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Comment by dgacmu | Hacker News Reader

Yup, absolutely. Places with high energy costs due to being geographically isolated / without a lot of local energy resources have always struck me as some of the best initial places for solar+battery.

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I worked on a solar project a number of years back that was one of the first that was actually independently financially sustainable. It was in west Texas in an area that had a highly distributed population and very hot summers. So the existing energy sources were already higher than normal and had the added dimension of spiking demand. Perfect environment for solar to be competitive.

Except the politics of texas being pro oil and anti-renewable?

Texas is certainly pro-oil but it's also a top state for renewable electricity production. It has the most installed wind power of any state and is number two for solar power, behind only California:

https://windexchange.energy.gov/maps-data/321

https://www.statista.com/statistics/183531/renewables-in-the...

In most states, with regulated utility monopolies that present a very limited menu of options for regulators to select from, the politics of the utility management and the regulatory board are important drivers on the generation mix. But also profit, and utilities make more profit with higher prices under the regulated monopoly model.

In Texas, with an open market for generators, profit is the primary driver of the generation mix. But the difference is electricity generators make more profit with lower cost generation methods, the exact opposite of regulated utilities.

> politics of texas being pro oil and anti-renewable

Pro-profit is an irresistible force against most other forces

You are correct. They regularly pass laws and regulations with the clear intent to hobble renewables rollout.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/power-grid-adviso...

They'd likely be doing much better if not for that.

I know I am correct, why is why getting -4 karma shows how silly HN is

Add to that a place that is close enough to the equator that there are no drastic seasonal shifts in PV production.

In the sub/tropics, usually there are only two seasons: wet and dry. During wet season, how much is PV production affected?

My understanding is rain/clouds don't drastically affect energy production, and sometimes the first rains can work to clear some dirt and debris off.

Generally you get less than 1/3 of ideal conditions during rain. Overcast less than 2/3 of ideal.

In Hawaii, each island has a dry side and a wet side. You can site grid-scale solar on the dry side.

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