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Grid battery storage is a pretty mediocre solution to variability in supply from renewables except in a few cases (e.g. where pumped water storage is readily av

Grid battery storage is a pretty mediocre solution to variability in supply from renewables except in a few cases (e.g. where pumped water storage is readily available). It's expensive and inefficient. Market driven demand side flexibility is not very well tapped, doesn't require any technological leaps and there's a lot of room for improvement there. For example: * Aluminum smelting plants that vary their usage depending on spot cost (actually already happening in Germany). * Smart electric storage heaters that turn on when electricity is cheap. * Smart electric vehicle chargers that take electricity spot price and current charge levels in to account when deciding when and how much to charge. * Hell, even bitcoin miners.

toomuchtodo 8y ago
When there are millions of EVs on the road charging by day at workplaces and discharging at night at consumer homes, I don’t think they’ll be observed as mediocre solutions.
- sfsafsaf 8y ago
  And killing the car's battery with extra cycles and leaving the commuter with an uncharged battery in the morning.
  - toomuchtodo 8y ago
    Tesla battery longevity data shows this isn’t a concern. You’re not going to deep cycle the battery every night, and while I can’t speak to other auto manufactures, Tesla will be increasing their pack sizes, allowing for more “spare capacity “. Or we’re going to subsidize residential storage (such as the 50k home project in Australia).
  - tachyonbeam 8y ago
    Two things: 1. Cars have very very large batteries. You'd be hard-pressed to use more than a third of the capacity of a high-end Tesla Model S over night (100 KWh!). Sure, maybe you're driving a Nissan Leaf and its battery is only a third of that capacity, but in a few years 100 KWh might actually be common. What if you want your car battery to be at 100% in the morning so you can go on a roadtrip? Just make sure your car is aware of it. 2. There's going to be a marked for used batteries from old, retired electric cars. You might only need 20-40 KWh of remaining capacity to live comfortably in a fully off-the-grid solar setup.
dd36 8y ago
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/nevada-beat-arizona-record-low-solar-ppa-price https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/nevada-beat-ari...

toomuchtodo 8y ago

When there are millions of EVs on the road charging by day at workplaces and discharging at night at consumer homes, I don’t think they’ll be observed as mediocre solutions.

sfsafsaf 8y ago
And killing the car's battery with extra cycles and leaving the commuter with an uncharged battery in the morning.
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  Tesla battery longevity data shows this isn’t a concern. You’re not going to deep cycle the battery every night, and while I can’t speak to other auto manufactures, Tesla will be increasing their pack sizes, allowing for more “spare capacity “. Or we’re going to subsidize residential storage (such as the 50k home project in Australia).
- tachyonbeam 8y ago
  Two things: 1. Cars have very very large batteries. You'd be hard-pressed to use more than a third of the capacity of a high-end Tesla Model S over night (100 KWh!). Sure, maybe you're driving a Nissan Leaf and its battery is only a third of that capacity, but in a few years 100 KWh might actually be common. What if you want your car battery to be at 100% in the morning so you can go on a roadtrip? Just make sure your car is aware of it. 2. There's going to be a marked for used batteries from old, retired electric cars. You might only need 20-40 KWh of remaining capacity to live comfortably in a fully off-the-grid solar setup.

dd36 8y ago

https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/nevada-beat-arizona-record-low-solar-ppa-price https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/nevada-beat-ari...