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The price of solar power just fell 50% in 16 months

electrek.co

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Re: The price of solar power just fell 50% in 16 months

#141

Post by Practicality »

maxharris wrote: post #126

The availability of solar power at night or on cloudy days just improved 0% in 16 months. Saying that solar is okay because it's hooked up to the grid is not an answer, because that's just another instance of a reliable energy source (fossil fuels, nuclear, hydro) bailing out an unreliable one (solar, wind).

I don't understand why this is a problem. Two things:

1) You're still using MUCH less overall fossil fuels. A 40% reduction in fossil fuel use would do wonders for the world economy and be a huge step forward in reducing emissions. 2) If other people are feeding power back into the grid, then you can be using their solar power. It's sunny somewhere, right?

Re: The price of solar power just fell 50% in 16 months

#143

Post by hueving »

maxharris wrote: post #126

The availability of solar power at night or on cloudy days just improved 0% in 16 months. Saying that solar is okay because it's hooked up to the grid is not an answer, because that's just another instance of a reliable energy source (fossil fuels, nuclear, hydro) bailing out an unreliable one (solar, wind).

That same argument could be used to advocate everyone running diesel generators at home 24/7 because of the power outages that occur on the grid.

Sure, coal and gas pickup the remaining tab, but even if they are covering half of the usage, that's better than all of it.

Re: The price of solar power just fell 50% in 16 months

#144

Post by kayoone »

warmwaffles wrote: post #107
ChuckMcM wrote: post #103

The aggressiveness of the price drops on solar is pretty amazing. I just lost one of the inverters on my grid-tie system after it had run trouble free for 13 years. So we're looking at the first "major" repair to the system I installed in 2003. And in 2003 my 5.2kW of panels on my roof cost $38,000 before subsidies and $19,000 after. 28 panels, two 2.5kW inverters, net about 4.2kW of generation. I priced out replacin…

How long until you start seeing a return on investment? Right now my electricity bill for my home is ~100 a month in Texas. I would need to keep the same panels without maintenance fees for 33.33 years by your price point of 40k

Ops point was that the original price of 40k in 2003 is now 7k for the total installation. That will change your math somewhat :) So even with your low power bill it's more like 6 years.

Re: The price of solar power just fell 50% in 16 months

#145

Post by ChuckMcM »

dragontamer wrote: post #138
krschultz wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Payback of 6 years with the new cost, even for your low electric bill.

Unlikely. Solar Panels don't replace all of your electricity costs. Naturally, you'll still run your refrigerator at night, right? And during the day, when you have peak-solar energy, you'll be at work and won't be taking advantage of it. You'll recoup some of the costs through net-metering, but you usually buy back at wholesale prices and not at retail prices. Finally, I'd expect utility companies to change their pr…

You need to consider the economics of "grid tie" you generate excess power into the grid and "buy it back" when you aren't generating in excess. So if you generate as much power as your going to use for the entire day from your panels, you pay nothing for that day. Even though you are drawing power at night.

In the Bay Area, there are other things that screw up the numbers but the program "trues up" once a year (rather than monthly) so some months (usually late spring through early fall) I'm generating more power than I use for the month, and fall/winter I consume more power than I generate in a month. The target is to hit it at exactly 0 which was easier to do when PG&E would exchange kilowatts for kilowatts but it is harder now with their system of charging extra kilowatts over baseline. Its screwed up and not fair but I get that they are hurting, if I could get Elon to sell me the battery pack out of a Model S and the inverter infrastructure to go with it, I could leave the grid entirely and that would be easier.

Re: The price of solar power just fell 50% in 16 months

#146

Post by lambertsimnel »

stale2002 wrote: post #118
jmcgough wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My gf is an electromechanical engineer at a solar power startup (and obviously supportive of solar power initiatives). Just asked her about this, and she said that: 1) the electrical grid wasn't designed for transferring power this way, and it can damage the grid 2) because solar power isn't a constant power source (say, a cloud blocks the sun for a minute), power companies need to keep power available for someone wh…

Solar power REDUCES peak grid usage; it does NOT increase it. When do you think solar power is producing the most electricity? In the afternoon on a hot summer day. When do you think peak grid electricity usage peaks? In the afternoon on a hot summer day! Solar power helps get rid of the peak electricity usage problem. If anything, power companies should be paying solar users even more, because they are reducing cost…

Why does grid electricity usage peak on hot summer afternoons? If it's because of air conditioning, it's probably not universal.

I imagine hot summer afternoons are a time when factories operate below capacity (or not at all), and people heat their homes less and spend more time outside away from TV, etc.

Re: The price of solar power just fell 50% in 16 months

#147

Post by KingMob »

mod wrote: post #68
mattlondon wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its SEO/Click-bait 101 unfortunately. It is sensationalisation of something to make it sound more interesting. Next it will be "See what crazy change to solar made energy purchasers sit up pay attention!"

But can it be improved with a "just?" "See what crazy change to solar just made energy purchasers sit up and pay attention!"

"Read these 3 tips to boost your solar efficiency! Energy companies hate them!"

Re: The price of solar power just fell 50% in 16 months

#148

Post by brianbreslin »

In some states, the utilities don't let you sell back I think (Florida being one. we have a super friendly power lobby here. /sarcasm). But I am curious about the cost and hurricane proofing of a set of panels + battery backup. My parents would totally buy a combo for their house if they knew it wouldn't get ripped off in a storm.

Re: The price of solar power just fell 50% in 16 months

#149

Post by efields »

Curious… does it ever get low enough that electric heat becomes desirable? We moved into a place that had electric heat on the ground floor, ran it the first cold month, saw the bill, then made it a purely "on demand" heating solution. The rest of the apartment was gas forced hot air, which was on a normal schedule.

To heat a whole home in a Boston winter seems like it might cost $1000 or so. Is it reasonable to expect rooftop solar to ever generate that much electricity?

Re: The price of solar power just fell 50% in 16 months

#150

Post by sokoloff »

Detect wrote: post #54
mrfusion wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or do both! Grow mushrooms under the panels.

Raise panels up a bit and can graze animals underneath them too.

The grass under/behind the panels would grow using what light source? I have a hard time growing grass under some shade trees that are far from opaque and along a [solid, south-facing] fence line.
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