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Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

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Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#131

Post by rtkwe »

cameldrv wrote: post #129
rtkwe wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wild. I wonder how they deal with the back feeding issue. Is there something about the home wiring in those countries that prevents it? (or do they just not care and line workers know to check if a line is truly dead?)

The microinverter just turns itself off if it doesn’t detect line voltage in the outlet. In the U.S. evidently it’s required to also have some sort of backflow preventer in the panel as well.

Fair, I always forget that most inverters require an existing line voltage to follow instead of being able to generate their own ex nihilo. I was also picturing one of the battery banks that do have the ability to create their own signal too.

Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#132

Post by greenie_beans »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #115
greenie_beans wrote: post #103

my prediction, for the US: electricity demand from AI will exceed supply at least in the short and medium term, driving up electric prices for consumers

Increased demand for air conditioning in the US is increasing demand at about the same rate as AI is. We're expanding the grid fast enough to handle one, but not both.

interesting, i haven't heard that. where can i go to learn about that? historians cite AC as one of the things that changed the american south in the 20th century, making it more habitable.

Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#133

Post by miningape »

overfeed wrote: post #124
miningape wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just want to add on to your reply to justify why it's correct to call the ANC a socialist party that is causing the cultural and economic collapse of South Africa. You could look towards their policies inspired by socialist thought a.k.a. "social justice" (BEE and expropriation). These policies are actively harmful to development while also turning off any potential investors, and are deeply rooted in socialist ide…

> Voetsek to any champagne socialist that wants to ruin yet another country I take it you don't consider the country to have veen ruined under apartheid - aka socialism for whites, rugged-capitalism for everyone else.

Care to explain how an ethno-nationalist government implemented socialism?

> I take it you don't consider the country to have veen ruined under apartheid

Wether or not I consider the country to have been ruined under apartheid is irrelevant to the fact that the ANC is dragging it back to the stone age.

The ANC was handed a functioning economy, solid infrastructure, and hope for a better future - there are now rolling blackouts across the country, soaring unemployment, and a birth rate higher than the GDP growth rate. And that hope for a better future? All but gone - There are more race based laws _today_ than there were under apartheid.

I'm glad apartheid ended 30 years ago, I'm not glad with the direction we're going now. These are not the same thing - you trying to portray it as such says more about your views than it does mine.

Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#135

Post by bryanlarsen »

WillAdams wrote: post #77

Does anyone have a good link/step-by-step for doing some sort of home solar system where: - it's sufficiently small-scale that no building permit is required - it looks nice enough that neighbors won't complain - the wiring is essentially plug-and-play The best approach I've been able to come up with is to purchase a medium size battery pack such as is used for glamping (glamour camping), plug it into the wall and co…

Before buying a "glamping battery", you'll want to ensure that it can be run unattended in your desired configuration.

I previously had a Bluetti EB70S and while it almost did what I wanted, it could only charge from AC or Solar, but not both and didn't have a way to set desired levels.

Now I have a Bluetti Apex 300, and I can set it to charge to X% off AC during overnight off-peak rates, and never drop below Y%.

Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#136

Post by eagerpace »

I would love to have just enough solar to flatten my peak usage on the hottest days of the summer. They naturally coincide with tons of sun. I don't need a huge system to be all solar all the time or even care about credits from the power company. I just don't want a $300 bill in the summer and a $50 bill in the winter. Has anyone designed a good solution for this?

Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#137

Post by aeyes »

WillAdams wrote: post #77

Does anyone have a good link/step-by-step for doing some sort of home solar system where: - it's sufficiently small-scale that no building permit is required - it looks nice enough that neighbors won't complain - the wiring is essentially plug-and-play The best approach I've been able to come up with is to purchase a medium size battery pack such as is used for glamping (glamour camping), plug it into the wall and co…

Hybrid Inverter. Main power and solar power go in, house power goes out.

No feeding of solar power to the grid so no permits.

You can add a battery if you want to reduce your reliance on the grid. Or use it with a battery but without solar panels as a whole house UPS.

Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#138

Post by brk »

tencentshill wrote: post #91
brk wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a ton of DIY solar info online, but it is very much regionally dependent. Both for permits and system design. Here in Florida, I can get high output from an average panel, but there are a lot of permit issues (and rightly so, a poorly installed panel can become a severe hazard in a hurricane). Where I lived in Michigan, there weren't many permitting or zoning issues, but I'd need 3-4x the number of panels to…

True energy independence in even a small capacity has a value beyond just money.

Yes, but on a limited budget solar may not always be the best option to some kind of energy independence. It really depends on what you are trying to solve for. Solar alone won't carry loads at night, the panels are generally not portable, they won't produce much output in the middle of a storm, etc.

As an example, during one of the hurricanes that came through FL last year we lost power shortly after the storm hit. I had a smallish leak with water coming in, it was entirely manageable with a wetvac, running off my generator. But solar panels would have been producing zero output at the same time. Even a large battery bank would have been sufficient.

IME, Solar is something where there is often a case where the minimum investment to get a truly worthwhile system is higher than other things like generators, or recently even battery banks. People often overlook all the situations where solar won't produce any output. I look at solar as more of a second-tier energy independence solution than a first-tier. And it worth nothing this is speaking primarily for applications in North America that have generally stable power. If you're in a remote area with no reliable power infrastructure then the parameters are way different.

Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#139

Post by toomuchtodo »

eagerpace wrote: post #136

I would love to have just enough solar to flatten my peak usage on the hottest days of the summer. They naturally coincide with tons of sun. I don't need a huge system to be all solar all the time or even care about credits from the power company. I just don't want a $300 bill in the summer and a $50 bill in the winter. Has anyone designed a good solution for this?

I have installed 200kw+ worth of rooftop (Florida) and ground mount (NorCal) resi systems (primarily Enphase, but I'm familiar with the operating requirements of other inverters), and am currently riding shotgun for a ~200MW solar PV project in the Midwest. If you share more details (general location, utility, and energy cost schedule [static, seasonal]), I am happy to provide some guidance.

Re: Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout

#140

Post by 98codes »

eagerpace wrote: post #136

I would love to have just enough solar to flatten my peak usage on the hottest days of the summer. They naturally coincide with tons of sun. I don't need a huge system to be all solar all the time or even care about credits from the power company. I just don't want a $300 bill in the summer and a $50 bill in the winter. Has anyone designed a good solution for this?

I'd love to have some form of solar work out cost-wise for me here in Seattle -- there just aren't enough sunny days throughout the year to make solar financially make sense, even over a 20-year period. At least from what the solar calculators I've found on the web would have me believe.
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