- cross-posted to:
- canada@lemmy.ca
- cross-posted to:
- canada@lemmy.ca
Renewable energy met all new demand for electricity in 2025, according to a new review of global power generation, halting the growth of fossil fuel-powered generation and highlighting the promise of clean sources like wind and solar.
The authoritative Global Electricity Review released annually by Ember, an international energy research organization, says clean sources — especially solar — are growing fast enough and are cheap enough that they are stopping new fossil fuel-powered electricity generation. Electricity from solar and wind increased while there was no change to the amount of electricity produced from burning fossil fuels.
“We’re really talking about a large-scale change in how the energy system works. And solar is among the most scalable technologies that can deliver fast change,” said Nicolas Fulghum, senior data analyst at Ember.
Solar is cool. But storage is the issue. I have panels at my house and Im on my second set of batteries for storage. But cold weather and snow not only kill panel output but if they’re not properly insulated, it freezes batteries and destroys them. Lithium batteries cost a lot more and are even more susceptible to cold weather than lead acid or AGM. I can make a ton of power in summer, not so much in winter… which is why our house is still powered by a fuel powered grid and heated with gas.
Canada has the same issues just on a much larger scale. We can MAKE the power, we just cant store it easily or prevent snow from stopping generation without difficult workarounds. And no one wants to power a house with power that works part time - we’re used to 99.9% reliability, no ones going to spend money on something LESS reliable.
The Drake Landing Solar Community (DLSC) was a planned community in Okotoks, Alberta, Canada, equipped with a central solar heating system and other energy efficient technologies. This heating system is the first of its kind in North America, although much larger systems have been built in northern Europe. The 52 homes (few variation of size and style, with average above-grade floor area of 145m2) in the community are heated with a solar district heating system that is charged with heat originating from solar collectors on the garage roofs and is enabled for year-round heating by underground seasonal thermal energy storage (STES).[1]
The system was designed to model a way of addressing global warming and the burning of fossil fuels. The solar energy is captured by 800 solar thermal collectors[2] located on the roofs of all 52 houses’ garages.[3] It is billed as the first solar powered subdivision in North America,[4] although its electricity and transportation needs are provided by conventional sources.
In 2012 the installation achieved a world record solar fraction of 97%; that is, providing that amount of the community’s heating requirements with solar energy over a one-year time span.[5][6]
In 2015–2016 season the installation achieved a solar fraction of 100%.[7][8] This was achieved by the borehole thermal storage system (BTES) finally reaching high temperature after years of charging, as well as improving control methods, operating pumps at lower speed most of the time, reducing extra energy need as well using weather forecasts to optimize transfer of heat between different storage tanks and loops. During some other years, auxiliary gas heaters are used for a small fraction of the year to provide heat to a district loop. The systems operate at coefficient of performance of 30.
But it died after 17 successful years (was only a pilot for 4 years) because Alberta.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_Landing_Solar_Community
I am aware of that project but had no idea it died.
A little research says it didnt die “because Alberta”. It died because it became too expensive to fix and became unreliable, and the houses were converted to natural gas heating. Go figure. From cool to reliable - I rest my case. Albertans at -40c care about reliability.
Wiki: "In 2020, the system started showing signs of deterioration resulting in significant maintenance issues. System components, knowledge, and technical expertise for repairs were becoming increasingly challenging to find. In response to system failures, the Drake Landing Solar Company added redundancies to the system to be sure that homes in the community were receiving heat.
After a thorough investigation on available next steps, it was determined that the significant reinvestment required to have the system operate reliably, was simply something that neither the Drake Landing Solar Company board nor the collective community could afford.
In 2024, a decommissioning process for the Drake Landing Solar Community began, where the majority of the 52 homes were converted to natural gas-fired furnaces."
The community got free heat for 17 years and refused to maintain the infrastructure with the cost savings, so they converted to gas.
That is CLASSIC Alberta.
South of Calgary does not see -40C. Rarely below -12C.
Canada also has a lot of hydro power. In theory we could use excess solar from the day to pump water up into the reservoir to be used for hydro generation at night or during peak use. It may not be the most energy effecient, but it could be effective at scale and cheap enough to implement before building and investing in physical batteries. I may be wrong but i think there are some places that already do this.
Canada had the Drake Landing project.
This was a 52 home community in which solar heat was stored underground for recovery in winter. It was originally a 4 year project that extended to 17 years in Alberta. Very low tech. the energy was stored in salt and sand pits underground.
But it ended, because Alberta.
Even without pumping, hydroelectricity is great to complement intermittent storage. A dam is storing a lot of potential energy that can be released or not at the right time.
There is a big dam close to where I live. In winter the level goes down progressively and as soon as spring comes back, the solar panels are producing again and the electrical demands goes down so the lake level goes back up progressively.
In summer the lake is full so all the tourists can enjoy the activities on the water.
Micro hydro this is feasible. Many tall buildings already have water tanks near the top.
A 4” pipe with 400’ of head altitude feeds a 3/4” nozzle pelton wheel with around 7000w @ 120v in a basic bush install. I am sure a well engineered system could provide double that or more, but a rooftop tank might run out at night unless it was quite big, and that is definitely micro hydro.
calculations based on living with such a system
Sorry i wasn’t speaking micro, I’m talking like lake and river scaled hydro. Some places even build reservoirs specifically for pumped solar storage.
I’m just thinking they should install micro hydro on buildings that have raised water storage. Recapture some of the energy it took to get it up there.
That is not sensible, hydro storage needs to scale, so be very large, to be feasible. And that without having to build the supporting structure.
You’re replying to the wrong person.
how do you think that water gets up there?
Not solar panels. jfc what a weak ass reddit dunk. You should be ashamed.
Can the battery not be in the house away from the elements?
I think the fire hazard is the main reason.
That, and in my case the panels have to be away from the house to gather the most sunlight due to tall trees. Running high amp power across a yard is highly impractical due to size and expense of big cables. But you’re right, I wouldn’t put lithium batteries inside my house, nor would my insurance company like it.
Hybrid solar and geothermal is the way to go.
Geothermal is cool. And impressive. But I have yet to see anyone who could afford on a single home.
For larger installations, we had a geothermal plant just a few miles from our place in the US. Was great til it started leaking sour gas. Eventually the company had to buy out the homes of the people who were closer to the plant because of the health concerns.
Every power source has issues.
*Every power source has weaker and stronger use cases
Cold weather does not freeze and destroy batteries. Millions of Canadian car owners have known that since the 50’s.
It does if the panels are snow covered, stop producing, and the batteries drain flat. I have some very large lead acid batteries to prove it. Unfortunately.
If you think they die because you drain them flat, then what you need is a system preventing you from draining them flat.
What I need is for them to be carefully insulated and heated on the coldest days. Live and learn.
Storage is not an issue, you do not need to store solar power in Canada.
It is if you want to go off carbon based power. Where do you get power when the sun is down? Especially in winter with short days?
Canada is no where near needing to worry about battery storage. Maybe after 20 years of installing solar, this would be a concern. Currently it isn’t.