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A Powerwall helps with being able to store charge for yourself. It'd be awesome to share power directly with neighbors, too. You could always install your own

A Powerwall helps with being able to store charge for yourself. It'd be awesome to share power directly with neighbors, too. You could always install your own cable, right? Doesn't seem like the power company would even need to be involved.

taneq 9y ago
In Australia at least, there are regulations against installing power cabling that goes between premises (unless you're a power company, of course).
- hodgesrm 9y ago
  Same in California. The rule is that the cabling can't cross a street. So actually you could provide power to neighbors within in the block but not the next one.
  - taneq 9y ago
    We're not even allowed to run cable between two adjacent properties owned by the same company. (A former employer of mine got around this with a "temporary" 3-phase cable going between the two, but it was regarded as a bit dubious.)
  - cardiffspaceman 9y ago
    In many places the streets form a grid, it's true. You would possibly have only a dozen homes that could be connected. In other places, the streets are arranged as a tree with cul-de-sacs as the leaves. An island of acreage could emerge in such developments where you could visit dozens of homes without crossing a street.
- ClassyJacket 9y ago
  Yep, they're so strict that the National Broadband Network was worried that simply powering distribution point units for Fibre-to-the-Curb internet would break those rules.
- usrusr 9y ago
  I suppose that it's a good idea to take precautions against accidentally running multiple AC devices in the same room that might be connected to very different branches of the AC distribution network. An AC connection is not the internet, where you can safely make any independent topology change as long as you set up the right routing metrics.
- Gravityloss 9y ago
  So you would need wireless transmission. Hmm, the spectrum is regulated, but there are bands with more freedom...

taneq 9y ago

In Australia at least, there are regulations against installing power cabling that goes between premises (unless you're a power company, of course).

hodgesrm 9y ago
Same in California. The rule is that the cabling can't cross a street. So actually you could provide power to neighbors within in the block but not the next one.
- taneq 9y ago
  We're not even allowed to run cable between two adjacent properties owned by the same company. (A former employer of mine got around this with a "temporary" 3-phase cable going between the two, but it was regarded as a bit dubious.)
- cardiffspaceman 9y ago
  In many places the streets form a grid, it's true. You would possibly have only a dozen homes that could be connected. In other places, the streets are arranged as a tree with cul-de-sacs as the leaves. An island of acreage could emerge in such developments where you could visit dozens of homes without crossing a street.
ClassyJacket 9y ago
Yep, they're so strict that the National Broadband Network was worried that simply powering distribution point units for Fibre-to-the-Curb internet would break those rules.
usrusr 9y ago
I suppose that it's a good idea to take precautions against accidentally running multiple AC devices in the same room that might be connected to very different branches of the AC distribution network. An AC connection is not the internet, where you can safely make any independent topology change as long as you set up the right routing metrics.
Gravityloss 9y ago
So you would need wireless transmission. Hmm, the spectrum is regulated, but there are bands with more freedom...