It’s logical, right? More solar power capacity = more electricity from solar power. More wind power capacity = more electricity from wind power. Nonetheless, we do attract a fair number of trolls who like to claim that capacity isn’t important, electricity generation is all that matters, and solar and wind power plants don’t produce electricity at 100% of capacity. Indeed, they don’t — no type of power plant does — but the relationship between capacity and electricity production is pretty damn clear, as these two charts from the National Renewable Energy Lab’s Renewable Energy Data Book [PDF] (h/t Pet Danko) show:
US Wind Power Capacity & Generation
US Solar Power Capacity & Generation
Go ahead and file those away in your “Graphs for Trolls” folder.
Electricity from solar power plants and wind power plants is growing fast, and it cuts more and more electricity production from other power plants. So, there’s a lot to cheer about from growing solar and wind power plants!
Keep up with the hottest wind power and solar power news on our wind power and solar power channels, or even subscribe to our wind and solar newsletters.
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
