

Monday's eclipse will cause significant challenges for California only because California relies largely on locally-generated electricity and local generation will be substantially reduced. However it turns out that lack of power during solar eclipses would not in fact be one of those problems.
#Connect ps3 controller to pc using better ds3 windows 10 how to
Here, the opportunity to build a universal power system reducing environmental damage from hydrocarbons, atomic generators, or dams, might also seem to bring a new problem: how to power the whole planet during rare times when a solar eclipse is happening and no backup systems are available.Ĭlearly, a world-wide electrical system would be a major change from present arrangements, bringing the possibility of important and unfortunate side effects. Conversely, opportunities are usually accompanied by new problems. When a problem arises, it likely brings with it new opportunities, or perhaps perception of opportunities not previously noticed. The situation is an excellent example of what I call the "Dilematunity Principle": opportunities and problems rarely exist in isolation from each other. And the bigger the change an action will produce, the bigger the possible problems with unexpected side effects. High voltage direct current (HVDC) and possibly superconductivity would minimize losses caused by long-distance transmission.īut what if my proposed system had been built, with all atomic, coal, and gas plants torn down? What if hydroelectric dams had been demolished to protect fish, as some environmental enthusiasts have advocated? With no backup generators, what would happen during solar eclipses? I had never thought about this.Ĭalifornia's situation illustrates the difficulty of predicting the side-effects of a proposed action. The two hemispheres would be connected at the Bering Strait between Alaska and Siberia, where the hemispheres are only a few dozen miles apart and the ocean is shallow.

Current would flow in the opposite direction 12 hours later.

This system would allow extra electricity generated in the hemisphere where the sun is shining to be shipped to where it is night-time. The network would ultimately allow the world to be powered almost entirely by solar energy, despite the fact that sunlight is not available at night and that storing electricity for nighttime use was (and still may be) uneconomical. Do the math!Ĭalifornians need not fear that their lights and air conditioning will go out, since electrical utilities will crank up gas turbines and hydroelectric dams to make up for the reduced solar energy.Īt first glance this situation might suggest that I reconsider a project I first proposed nearly 50 years ago: to connect the eastern and western hemispheres into a single worldwide electrical network. During this period California will lose nearly a third of its usual electrical supply for that time of day. Although the eclipse will not be total in California, at its peak about 75 percent of the sun will be covered. Recent progress has been so rapid that at certain times of day, 40 percent of California's electricity is being generated by the sun. since we began generating electricity with solar energy.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/turnbluetoothon-668bc9b056a14279aa1031ae0c288365.jpg)
This will be the first solar eclipse affecting the U.S. The problems throw new light on a major solar energy project that I first proposed during the Nixon administration. A fascinating Forbes articlediscusses problems that next Monday's solar eclipse will cause for California's electricity supply.
