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> The electricity you consume is fairly cheap, the infrastructure to deliver the electricity is the bulk of the cost. That sounds outlandish given the way elec
by throwaway81523 5y ago
> The electricity you consume is fairly cheap, the infrastructure to deliver the electricity is the bulk of the cost.
That sounds outlandish given the way electricity prices have jumped and are strongly tied to fuel prices. Anyway, if a solar panel keeps some amount of CO2 out of the air, that's worth cutting into the de facto subsidy that the power utility is otherwise getting by being allowed to emit it.
- willcipriano 5y agoTo start with you lose about 30% of any power generated in losses between generation and delivering it to the consumer, so at a minimum you have to add 30% to the prices utility companies are paying for power to contrast it correctly with consumer prices. From there you have to run and then maintain, something like hundreds of thousands of miles of lines, that are dangerous to work on, twenty four hours a day. You need teams of workers, parking lots full of bucket trucks, and millions of dollars of specialized equipment and spare parts. Pulling some coal out of a mine in Appalachia, putting it on a train and throwing it into a furnace, while difficult is a lot simpler in comparison.
- philipkglass 5y agoTransmission and distribution losses in the United States are about 5%, not 30%: https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=105&t=3 https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=105&t=3
- willcipriano 5y agoLooks like I misremembered, you are correct.