the turbines keep spinning while blocking of energy output. Sunlight isn't burnt up if solar panels keep slurping while the downstream draw is blocked.
Is this a problem being baked in because it's assuming "burnable fuel" restrictions?
Yes solar panels and most renewables can be turned off easily if there is too much energy on the grid. The term for this is "curtailment". Some energy sources can't be turned off easily, like nuclear, large coal plants, and combined cycle gas turbines. So you will tend to turn off the easy things before the hard things.
The only major problem here is that this upsets the capitalists that own the generation; they don't want to pay for stuff that isn't producing money at every instance that it could be producing money. There are no real technical reasons why you can't curtail wind and solar plants whenever you need to.
Worth noting that a large amount of "renewables bad" you'll see is fossil fuel propaganda too, so be careful there.
Yeaaaah, I hate that. A lot of the structures that everyone says are shite seem to be propped up by "solutions" that create and perpetuate the problems they "solve."
Would a nuclear or fossil fuel turbine power plant just tear itself apart if disconnected from load at speed? I vaguely understand that the load provides a sort of magnetic resistance on the spinning generator. Without load they would they spin too fast? Or is it a matter of there not being any easy way to dump the power by doing something useless with it like just melting sand or smth?
Fossil plants, not really. The hard part for them is getting them started again which can take hours. But disconnecting them suddenly won't hurt them. There are many layers of protective devices keeping them from overspeed events.
Nuclear plants are similar but they will continue generating heat long after they are disconnected from the grid and you have to have a plan for removing that heat or bad things will happen. This was what caused problems at Fukushima.