4 ms·
I think the cheapest iteration of solar will be when it's essentially in paint - decades or more away. There'll be some portion of the cost that remains fixed o
by ianai 6y ago
I think the cheapest iteration of solar will be when it's essentially in paint - decades or more away. There'll be some portion of the cost that remains fixed over longer term - say cost of inverters or other factors - and the marginal cost of the solar paint.
- Scoundreller 6y agoI could see inverters going the way of the dodo. 48VDC may pickup. More and more electronics are rectifying the AC to DC anyway (e.g. my fridge is variable-frequency drive), but usually stepping it down since they'll have a transformer for isolation anyway. The current losses may be less than inversion (and rectification) losses. The big problem these days is that AC appliances are cheap and DC appliances get charged the 'off-grid' tax, so you just throw more cheap panels at the problem.
- the__alchemist 6y agoWhat is the 'off-grid' tax?
- Scoundreller 6y agoWhen you pay a lot more for roughly the same thing in the off-grid version. I get it that they're not mass-produced, but a DC fridge/lightbulb/whatever isn't that much different than the AC version. Maybe one day incinerating toilets won't cost $4k.