Brouwer quoted in solar energy article

In an article in the Orange County Register, AirUCI faculty Jack Brouwer is taking issue with potential changes to solar energy policy that encourages rooftop panels but neglects energy storage.  California is reviewing its solar incentive program at the urging of large utility companies, who argue that non-solar customers unfairly foot the bill.  Proponents of green energy want to increase the state's solar generation, but a problem with increasing the rooftop capacity is that most of the excess energy is sent back to the power grid during the middle of the day, when demand for power is lowest.  “You have so many people installing solar that the electricity it produces costs the utilities money to manage it in the middle of the day,” Jack says.  “People are playing games with solar policy when they know it’s not sustainable until we have long-term storage.  Until the utilities find a a way to cheaply store energy long term, they will not want more solar in the middle of the day.”  Read the article