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Solarpunk is happening in Africa

climatedrift.substack.com

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Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#291

Post by hotpotat »

yanhangyhy wrote: post #289

This phenomenon is vastly underestimated. Electricity can also amplify the influence of TikTok and Temu — a world no longer constrained by energy shortages, with social media less dominated by the West, and a marketplace for cheap and affordable industrial goods. Together, these forces will essentially curb uncontrolled population growth in any country and gradually raise living standards. (Also pakistan and many oth…

Trading uncrontrolled population growth for TikTok sounds like a deal with the devil.

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#292

Post by antoniojtorres »

ZeWaka wrote: post #117
tomasz_fm wrote: post #6

This article has ChatGPT written all over it

Even if it's not written by ChatGPT, it's the /exact style/ used by the linkedin AI evangelists

Yeah it’s all the punchy mini paragraphs.

Just one sentence here.

Then I realized.

That another sentence came after that.

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#293

Post by latentsea »

organsnyder wrote: post #50
mothballed wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solar bribery is interestingly the exact opposite in some of the USA, where the solar contractors have basically gotten in bed with government for regulatory capture on the market. Most places in my state you need an electrician license, permits, bonding, insurance, a special 'solar' warranty, and inspections if you want solar. I built my house without any inspection or licensing and connected to the electric grid wi…

> I built my house without any inspection or licensing and connected to the electric grid without anyone from the government ever even looking at it or taking money for it. That's... not common (perhaps more-so in rural areas). In my area, being connected to the grid brings a lot more hassle: the utility gets a say in how much solar you can build, as well as how it's connected. Some of it makes sense (they want to ma…

It's not about them protecting their bottom line. It's about managing the supply-demand balance to within the tight tolerances required to operate the grid stably . You can't just let an unconstrained new amount of generation come online and maintain a stable grid.

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#294

Post by glenstein »

nandomrumber wrote: post #256
pantalaimon wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can make a great profit from solar, you are incentivised to build more of it for an even greater profit. Soon there is so much solar that you don't need the expensive gas most of the time.

Isn’t that a self defeating loop. Great profit to be had from solar because of expensive gas. Let’s put aside that this isn’t good for the end user, as it openly admits the whole point of solar is great profit, rather than savings for the end user. Soon there’s no need for the expensive gas. Where’s your profit margin not?

If solar is cheaper to produce (which it often is), there's room for undercutting natural gas and room for profit, a mutual benefit to customers and the solar industry where only natural gas loses.

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#295

Post by yanhangyhy »

hotpotat wrote: post #291
yanhangyhy wrote: post #289

This phenomenon is vastly underestimated. Electricity can also amplify the influence of TikTok and Temu — a world no longer constrained by energy shortages, with social media less dominated by the West, and a marketplace for cheap and affordable industrial goods. Together, these forces will essentially curb uncontrolled population growth in any country and gradually raise living standards. (Also pakistan and many oth…

Trading uncrontrolled population growth for TikTok sounds like a deal with the devil.

i think no one can stop that from happening.. you have electricity, you have apps. people will have more thinking on the child thing. and more time on the internet and less time on the home.

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#296

Post by gffrd »

typpilol wrote: post #284
nandomrumber wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And trust, probably the most valuable commodity. Three or four decades of proven ability to deliver, trusted relationships. Even despite all the political noise.

The industry basically treats any designs sent to China as a loss since they know it will be duplicated I don't think trust has much to do with it

I believe Parent is talking about trust in the ability to deliver on promises, not in handling of IP.

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#297

Post by glenstein »

istjohn wrote: post #287
nandomrumber wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t that a self defeating loop. Great profit to be had from solar because of expensive gas. Let’s put aside that this isn’t good for the end user, as it openly admits the whole point of solar is great profit, rather than savings for the end user. Soon there’s no need for the expensive gas. Where’s your profit margin not?

> Let’s put aside that this isn’t good for the end user, as it openly admits the whole point of solar is great profit, rather than savings for the end user. The whole point of capitalism is that in a well-regulated, open, competitive market, an ecosystem of companies pursuing maximum profit drive down each other's profit margins as they compete for a limited pool of consumers. In other words, it is precisely the prof…

Exactly. The same principles that apply for solar energy are already in place for natural gas and for every other form of energy and the fundamental logic of markets is that there's a price point consumers will pay that's also profitable for the company.

That didn't newly become an issue for the first time once solar entered the picture. There should be a word for this type of argument where people relitigate settled principles because they're discovering them for the first time.

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#298

Post by latentsea »

eldaisfish wrote: post #233
nandomrumber wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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,…

comments like this really show that many people with strong opinions do not understand how the electricity grid, electricity markets or electricity economics work. Electricity is priced at the edge entirely because demand must match supply at all times. You either meet all electric demand or someone will go without power. This is why marginal pricing exists and this is why the most expensive generator is always the l…

> Electricity is priced at the edge entirely because demand must match supply at all times. You either meet all electric demand or someone will go without power.

There's also more to it than just that. Supply-demand imbalance affects the frequency on the grid. Too high or too low frequency damages the turbines in the base load power plants, and they will shut down to avoid damage if the frequency goes too far out of range. Hence, too little or too much power actually causes grid collapse.

Solar actually has to be managed a lot more carefully than people realise.

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#299

Post by tencentshill »

pinkmuffinere wrote: post #280

I understand why this is happening in Africa first — lack of infrastructure makes the solution much more competitive. But as prices fall, it seems that this might be cost competitive in other areas as well. Selfishly, I’d love to see this in the US! Any big issues that would prevent adoption in the US?

I'm sure you can think of one at the moment.

Re: Solarpunk is happening in Africa

#300

Post by pfdietz »

noosphr wrote: post #282
pfdietz wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266649842...

Nowhere in that document do I see a statement about 200% overcapacity. Could you point it out?
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