As the cost of solar panels keeps dropping and the market picks up, supported in some places by government mandates such as the Renewable Portfolio Standards in 29 states, incorporating intermittent power flow from renewables emerges as a major issue for grid operators. Until batteries come online to store excess electricity when available and release it when needed, juggling renewables is a science that Germany has elevated to an art form. The country’s power grid relies on renewables by up to 28%, making Germany the biggest economy in the world to rely so much on sun and wind. In spite of this, it experiences just 15 minutes of outages per year, compared with 68 minutes in France and more than four hours in Poland. California and China are already hard at work trying to replicate such efficiency.
Germany successfully turns intermittent renewable power into a reliable flow
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