Technology Quarterly | Monitor
Sunshine and clouds
Solar power: The growth in renewable energy requires new ways to manage the distribution of electricity
EARLIER this year, after months of planning, the managers of Europe’s electricity grid were ready for the biggest test so far of an energy system that increasingly relies on renewable power. That event was a partial solar eclipse on March 20th—and the “worst case scenario” was that it would take place on a sunny day, causing a sudden disruption of solar power, creating fluctuations that could damage the grid and anything connected to it.
This article appeared in the Technology Quarterly section of the print edition under the headline “Sunshine and clouds”
From the September 5th 2015 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the edition