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Solar Energy's Place in the Power Industry Essay

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Since when it was determined that electricity could be generated from the sun, the power industry has taken slack for not considering it as a viable addition to their generation fleet. However, there are two facts that need to be remembered with respect to the power industry. The first thing to remember is that power has to be supplied to their customers regardless of the weather or the time of day. Secondly, power companies are just like any other company; they are in the business of making money. Because of those two facts, solar energy at its current technological state has no place in the power industry’s current generation fleet.
The figure to the right shows the load on a normal week day during the summer. There are two noticeable …show more content…

However, the downsides to using the diesel generators are that they are most expensive form of generation and are most harmful to the environment. If the diesel generators still do not meet demand, a power company will buy power from surrounding companies. If not enough power can be bought, the power company will have to shed load or cut power to a portion of their customers to prevent a system wide shutdown that will possibly effect neighboring utilities.
Though the trends in generation in the industry fluctuate, a power company’s generation fleet is pretty set in stone (nuclear, coal, combined cycle, natural gas and diesel). This diversification of generation help the companies insure reliability in their system. However if there is one area that could use significant improvement, it would be the companies response to periods of high demand. As stated above in the opening, a power company has two main objectives. One, serve power to all of their customers regardless of the situation, and two, make money. Buying power from surrounding companies and shedding load are the worst case scenario. Also, running diesel generators are not cost effective and have no sign of getting any cheaper considering the current situation in the gas and oil industry. Therefore, solar power has the opportunity to fill a major void in how power companies react in peak demand situations. However if you compare to the two graphs shown

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