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The US needs more DIY/small scale solar. I would even advocate "off-grid" DIY solar (no grid tie) and just use batteries as you may be able to avoid permitting

The US needs more DIY/small scale solar. I would even advocate "off-grid" DIY solar (no grid tie) and just use batteries as you may be able to avoid permitting and expensive install labor. You can easily get up and running for under $1k. Right now, it seems any trade work is prohibitively expensive. I recently redid my own garage roof added mini split systems because costs for roofers and HVAC is out of control and finding quality work is hard. I called an electrician out to run the circuits and it was $$$. Next time I'll run the wires myself and just have them do the connections.

throwaway5959 3y ago
We had it happening in CA. The utilities put a stop to it though by making it not economical unless you’re not tied into the grid at all, and most people don’t have the space for that kind of solar and battery installation.
callalex 3y ago
Can you expand on your first sentence? Why does the US need diy solar? We don’t operate individual natural gas turbines in every house either for a lot of reasons, instead we invented the grid.
- rfwhyte 3y ago
  I imagine largely because it can happen much quicker than grid scale projects, as it's a lot easier for thousands of individuals to make modest personal investments, than it is for governments to make huge capital investments. Plus the reduced dependency on the grid would reduce peak loads and improve grid stability for all users.
  - callalex 3y ago
    It’s not clear at all to me that hiring individual contractors piecemeal for 2-8kW of capacity hundreds of thousands to millions of times vs a few MW scale plants dozens of times is quicker to implement. Also power generation is typically not done by the government but by private for profits. As far as peak load solar doesn’t solve the problem for grid operators because peak electricity demand happens well after the sun stops producing which means that solar users are simultaneously paying less to maintain the grid while also putting the most variable load on the grid. This problem has been very thoroughly explored and debated, it is called the “duck curve” problem. The only solution to the duck curve problem is storage. That puts us back at square 1 where individuals operating small batteries and inverters cannot be as efficient as large scale battery banks that prolong the life of the same batteries through better thermal management and larger and fewer inverters etc.
HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
There's a lot of small-scale solar in rural areas. Pretty much every new barn I see going up has solar panels on the roof. It has to cost less than having the electric company run a new line and meter. Especially so if you only need lighting out there and don't have to run machinery.

throwaway5959 3y ago

We had it happening in CA. The utilities put a stop to it though by making it not economical unless you’re not tied into the grid at all, and most people don’t have the space for that kind of solar and battery installation.

callalex 3y ago

Can you expand on your first sentence? Why does the US need diy solar? We don’t operate individual natural gas turbines in every house either for a lot of reasons, instead we invented the grid.

rfwhyte 3y ago
I imagine largely because it can happen much quicker than grid scale projects, as it's a lot easier for thousands of individuals to make modest personal investments, than it is for governments to make huge capital investments. Plus the reduced dependency on the grid would reduce peak loads and improve grid stability for all users.
- callalex 3y ago
  It’s not clear at all to me that hiring individual contractors piecemeal for 2-8kW of capacity hundreds of thousands to millions of times vs a few MW scale plants dozens of times is quicker to implement. Also power generation is typically not done by the government but by private for profits. As far as peak load solar doesn’t solve the problem for grid operators because peak electricity demand happens well after the sun stops producing which means that solar users are simultaneously paying less to maintain the grid while also putting the most variable load on the grid. This problem has been very thoroughly explored and debated, it is called the “duck curve” problem. The only solution to the duck curve problem is storage. That puts us back at square 1 where individuals operating small batteries and inverters cannot be as efficient as large scale battery banks that prolong the life of the same batteries through better thermal management and larger and fewer inverters etc.

HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago

There's a lot of small-scale solar in rural areas. Pretty much every new barn I see going up has solar panels on the roof. It has to cost less than having the electric company run a new line and meter. Especially so if you only need lighting out there and don't have to run machinery.