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It's bad news for anyone who wants to buy a solar panel, because they'll be joining the thundering herd of people generating energy when the energy price is neg

It's bad news for anyone who wants to buy a solar panel, because they'll be joining the thundering herd of people generating energy when the energy price is negative and there's too much generation in the grid already, and that is a complete waste. It's great news for someone who wants to buy a battery and actually reduce that waste by consuming it and making good use of it later. I have thought for a few years now that solar panels are no longer the best thing to expand - it's batteries instead now, and all the better if they are situated right next to the solar panels. Having said that, if you're on a fixed price domestic electricity supply, then yes it would make sense to install solar panels without batteries to match your peak power usage during the day, but that is going to be a very small installation in most cases. If you expand beyond that, then you're exporting to the grid and getting paid next to nothing for it.

pfdietz 2y ago
I don't have solar panels on my house, and have no intent to get them. I'll be happy if modest sized PV arrays pop up on unused land in my area and if I can tap that energy from the grid. The cost/W of such installations will be much below what I could get for my roof. If we get dynamic pricing, I very well may get home batteries though, especially if these could double as backup in case of grid outage.
- toomuchtodo 2y ago
  > I'll be happy if modest sized PV arrays pop up on unused land in my area and if I can tap that energy from the grid. The cost/W of such installations will be much below what I could get for my roof. Not sure what state you're in, but community solar is very popular in several states, and if it is not in your state, I would encourage you to advocate for it. It is a reasonable alternative for those who do not want to install rooftop solar (or cannot, for whatever reason). https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/community-solar-basics https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/community-solar-basics https://www.seia.org/initiatives/community-solar https://www.seia.org/initiatives/community-solar https://www.nrel.gov/state-local-tribal/community-solar.html https://www.nrel.gov/state-local-tribal/community-solar.html
caeril 2y ago
One of the problems is that storage inefficiency is already built-in to most new PV installations. Well over half of new installations are based on grid-phase-sync microinverters. Adding storage to the system involves adding rectification and re-inversion losses. If solar installers would default to building out DC -> primary inverter systems, then adding storage would be much less lossy. But as it is, economics drives the industry to strongly prefer microinverters.

pfdietz 2y ago

I don't have solar panels on my house, and have no intent to get them. I'll be happy if modest sized PV arrays pop up on unused land in my area and if I can tap that energy from the grid. The cost/W of such installations will be much below what I could get for my roof. If we get dynamic pricing, I very well may get home batteries though, especially if these could double as backup in case of grid outage.

toomuchtodo 2y ago
> I'll be happy if modest sized PV arrays pop up on unused land in my area and if I can tap that energy from the grid. The cost/W of such installations will be much below what I could get for my roof. Not sure what state you're in, but community solar is very popular in several states, and if it is not in your state, I would encourage you to advocate for it. It is a reasonable alternative for those who do not want to install rooftop solar (or cannot, for whatever reason). https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/community-solar-basics https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/community-solar-basics https://www.seia.org/initiatives/community-solar https://www.seia.org/initiatives/community-solar https://www.nrel.gov/state-local-tribal/community-solar.html https://www.nrel.gov/state-local-tribal/community-solar.html

caeril 2y ago

One of the problems is that storage inefficiency is already built-in to most new PV installations. Well over half of new installations are based on grid-phase-sync microinverters. Adding storage to the system involves adding rectification and re-inversion losses. If solar installers would default to building out DC -> primary inverter systems, then adding storage would be much less lossy. But as it is, economics drives the industry to strongly prefer microinverters.