Solar, Wind, and Nuclear: Different Strengths and Weaknesses

Some of my colleagues in my “pro-nuke” discussion group are, sadly, fond of bashing renewables; the top players seem to take joy in spreading data that supports their hypothesis that solar and wind are a waste of time and resources. Here’s a chart that presents the capacity factor (the ratio of the actual power delivered to the potential or “nameplate” power capacity) of various energy resources, as they are in use around the globe:

Guys: We didn’t forget that the sun doesn’t shine at night and that the wind doesn’t blow in the same place all the time. That comes with the territory, as they say. But variable resources and low power densities (watts/acre, in this case), while they are not ideal, are not the end of the story for solar and wind, and my colleagues only need look around them to see that this is true. Wind is already almost five percent of the U.S. grid-mix, and is often sold profitably at wholesale prices of $0.03/kWh. Solar, with its precipitous decline in prices, is sold at $0.05/kWh, and is popping up on roofs all over the world, simply because it saves customers’ money.

Do nuclear plants run more hours a day? Do they stand on smaller patches of earth? Yes, and yes. Does that render solar and wind useless? No, and no.