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Which then makes it more economical to produce your own electricity so more systems get installed, until the power grid just shuts down entirely and everyone is

Which then makes it more economical to produce your own electricity so more systems get installed, until the power grid just shuts down entirely and everyone is self sufficient....

kelnos 7y ago
If we're talking solely about solar, it's not that simple, since on-the-grid residential solar systems only generate power during the day (and not even always the entire day), and then pull power from the grid at night. For full self-sufficiency, you'd need to install battery systems in every house, and ensure that you have enough panels to pull in enough power during daylight hours to charge the batteries enough to cover all the no-sun hours.
- xyzzyz 7y ago
  And for non-Californians, you also need to do something about the problem of not having enough sun power at all during winter, while having greatly increased power needs. Right now, you can work around this problem relatively easily by installing a propane or fuel oil tank, and making up winter shortage of sun with fossils, but as I understand it, the long term plan for society is to get off the fossils altogether.
  - Retric 7y ago
    Solar hot water heaters are currently the solution to that problem. They end up reducing a homes winter energy needs dramatically without the need for fossil fuels at very low costs. Longer term I’d panels keep getting cheaper and more efficient having a significant excess for most of the year is just going to become the norm.
  - greglindahl 7y ago
    California is a big state with a lot of different terrain, including parts at high altitude that get cold in the winter.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
probablypower 7y ago
That sounds ideal, but it fails for a few reasons: 1. When upper middle class people go off grid, it drives up electricity prices for poor people (fewer people paying for the infrasturcture), making them poorer. Adelaide, Australia is a good anecdote for this. 2. People are addicted to near 100% reliable electricity supply. It is far cheaper to achieve this on a regional scale than on a household scale millions of times. 3. The power grid still needs to service all industry and commercial end-users. 4. Individual self-sufficiency is not necessary if we are already sufficient on a regional scale. It only makes sense to do so if your grid electricity is too expensive or unreliable. Self-sufficiency in and of itself is selfish (I got mine!)

Which then makes it more economical to produce your own electricity so more systems get installed, until the power grid just shuts down entirely and everyone is self sufficient....

kelnos 7y ago

If we're talking solely about solar, it's not that simple, since on-the-grid residential solar systems only generate power during the day (and not even always the entire day), and then pull power from the grid at night. For full self-sufficiency, you'd need to install battery systems in every house, and ensure that you have enough panels to pull in enough power during daylight hours to charge the batteries enough to cover all the no-sun hours.

xyzzyz 7y ago
And for non-Californians, you also need to do something about the problem of not having enough sun power at all during winter, while having greatly increased power needs. Right now, you can work around this problem relatively easily by installing a propane or fuel oil tank, and making up winter shortage of sun with fossils, but as I understand it, the long term plan for society is to get off the fossils altogether.
- Retric 7y ago
  Solar hot water heaters are currently the solution to that problem. They end up reducing a homes winter energy needs dramatically without the need for fossil fuels at very low costs. Longer term I’d panels keep getting cheaper and more efficient having a significant excess for most of the year is just going to become the norm.
- greglindahl 7y ago
  California is a big state with a lot of different terrain, including parts at high altitude that get cold in the winter.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

probablypower 7y ago

That sounds ideal, but it fails for a few reasons: 1. When upper middle class people go off grid, it drives up electricity prices for poor people (fewer people paying for the infrasturcture), making them poorer. Adelaide, Australia is a good anecdote for this. 2. People are addicted to near 100% reliable electricity supply. It is far cheaper to achieve this on a regional scale than on a household scale millions of times. 3. The power grid still needs to service all industry and commercial end-users. 4. Individual self-sufficiency is not necessary if we are already sufficient on a regional scale. It only makes sense to do so if your grid electricity is too expensive or unreliable. Self-sufficiency in and of itself is selfish (I got mine!)