How rooftop solar is helping New England stay cool during the heat wave
As New England bakes during the first heat wave of the summer, electricity use is surging. The power grid has so far been able to meet the demand, thanks in part to an assist from the sun.
Around the region, thousands of solar panels on rooftops, over parking lots and along the sides of roads are converting sunlight into electricity and helping relieve stress on the grid.
“Behind-the-meter solar is already benefiting New Englanders by shaving summertime peaks” in energy demand, said Joe LaRusso, manager of the Clean Grid Program at the Acadia Center, a nonprofit focused on clean energy research and advocacy.
Most of New England’s electricity comes from burning natural gas and nuclear power. But when energy use spikes, the grid operator turns to “peaker plants” to help meet the demand. These tend to be older, more polluting facilities that are expensive to operate; in New England, many of them burn oil or coal.
“Without behind-the-meter solar, New England would have needed to burn that much more coal and oil to balance the supply of electricity with customer demand.” LaRusso said. “It reduces the cost of meeting the peak, and reduces system-wide emissions that contain not only carbon, but other pollutants including airborne particles that can cause respiratory illnesses.”
As evening fell on Monday, solar production dropped off, and oil production increased. By 7 p.m., oil and coal accounted for about 1,900 megawatts of power on the grid. In the future, LaRusso said, as more behind-the-meter solar is installed, and batteries to store excess power become more common, he hopes the region can rely even less on peaker plants to get through heat waves.
To read the full article from wbur, click here.
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