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Pakistan's solar revolution leaves its middle class behind

13 points by alephnerd 2y ago

alephnerd 2y ago
https://archive.is/B8xaU https://archive.is/B8xaU
adrianN 2y ago
Natural gas grids will face a similar problem as people switch to heat pumps.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- intexpress 2y ago
  Not sure about the calculation for home heating, but for hot water it is still ideal to have an instant gas hot water system. Heat pump hot water systems are expensive (to install and to service) and take up a lot of space.
dzonga 2y ago
cheap chinese panels & lithium batteries have been a godsend in africa. for households they're mostly enough. but not yet that cheap to power industrialization - you still need hydrocarbons for that.
aitchnyu 2y ago
Why do they choose the systems which dont export power, which I assume are much more expensive? Is it a chicken and egg problem of unreliable grid, ie only when grid is powered, solar systems export power to the grid?
- kees99 2y ago
  > only when grid is powered, solar systems export power to the grid? Worse yet. When grid is down, some grid-tied systems will not allow any local power use either. Few years back, nearly all grid-tied inverters had this problem. Now situation is slowly improving, with "grid-interactive" systems which do allow local use of solar power with no grid.
philipkglass 2y ago
The roofs of many apartment buildings are designated for water storage and other sanitation purposes, while owners of rental buildings have little incentive to invest in solar connections for their tenants. "We get some sunlight indoors but I can't seem to think of a way to go solar," she said. "Why must people living in apartments suffer?" This sounds like a good case for balcony solar. It's popular for German apartments: "How Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels" https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/how-germany-outfitted-half-a-million-balconies-with-solar-panels https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/how-germany-outfi...

13 points by alephnerd 2y ago

alephnerd 2y ago

https://archive.is/B8xaU https://archive.is/B8xaU

adrianN 2y ago

Natural gas grids will face a similar problem as people switch to heat pumps.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
intexpress 2y ago
Not sure about the calculation for home heating, but for hot water it is still ideal to have an instant gas hot water system. Heat pump hot water systems are expensive (to install and to service) and take up a lot of space.

dzonga 2y ago

cheap chinese panels & lithium batteries have been a godsend in africa. for households they're mostly enough. but not yet that cheap to power industrialization - you still need hydrocarbons for that.

aitchnyu 2y ago

Why do they choose the systems which dont export power, which I assume are much more expensive? Is it a chicken and egg problem of unreliable grid, ie only when grid is powered, solar systems export power to the grid?

kees99 2y ago
> only when grid is powered, solar systems export power to the grid? Worse yet. When grid is down, some grid-tied systems will not allow any local power use either. Few years back, nearly all grid-tied inverters had this problem. Now situation is slowly improving, with "grid-interactive" systems which do allow local use of solar power with no grid.

philipkglass 2y ago

The roofs of many apartment buildings are designated for water storage and other sanitation purposes, while owners of rental buildings have little incentive to invest in solar connections for their tenants. "We get some sunlight indoors but I can't seem to think of a way to go solar," she said. "Why must people living in apartments suffer?" This sounds like a good case for balcony solar. It's popular for German apartments: "How Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels" https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/how-germany-outfitted-half-a-million-balconies-with-solar-panels https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/how-germany-outfi...