this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2026
24 points (92.9% liked)

Ask Science

15245 readers
75 users here now

Ask a science question, get a science answer.


Community Rules


Rule 1: Be respectful and inclusive.Treat others with respect, and maintain a positive atmosphere.


Rule 2: No harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or trolling.Avoid any form of harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or offensive behavior.


Rule 3: Engage in constructive discussions.Contribute to meaningful and constructive discussions that enhance scientific understanding.


Rule 4: No AI-generated answers.Strictly prohibit the use of AI-generated answers. Providing answers generated by AI systems is not allowed and may result in a ban.


Rule 5: Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.Adhere to community guidelines and comply with instructions given by moderators.


Rule 6: Use appropriate language and tone.Communicate using suitable language and maintain a professional and respectful tone.


Rule 7: Report violations.Report any violations of the community rules to the moderators for appropriate action.


Rule 8: Foster a continuous learning environment.Encourage a continuous learning environment where members can share knowledge and engage in scientific discussions.


Rule 9: Source required for answers.Provide credible sources for answers. Failure to include a source may result in the removal of the answer to ensure information reliability.


By adhering to these rules, we create a welcoming and informative environment where science-related questions receive accurate and credible answers. Thank you for your cooperation in making the Ask Science community a valuable resource for scientific knowledge.

We retain the discretion to modify the rules as we deem necessary.


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Battery technology is ready for solar on the grid too.

The science is absolutely there, but manufacturing definitely isn't. Making PV panels is so cheap and solar power is so popular, we've had 581 hours of negative electricity costs in the Netherlands in 2025. That's basically 6 hours a day through the whole summer. Ironically, solar panels becomming cheap and plentiful is making it unprofitable to create place more solar panels because their most productive time is actually costing money. We're actually getting close to the point where connecting a solar panel will cost you money if you supply directly to the market (which most consumers don't, but that just means someone else pays for the losses).

It's honestly absurd, since placing another solar panel WILL help reduce demand on non-renewable sources off-peak as well, but how the market works is actively working against burning less fossil fuels. And of course, battery parks need some serious infrastructure, which you also can't exactly just plop down.

Installing batteries is the perfect solution for that, but it's very slow going. And even batteries won't fix the summer/winter power production problem.