= Solution
Distributed generation changes the shape of infrastructure rather than eliminating it. A $1$ GW <power> station is large, but supplying a national mean demand of tens of gigawatts from smaller intermittent generators still requires transmission, distribution, <power> conversion, forecasting, balancing and often storage or dispatchable reserve. Geographic diversity can reduce weather correlations only if <power> can move between regions.
For scale, delivering $30$ GW through a network is a continuous transfer of $30$ billion joules each second. Even a distributed average installation of $3$ kW per household needs ten million participating households to reach that <power>, before allowing for <capacity factor>. Solar roofs can reduce some local flows while export peaks or winter deficits increase others. District <heat>, offshore wind connections, interconnectors and fuel transport also have economies of scale.
Large centralized assets can introduce single-point failure, slow construction and financing risk; modular systems can be installed incrementally and offer local control. Conversely, network reinforcement and seasonal adequacy cannot be inferred from the size of an individual panel. A defensible conclusion is that an effective mix may combine small generators with large shared infrastructure. The categorical claim that large-scale infrastructure has become obsolete does not follow from the existence of distributed generation.
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