Episode 107

[FOCUS] Myth 4 - Solar And Can’t Work Because They Are Dependent On The Weather

Episode Summary:  This episode is an excerpt from a past episode on Myths about climate change

Inma and Jenn discuss another myth about climate change: Myth 4 is that solar and wind energy only works when it is sunny or windy.  While energy can run out if there is very little sun or wind, energy is stored.  There can also be advantages when there is a lot of sun or wind!

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Listen to the full episode: Myth 3 and 4 about Climate Change

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Don’t Take Our Word For It, Look It Up!

You can find out more on pages 32 and 33 of the Carbon Almanac and on the website you can tap the footnotes link and type in 342.

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Featuring Carbon Almanac Contributors Jenn Swanson and Inma Lopez

From Langley in British Columbia, Canada, Jenn is a Minister, Coach, Writer and Community Connector, helping people help themselves.  

Imma is from Cádiz in the South of Spain, living in Aberdeen, Scotland. Imma is a sommelier, a poet, a podcaster, a mother, a slow food advocate, and an animist activist.

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The CarbonSessions Podcast is produced and edited by Leekei Tang, Steve Heatherington and Rob Slater.

Transcript
INMA:

am

JENN:

I, we're going to talk about another myth today.

JENN:

And this myth is that solar and wind energy only work when it's sunny or windy.

INMA:

Now that's a funny one.

JENN:

But it makes sense.

JENN:

I understand why we might think that yes.

JENN:

In a straightforward way of thinking, if it's not sunny,

JENN:

how can we get energy from sun?

INMA:

But just not knowing when we get energy from water is the same.

INMA:

It's the stress.

INMA:

And then the batteries that recharge from whatever energy the electricity

INMA:

is coming from, it could be solar.

INMA:

So we get the energy from it in batteries.

JENN:

So what does happen when it's not windy or it's not sunny out?

JENN:

Are you saying that we're getting it from other sources at that point?

INMA:

What I see when it's sunny gets the battery charged and

INMA:

when he's not sunny, like my time

JENN:

right, right, right.

JENN:

And when it's not windy, then we're getting it from other sources as well.

INMA:

The, we meals work the same way.

INMA:

They has a big batteries that get the energy tip there.

INMA:

So when he's not windy, we hear in Scotland, we have a lot of

INMA:

energy that comes from when it's windy most of the time.

INMA:

So, but know the energy is kept in battery.

INMA:

So that's where we take you from, from batteries, the sun

INMA:

and the wind just recharged.

JENN:

So it accumulates and it gets stored in the batteries.

JENN:

And then we use it.

JENN:

It gets put back into the grid, right?

JENN:

Sorry.

JENN:

So when you're switching to clean energy for every unit of energy that you take

JENN:

out of the grid, the clean energy gets put back in from these sources, right.

JENN:

From windmills, from, um, uh, solar panels and, uh, and from hydro electric.

INMA:

Yes.

INMA:

As well.

INMA:

Yeah, I think it's, we are in the middle of the process of changing.

INMA:

So it's not perfect.

INMA:

Because we still have a degree too, in case that there is too many days with

INMA:

no sign and the batteries kind of get charged or whatever, but it's not perfect

INMA:

yet, but I think it's getting better.

JENN:

And so I wonder how we can change that myth.

JENN:

What can we do to help people think a little bit differently about

JENN:

this energy not being efficient?

JENN:

If there's no sun or there's no wind.

INMA:

Well, do you remember when mobiles had at the beginning, I remember mobilize

INMA:

had these, these little solar panels on the mobile and they charge with this.

JENN:

Mobile phones,

INMA:

mobile phones.

JENN:

Oh yeah, that's true.

JENN:

I forgot about that.

JENN:

And that was a long time.

INMA:

Well, that's, that's how they used to work.

INMA:

So they used to do charge like, like if you were plugging them in the.

INMA:

So they charge it and they have through to, to be told that they didn't have much

INMA:

long dividers didn't have much time or like, but they that's in a biggest kale.

INMA:

That's how the principal work.

INMA:

Right, right.

INMA:

I think.

INMA:

Yeah.

JENN:

So it's just talking about it a little bit more and helping people to

JENN:

understand that it takes a number of.

JENN:

Format to store up the batteries to get the battery stored.

JENN:

And it's just one piece, right?

JENN:

The, the, the wind power, the solar power or the hydro-power, they all

JENN:

work in concert with each other.

INMA:

Yes.

INMA:

And it's working in the line of eventually to get, to be a hundred percent.

INMA:

Right.

JENN:

So we're in progress there, but it's a, it's a good thing to start.

JENN:

I wonder about solar panels.

JENN:

There's a person who lives down the street, who has a shed and on the

JENN:

roof of the shed, they have solar panels and we have a lot of rain here.

JENN:

And so it's not very sunny a lot of the time, but I expect that those solar panels

JENN:

work really hard when it is sunny out.

INMA:

Yes.

INMA:

And my grandfather changed it to solar panels.

INMA:

And months ago, and same here, here is not very sunny very often.

INMA:

And actually he's working better than he saw.

JENN:

Oh yeah.

JENN:

Good.

JENN:

Yeah.

JENN:

Good.

JENN:

Yeah.

JENN:

So does he, does he use that energy himself or does he

JENN:

sell it back to the grid?

JENN:

Because I know you can sell your energy back if he,

INMA:

and the moment he's using it for himself at the moment, I guess at

INMA:

some point when he learned how to do that, He will send it back to the, just

INMA:

using it himself, making it, making his tea from tower warm shower this time.

JENN:

Well, I hope we've helped people to, uh, have this conversation and

JENN:

learn a little bit more about this myth that renewable energy can only

JENN:

work when it's not cloudy or windy.

JENN:

That's that's not true.

INMA:

It's not true.

INMA:

Thank you.

JENN:

Thanks, Emma.

JENN:

You've been listening to Karbon sessions, a podcast with carbon

JENN:

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JENN:

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JENN:

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JENN:

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JENN:

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JENN:

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JENN:

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JENN:

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JENN:

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JENN:

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JENN:

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JENN:

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