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

Post by pfdietz » Sun, Apr 25, 2021, 1:27 AM UTC

wrycoder wrote: post #91

toomuchtodo wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reduces grid demand by localizing the energy, storing it on site thermally. Air conditioners that make ice at night and cool during the day do the same.

Freeman Dyson devised an a/c system at Princeton that involved using snow making machines to generate a large pile of ice in an insulated shed during the winter (with the doors open) and circulated coolant through the ice pile and the buildings in the summer (with the shed doors closed).

Post by JPKab » Sun, Apr 25, 2021, 1:47 AM UTC

itsoktocry wrote: post #84

zaroth wrote: post #5

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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.

> power companies are on track to be thoroughly screwed. I have a hard time making sense of this. I log into HN and see comment after comment about how solar is taking over, then I read articles like this[0], that state that countries heavily invested in renewables, like wind a solar, are going backwards . They are now trying to label natural gas as "green investment" in Germany, otherwise they won't have energy capa…

Post by echlebek » Sun, Apr 25, 2021, 1:56 AM UTC

enraged_camel wrote: post #110

sxates wrote: post #102

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I actually talked about this in a previous comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25283461

>> Of that $15k, $4.3k was for the panels themselves, $2k for the inverter, $1k for mounting hardware, and $8k for installation. What about on-site battery? In any case, $15k is still a bit too steep for me, not because I can't afford it but because I want something that'll pay for itself in less than 5 years. My electricity bill is about $150/mo. so a solar roof doesn't make sense financially, even if I'm able to se…

Post by irrational » Sun, Apr 25, 2021, 1:59 AM UTC

handol wrote: post #131

irrational wrote: post #126

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Our system generates about 10 MWh per year (10 million watts of electricity). Our house isn't that big (1800 sq feet) and we have all LED lights and the highest energy saving appliances. We don't use anywhere near that many watts in a year. Our surplus credits easily cover our energy costs during Winter.

> (10 million watts of electricity) 10 million watt-hours of electricity Your system would produce 10 million watts if it did 10 million watt-hours per hour.

Post by ineedasername » Sun, Apr 25, 2021, 2:07 AM UTC

edhelas wrote: post #25

hh3k0 wrote: post #22

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> Please do the math, check how much you'll need to cover the consumption of a small city for a night. It sure would be nice if we had a transnational energy infrastructure, as the sun is always shining somewhere. Think DESERTEC and Gobitec but for the whole planet.

Oh yes, thousands of km of high power copper cables. Crossing west-to-east Europe with electricity is already loosing 30% of it. Let's transport electricity from Australia to India ! And for wind, it's the same issue, when there is wind in Finland, there is wind in Spain. So you can't "balance thing" between countries.