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I'm not in the US but my idea of a good system is EV vehicle, solar panels, home battery storage, and a ground source heat pump w/ water heater. That to me is t
by dghughes 3y ago
I'm not in the US but my idea of a good system is EV vehicle, solar panels, home battery storage, and a ground source heat pump w/ water heater. That to me is the perfect set up since the energy production is only at that single home.
The exception being very cold winter days, hot humid days, and EVs away from their home base needing to charge.
But even with rebates it's too expensive for nearly anyone who owns a home. Anyone of those items is minimum $20K to $50K and beyond multiplied by each of the four items.
- asdfman123 3y agoWhy would we necessarily need the small scale storage systems when we have the whole energy grid, though? Solar panels on homes, sure, because that’s free real estate. But generally, if something is cost effective for a single home, it’s probably more cost effective for the full grid. The solution seems almost certainly to just reduce prices at night and during the day, installing more chargers at workplaces, so people are incentived to charge at off peak hours. If I can reduce my electricity bill by 30% by smarter charging, I’m going to do that for sure.
- foogazi 3y agoThen you can disconnect and not put any pressure on the grid
- asdfman123 3y agoBut someone has to pay for the energy storage and generation: either you or the power companies, but you don’t benefit from economies of scale.
- foogazi 3y agoEconomies of scale on panel and battery manufacturing
- therealdrag0 3y agoBut there’s more to be gained by centralizing production. Also residential solar has higher rates of injury/death. Of course being self-sufficient would be cool, but it’s a luxury