California's solar energy set power supply record in March

A new estimate from the U.S. government shows that California met its goal to produce about half the state's electricity from renewable sources for three hours on March 11.

The estimate comes from the U.S. Department of Energy's statistics division.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports the division used data from the California Independent System Operator, which manages the electricity grid across 80 percent of California and part of Nevada.

The record was set when almost 40 percent of the electricity flowing across the grid came from large-scale solar power plants.

Factor in electricity produced by area homes and businesses, and solar met about half the overall electricity demand in the middle of the day.

California aims to have 50 percent of all electricity come from renewable sources by 2030.

© 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Citation: California's solar energy set power supply record in March (2017, April 11) retrieved 26 April 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2017-04-california-solar-energy-power.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

High renewable electricity growth continued in 2015

23 shares

Feedback to editors