The Eclipse

So, she is planning for a total solar eclipse, starting around 9 am on Friday, March 20, 2015. But that’s not all; there will be a super-moon and spring equinox as well; a rare event indeed.

As always, solar eclipses attract lots of attention from folks from all areas. Some photographers will travel across the globe to get a good shot, school children will be excited, and the electric power system operators are standing by to prevent any calamity. Why so?

Photovoltaic Power

Solar (photovoltaic) power panels are widely used to harness the sun’s radiation and derive electric power from it. Such power panels, as opposed to passive solar energy collectors that simply heat up a fluid, work well when the sun is shining and high up on the firmament, however, not so much at night, on a cloudy day, or during an eclipse.

Having given the solar power producer absolute preference in delivering that energy into the power grid, the big question is if the grid will withstand the sudden withdrawal as well. Of course, every nightfall solar power goes to nil as well, but the total requirement is also much smaller. Not so during the day, when people commute or work in the office and energy-consuming plants are running full steam and so forth.

Wind Power

With well over 10,000 wind turbines in operation, the European electric grid has already experienced instability close to collapse.  The (far) offshore system Bard-1 in the German Bight, built for approximately $5 billion two years ago is slowly rusting in the sea. It is a real money maker—for the legal profession. By the time the (legal) culpabilities are sorted out, there may have been even more eclipses, super-moons and spring tides.

No wonder, the Europeans are going to watch this eclipse event with great trepidation; it’s either going to be a boom or a bust.

Dr. Klaus L.E. Kaiser
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