April’s Eclipse Will Mean Interruptions in Solar Power Generation, Which Could Strain Electrical Grids

During the most recent total solar eclipse visible in the U.S., on Aug. 21, 2017, the skies darkened as the moon crossed in front of the sun. It blocked out all sunlight – except for that from a golden ring visible around the moon’s shape, called the corona. Not surprisingly, solar power generation across North America plummeted for several hours, from the first moment the moon began to obscure the sun to when the sun’s disk was clear again.

Within this region, called the path of totality, observers see a total solar eclipse. Observers close to but outside this path witness a partial eclipse of the sun, where the moon covers a fraction of the sun’s disk.in the continental U.S. will extend from Texas in the south to Maine in the northeast. Elsewhere in the U.S., Miami will see a partial eclipse in which a maximum of 46% of the sun’s disk is obscured. In Seattle, far from the path of totality, the moon will cover only a maximum of.

System operators have accurate models for the amount of solar power generated across the U.S. on a daily basis, and these models account for the parts of the continental U.S. that may have cloudy skies. By pairing solar power generation with battery storage, they can access electricity from solar even when the sun isn’t shining – on cloudy days or at night.

To plan for an eclipse, electrical system operators need to figure out how much the energy production will drop and how much power people will draw from the reserves. On the day of the 2017 total solar eclipse, for example, solar power generation in the U.S. Because solar power production falls quickly during the eclipse’s peak, grid operators may need to tap into reserves at a rate that may strain theSolar isn’t the only type of renewable energy generation that goes down during an eclipse. Since it’s not as sunny, temperatures along the path of the eclipse fall by as much asThanks to the vigilance of electric grid operators, the lights should stay on, and observers won’t have to worry about anything but the stunning show in the sky.

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