Thu Dec 3, 2020, 02:55 PM

Solar power booms in Texas

Story behind a paywall at WSJ. This is all I was able to cut and paste.

Solar Power Booms in Texas

The state, a leader in wind energy, will be home to the nation’s largest solar farm, part of an expected surge in development

Wind power made Texas the leading renewable-energy producer in the U.S. Now solar is fast catching up.

Invenergy LLC broke ground this year on a $1.6 billion solar farm northeast of Dallas that is expected to be the largest in the country upon completion in 2023. AT&T Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google are among the large corporations that have contracted to purchase power from the project, which will span more than 13,000 football fields and supply enough electricity to power 300,000 homes.

It is part of a growing number of solar projects in sunny, land-rich Texas, where experts long predicted solar farms would bloom. Solar-farm development in Texas is expected to accelerate in the coming years as generation costs fall and power demand grows. That growth puts it on track to claim a much larger share of a power market dominated by wind farms and natural-gas power plants.

Invenergy has developed wind farms in west and central Texas, but the solar project is its first one in the state. Ted Romaine, the company’s senior vice president of origination, said that unlike wind, which often peaks at night, Texas solar has the potential to boost electricity supplies when daytime demand is highest.

“Solar is the natural next step in a state like Texas,” Mr. Romaine said.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/solar-power-booms-in-texas-11606579200

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7 replies	Author	Time	Post
Solar power booms in Texas (Original post)	Finishline42	Dec 2020	OP
The cost of Nuclear, methane, and coal plants	Miguelito Loveless	Dec 2020	#1
Agreed	Finishline42	Dec 2020	#4
first put solar on every rooftop, residential and commercial. solar farms can wait til then nt	msongs	Dec 2020	#2
Building solar farms	Finishline42	Dec 2020	#3
Thought of something else	Finishline42	Dec 2020	#5
One of the Property Bros, Jonathan, did a Solar special on PBS' Independent Lens	Hestia	Dec 2020	#6
"will span more than 13,000 football fields" - AWKK, what happens to all the football players?	progree	Dec 2020	#7

Response to Finishline42 (Original post)

Thu Dec 3, 2020, 03:00 PM

Miguelito Loveless (3,983 posts)

1. The cost of Nuclear, methane, and coal plants

rises every year.

The cost or wind/solar plants falls every year.

No brainer.

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Response to Miguelito Loveless (Reply #1)

Thu Dec 3, 2020, 03:24 PM

Finishline42 (781 posts)

4. Agreed

And it's a good complement to the windfarms which produce something like 20% of the electricity in Texas.

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Response to Finishline42 (Original post)

Thu Dec 3, 2020, 03:16 PM

msongs (63,462 posts)

2. first put solar on every rooftop, residential and commercial. solar farms can wait til then nt

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Response to msongs (Reply #2)

Thu Dec 3, 2020, 03:22 PM

Finishline42 (781 posts)

3. Building solar farms

Drives down the cost of the panels and inverters and funds innovation to make them better.

It also creates an industry so that more people will get into the installer business.

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Response to msongs (Reply #2)

Thu Dec 3, 2020, 03:54 PM

Finishline42 (781 posts)

5. Thought of something else

Non-profit community solar farms would be better for a lot of people.

For those that live in apts or are in a house they know they won't stay for long, community solar should allow them to buy small pieces of solar that follows them.

The other problem of solar on rooftops is that labor and installation take up a big part of the cost. A solar farm minimizes those costs.

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Response to Finishline42 (Reply #5)

Thu Dec 3, 2020, 06:44 PM

Hestia (3,516 posts)

6. One of the Property Bros, Jonathan, did a Solar special on PBS' Independent Lens

Jonathan Scott's Power Trip: explores the production of energy across the US, speaking with senators, coal miners, solar panel installers and more about the country energy system.

Eye opening and very informative

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Response to Finishline42 (Original post)

Sun Dec 6, 2020, 03:12 AM

progree (8,988 posts)

7. "will span more than 13,000 football fields" - AWKK, what happens to all the football players?

A lot of very high-paying jobs wiped out. AWKK!. Will we have to watch baseball instead? It's so boring.

And it will never work. I'm an old man, been hearing about so-called "solar" for decades. And Mauna Loa Mauna Loa Loa Loa.

Front for the natural gas industry because blah-de-blah-de-blah.

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Environment & Energy (Group)