Name: Could Solar Energy Actually Save the Electric Grid in a Heatwave? | WSJ
Uploaded: 2023-07-17T19:11:37.000Z
Duration: 3 min 27 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

- [Announcer] More than 100 million people

in the US are experiencing record high temperatures.

Heat waves are creating a higher demand for electricity

and straining the already aging US electric grid,

like solar, could help maintain the grid and at what cost.

and storage is the ultimate fastest solution

to climate change and to the grid demands of the future.

- [Announcer] Mary Powell is the CEO of SunRun,

a company that provides residential solar services.

- [Mary] Solar on the customer's rooftop is interconnected

So when the customer's home and using a lot of energy,

it is by definition supporting the energy need

And when they're not, it is flowing right onto the grid

as an energy resource to support the grid.

with home batteries can be even more beneficial

because the excess energy stored during the day

can be sent back to the grid in the evening

to prevent the power grid from breaking down

during extreme situations like a heat wave.

- [Mary] It is stunning to see this heat wave

during some of these significant climatic events

that create incredible stress on the grid.

- [Announcer] The US Department of Energy said solar

is the fastest growing clean energy source in the country

compared to wind, water, and nuclear power.

and how much it can actually support the grid.

what we always build around is an expected term

- [Announcer] Residential solar panels degrade

A drop in efficiency means less solar energy traveling

back to the grid to help out in times of need.

It also means customers will have to pay more

or pay a steep price to get the panels replaced.

Temperature can also affect the panel's efficiency.

Several solar panel providers state on their websites

that output efficiency decreases with extreme temperatures.

And even though solar power is considered a type

- [Announcer] Some materials used in the panels

solar companies are engineering new technology

to better adapt to extreme weather conditions.

Rooftop solar is just one of the many technologies

experts say will be needed to help support the grid.

- I knew we were never gonna be able to scale

in time to meet the demands of climate change

without, you know, the kind of innovation