Surely this article is joking. a 44 MW help when GW are connected is not going to do much at all. I don't know what the total consumption in SA was, but probably not all that much. This is only about 1000 cars worth of battery, and it saved the day? I suggest it was the industrial load shedding of aluminium heating which really did the trick.


I would be very surprised if the solar in the UK was anything like you suggest Mike, on a nice clear sunny day in summer it could probably make the whole 40GW worth. Really? In winter the solar is a small fraction of a clear sun summer day, or perhaps they have shifted the cells to the equator somewhere. Note really bright sunlight on equator perhaps 300W output per m2, about 3000 m2 /MW, so we need about 450,000,000 sq metres or 45,000 hectares. In the UK now you would be lucky to get 50W, so 250,000 Hectares. Where are they, all 45,000 hectares of active surface for 40 GW! I rather doubt there are more than 50 Ha total.

Surely this article is joking. a 44 MW help when GW are connected is not going to do much at all. I don't know what the total consumption in SA was, but probably not all that much. This is only about 1000 cars worth of battery, and it saved the day? I suggest it was the industrial load shedding of aluminium heating which really did the trick.


I would be very surprised if the solar in the UK was anything like you suggest Mike, on a nice clear sunny day in summer it could probably make the whole 40GW worth. Really? In winter the solar is a small fraction of a clear sun summer day, or perhaps they have shifted the cells to the equator somewhere. Note really bright sunlight on equator perhaps 300W output per m2, about 3000 m2 /MW, so we need about 450,000,000 sq metres or 45,000 hectares. In the UK now you would be lucky to get 50W, so 250,000 Hectares. Where are they, all 45,000 hectares of active surface for 40 GW! I rather doubt there are more than 50 Ha total.