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Solarpunk is happening in Africa

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Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#221

Post by pfdietz »

noosphr wrote: post #209
pfdietz wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I go to https://model.energy/ and ask it to solve for providing steady output in China from 100% renewable energy (wind/solar/battery/hydrogen) at minimum cost using 2030 cost assumptions and 2011 weather data, the solar curtailment is just 7.3% (and most of the energy is coming from solar, not wind). If I remove hydrogen and solve again, solar curtailment increases to 16.7%. "200% overcapacity" is completely bo…

It's their 2060 plan. Take it up with the CPP.

Press 'X' to doubt.

Assuming someone actually told you that, I think you need to reevaluate the credibility of that source.

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#222

Post by nandomrumber »

CorrectHorseBat wrote: post #170
manmal wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in Austria, grid costs are now on par with the actual electricity cost. Each are ca €0.1 per kWh now, plus again that in taxes. Once the EU finally gets rid of the ridiculous pricing model where spot prices are dictated by the most expensive energy source (usually, gas), we might have a situation where grid costs exceed the cost of energy itself. Oh and what do they do with that money? Hoard it for upcoming grid…

>Once EU finally gets rid of the ridiculous pricing model where spot prices are dictated by the most expensive energy source (usually, gas), we might have a situation where grid costs exceed the cost of energy itself. Why is it ridiculous? From a pure mathematical economics point of view it's genius I think. It means energy producers can just set their price at production price, knowing they will get the best deal th…

Any way that is more fair for the end user.

Why should a solar generator, who has virtually zero inputs, demand the same rate as a gas or coal generator who’s costs are dominated by inputs?

Where’s the promised savings to the end user? That’s right, there aren’t any.

And people bang on about solar being cheaper.

No it isn’t.

Solar electricity is the same price as gas peaker-plant electricity. Everywhere I’ve looked, same story.

And there’s no solar power without gas.

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#223

Post by api »

epistasis wrote: post #9

The grid is HUGELY expensive, an absolutely massive cost for our electricity. And it would still be expensive in a well-regulated environment where you can quickly and easily get permission to build, without, say, voter ballot propositions illegally blocking a transmission line for years [1]. Here in the US we have a very very poorly regulated environment for adding to our grid, it moves slower than molasses and ther…

In many places more of your electric bill pays for the grid than for the power.

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#224

Post by chmod775 »

You'll see these little solar panels outside people's homes in any country that doesn't have all of its population (reliably) connected to the grid. They're everywhere in rural Afghanistan as well for instance.

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#225

Post by worik »

marstall wrote: post #58

people saying this is AI-generated: why? It seems voicey, pacey, individualistic ... and contains new-to-the-world info. And it's good. None of these being qualities I associate with AI writing.

> people saying this is AI-generated: why?

Because they themselves have nothing interesting to say

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#226

Post by _ea1k »

mothballed wrote: post #60
jmole wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I built my house without any inspection or licensing and connected to the electric grid" Where exactly do you live? I'm not saying you're lying, but this smells like a tall tale. You can easily buy solar panels and batteries, and if no government inspectors are coming by anyway, then it doesn't matter. Maybe what you're saying is, "my power company wouldn't let me use grid-tied solar without it being permitted." ?

Rural AZ >"my power company wouldn't let me use grid-tied solar without it being permitted." ? Nah they didn't give a shit what I connected it to. I literally stubbed a 200 amp service entrance on vacant land then just went wild connecting it to whatever I like. I shot the shit with their engineer when they ran secondary off the power pole and that was it, I've never seen them again. > no government inspectors are co…

What law governs this? I'm familiar with a lot of restrictions on grid-tie systems, but I've never heard of it being this strict for something that could (presumably) be done without a back feed.

I mean, are you saying that someone sticking up a few panels+batteries to run an electric fence, gate, and camera system has to have permits?

This all seems strange.

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#227

Post by bave8672 »

testing22321 wrote: post #163
htrp wrote: post #158

>Solar Home System Evolution: >2008: $5,000 (affordable only for wealthy urban Kenyans) >2015: $800 (middle-class farmers) >2025: $120-$1,200 (true smallholders) How does US solar cost so much?

Tariffs (government tax) on Chinese panels, corruption (companies bribing(lobbying) to get monopolies on installs) and more corruption ( power companies bribing to get guaranteed profits) Based on comments here my 7.8kw rooftop solar in Canada was 3-5x cheaper than people pay in the US. It was $8k CAD ($5,660 usd) My Dad in Australia got a 10kw system fully installed for $5k AUD ($3,250 usd)

To be fair, prices in Aus have been heavily subsidised until recently.

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#228

Post by worik »

alephnerd wrote: post #22

As I keep saying ad infinitum, Africa is not a single unitary region. Different countries in Africa have better grids than others, and different countries in Africa have stronger penetration of digital banking and DBT than others. A country seeing a boom in domestic solar because of government subsidies and policies like Nigeria [0] is different from a country seeing a domestic solar boom because of a collapsing elec…

> Africa is not a single unitary region.

Well, duh!

Who is saying different? Nobody here

A short little article that does not cover every aspect is not bad. It is good

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#230

Post by foobarian »

mothballed wrote: post #52
datadrivenangel wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where did you build a house without a permit and get away with it?

I have a permit. And the permit basically says I don't have to get it inspected, show building plans, or do anything but tip my hat to the government. Unless I add solar.

I feel very optimistic about battery storage for this reason. I would love nothing more than be able to run on battery for a week or so so I can give a middle finger to the utility and just rip out the grid connection. No more solar inverter or power limit permits needed.
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