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Grid attached solar doesn't work without something buffering production. Batteries, pumped storage, conventional power stations, things that benefit hugely fro

Grid attached solar doesn't work without something buffering production. Batteries, pumped storage, conventional power stations, things that benefit hugely from scale. Even if solar was free, the sun still goes down, the clouds still come out.

harlanji 6y ago
Since the pandemic I’ve been effectively off grid in the city. Kind of interesting Recently Verizon cut me off (despite their promise not to) and their agents don’t seem to understand the concept of my not having enough power to call them and wait on hold for a possible resolution. So I’m stuck living off grid with a carrier who I can’t explain the situation to, actually I got a temporary SIM but I still can’t access my phone number. I know it sounds like a sob story. The point of sharing is to emphasize that nobody really understands the ramifications of not having unlimited power available on tap.
- yjftsjthsd-h 6y ago
  > I know it sounds like a sob story. No, it sounds like the intro to a lawsuit. (Although I'm surprised because I thought a cell phone could effectively run purely on solar power if you get any decent sunlight)
- im3w1l 6y ago
  Frankly I can't make sense of your story.
- gruez 6y ago
  I don't get it. You live in the city, but somehow don't have power? Is it because of infrastructure reasons (eg. down power line), or administrative reasons (eg. failure to pay bill)? Also, smartphones have "talk times" of tens of hours[1]. I find it difficult to believe that you're being put on hold for that long. Even if for some reason you're being put on hold for days, you can still use a $20 power bank to get you through. [1] https://www.verizon.com/support/knowledge-base-177479/ https://www.verizon.com/support/knowledge-base-177479/
  - tobinfricke 6y ago
    From his comment history: he is homeless and living in a car.
  - Talanes 6y ago
    My iPhone 8 battery doesn't even have tens of hours of STANDBY time anymore. I can definitely see an older phone battery having trouble with a long call.
- imtringued 6y ago
  The only flaw in your story is that you are posting it on the internet and you are saying that it is still ongoing. There is probably a way to contact them via the internet or maybe with a plain old letter. I'm sure you already tried everything but it is still weird that you are posting about it here.
marcosdumay 6y ago
Batteries don't benefit that much from scale. Large inverters are cheaper (per Watt), but that's pretty much it. Instead, large battery banks have some scale costs too. Cooling is a large one.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
fulafel 6y ago
The article addresses this question.
- cbmuser 6y ago
  It doesn’t really because there is no viable and economic solution for storing large amounts of electricity other than hydro-storage. There is a reason why California and Germany have so many gas power plants or are building new (17 new plants being built in Germany at the moment).
  - adrianN 6y ago
    Yeah, the reason is that Methane and Hydrogen are excellent ways to store large amounts of energy.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]

harlanji 6y ago

Since the pandemic I’ve been effectively off grid in the city. Kind of interesting Recently Verizon cut me off (despite their promise not to) and their agents don’t seem to understand the concept of my not having enough power to call them and wait on hold for a possible resolution. So I’m stuck living off grid with a carrier who I can’t explain the situation to, actually I got a temporary SIM but I still can’t access my phone number. I know it sounds like a sob story. The point of sharing is to emphasize that nobody really understands the ramifications of not having unlimited power available on tap.

yjftsjthsd-h 6y ago
> I know it sounds like a sob story. No, it sounds like the intro to a lawsuit. (Although I'm surprised because I thought a cell phone could effectively run purely on solar power if you get any decent sunlight)
im3w1l 6y ago
Frankly I can't make sense of your story.
gruez 6y ago
I don't get it. You live in the city, but somehow don't have power? Is it because of infrastructure reasons (eg. down power line), or administrative reasons (eg. failure to pay bill)? Also, smartphones have "talk times" of tens of hours[1]. I find it difficult to believe that you're being put on hold for that long. Even if for some reason you're being put on hold for days, you can still use a $20 power bank to get you through. [1] https://www.verizon.com/support/knowledge-base-177479/ https://www.verizon.com/support/knowledge-base-177479/
- tobinfricke 6y ago
  From his comment history: he is homeless and living in a car.
- Talanes 6y ago
  My iPhone 8 battery doesn't even have tens of hours of STANDBY time anymore. I can definitely see an older phone battery having trouble with a long call.
imtringued 6y ago
The only flaw in your story is that you are posting it on the internet and you are saying that it is still ongoing. There is probably a way to contact them via the internet or maybe with a plain old letter. I'm sure you already tried everything but it is still weird that you are posting about it here.

marcosdumay 6y ago

Batteries don't benefit that much from scale. Large inverters are cheaper (per Watt), but that's pretty much it. Instead, large battery banks have some scale costs too. Cooling is a large one.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

fulafel 6y ago

The article addresses this question.

cbmuser 6y ago
It doesn’t really because there is no viable and economic solution for storing large amounts of electricity other than hydro-storage. There is a reason why California and Germany have so many gas power plants or are building new (17 new plants being built in Germany at the moment).
- adrianN 6y ago
  Yeah, the reason is that Methane and Hydrogen are excellent ways to store large amounts of energy.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]