THE myth that solar power is unreliable because clouds sometimes cover the sun has been dispelled by a world-first report produced by the CSIRO.
While clouds or rainy weather drastically reduce the amount of electricity produced by solar panels, intelligent management of the power grid means panels and mirrors should still supply 40 per cent of the nation's energy in the future, the report said.
"People are worried about the reliability with little evidence, and that is limiting solar," said Glenn Platt, a senior researcher in local energy systems at the CSIRO. "Solar intermittency is not an issue at the moment, but when it does become an issue there are solutions available to deal with it."