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> Makes you wonder how it is that power from the grid is so ludicrously above its actual capitol cost of production, the systems getting that power to places mu
by remus 3y ago
> Makes you wonder how it is that power from the grid is so ludicrously above its actual capitol cost of production, the systems getting that power to places must be crazy expensive.
It's an apples to oranges comparison. Solar panels don't provide power overnight for example, but people place a lot of value in being able to use power at night. Likewise the grid scales up and down to meet the demands placed on it which a basic solar setup (i.e. without batteries) can't do. Then there's reliability, transmission etc.
- PaulKeeble 3y agoYou have batteries that cover overnight and that only adds about 20% extra cost and it pays for itself due to enormous difference in price compared to the grid.
- sunshinesnacks 3y agoThat won’t get you all the way through the night, every night. At least not with anything close to typical household energy use in the US. For that you need a properly sized off grid system, which can easily be 20-30 kW of solar and 50-150 kWh of batteries. Enough to get you through 50-10 cloudy days (depending on your location) with less than 1 kWh per day per kW from solar and 40-60 kWh per day of electricity use.
- 10u152 3y agoThat’s so wild to me. I have a modest 6.6kw solar system in Australia and average 4kwh a day bought from the grid. No battery, no gas, live in a hot climate and run the A/C about 8 months a year.
- hparadiz 3y agoI have a 12kw system in Southern California. Recently it's been raining and overcast many days so I've had a shortage. Only in the winter though. I'm usually running a surplus.
- sunshinesnacks 3y agoHow many square feet (or meters) are air conditioned? And you mentioned average daily purchases from the grid, but do you know what the maximum is? In the US, I think the "pinch point" for off-grid systems is usually in the winter for an all-electric home. Shorter days and more likely to have multiple fully cloudy days in a row, at least for a lot of the US.
- 10u152 3y agoJust under 100m2 are air conditioned. Largest day on record was importing 23 kWh due to almost no sun, and me choosing to spend the day bulk cooking/catching up on washing. In a grid down/no sun situation I wouldn’t be doing bulk cooking and washing.
- jbm 3y agoAt least where I live, the battery costs were closer to 50% of the install; this convinced me to wait, as it simply makes no sense.
- judge2020 3y agoTransmission costs are what people forget. It takes a lot of money to buy, build, and maintain the equipment & land that carries your electricity from its source.
- NemoNobody 3y agoProfits are what people forget. I live in MN, everyone has excel energy. They made a net profit of 1.85 billion in 2022, that's NET profits. They paid out $3.85 per share. They've spent an insane amount of money on solar panels - that's all out of that number, those are net profits. What happens when they have 50% or maybe near that 100% of power coming from renewable power?? They've made a lot of money off of us while we also paid for the costs to attain the renewable system, once it's in place - why should they get my money anymore? Why are people profiting off of a necessity to life anyways?