The mother of all blackouts struck the Iberian Peninsula last week - and the lived-reality of the so-called wind and solar transition hit home. For a few days immediately preceding the inevitable calamity, the wind and sun cult were in raptures - Spain claimed to be running on nothing but sunshine and breezes. Then it … Continue reading Stop These Things’ Weekly Round Up: 4 May 2025
Category: Solar panels snow & ice
All Hail Nuclear: Because Solar Panels Can’t Survive Hailstorms or Hurricanes
Solar panels deliver power for around 6 hours a day, struggle during wet/cloudy weather and a decent hailstorm or hurricane wipes them out completely. Anyone recommending solar power as a solution to our growing need for electrical energy needs their head read. Certain parts of the world suffer regular, violent hailstorms, where hailstones outsize golf … Continue reading All Hail Nuclear: Because Solar Panels Can’t Survive Hailstorms or Hurricanes
Laughable Lightweights: Wind & Solar Can’t Hold Their Own During ‘Extreme’ Weather
When the wind blows hard enough, the turbines will not only rock, they'll hit the deck with quite a thud - all 250 tonnes or so. And what a gale can do to 280m high turbines, a hail storm can do to seas of solar panels in a matter of minutes (see Charles Rotter's piece … Continue reading Laughable Lightweights: Wind & Solar Can’t Hold Their Own During ‘Extreme’ Weather
Wind & Solar Generators Couldn’t Care Less When You’re Freezing In The Dark
Solar panels smothered with snow and ice produce nothing; wind turbines frozen solid during breathless, frigid weather produce even less (they actually consume power from the grid to run heating systems meant to prevent their internal workings suffering permanent damage). So, if you’re sitting freezing in the dark, don’t expect wind and solar power generators … Continue reading Wind & Solar Generators Couldn’t Care Less When You’re Freezing In The Dark
Snow Job: Why Sunshine-Dependent Solar Will Never Provide Meaningful Power
Anyone claiming that solar power is a meaningful power source, has never seen a sunset, and they can’t have never seen a hurricane, hailstorm, or snowfall, or witnessed an icy frost. Because each of those planetary and meteorological events destroys either the panels themselves, or their ability to provide power consumers with electricity. In this … Continue reading Snow Job: Why Sunshine-Dependent Solar Will Never Provide Meaningful Power
High Winds & Hailstones Destroy Solar Panels/Hot Weather Destroys Their Output
Solar panels are not the most robust of power generation sources. A blanket of snow and ice readily kills their occasional, sunshine-dependent output. They tend not to appreciate gale-force winds (see above) and hailstones of any substance are usually fatal (see below). A few weeks ago, STT reported on a burst of hot weather in … Continue reading High Winds & Hailstones Destroy Solar Panels/Hot Weather Destroys Their Output
Nuclear & Coal-Fired Power Saves Germany From Self-Inflicted Wind & Solar Disaster
Vlad Putin can’t be blamed for blanketing Germany’s millions of solar panels in snow and ice, or freezing solid their 30,000 wind turbines. Nor can Vlad be convicted for this (and every previous) winter’s long periods of gloomy, windless weather - ‘dunkelflaute’, as Germans call it. No, Germany’s current energy catastrophe is the perfectly predictable … Continue reading Nuclear & Coal-Fired Power Saves Germany From Self-Inflicted Wind & Solar Disaster
Snowed Under: Solar Power Output Collapses Under Blanket of Snow & Ice
It's not just sunset that sends solar power output to the floor; dust, ice and snow do an equally good job, demonstrating that solar power is, and will always be, utterly useless as a meaningful power source for businesses and households that require power as and when they need it. Solar is simply incapable of … Continue reading Snowed Under: Solar Power Output Collapses Under Blanket of Snow & Ice
Frozen Wind Turbines & Solar Panels Leave Thousands of Americans Freezing In The Dark
Far from threatening human existence, coal and gas have, once again, literally saved thousands of American lives. A bout of what is now known as ‘extreme weather’ demonstrates how extremely stupid it is to rely upon sunshine and breezes for power. During December’s Big Freeze, millions of America’s solar panels were carpeted in snow and … Continue reading Frozen Wind Turbines & Solar Panels Leave Thousands of Americans Freezing In The Dark
Continued Reliance On Wind & Solar Leaves Texans Vulnerable to More Mass Blackouts
Total collapses in wind and solar output during last year’s big freeze meant that hundreds of Texans froze to death. 12 months on and, apparently, little’s been learnt. During America’s big freeze last February, wind turbines were frozen solid across Texas and breathless frigid conditions that meant the remainder delivered no power, in any event. … Continue reading Continued Reliance On Wind & Solar Leaves Texans Vulnerable to More Mass Blackouts