IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 72
By George C. Loehr
O
ON 21 AUGUST 2017, THE UNITED STATES
will experience one of the most amazing phenomena imaginable. A total eclipse of the
sun will occur, and essentially everyone in
the contiguous 48 states will experience it to
some extent. What's more, the so-called "path
of totality" will stretch from coast to coast-
Oregon to South Carolina (Figure 1). It's
likely that more people will experience this
solar eclipse than any in history. The approximately 12 million people who live within the
70-mi-wide path of totality, plus the thousands more who'll travel sometimes very long
distances, will see a once-in-a-lifetime event:
the disk of the moon completely and exactly
blocking the disk of the sun. Assuming they
have clear skies, of course!
Nevertheless, those of us who are involved
in the operation or management of electric
power systems in North America may have
good reason to be concerned. On 20 March
2015, a solar eclipse occurred in heavily populated Europe. How did it affect the European
power systems, and what can we learn from
their experience?
The Physics of an Eclipse
To understand, we need to explore some of
the physics of an eclipse. A solar eclipse
occurs when the sun, moon, and Earth line
up perfectly, specifically, when the moon is
positioned precisely between the sun and the
A Fine Day
for an Eclipse
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2016.2593765
Date of publication: 19 October 2016
72
ieee power & energy magazine
1540-7977/16©2016IEEE
november/december 2016
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - Cover1
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - Cover2
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 1
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 2
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 3
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 4
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 5
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 6
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 7
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 8
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 9
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 10
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 11
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 12
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 13
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 14
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 15
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 16
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 17
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 18
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 19
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 20
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 21
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 22
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 23
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 24
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 25
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 26
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 27
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 28
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 29
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 30
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 31
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 32
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 33
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 34
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 35
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 36
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 37
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 38
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 39
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 40
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 41
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 42
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 43
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 44
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 45
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 46
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 47
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 48
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 49
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 50
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 51
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 52
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 53
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 54
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 55
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 56
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 57
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 58
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 59
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 60
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 61
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 62
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 63
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 64
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 65
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 66
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 67
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 68
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 69
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 70
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 71
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 72
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 73
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 74
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 75
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 76
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 77
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 78
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 79
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 80
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 81
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 82
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 83
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 84
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 85
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 86
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 87
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 88
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 89
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 90
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 91
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 92
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 93
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 94
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 95
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - 96
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - Cover3
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - November/December 2016 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_091020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_070820
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_050620
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_030420
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_010220
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_111219
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_091019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_070819
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_050619
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_030419
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_010219
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_111218
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_091018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_070818
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_050618
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_030418
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_010218
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_111217
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_091017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_070817
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_050617
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_030417
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_010217
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_111216
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_091016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_070816
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_050616
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_030416
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_010216
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/powerenergy_010216
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_111215
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_091015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_070815
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_050615
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_030415
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_010215
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_111214
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_091014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_070814
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_050614
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_030414
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pes/powerenergy_010214
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com