Photovoltaic panels can only produce power when the sun is shining. Similarly, wind turbines cannot produce electricity when there is no wind.  If we have to abandon fossil fuels and nuclear power, where does the power come from when there is no wind, and the sun has already set down?

Luckily, there are a number of alternative solutions to the problem. Some of them also constitute an answer to the closely related dilemma of what to do with the spare electricity whenever solar panels or windmills are producing too much power.

The Indian Government proposed one very simple solution to the problem in the Conference of the Parties of the international climate change convention in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021: let’s just construct larger power grids.

The new HVDC or High-Voltage Direct Current technology makes it possible to transmit very large amounts of electric power for very long distances with insignificant losses, amounting to only a few percent for 5 000 kilometers or so.

India’s One Sun, One World, One Grid initiative pointed out, that problems related to wind and solar electricity would become much smaller if all the world’s countries would work together to construct a global power grid. Vast amounts of solar power could then be transmitted along the Earth’s East-West-axis, from regions where the Sun is still shining to areas where it has already set down. Similarly, wind power could be transmitted from areas where the wind is blowing to areas of calm weather.