Thanks. It was an interesting question, and I enjoyed looking it up.. In the future, the limiting factor for the mass adoption of wind and solar, may be energy storage.
The nation with the highest wind energy usage (% of total electricity) is Denmark. But they have a special situation, which doesn't apply to most other nations. Their grid is attached to the other Scandinavian nations, who have a lot of hydro power. Hydro is perfect, for balancing the supply/demand problems posed by wind and solar energy. Also, Denmark can sell excess electricity to Germany, a much larger market.
In the U.S., the only area with a lot of hydropower, and also a lot of windpower potential, is the Northwest. Even there, it will require an expensive grid upgrade, if wind becomes more than a few % of the total electricity supply.
disclosure: added a CSIQ short at $18.50 to my previous FSLR short at $131. |
