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hail storms of that nature destroy many things, not just green energy sources

We're increasingly starting to see one of the "problems" of solar here in California. The duck curve:

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=56880



It's what happens when solar energy generates the bulk of its power in the middle of the day, but peak energy demand is later in the day when solar energy generation is tailing off.

The duck curve presents two challenges related to increasing solar energy adoption. The first challenge is grid stress. The extreme swing in demand for electricity from conventional power plants from midday to late evenings, when energy demand is still high but solar generation has dropped off, means that conventional power plants (such as natural gas-fired plants) must quickly ramp up electricity production to meet consumer demand. That rapid ramp up makes it more difficult for grid operators to match grid supply (the power they are generating) with grid demand in real time. In addition, if more solar power is produced than the grid can use, operators might have to curtail solar power to prevent overgeneration.

The other challenge is economic. The dynamics of the duck curve can challenge the traditional economics of dispatchable power plants because the factors contributing to the curve reduce the amount of time a conventional power plant operates, which results in reduced energy revenues. If the reduced revenues make the plants uneconomical to maintain, the plants may retire without a dispatchable replacement. Less dispatchable electricity makes it harder for grid managers to balance electricity supply and demand in a system with wide swings in net demand.

I used quotes around "problem" for a reason, because there IS a solution. The solution, of course, is energy storage, but batteries are expensive, environmentally "dirty" in their own right, and the scale of batteries required is massive (other large-scale energy storage ideas are floated, such as gravitational storage, but little to none actually in use), and so storage is not being deployed anywhere NEAR as fast as solar generation.

But it highlights that the technological area where we need to be spending time, if we want to make wind & solar a REAL solution, is in energy storage. Generation is the easy part. Generation when and where it's needed is harder.

Recycling solar panels is certainly expensive but the article makes it sound impossible, which it isn't.

As "down" as I am on the potential for truly revolutionary change in battery technology, I am far more positive in society's collective ability, and desire, eventually to be able to recycle solar panels at very close to 100%, and over time the costs will come down as technology improves and economies of scale kick in.

It'd be nice, and IMHO would produce an even bigger impact, if we could also figure out how to economically recycle the batteries. 

It'd be nice, and IMHO would produce an even bigger impact, if we could also figure out how to economically recycle the batteries.

Agree 100%.

yes, the grid itself needs to be upgraded and get smarter to handle the different sources and management
obviously this will take time & money

The grid isn't the problem, and making it "smarter" whatever that means isn't a solution.

The fact that the time solar energy is being produced at the highest rate, and the time at which electricity is in highest demand, don't match, that's the problem.

Storing that electricity so it's available at a different part of the day is hard.

The grid isn't the problem, and making it "smarter" whatever that means isn't a solution.

The fact that the time solar energy is being produced at the highest rate, and the time at which electricity is in highest demand, don't match, that's the problem.

Storing that electricity so it's available at a different part of the day is hard.

and $$$

Lots of people set their AC to kick up a quitting time. After an hour commute (5 miles in LA) both ways, the EV needs charging. Then you fire up the electric stove, oven or grill so you can cook. While doing that, you throw clothes in the electric dryer.

Yep. Although anyone with a brain will set their EV to charge later in their evening after peak. Especially if they only spent an hour traveling 5 miles each way and don't need to charge THAT much 

But at that time of the day, hordes of people go from where they are centralized in offices and their electricity demand is on a per-person basis lower, to their homes, where everyone turns on their lights, their AC, their televisions, etc. 

And in the summer here, you've still got a few hours of daylight (and heat) before it gets cool enough to knock off the AC and open the windows. Today I probably won't be able to do that until sometime between 7 and 8 PM: