Source: Politico

Excerpt:

Rooftop solar is chipping away at the accepted narratives on how to keep the electric grid reliable.

The expansion of solar panels on New England roofs is helping keep the lights on during winter, rendering at least one fossil fuel power plant unnecessary, writes Benjamin Storrow.

Rooftop solar’s knight-in-shining-armor debut comes amid a growing national debate over the growth of carbon-free power sources like wind and solar and their impact on the nation’s strained electric grid. Grid regulators have warned that as coal and natural gas plants retire in increasing numbers, large swaths of the country could face a heightened risk of blackouts during heat waves and winter storms.

But the finding in New England is changing regulators’ view of rooftop solar, which has historically been dismissed as a small, unpredictable source of energy.

Read more: How solar is saving New England’s grid