5 ms·

In rural, very red California, solar is installed everywhere. I doubt its being done because of climate change, or "for the environment". Its the payback.

stormbrew 5y ago
I'm not sure why you think I said anything that contradicts this.
jabroni_salad 5y ago
Personal electricity generation can be surprisingly diverse. You have hippie homesteaders, catastrophe bunker preppers, libertarians who just want to be off grid because they want to, etc. Environmentalists are just one of many groups that solar sellers are targeting. Also, if you are extremely remote, getting the grid built out to you might cost tens of thousands, to the point that the up-front costs of nongrid power are even more palatable.
hnburnsy 5y ago
Could unreliability from their power provider be a bigger factor? No one wants to suffer rotating blackouts and have their freezer food spoil or miss meetings when working from home.
- SubiculumCode 5y ago
  Everyone seems convinced Californian's are all suffering from blackouts all the time. I'm in Sac area, and I've only experienced one in the last three years, and it was just a few hours.
  - hnburnsy 5y ago
    Thanks that is good to know. PG&E put out some stats... System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI). This index is based on the amount of time the average PG&E customer experiences a sustained outage (being without power for more than five minutes) in a given year. In 2020, the PG&E SAIDI was about 153.2 minutes per customer. System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI). This metric represents the number of times the average PG&E customer experiences a sustained outage in a given year. In 2020, the PG&E SAIFI was about 1.179, or slightly more than one per customer. Customer Average Interruption Duration Index (CAIDI). This index represents the average restoration time when customers are impacted by a sustained outage. It is determined by dividing SAIDI by SAIFI. In 2020, the PG&E CAIDI was 130.0 minutes. Momentary Average Interruption Frequency Index (MAIFI). This index is based on the number of times the average customer is interrupted by Momentary Outage events each year. Momentary Outage events are outages that last 5 minutes or less. In 2020, the PG&E MAIFI was 1.317 per customer. https://www.pge.com/en_US/residential/outages/planning-and-preparedness/safety-and-preparedness/grid-reliability/electric-reliability-reports/electric-reliability-reports.page https://www.pge.com/en_US/residential/outages/planning-and-p...
- jandrese 5y ago
  Unless you install a fairly pricey battery system in addition to the solar array it doesn't help with blackouts at all. When the grid goes down the inverter shuts off and the whole system produces no power. Adding the battery increases the payback window, often adding 50-100% to the hardware costs of the install. Plus they are in very short supply currently, so including a battery in your build may push it back several months.
- jonnycomputer 5y ago
  These are exaggerated. Not wide spread.

stormbrew 5y ago

I'm not sure why you think I said anything that contradicts this.

jabroni_salad 5y ago

Personal electricity generation can be surprisingly diverse. You have hippie homesteaders, catastrophe bunker preppers, libertarians who just want to be off grid because they want to, etc. Environmentalists are just one of many groups that solar sellers are targeting. Also, if you are extremely remote, getting the grid built out to you might cost tens of thousands, to the point that the up-front costs of nongrid power are even more palatable.

hnburnsy 5y ago

Could unreliability from their power provider be a bigger factor? No one wants to suffer rotating blackouts and have their freezer food spoil or miss meetings when working from home.

SubiculumCode 5y ago
Everyone seems convinced Californian's are all suffering from blackouts all the time. I'm in Sac area, and I've only experienced one in the last three years, and it was just a few hours.
- hnburnsy 5y ago
  Thanks that is good to know. PG&E put out some stats... System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI). This index is based on the amount of time the average PG&E customer experiences a sustained outage (being without power for more than five minutes) in a given year. In 2020, the PG&E SAIDI was about 153.2 minutes per customer. System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI). This metric represents the number of times the average PG&E customer experiences a sustained outage in a given year. In 2020, the PG&E SAIFI was about 1.179, or slightly more than one per customer. Customer Average Interruption Duration Index (CAIDI). This index represents the average restoration time when customers are impacted by a sustained outage. It is determined by dividing SAIDI by SAIFI. In 2020, the PG&E CAIDI was 130.0 minutes. Momentary Average Interruption Frequency Index (MAIFI). This index is based on the number of times the average customer is interrupted by Momentary Outage events each year. Momentary Outage events are outages that last 5 minutes or less. In 2020, the PG&E MAIFI was 1.317 per customer. https://www.pge.com/en_US/residential/outages/planning-and-preparedness/safety-and-preparedness/grid-reliability/electric-reliability-reports/electric-reliability-reports.page https://www.pge.com/en_US/residential/outages/planning-and-p...
jandrese 5y ago
Unless you install a fairly pricey battery system in addition to the solar array it doesn't help with blackouts at all. When the grid goes down the inverter shuts off and the whole system produces no power. Adding the battery increases the payback window, often adding 50-100% to the hardware costs of the install. Plus they are in very short supply currently, so including a battery in your build may push it back several months.
jonnycomputer 5y ago
These are exaggerated. Not wide spread.