Solar is more efficient in the cold even if the sunlight is less intense. Wind power is probably a good option too provided they can solve the icing problem.
Solar is not the solution for Alaska’s load. Alaska is a solidly winter peaking usage and a very noticable dropoff in the summer. Wintertime, when there is the most usage, we have about 5 hours of daylight.
In the summer, we have plenty of daylight and very little electrical usage in comparison. Most people do not have ACs up here so unless electric cars and ACs start becoming much more popular, solar has the chance to do more harm than good to the grid during the summer.
I am all for renewables but solar is not the renewable Alaska should be focusing on.
Spoiler: They won’t. This is the state that brought us “drill baby drill”. 🤷♂️
