Japan's solar boom has turned into a solar bust

It's unfortunate, but maybe there are some lessons here:

Japan's overbuilt solar market waiting for new dawn

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Some 80% of Japan's "megasolar" projects, so called because their scale is measured in megawatts, do not produce a single watt of power (1 megawatt equals 1,000kW). Poor planning is to blame for many of these failed starts.

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Japan's electric grid, designed to handle predictable, steady-going power sources like coal or nuclear plants, could not handle the rapid increase in solar power feeding into the system. The big regional utilities began putting power purchasing contracts on hold. Meanwhile, the government revised the solar tariff downward each year. This fiscal year, output from solar installations of 10kW or more fetches 24 yen per kilowatt-hour -- 40% less than in fiscal 2012.

That continues to be the Achilles heel with solar. It's not predictable and controllable, like traditional power supplies. The sun shines when it shines, not necessarily when you need the power.

via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/2e4K7Hq