4 ms·

Solar is generally moving away from decentralized consumer Solar to more industrial levels given the decreased maintenance burden. Why do we believe Tesla is on

by xkjkls 7y ago

Solar is generally moving away from decentralized consumer Solar to more industrial levels given the decreased maintenance burden. Why do we believe Tesla is on the right side of this?

AnthonyMouse 7y ago
I don't know if it's fair to say that it's moving away from decentralized installations. There were a lot of subsidies for home solar when solar wasn't competitive on its own. Now the subsidies are gone but the panels cost less. In the new context a large solar installation connected to the grid is more cost effective if you need a grid for nighttime. The real question is whether batteries will make it so you don't need that. They're currently too expensive for that, but they're also declining in price. So if batteries get cheap enough that you can run your home from local panels and batteries without needing the grid, the cost of needing to keep the grid when you could otherwise not have it anymore makes the centralization lose its cost advantage.
natmaka 7y ago
In many nations solar power is subsidized, more often than not in an administratively burdening way (paperwork!), and subsidies/regulation were frequently modified, discouraging the average citizen. A prominent case is France. This is IMHO at least partly crony capitalism at work. However it is only temporary and doesn't magically suppress benefits tied to local production.
- xkjkls 7y ago
  Industrial solar generally has much less maintenance costs than distributed. There’s some exceptions, Hawaii for instance, but it’s very expensive to have to constantly maintain solar panels in peoples homes in ways that industrial solar isn’t
  - natmaka 7y ago
    Many setups I saw (PV) are mainly maintained by being washed by rain, and I fail to understand why the maintenance of a (non obsolete) home solar panel would be expensive (neglecting vandalism/theft)(?) Moreover energy produced by solar panels in homes is locally consumed, therefore there is no maintenance (nor any non-neglectable cost or loss) related to distribution (they are non neglectable).
    - xkjkls 7y ago
      Solar panels and accompanying equipment break. It’s much easier to maintain a centralized installation than having people need to travel for service.
      - natmaka 7y ago
        Home thermo solar (solar water heating) sometimes breaks (pump...) but a home setup is so simple many owners can repair it themselves, and nearly all can easily find a local serviceman, a competent plumber can tackle most problems. As for photovoltaic a home system seems very robust to me, even serious hail cannot damage it (some windshields will break under it way before the panels!). I completely fail to see even a single and most prominent problem. In a sunny geographical zones there usually are many user, and a is local service offering.

by xkjkls 7y ago

Solar is generally moving away from decentralized consumer Solar to more industrial levels given the decreased maintenance burden. Why do we believe Tesla is on the right side of this?

AnthonyMouse 7y ago

I don't know if it's fair to say that it's moving away from decentralized installations. There were a lot of subsidies for home solar when solar wasn't competitive on its own. Now the subsidies are gone but the panels cost less. In the new context a large solar installation connected to the grid is more cost effective if you need a grid for nighttime. The real question is whether batteries will make it so you don't need that. They're currently too expensive for that, but they're also declining in price. So if batteries get cheap enough that you can run your home from local panels and batteries without needing the grid, the cost of needing to keep the grid when you could otherwise not have it anymore makes the centralization lose its cost advantage.

natmaka 7y ago

In many nations solar power is subsidized, more often than not in an administratively burdening way (paperwork!), and subsidies/regulation were frequently modified, discouraging the average citizen. A prominent case is France. This is IMHO at least partly crony capitalism at work. However it is only temporary and doesn't magically suppress benefits tied to local production.

xkjkls 7y ago
Industrial solar generally has much less maintenance costs than distributed. There’s some exceptions, Hawaii for instance, but it’s very expensive to have to constantly maintain solar panels in peoples homes in ways that industrial solar isn’t
- natmaka 7y ago
  Many setups I saw (PV) are mainly maintained by being washed by rain, and I fail to understand why the maintenance of a (non obsolete) home solar panel would be expensive (neglecting vandalism/theft)(?) Moreover energy produced by solar panels in homes is locally consumed, therefore there is no maintenance (nor any non-neglectable cost or loss) related to distribution (they are non neglectable).
  - xkjkls 7y ago
    Solar panels and accompanying equipment break. It’s much easier to maintain a centralized installation than having people need to travel for service.
    - natmaka 7y ago
      Home thermo solar (solar water heating) sometimes breaks (pump...) but a home setup is so simple many owners can repair it themselves, and nearly all can easily find a local serviceman, a competent plumber can tackle most problems. As for photovoltaic a home system seems very robust to me, even serious hail cannot damage it (some windshields will break under it way before the panels!). I completely fail to see even a single and most prominent problem. In a sunny geographical zones there usually are many user, and a is local service offering.