4 ms·

I've been on solar for years. I have over 12 hours every day where I get by with no sun, thanks to an amazing technology called a battery.

draven 4y ago
This may work for a single house, I don't think it's easy to scale to a whole city or a factory.
- ragebol 4y ago
  Doesn't need to be easy. It's being worked on by many many people.
  - eof 4y ago
    Thanks for saying it. Industrial energy storage hardly strikes the intuition as less tractable than a skyscraper in the desert or a tunnel under the ocean
- justatdotin 4y ago
  https://www.cefc.com.au/where-we-invest/case-studies/sa-big-battery-a-game-changer/ https://www.cefc.com.au/where-we-invest/case-studies/sa-big-...
- defrost 4y ago
  It's already scaled to an entire Australian state, see peer comment ^^ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34336253 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34336253
  - lm28469 4y ago
    Some time ago in Germany the last two nuclear power plants produced more than their entire wind and solar systems. Australia is nice, now do that in Northern Europe, in winter some countries barely have sun during the day, couple that with below freezing temperatures and your whole system become extremely in efficient. I was in my hometown during the holidays, between heavy fog and clouds we didn't see the sun for two weeks straight, not even mentioning almost constant snow
    - defrost 4y ago
      To be clear, you're criticising an integrated system optimally designed to work in South Australian conditions for not being plug 'n play transferable to Germany? Is that correct? Have you considered asking an engineer to design a system optimal for German conditions? BTW - we (Australia) have signed a large contract ($50 billion) with Germany recently to export Australian sunlight to Germany [1] as Ammonia ... [1] https://reneweconomy.com.au/forrest-strikes-huge-green-hydrogen-plan-with-german-energy-giant-e-on/ https://reneweconomy.com.au/forrest-strikes-huge-green-hydro...
      - lm28469 4y ago
        Yes I am, we're talking about "the Future Dominance of Solar and Wind Energy". It's a very localised future, won't work for half of the year in half of the world, the half in which most people are living.
        defrost 4y ago
        And yet, somehow, Germany produced 46 percent of 2022 German power consumption via renewables. Could you explain again how this doesn't work in half the world? Is there no wind in Europe, no ability to lay long power lines (like like gas lines lines, only towards the equator rather than Russia), no path upwards past 46% ? On the face of it you don't seem to be putting much effort into finding a solution past fossil fuel usage .. is that because you don't accept climate change, you don't care what happens when they get increasingly scarce and more expensive, etc?
oldmetuselah 4y ago
> thanks to an amazing technology called a battery. How many kwh was it when you bought it and how many kwh can it still store today? How old is it? How much did it cost you?
- justatdotin 4y ago
  I don't store a lot, and it hasn't cost me much, but I'm budgeting $15k to upgrade.
  - oldmetuselah 4y ago
    I wasn't able to understand this response.
yesbut 4y ago
People who aren't exposed to battery tech don't think it exists. Because they never see it in the media they consume and it isn't integrated into their lives in any meaningful way. It is difficult for them to imagine what they can't see.
silon42 4y ago
What would you do if there is 3 months of fog/clouds?
- justatdotin 4y ago
  I live in a tropical paradise. The longest bad stretch I've had is 5 days
  - TheLoafOfBread 4y ago
    Yeah, that's the point. Kind of "Works on my machine" mindset. Wind and solar are not feasible for Europe without massive energy storage infrastructure, which does not exist.
    - justatdotin 4y ago
      yeahnah I was answering kevinak's question about "moments when there is no wind or sun" - I wasn't imagining silon42's "3 months of fog" It not only 'works on my machine' - it's cheaper, cleaner and more reliable. I'm sure we've got it better here, but that doesn't mean renewables can't continue to make up a growing slice of Europe's energy supply.

draven 4y ago

This may work for a single house, I don't think it's easy to scale to a whole city or a factory.

ragebol 4y ago
Doesn't need to be easy. It's being worked on by many many people.
- eof 4y ago
  Thanks for saying it. Industrial energy storage hardly strikes the intuition as less tractable than a skyscraper in the desert or a tunnel under the ocean
justatdotin 4y ago
https://www.cefc.com.au/where-we-invest/case-studies/sa-big-battery-a-game-changer/ https://www.cefc.com.au/where-we-invest/case-studies/sa-big-...
defrost 4y ago
It's already scaled to an entire Australian state, see peer comment ^^ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34336253 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34336253
- lm28469 4y ago
  Some time ago in Germany the last two nuclear power plants produced more than their entire wind and solar systems. Australia is nice, now do that in Northern Europe, in winter some countries barely have sun during the day, couple that with below freezing temperatures and your whole system become extremely in efficient. I was in my hometown during the holidays, between heavy fog and clouds we didn't see the sun for two weeks straight, not even mentioning almost constant snow
  - defrost 4y ago
    To be clear, you're criticising an integrated system optimally designed to work in South Australian conditions for not being plug 'n play transferable to Germany? Is that correct? Have you considered asking an engineer to design a system optimal for German conditions? BTW - we (Australia) have signed a large contract ($50 billion) with Germany recently to export Australian sunlight to Germany [1] as Ammonia ... [1] https://reneweconomy.com.au/forrest-strikes-huge-green-hydrogen-plan-with-german-energy-giant-e-on/ https://reneweconomy.com.au/forrest-strikes-huge-green-hydro...
    - lm28469 4y ago
      Yes I am, we're talking about "the Future Dominance of Solar and Wind Energy". It's a very localised future, won't work for half of the year in half of the world, the half in which most people are living.
      - defrost 4y ago
        And yet, somehow, Germany produced 46 percent of 2022 German power consumption via renewables. Could you explain again how this doesn't work in half the world? Is there no wind in Europe, no ability to lay long power lines (like like gas lines lines, only towards the equator rather than Russia), no path upwards past 46% ? On the face of it you don't seem to be putting much effort into finding a solution past fossil fuel usage .. is that because you don't accept climate change, you don't care what happens when they get increasingly scarce and more expensive, etc?

oldmetuselah 4y ago

> thanks to an amazing technology called a battery. How many kwh was it when you bought it and how many kwh can it still store today? How old is it? How much did it cost you?

justatdotin 4y ago
I don't store a lot, and it hasn't cost me much, but I'm budgeting $15k to upgrade.
- oldmetuselah 4y ago
  I wasn't able to understand this response.

yesbut 4y ago

People who aren't exposed to battery tech don't think it exists. Because they never see it in the media they consume and it isn't integrated into their lives in any meaningful way. It is difficult for them to imagine what they can't see.

silon42 4y ago

What would you do if there is 3 months of fog/clouds?

justatdotin 4y ago
I live in a tropical paradise. The longest bad stretch I've had is 5 days
- TheLoafOfBread 4y ago
  Yeah, that's the point. Kind of "Works on my machine" mindset. Wind and solar are not feasible for Europe without massive energy storage infrastructure, which does not exist.
  - justatdotin 4y ago
    yeahnah I was answering kevinak's question about "moments when there is no wind or sun" - I wasn't imagining silon42's "3 months of fog" It not only 'works on my machine' - it's cheaper, cleaner and more reliable. I'm sure we've got it better here, but that doesn't mean renewables can't continue to make up a growing slice of Europe's energy supply.