When the sky darkens during next month’s solar eclipse, electricity production in some parts of the country will drop so dramatically that it could theoretically darken tens of hundreds of thousands of homes. In practice, few people will notice a sudden lack of energy.
Energy providers say they expect solar power production to drop significantly through the eclipse, but have already ramped up alternative energy sources, including large battery installations and natural gas plants. Homeowners who use solar panels on their roofs must also not experience electricity loss since the home’s batteries or the electrical grid will robotically activate when needed.
On April 8, at 12:10 a.m. central time, a solar eclipse will begin over southwest Texas, the regional electrical system perhaps hardest hit by the event, and can last for 3 hours.
“I don’t think anything is as predictable as an eclipse,” said Pedro Pizarro, president and chief executive of Edison International, a California-based energy company, and president of the Edison Electric Institute, a utility trade organization. “You can get ready.”
This yr’s solar eclipse will darken the sky because it passes over Mexico, the United States and Canada. This makes solar energy systems – considered one of the fastest growing sources of electricity within the country – vulnerable.
Although solar power is just produced when the sun is shining, forecasters can generally predict quite well what number of electric panels will produce on any given day, depending on the weather. This helps utility and grid managers be sure that other energy sources can be found to fulfill consumer needs.
Solar energy is included nearly 6 percent of the electricity generated within the United States last yrin comparison with lower than 1 percent a decade earlier. Much of this energy was produced through the middle of the day, through the same hours that the eclipse will omit the United States. Increasing other temporary resources, similar to power plants typically fueled by natural gas, could raise costs and increase greenhouse gas emissions, but energy experts say it could have minimal economic and environmental impacts within the event of an eclipse.
Power grid managers commonly cope with fluctuations in energy supplies attributable to bad weather and other events. During this event, they shall be helped by the timing of the eclipse, avoiding periods of high demand before people go to work and after they return home within the evening, when electricity consumption is frequently highest.
“Customers should not experience any disruption if regulators plan appropriately,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association. “For Americans with solar at home, this will be no different than a passing storm.”
One of the predominant regulatory agencies that could possibly be impacted by the eclipse, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said it was prepared.
The Texas grid management board has been under scrutiny over the past few years because the state’s power system collapsed through the winter storm and the 2021 freeze. It needed to ask homeowners and businesses to cut back their electricity use in winter freezes and summer heat waves in recent times to avoid continuous power cuts.
The October 2023 solar eclipse caused a dramatic drop in solar energy production, forcing grid managers to divert gas-fired power plants to extend production. This event prompted increased planning for the upcoming eclipse.
Texas’ grid operator said it expected the April eclipse to cut back solar power generation to “approximately 7.6 percent of the maximum power generated under clear skies.”
It said it was “working on forecast models to reflect reduced solar energy production and does not expect any grid reliability issues during the eclipse.”
According to the federal Energy Information Administration, solar power supplies an increasing share of electricity in Texas. More than a third of additional U.S. solar installations this yr are expected within the state – essentially the most of any state – raising concerns in regards to the need for backup systems similar to batteries to maintain the grid reliable during solar eclipses and extreme weather events.
The variable nature of solar energy is increasingly considered one of the explanations consumers are being encouraged so as to add batteries to rooftop solar systems. Solar-powered homes with batteries will experience the least impact from a solar eclipse.
The eclipse “will have a very minor impact,” said Mary Powell, chief executive of Sunrun, the nation’s largest residential solar company.
