Utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) generation in California peaked at 2.396 GW at 12:57 PM on July 31st, 2013.
Utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) generation in California peaked at 2.396 GW at 12:57 PM on July 31st, 2013, according to data from the California Independent System Operator (California ISO). This is a new record for the state.
This means that California’s utility-scale PV and CSP peaked at 7.6% of the 31.5 GW of demand. This is the third consecutive day of solar generation records in California, following 2.27 GW of peak output on July 29th and 2.37 GW on July 30th, 2013.
It is important to note that unlike German data, California ISO data does not include “behind the meter” residential and commercial PV systems. According to the California Public Utilities Commission, 1.6 GW of rooftop PV has been installed in the state. There is currently no centralized measure of the hourly output from these systems and thus the total.
When wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass and biogas are included, renewable energy production peaked at just above 5.5 GW between 5 and 6 PM. This means that all utility-scale renewables peaked at around 16% of demand.
These numbers are lower than in Spain or Germany, where PV has peaked at 46% of demand and PV and wind have peaked at 61% of demand, or Italy where renewable energy output has peaked at more than the nation’s entire electricity demand.
