Originally Posted by
Chronos
That depends on the area: "temperate" covers a wide range. Energy usage varies by season, but which way does it vary? Around here (Cleveland), people use much more energy in the winter, because our winters are cold, and our summers are moderate. In the southern US, however, winters are comfortable, but air conditioning is needed in the summer, so more energy is used in the summer. And the places where energy use is higher in the summer tend to be the places that are better suited to solar power to begin with.
I think it's an all too common mistake to try to find The Solution. Solar isn't The Solution. Nor is wind, nor nuclear, nor any single technology you can think of, because there is no one single solution. The solution is actually a combination of all of the solutions. Build more solar, where it makes sense. Build wind turbines, where they make sense. Increase efficiency everywhere we can. Increase flexibility via smart metering, to mitigate the unpredictability of wind and solar. If you happen to be in one of the few areas where tide power or geothermal is practical, use that too. Continue using fossil fuels where you absolutely must, but mitigate them as much as possible with carbon sequestration elsewhere. And so on.