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Since wind and solar are still a small part of our energy grid they are aggregated so that they may be compared with coal stations the principal energy supply. A period of up to 3 years can be selected to compare a particular coal-fired power station. They are compared in terms of capacity factor. When considering such periods a complication is evidenced by the fact that quite often coal-fired power stations have one or more turbines switched off. This makes them appear to be less stable than they in fact are. The capacity factor is calculated on a daily basis by computing the availability of all generators for that day to use in the calculation. This may cause a difference in the calculation comparing to other sites.
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