“Man is blind until given a metaphor that permits him to see.” (Euripides 450 BC)
The grid is a very large and complex system and to help us fathom its awesomeness, we are constantly bombarded by metaphors and analogies. Unfortunately, some of these are inaccurate, misleading and can lead to profound errors in judgment.
As an example, the grid is often described as being the internet of energy and with distributed generation, it should follow Metcafe’s law. (the value of the network is the square of the number of interconnected nodes). This is absurd. In an information network, information can be consumed without being destroyed. Many people can consume the same information. Copying and forwarding is basically free. Energy is a physical phenomenon. If one node of the network consumes the energy, it is no longer available for any other node. Physical networks are much more complicated because the consumption or generation of a physical phenomenon at one node, changes the entire network operation. To illustrate the difference. If I have an information network (Metcafe’s Law) of 10 interconnected nodes, the “VALUE” of that network is 10 squared or 100. If I have a 10 node physical energy network the “COMPLEXITY” is equal to the N Factorial of the number of interconnecting nodes. So, for this 10 node energy network the “COMPLEXITY” is 10*9*8*7*6*5*4*3*2*1 = 3,628,800.
Image how this changes your perception of the challenges and value of the energy transition. I titled this post “Moore’s Flaw” in reference to Moore’s law. I apologize to Moore. It is the application of his law to the price curves of renewables that is just insane. The two domains have virtually nothing in common and lead us to make dangerous extrapolations. Please take the time to understand the grid as a system. Not just what some pundit wants you to believe.