The logistics of how industrial-scale wind and solar energy power your home # Preface Before anyone makes a snap judgement on who I am and what I believe based on this title, I would like to explain that I am a mechanical engineering graduate who spent a semester of graduate school studying renewable energy in Iceland, the world's exemplar of green energy production. What I hope to illuminate in this script are the business and market dynamics that lie underneath the spectacle and promise of renewable technologies. This will be limited to the scope of wind and solar power; although any intermittent, non-dispatchable power source would apply. I distinguish these two because their cost has plummeted in the past decade, and they are the most often talked about. ## Terminology Unfortunately we need to get some blockers out of the way. In discussing energy policy, it is important to understand important features of certain power plants; particularly if it provides [[Baseload Power|baseload]] or [[intermittent power]] generation. - Baseload — continuously available, operates nearly 24/7, characterized by a high [[Capacity Factor|capacity factor]] - coal, high-temperature geothermal, nuclear - Intermittent — not continuously available, vary due to environmental conditions, characterized by a low capacity factor - solar, wind, tidal - Dispatchable — available at will, can be turned on or off - coal, hydro, nuclear, natural gas - Non-dispatchable — not immediately available, cannot be turned on or off - solar, wind # The Usual Suspect > Timothy 6:10 — King James Version (KJV 1900) > >  For the love of money is the root of all evil... As is the issue with many systems, how people are compensated for their hard work is the root of this issue. While one might think getting electricity as simple as generating it then transmitting it. # References [University of Calgary Energy Education Encyclopedia](https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia) [Wendover Productions — China’s Electricity Problem](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBp_NgrrtPM)