3 ms·
Hello fellow south australian! I agree completely with everything you said. One thing you left out though is the very real possibility of an electricity utilit
by sho 7y ago
Hello fellow south australian! I agree completely with everything you said.
One thing you left out though is the very real possibility of an electricity utility death spiral, as the (wilfully) rising grid costs combine with obligation of supply and the declining cost of solar self-sufficiency meet on an economic collision course.
The cost of a tesla powerwall in SA right now is about $10k. One or two of these combined with an average size roof PV array will run you about AUD$20-30k. For people used to a quarterly power bill of $1k+ this is an absolute no-brainer. Even if you don't have the money up front it's an easy loan that simply pays itself off, then it's nothing but upside.
Right now that payback period is 5-10 years but as the tech progresses that will decrease. Once the price tag to substantially remove electricity bills from your life reaches $10k or so everyone will do it and the utilities are fucked. Hell, I can envisage neighbourhood power co-ops. I know someone with so much extra power they have no idea what to do with it. They air condition their garage 24/7!
Perhaps a startup opportunity there coordinating and organising "local sourced" power. There would be hardware involved but I know at least 5 people who would love to be able to sell power to their neighbours. Someone just needs to remove all the friction.
- BLKNSLVR 7y agoI think the concept of micro-grids is the likely direction. The grid itself is too useful to give up, and it's "there". This may be analogous to the co-op that you're suggesting. I think there are already companies that allow you to share your power like that. If I find a link I'll post it. The grid will become the backup for when there is a local issue with your system, that's my take from a very shallow amount of reading.
- krumpinjugger 7y agoThe grid is also important to stabilise the frequency of the grid. The inertia of the spinning rotors from the generator helps to counteract the increase in frequency causes by large amounts of export power from the solar inverters
- EGreg 7y agoYes! I said a few years ago that we will need decentralization in power grids and mesh networks around the world, not just in software. It will also help prevent a Carrington event and survive an EMP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzMm7-j7yIY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzMm7-j7yIY
- krumpinjugger 7y agoThere are startups in NSW/Canberra that are working towards doing exactly what you're talking about. I know for a fact that hardware from these two companies is based on off-the-shelf Raspberry Pis and Beaglebones. https://www.switchdin.com/ https://www.switchdin.com/ https://youtu.be/FKqmj6oUY4g https://youtu.be/FKqmj6oUY4g https://repositpower.com/ https://repositpower.com/
- BLKNSLVR 7y agoNew article on the ABC today: https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-12-03/microgrids-set-to-transform-how-we-use-energy/11756672?pfmredir=ms https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-12-03/microgrids-set-...