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Batteries are hardly getting cheaper anymore. See https://www.energy-storage.news/lithium-battery-pack-prices-go-up-for-first-time-since-bloombergnef-began-annu

Batteries are hardly getting cheaper anymore. See https://www.energy-storage.news/lithium-battery-pack-prices-go-up-for-first-time-since-bloombergnef-began-annual-survey/ https://www.energy-storage.news/lithium-battery-pack-prices-... The allegedly low cost of solar energy comes from ignoring battery cost. And the relatively high cost of fission comes largely from overregulation.

ben_w 3y ago
Going up one year isn't something you should make a trend from, especially given the long term price declines. Here's another graph of the same thing, but updated with the actual rather than predicted value for one year after your link was published — and the price decline is back: https://www.statista.com/statistics/883118/global-lithium-ion-battery-pack-costs/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/883118/global-lithium-io... > The allegedly low cost of solar energy comes from ignoring battery cost. Can also solve the same issues with other storage options, hedge with other renewables that are also cheap, and electricity transport is a political issue rather than an economic or engineering problem. > And the relatively high cost of fission comes largely from overregulation. The low cost of fission is it being subsidised by the military value. The regulations exist because even though the mean cost of accidents per TWh is tiny, the upper bound of the damage when they do happen is sufficient to bankrupt superpowers.
pfdietz 3y ago
This is hilarious, since LFP prices are crashing now. Renewables will be cheap even with storage costs included. Adding batteries to a utility scale PV field now actually saves money, because the cost of inverters and grid connection can be amortized over several times more energy. Nuclear apologists never actually explain just what regulations would be removed to achieve the putative cost savings. It's all just "it was cheap before, and now isn't, therefore... regulations!"

ben_w 3y ago

Going up one year isn't something you should make a trend from, especially given the long term price declines. Here's another graph of the same thing, but updated with the actual rather than predicted value for one year after your link was published — and the price decline is back: https://www.statista.com/statistics/883118/global-lithium-ion-battery-pack-costs/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/883118/global-lithium-io... > The allegedly low cost of solar energy comes from ignoring battery cost. Can also solve the same issues with other storage options, hedge with other renewables that are also cheap, and electricity transport is a political issue rather than an economic or engineering problem. > And the relatively high cost of fission comes largely from overregulation. The low cost of fission is it being subsidised by the military value. The regulations exist because even though the mean cost of accidents per TWh is tiny, the upper bound of the damage when they do happen is sufficient to bankrupt superpowers.

pfdietz 3y ago

This is hilarious, since LFP prices are crashing now. Renewables will be cheap even with storage costs included. Adding batteries to a utility scale PV field now actually saves money, because the cost of inverters and grid connection can be amortized over several times more energy. Nuclear apologists never actually explain just what regulations would be removed to achieve the putative cost savings. It's all just "it was cheap before, and now isn't, therefore... regulations!"