‘Ring of Fire’ Eclipse This Weekend Will Send US Solar Power Plunging
Texas and California will see major power reductions during what’s shaping up as a unique test for grids increasingly reliant on renewables.
The annular eclipse taking place on Saturday will make most but not all solar generation in its path unavailable.
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
US grid operators are set to face their largest controlled experiment for dealing with big swings in renewable power during this week’s “ring of fire” eclipse. Skies will darken on Oct. 14, quickly knocking out as much as 28,300 gigawatts of solar generation.
That’s the equivalent of one in nine Americans’ homes temporarily going dark as the sun becomes obscured, compared to an otherwise clear day. No grid operator is expecting power shortages and many are bolstering backup supply. But this month’s eclipse will give operators insights into what resources they’ll need ahead of next year’s even bigger solar eclipse and — more pressingly — as more renewables come online.