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‘Insanely cheap energy’: solar power continues to shock the world

theguardian.com

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Re: ‘Insanely cheap energy’: solar power continues to shock the world

#61

Post by FooHentai »

burlesona wrote: post #53
edent wrote: post #6

One of the best things about this tech is how effective it is at domestic scale. My small roof in London generated 26kWh of electricity today. About 3X what we consumed. https://twitter.com/edent_solar

How well does it work if you have at least partial tree cover on your entire property?

There's some methods to work around that if it means a portion of the solar array is shaded at times (you separate them onto different 'strings' feeding power back to your controller, as I understand it).

A single panel in part shade tends to produce a lot less than the fraction still exposed to sunlight, but I believe recent advancements in panel tech has made this less of an issue.

Ultimately, situating the panels in areas where, barring cloud cover, they will receive full direct sunlight is always the optimum approach.

Re: ‘Insanely cheap energy’: solar power continues to shock the world

#63

Post by lumost »

edhelas wrote: post #19
tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It still means power for air conditioning is ~free during the day when it's most needed, and you could pre-cool or pre-heat a bulk block with high heat capacity, then slowly use the heat/cold during the day. You can charge the electric cars when there's an excess, so in particular all the extra load from electric car charging that some people were so worried about is no longer a concern. If it gets cheap enough, you…

I think that you don't see how much land you actually need. Maybe in America there is plenty of space, but in Europe it's way more difficult. To replace one nuclear reactor, you need ~ half of Paris in solar panel. And still need energy "at night". Yes heating water, or cooling places are nice. But your trains ain't gonna work "only when there is sun". If you need backup at one moment, you need 0C0² backup and basica…

I don't think much thought has been given to the cost structure of nuclear peak plants. A nuclear facility which only generated power part of the time should have a longer service life and generate less waste per unit time. Meaning the high capex decommissioning process may be pushed back decades or more.

Re: ‘Insanely cheap energy’: solar power continues to shock the world

#64

Post by FooHentai »

greenearth1 wrote: post #10

This is why pushing for free markets is the most effective solution for combating fossil fuel dependencies.

Hmm, difficult to agree with that as a blanket statement. Generally that kind of absolutist thinking is as flawed as the same in the other direction. The optimum is likely somewhere in the middle.

For example, failure to price in externalities in a 'free' market is one of the biggest flaws, and exactly why we find ourselves in a situation of having way too much CO2 in the atmosphere.

Re: ‘Insanely cheap energy’: solar power continues to shock the world

#65

Post by throwawayboise »

coryrc wrote: post #32
toomuchtodo wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought it was because Germany shut down its nuclear power plants and ramped its coal generation up? [1] Germany poorly managing its power grid doesn’t imply that renewables aren’t economically rational; it implies Germany makes irrational national policy. France is primarily nuclear powered, as you point out with their low CO2 emission footprint (compare the generation mixes of both countries in ElectricityMap, I’…

How I look at it, had they spent the same amount of money in a different way, they could be carbon neutral. Climate change is an emergency but no one is acting like it. It's one thing to say "we don't think it's worth the money" and another to spend the money but not achieve much, it's even worse IMO!

> Climate change is an emergency but no one is acting like it.

Yes, it sometimes makes me wonder what the real agenda is.

Re: ‘Insanely cheap energy’: solar power continues to shock the world

#66

Post by rootusrootus »

irrational wrote: post #21
zaroth wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fusion power you can install on your roof. Throw in a little storage and a decent climate and the power companies are on track to be thoroughly screwed.

You don't even need a decent climate. I live in Portland Oregon where it is cloudy for 9 months out of the year. In Portland, anything we generate beyond what we can use is fed back into the grid and given to us as a credit. We generate enough solar power credits that we don't pay anything for electricity year round other than a $12 monthly fee to be tied into the grid.

I still can't make the numbers work for me, when I try, it seems like I'm always better off keeping my money in stocks and paying PGE to build more renewable generation.

Re: ‘Insanely cheap energy’: solar power continues to shock the world

#67

Post by magicalhippo »

alpaca128 wrote: post #59
edhelas wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that you don't see how much land you actually need. Maybe in America there is plenty of space, but in Europe it's way more difficult. To replace one nuclear reactor, you need ~ half of Paris in solar panel. And still need energy "at night". Yes heating water, or cooling places are nice. But your trains ain't gonna work "only when there is sun". If you need backup at one moment, you need 0C0² backup and basica…

> you need ~ half of Paris in solar panel So put solar panels on roofs in Paris then. Europe has plenty of space if you actually look for it.

I actually did some calculations based on my previous apartment. We had remote heating and hot water, so only needed power for cooking, PC's etc. I found that if I covered the section of the roof above my apartment with solar panels, I could be "off grid" almost then entire year.

Except my apartment was on top, and there were four more just like it below me...

Re: ‘Insanely cheap energy’: solar power continues to shock the world

#68

Post by johne20 »

richwater wrote: post #30
sxates wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My house in California is peaking around 70kWh this time of year (April, 14kw system), well more than we're using. I can charge my tesla during the day and still be exporting to the grid. Most afternoons my house is probably powering every house on my street.

How much was your system?

Not op but we just installed 12kw system in Seattle and will have cost us $23k after federal tax credit. Approximately $2/watt. Get quotes from 3+ credible local companies. Also check energysage.

Re: ‘Insanely cheap energy’: solar power continues to shock the world

#69

Post by libraryatnight »

edent wrote: post #6

One of the best things about this tech is how effective it is at domestic scale. My small roof in London generated 26kWh of electricity today. About 3X what we consumed. https://twitter.com/edent_solar

My wife and I recently bought our first home, I've lived in Arizona my whole life, and one of the selling points was this house came with solar setup and the units already paid off. I had no idea how huge a difference it makes. During the day we run entirely off our solar panels. This time last year our bill was beginning to climb as AC use increases significantly as April progresses. Our bill has barely budged, saving us hundreds of dollars and we're not even in to summer yet. I'm tempted at this point to get one of the battery offerings out there for power storage.

Re: ‘Insanely cheap energy’: solar power continues to shock the world

#70

Post by jacobolus »

> "[in 2000] Shi agreed and ended up settling in the small city of Wuxi"

A bit of a tangent, but it’s always strange to me when people describe Chinese or Indian cities with millions of residents as "small". Wuxi had >1 million people in 2000, and today has like 3.5 million (6.5 million in the prefecture). This article makes it sound like a minor town in a remote province, but Jiangsu has about the same population as Germany, twice as populous as California, and is an industrial powerhouse ~with~ [edit: adjacent to] the busiest port in the world (Shanghai).

Nobody ever writes about "the small city of Dallas" or "the small city of San Diego" or "the small city of Birmingham" or "the small city of Munich".

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