2. Basics and characteristics of wind and solar intermittency

In what follows, we'll refer to installed capacity (P _inst ) for wind power as the wind farm's declared capacity, and for solar power as its peak capacity. These outputs are compared with the outputs P actually delivered to the grid at any given time, or on average over a given period (day, week, month, year). They are expressed in MW or GW. Energy production is expressed in MWh, GWh or TWh. We also use the notion of load factor, which refers to wind or solar power performance specific to a given location or country, irrespective of installed capacity. It is the ratio between the energy delivered over a given period and the product...