NASA and the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity are anticipating quite a stir when a total solar eclipse hits the continent on Friday, March 20.
The European skies will darken at approximately 9:45 a.m. UT, which will be 5:45 a.m. ET, and will block 98 percent of the Sun’s light—a feat that hasn’t occurred since 1999. With so much blackness surrounding the area, Britain’s solar power industry is concerned that the total solar eclipse will cause power disruptions of a grand scale.
For the uninitiated, NASA describes a total solar eclipse as when the Moon’s umbral shadow traverses Earth. Throughout the maximum phase of a total eclipse, the Sun’s disk is completely blocked by the Moon. To viewers on Earth, it appears as if the Sun is muted by the Moon, revealing a faint corona that can be safely viewed to the naked eye.
“Within 30 minutes the solar power production would decrease from 17.5 gigawatts to 6.2GW and then increase again up to 24.6GW,” Patrick Graichen, executive director of the Agora Energiewende, said [subscription required] to the Financial Times. “This means that within 30 minutes the system will have to adapt to a load change of -10GW to +15GW.” Such a “stress test” has been prepared for by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity.
In a post about the impending total solar eclipse, CNBC was told by John Meyer, an analyst at SP Angel, that there is no need to worry.
“You could equally worry about volcanic ash clouds and dust storms,” he said via email. “Solar farms are almost always combined with power from other sources to improve reliability. As a result, we don’t see the event of an eclipse lasting long enough or make much of a difference.”
With less than two weeks left before Europeans (and hopefully some energetic East Coasters) all witness the eclipse, please take these safety precautions into mind before taking a gander.
Photo: Romeo Durscher | Flickr
