Besides the physical and ecological aspects, this is very libertarian. Something that is sadly not very appreciated in Germany. People take responsibilities, consider low power devices and optimize running times of dishwashers etc. to maximize ROI. Many new home automation (HA) users do exactly this. It's a reason to discover a new field of skills, like setting up home labs to increase digital sovereignty (partially) for example with HA and Nextcloud. Advanced users will go further and become familiar with Proxmox VE and even a container setup. Plenty of off-lease PCs are currently flooding the market (Thanks, Windows 11 requirements) making them awesome Linux/Proxmox hosts.
Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels
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Re: Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels
#32Some people laugh at the 800W output. However, in Indonesia, roughly half of the 300 million people live in homes with an electricity capacity of 900W or less. Wish these kind of panels were available at that price here. We have pretty much 12 hours of sunlight every single day but household solar panel is discouraged by the state owned utilities.
What do you mean by 'that price'? Are there heavy import tariffs or another artificial reason why you can't order from the same chinese manufacturers as germany does?
I would have thought that the issue is purchasing power inequality between germany and indonesia, not that they're not available globally at a similar price
Re: Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels
#33[flagged]
Feel free to elaborate on the connection between cargo cult and solar panels if there's some point you want to make with this
Re: Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
Assuming you have an endless supply of food but can only take one bite per day and it means tomorrows bite will be a bit smaller. These storage systems are generally warrantied as 5000-10000 cycles with 85% capacity remaining in 20 years time. Guaranteed money today is better than saving a few cycles to maybe make money in 20 years time. Now also factor in discounting the risk etc. and the calculation is given. But t…
Okay, I can follow that. I've noticed on electricitymaps.com that, for Germany, the coal component never disappears, no matter if you have optimal wind+solar conditions near the summer solstice and prices are far into the negatives. Apparently it's cheaper to let it run the power plant at negative prices for days , than to make it stop burning coal for those days. That renewables with storage would make that finally…
Yes. Phasing out coal is a multi step process.
The next step is coal plants forced to become peakers thermally cycling daily because they are loosing too much.
As seen in for example Australia:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-13/australian-coal-plant...
The next step is being a reserve plant only activated seasonally.
Finally rounding off with purely being a reserve plant and then decommissioning when it costs too much to even keep it runnable.
And instead they make you a bunch of money a bog standard autumn day because the French and Swedish nuclear power decided to crap out.
Re: Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels
#35[flagged]
there is nothing lol about it, if you commonly connect anything larger without additional precautions to it you end up in an endless number of safety hazards and guess what if you do take extra steps you also can have larger solar systems sure non of this steps are practical for rented out apartments, but quite viable for owned apartments and houses
I think they might be laughing at 800 watts to charge a laptop or small fridge. Most laptop chargers are a fraction of that. Full sized fridges might use slightly more power than that to spin up the compressor, but their steady state energy usage is generally less than that, and their average energy usage (including the time when the compressor is entirely off) is like a 20th of that.
Re: Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels
#36I was pricing out using bifacial panels for fencing. It seems like it would cost about twice the price of cedar, but last twice as long (50 years) and have less upkeep.
Re: Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels
#37Great idea! Want to learn more on the safety though... > Once in place, people simply plug a micro-inverter into an available wall outlet. later >Gründinger and experts at the German Solar Industry Association noted that the devices don’t generate enough power to strain the grid, and their standardized design and safety features allow them to integrate into balconies smoothly and easily. This seem to talk to the safe…
> Do these setups have auto shut off if they see no other power on the plug they are on?
Yes. This is Germany we are talking here. I doubt any other country has higher (and more annoying) safety standards.
Re: Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels
#38Some people laugh at the 800W output. However, in Indonesia, roughly half of the 300 million people live in homes with an electricity capacity of 900W or less. Wish these kind of panels were available at that price here. We have pretty much 12 hours of sunlight every single day but household solar panel is discouraged by the state owned utilities.
What do you mean by 'that price'? Are there heavy import tariffs or another artificial reason why you can't order from the same chinese manufacturers as germany does? I would have thought that the issue is purchasing power inequality between germany and indonesia, not that they're not available globally at a similar price
Some countries with state gas or utility monopoly will ensure legislation blocks solar power. Example Thailand has huge solar potential but cheap gas, so they block solar panel installations
Yes, there is inequality as can be seen in Pakistan. But once restrictions are dropped the solar panels take off.
Re: Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels
#39Some people laugh at the 800W output. However, in Indonesia, roughly half of the 300 million people live in homes with an electricity capacity of 900W or less. Wish these kind of panels were available at that price here. We have pretty much 12 hours of sunlight every single day but household solar panel is discouraged by the state owned utilities.
To be sure, when talking about solar panels, 800W is the nominal/nameplate capacity. That's how much it generates when conditions are perfect and the sun is shining straight down on them. Most of the time an 800W installation will produce rather less than that.
You'd need rather more panels (and/or some combination with batteries) to hit 900W output constantly. (on the other hand, do you need 900W constantly, or is that peak usage? A battery might be able to handle that.) That said, solar panels are probably a lot more efficient in Indonesia than they are in Germany. Since you're in/near the tropics, perhaps 1500-2000W nameplate capacity could cover your 900W? See if you can get a local expert do the maths for you.
Re: Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels
#40I'm in Germany and keep seeing these, I always wonder what a 400w poorly oriented panel getting like 3 hours of sun a day is good for. If they weren't basically free thanks to tax reduction and other tricks I assume no one would get them
A 400W half decently oriented panel (i.e. south facing balcony, 60 degree angle) is sufficient to run your AC to cool your 50sqrm apartment during summer for free.