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> Power usage spikes during the day. Well guess what? That's when solar power production happens. So adding significant solar power production to your electrici
by ModernMech 1y ago
> Power usage spikes during the day. Well guess what? That's when solar power production happens. So adding significant solar power production to your electricity mix will decrease the baseline power needed from other sources;
This is so funny to me, because if you listen to anti-solar people, they'll tell you it's a bad idea because it doesn't generate anything at night. Given what you say, even if batteries weren't a thing, it would seem like solar would be an ideal component of any power grid, even if it didn't produce any energy for the nighttime whatsoever.
- jmyeet 1y agoSolar really is ideal for partial or total residential power generation, for several reasons: 1. The price. It has plummeted in the alst 10-20 years and shows no signs of abating; 2. For many people it can be placed on their roofs so doesn't take up any land or generally require building any new structure. Generally the only planning required is artificial barriers in place to protect electricity providers; 3. It is the only form of direct power generation. Everything else involves turning a turbine. No moving parts is great for reliability. You do need some infrastructure to convert the panel output to the right voltage (eg an inverter) but that's all commodity tech; 4. Batteries are a largely solved problem for energy storage. You can use golf cart batteries if you really want. There are problems. We need panel standardization, which I think will come with industry maturity. Another big issue is lack of regulation for solar companies who use predatory financing on consumers and can actually make selling your home much more difficult. This is a big enough problem that any realtor will tend to advise you not to get solar because of the selling issues. This shouldn't be the case. It's a regulatory problem.