Electrical engineers come up with amazing ways to explain things to the rest of us. When Elektrek announced batteries are eating up 0.3% of the duck curve in California we had to know more.
What the Duck Curve Is and How It Works
The duck curve is a feature on a graph showing the balance between consumption demand, and the renewable energy contribution.
Solar energy comes into play in daytime even with moderate cloud cover. While it fades away in the early evening at just the time domestic demand kicks in.
When solar is there to support, the need for wind power is less. This is great, because winds generally pick up around sunset and peak in mid evening. If engineers can seamlessly connect the transfer, they need less assistance from the grid. Batteries are proving to be the answer for a smoother transition.
How The Graph Resembles a Duck in Flight
Referring to the above diagram, engineers visualize it as resembling the silhouette of a duck in flight. We don’t have to agree with this, but at least we all speak the same language.
Back in 2013, a California utility envisaged how home solar would flood the grid, and create a net drop in load, as green resources started contributing
You can see this in action live if you visit this link. Then select the supply tab and scroll down to see how battery storage is smoothing out the balance between supply and demand during morning and evening ‘shift changes’.
This is exactly how the California government envisaged battery storage becoming reality. While it is true its current contribution is a mere 30 megawatts at present, we have seen the green future and it manifesting before our eyes.
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Test Case for Grid Storage in California
Preview Image: Wood Duck In Flight
