Balancing the grid is hard. There has always been waste in the system because running into deficit could cause total collapse. However, there are people looking for good solutions. The grid previously relied on peaker plants, burning fossil fuels during high demand times so most of the time it only what was needed was run. Those plants, in combination with stored hydropower, composed the entire system of dealing with energy fluctuation. With continued advances in clean energy, solutions for both long and short term power storage have been examined, with a keen eye on making it cheaper and easier to store power for later use. Whether only for high demand times, or to balance out larger trends, energy storage provides a powerful aid in converting the grid to clean energy and combating intermittency.

New Solar technology is in the pipeline as solar perovskites are moving from lab to production across the world. Compared to traditional silicon panels, these panels are peaking at more than 28 percent efficiency for turning light into power, versus the record for silicon photovoltaics of 26.7 percent. Additionally, they have the potential for greater flexibility, greater consistency, and lower cost, according to industry experts. This could be the future of solar, and it could be a dominant one.

Reliability of solar is up across the United States, according to major credit rater Fitch. When compared to wind, solar is more likely to reliably generate or outperform expectations. Fitch Ratings, one of the "Big Three credit rating agencies", has recently upgraded 19% of its solar projects, while wind has suffered a net downgrade. Yet another sign of solar's continued spread across the country.

SolBid project underway for Baystate Family Chiropractic Health & Wellness Center in West Springfield. #GoSolar #WestSpringfield #Solar #WesternMass #SolBid

Baystate Family Chiropractic: http://baystatefamilychiro.com

Recent data from the US Department of Energy has shown that Massachusetts is now producing 10% of its total energy from solar.

Despite its relatively low average of sun hours per day compared to other states, Massachusetts can attribute much of its growth thanks to the 30% Federal Tax Incentive, as well as the competitive SREC market.