3 ms·

There is no such mechanism of "they use the grid to store electricity for them to use after the sun goes down". Solar offsets the other already producing nat ga

There is no such mechanism of "they use the grid to store electricity for them to use after the sun goes down". Solar offsets the other already producing nat gas, nuclear, coal, etc. The time batteries are used are in the edge case where it's more cost effective to have storage rather than build a whole new plant.

PaulKeeble 3y ago
Batteries can also save you money. When you take the lifetime of the battery in cycles and its average capacity over that time you can get a price per KWH to store and discharge that amount of power. For me that comes out to 8p a KWH. Producing a KWH is less than that, about 6p a KWH so a battery is relatively expensive just to store power. However buying from the grid costs 35 p a KWH and on top of that through the night due to Wind and Nuclear power I can buy power at 14.5p a KWH. Given these numbers its pretty clear that using my own solar power and storing it in a battery to use over night is double the price of using it directly due to the battery but its also still less than half the price of buying it from the grid. In addition through the winter when there isn't enough sunshine power can be bought and stored in the battery and used throughout the day avoiding higher day rates and saves about 40%. Batteries are economically viable and for me at least they will pay back in half the time the solar panels do. The difference in price to the grid is so vast and nearly 5x what it costs from the panels that the additional battery storage cost makes sense up to a certain point of capacity. Its also greener because it shifts power needs and flattens demand which better utilises the green power available. I really recommend people take the price of a battery (say $1000 for 5KWH for 6000 cycles average 90% capacity) and bring that price back to something like the unit price because its one of the easier ways to account for this sort of infrastructure and what it really costs and its easily comparable in what is done today. That battery would in its lifetime charge/discharge about 26,460 KWH, which is about 3.7 cents a KWH for storage, if you can get more than that differential for power from panels or difference pricing based on time then you may be able to do some good while also saving money and with an inverter too if you don't have one its more like 8 cents a KWH (but averages less the more battery you can utlise). With Sodium Ion looming this battery equation will get even more compelling for more people.

PaulKeeble 3y ago

Batteries can also save you money. When you take the lifetime of the battery in cycles and its average capacity over that time you can get a price per KWH to store and discharge that amount of power. For me that comes out to 8p a KWH. Producing a KWH is less than that, about 6p a KWH so a battery is relatively expensive just to store power. However buying from the grid costs 35 p a KWH and on top of that through the night due to Wind and Nuclear power I can buy power at 14.5p a KWH. Given these numbers its pretty clear that using my own solar power and storing it in a battery to use over night is double the price of using it directly due to the battery but its also still less than half the price of buying it from the grid. In addition through the winter when there isn't enough sunshine power can be bought and stored in the battery and used throughout the day avoiding higher day rates and saves about 40%. Batteries are economically viable and for me at least they will pay back in half the time the solar panels do. The difference in price to the grid is so vast and nearly 5x what it costs from the panels that the additional battery storage cost makes sense up to a certain point of capacity. Its also greener because it shifts power needs and flattens demand which better utilises the green power available. I really recommend people take the price of a battery (say $1000 for 5KWH for 6000 cycles average 90% capacity) and bring that price back to something like the unit price because its one of the easier ways to account for this sort of infrastructure and what it really costs and its easily comparable in what is done today. That battery would in its lifetime charge/discharge about 26,460 KWH, which is about 3.7 cents a KWH for storage, if you can get more than that differential for power from panels or difference pricing based on time then you may be able to do some good while also saving money and with an inverter too if you don't have one its more like 8 cents a KWH (but averages less the more battery you can utlise). With Sodium Ion looming this battery equation will get even more compelling for more people.