Comment by Moldoteck
5 hours ago
"greatly alleviating the need for global long-distance transmission" - the need isnt gone. You still need transmission, especially with VRE where you want to distribute generation to capture higher variety of weather.
Getting electricity for some unreliable home usage is one thing and should be pursued if there's no viable alternative, but the moment you want to go the next step, transmission is a must.
I am thinking Africa, not Northern Europe with winter, snow and weeks of overcast.
In tropics/subtropics, even during monsoon season, you have plenty of sunlight, the needs for storage and long distance transmission capacities are much lower than in more solar-hostile environments.
> "greatly alleviating the need for global long-distance transmission" - the need isnt gone.
Yes, that's what the word "alleviate" means: less severe, not gone.