We told ourselves we wouldn't do this: ReWire has documented so many "solar records" for California it was starting to get a little repetitive. The state is building more renewable energy generating capacity than it's ever had, so records will be dropping pretty routinely.
But we just couldn't resist this one: between May 23 and 26, California broke three records for renewable energy feeding into the grid: two for solar, and one for wind.
On May 23, the California Independent System Operator (CaISO) -- the agency that runs the power grid for most of the state -- announced that a new record amount of solar power was feeding into its power grid, and that the state was edging toward 1,900 megawatts of solar energy on the grid:
CA Grid reached a new solar generation peak of 1,872 MW @ 12:41 on May 23, 2013 #Solar #CAGrid #RenewableEnergy
— California ISO (@CalifornialSO) May 24, 2013
If you're looking for a way to grasp the figure, 1,872 megawatts is just about enough to run an efficient mid-sized window air conditioning unit for every resident of Los Angeles. It's a lot of power, though of course it pales by comparison to solar output in places like Germany, and to overall peak demand statewide.
That record didn't stand very long, as it happens: it was beaten precisely 23 and one half hours later.
CA Grid reached a new solar generation peak of 1,897 MW @ 12:11 on May 24, 2013... http://t.co/LhCgHckUKU
— California ISO (@CalifornialSO) May 28, 2013
Two days later, on a somewhat windy Sunday, the state posted a record from another non-carbon power source:
As of Tuesday both sources have dropped back down to levels we've seen before, in the 1,600s for solar and 3,100s for wind: a reminder that both sources of energy are somewhat unpredictable -- wind especially so.CA Grid reached a new wind generation peak of 4258 MW on May 26, 2013... goo.gl/xoM2d
— California ISO (@CalifornialSO) May 28, 2013
It's also worth remembering that these totals count only that energy that flows into CaISO's power grid. Renewable generation that's on the consumer side of the electric meter, mainly rooftop solar but also including a few microwind turbines here and there, don't get noticed by the grid except as reduced demand.
Still, on Sunday May 26, wind turbines provided about 16 percent of CaISO's power delivery. Love wind turbines or hate them, that's a milestone worth noting.
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That would be a great comparison to one day of figures. It's like comparing gas mileage going down hill on one trip.
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Wyatt says :
Very impressive figures for BIG WIND on May 26, 2013. That's a 'feather' in their cap, showing what billions of dollars can produce. REWIRE, what were the actual production figures for BIG WIND for each of the other 364 remaining individual calendar days for the year?