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As more and more people convert to solar, PG&E will make less money, and consequently charge more for electricity in order to pay for their costs. The next hou

As more and more people convert to solar, PG&E will make less money, and consequently charge more for electricity in order to pay for their costs. The next house I buy, I intend to fully move to solar and battery backup. Maybe rely only on late night charging for my non-Tesla EV.

sfblah 5y ago
I'm interested in if you have thoughts on how to do that in a cost-effective manner. Any links you suggest I read? In particular, I was under the impression solar had been made more expensive by Trump's tariffs. Not sure if that's even right. And, I'm not aware of any battery backup systems that are economical and not made by Tesla (not a fan of Tesla -- personal opinion, and not something I'm wanting to discuss as it's not really the topic here).
- NortySpock 5y ago
  Basically the Trump tariffs did increase the cost of importing Chinese solar panels, but US solar panel manufacturers didn't really reap much benefit because (a) solar panel installs slumped as a result of (relatively) higher panel costs (b) steel and aluminum tariffs raised the material costs for US solar panel manufacturers and (c) the section 201 tariffs phased out over 2-5 years, so even if you did stand up a new factory in two years you're going to be only reaping the tail-end of the tariffs. The article indicates we went from 5 US crystalline silicon photovoltaic solar panel manufacturers in 2016 to 2 in 2020. "The tariffs that the Trump administration imposed on imported solar cells and modules in 2018 proved sufficient to boost some U.S. module manufacturing, according to a review by the U.S. International Trade Commission released late last week, but the duties did not have the same effect on U.S.-produced solar cells." "An analysis from the Solar Energy Industries Association found that the U.S. forfeited 62,000 jobs, $19 billion in investment, and the environmental benefits that would have come from additional solar deployments" https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/solar-tariffs-put-wins-on-the-board-for-u.s-produced-modules-but-industry-remains-split-on-their-future https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/solar-tariffs-p...

sfblah 5y ago

I'm interested in if you have thoughts on how to do that in a cost-effective manner. Any links you suggest I read? In particular, I was under the impression solar had been made more expensive by Trump's tariffs. Not sure if that's even right. And, I'm not aware of any battery backup systems that are economical and not made by Tesla (not a fan of Tesla -- personal opinion, and not something I'm wanting to discuss as it's not really the topic here).

NortySpock 5y ago
Basically the Trump tariffs did increase the cost of importing Chinese solar panels, but US solar panel manufacturers didn't really reap much benefit because (a) solar panel installs slumped as a result of (relatively) higher panel costs (b) steel and aluminum tariffs raised the material costs for US solar panel manufacturers and (c) the section 201 tariffs phased out over 2-5 years, so even if you did stand up a new factory in two years you're going to be only reaping the tail-end of the tariffs. The article indicates we went from 5 US crystalline silicon photovoltaic solar panel manufacturers in 2016 to 2 in 2020. "The tariffs that the Trump administration imposed on imported solar cells and modules in 2018 proved sufficient to boost some U.S. module manufacturing, according to a review by the U.S. International Trade Commission released late last week, but the duties did not have the same effect on U.S.-produced solar cells." "An analysis from the Solar Energy Industries Association found that the U.S. forfeited 62,000 jobs, $19 billion in investment, and the environmental benefits that would have come from additional solar deployments" https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/solar-tariffs-put-wins-on-the-board-for-u.s-produced-modules-but-industry-remains-split-on-their-future https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/solar-tariffs-p...