RE: Electricity--Past, Present and Future: Moving into the 21st Century with Microgrids
Microgrids can certainly add to the robustness of a residential electric system, but residences can only generate so much power. Industrial users often require large amounts of power that has to be imported from other areas, whether power plants or dispersed generators. The reliability of long-distance transmission becomes extremely important to them. As transportation becomes increasingly electrified, the demand for electricity may rise while overall demand for energy falls.
One of the selling points of microgrids is that they can export power and earn money for homeowners. Hawaii has an abundance of solar energy. Oahu actually had to put a moratorium on residential solar because its grid became destabilized. Residences were dumping power when it wasn't wanted and with variability that the grid couldn't handle. Hawaii has also been investing in grid-scale energy storage, but it hasn't come to fruition yet. Grid storage is still an immature technology.
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I welcome this response because it highlights the need for R&D in renewable energy sources. Our moment in time parallels that of the early days of computer technology--ENIAC. Look where R&D took us in computer science.
What we need to do is leave the dinosaurs behind--I mean literally. Fossil fuels. It's a concept we can outgrow, but resistance to change comes from three sources: those who make money from traditional generation; sclerotic government oversight; and lack of imagination (and inertia) on the part of the general public.
If the military (China and the US), at this stage of primitive renewable energy development, can power a base, then we can power anything. Insisting that it be tied to the grid, that people get "paid" for using renewable energy may be part of the problem.
I'm not an engineer, or a scientist. But I can see patterns in history. That's my field. The time is here for intensive, massive investment in the future--renewable energy. Perhaps we can make a museum dedicated to the old technology as we have museums that teach us about ENIAC.
I do appreciate your comment. I expected more to come along this in vein. I think my blog was too long for many people :)