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Because you get far higher ROI for the large-scale installations. In case you weren't familiar, Canada has a lot of other things which need the money than payin
by coryrc 9mo ago
Because you get far higher ROI for the large-scale installations. In case you weren't familiar, Canada has a lot of other things which need the money than paying 5x per watt to subsidize panels on your roof instead of on the ground.
- embedding-shape 9mo ago> Because you get far higher ROI for the large-scale installations. Right, but as always, ROI is hardly the most important thing in life, there is more considerations than just "makes more money". For example, as someone affected by a day long country-wide electricity outage where essentially the entire country was without electricity and internet for ~14 hours or something, decentralizing energy across the country seems much more important, than optimizing for the highest ROI. But again, this is highly contextual and depends, I'm not as sure as you that there are absolute answers to these things.
- triceratops 9mo agoGrid-scale solar installations can be much more decentralized than nuclear or natural gas power plants. Decentralizing through subsidies at the homeowner level is maybe not the best use of money.
- natmaka 9mo ago> Decentralizing through subsidies Consider the lower production cost of renewable electricity: in the long run, it offsets the investment. Bonus: no risk of accidents, no hazardous waste, no dependence on a fuel source, no weapons proliferation...
- triceratops 9mo agoI didn't say subsidize nuclear. I said subsidize grid-scale solar before rooftop solar.
- natmaka 9mo agoIndeed, sorry. Decentralizing solar power reduces electricity transmission costs and improves reliability. This doesn't offset the additional cost, but it's not negligible.
- coryrc 9mo agoIf the grid gets heavily overloaded, the frequency and voltage drop. And home-based grid-tie solar will shut itself off when it's most needed. This is fragile and DEcreases reliability.
- natmaka 9mo agoStorage, such as batteries coupled with V2G and also green-hydrogen fed turbo-alternators, can alleviate this.
- coryrc 9mo agoGrid-tied solar is fragile. If the grid is not nearly-perfect, it won't generate. It will not help society as a whole. If you personally have battery backup, that helps you personally and you should pay for it, just like you might pay extra to turn up the heat while I keep it lower to save money.