"summer mid-day also has the highest electricity demand all year in many places due to air conditioning," Peak electric demand is 3-7pm in the summer. You might think you could then just set panels to to optimize for afternoon, but especially in winter, you get a big peak between 6-9am.
What if you manually adjust them based on the season?
In the West, the cost of labor makes that unappealing. From a DIY standpoint it'd still be a pain. Those things are heavy and usually require at least 2 to 4 people to install or move. It's not something you'd want to do regularly if avoidable.
This might be a dumb question but what about _compliant_ joints that expand and contract when warmed up by the sun? You can have any expansion multiplied such that minor changes in length are sufficient to track the sun in a meaningful manner.
What if you manually adjust them based on the season?
In the West, the cost of labor makes that unappealing. From a DIY standpoint it'd still be a pain. Those things are heavy and usually require at least 2 to 4 people to install or move. It's not something you'd want to do regularly if avoidable.
I see.
I imagined then being panels on like a hinge that you like unbolt, tilt a little and then bolt down again. I didn't know it would take multiple people to do it.
You can push excess power into the grid. It will reduce / reverse your electricity bill. Look into local regulations.
I've got a co-op that won't net meter below a fixed cost that's close to my monthly. I just like the idea.
A kWh of batteries costs about 200€ where I live, but if the panels cost a comparable amount to a normal fence you can probably just run the AC a bit cooler when the sun shines and use your house as a thermal battery.
I've got a co-op that won't net meter below a fixed cost that's close to my monthly. I just like the idea.
A kWh of batteries costs about 200€ where I live, but if the panels cost a comparable amount to a normal fence you can probably just run the AC a bit cooler when the sun shines and use your house as a thermal battery.
Hold on, let me translate my stupid freedom units into Science™. My exterior house walls are already ... 30cm thick? That's 15cm of insulation + structure, a thermal gap, and then 10cm of stone facade. I only have to run the AC for a few hours at night, once the house warms up after a full day of sun. The only time of year I need "full AC" is during the high summer when the temps go above 40°C. What really kills me is that house is heated with propane, owned by a local monopoly, and the cost of propane has a 300% surcharge. The next time the HVAC packs up, I'm getting a heat pump, and adding solar panels (I only need a few); the savings in propane will pay for the HVAC/solar in a few years (in fucking TEXAS). The irony of this is not lost on me.
In the West, the cost of labor makes that unappealing. From a DIY standpoint it'd still be a pain. Those things are heavy and usually require at least 2 to 4 people to install or move. It's not something you'd want to do regularly if avoidable.
I see. I imagined then being panels on like a hinge that you like unbolt, tilt a little and then bolt down again. I didn't know it would take multiple people to do it.
Yeah, you could maybe design something like that. It'd still be quite a lot of work to go through all the panels one at a time every few months, though. And doing the math to remember what angle to point them at would be annoying and error prone.
A kWh of batteries costs about 200€ where I live, but if the panels cost a comparable amount to a normal fence you can probably just run the AC a bit cooler when the sun shines and use your house as a thermal battery.
Hold on, let me translate my stupid freedom units into Science™. My exterior house walls are already ... 30cm thick? That's 15cm of insulation + structure, a thermal gap, and then 10cm of stone facade. I only have to run the AC for a few hours at night, once the house warms up after a full day of sun. The only time of year I need "full AC" is during the high summer when the temps go above 40°C. What really kills me i…
If you had a solar fence you could run the AC during max solar production for a couple of hours and not use it the rest of the day then. You might want to do the math on replacing the HVAC with a heat pump before it breaks, might be a good investment.
Hold on, let me translate my stupid freedom units into Science™. My exterior house walls are already ... 30cm thick? That's 15cm of insulation + structure, a thermal gap, and then 10cm of stone facade. I only have to run the AC for a few hours at night, once the house warms up after a full day of sun. The only time of year I need "full AC" is during the high summer when the temps go above 40°C. What really kills me i…
If you had a solar fence you could run the AC during max solar production for a couple of hours and not use it the rest of the day then. You might want to do the math on replacing the HVAC with a heat pump before it breaks, might be a good investment.
There's an enormous premium on heat pumps in the U.S. So, there's a manufacturer of heat pumps here, in Austin; they sell a heat pump for 1600$ in Australia (installed); but the same unit is 9000$ (installed) in Austin. Part of the difference is labor (about 1000$); the rest ... I dunno? The difference in cost in electricity vs. propane runs about 1500$/yr. My current HVAC unit is good for another 5 years, or so. I'll just wait it out.
If you had a solar fence you could run the AC during max solar production for a couple of hours and not use it the rest of the day then. You might want to do the math on replacing the HVAC with a heat pump before it breaks, might be a good investment.
There's an enormous premium on heat pumps in the U.S. So, there's a manufacturer of heat pumps here, in Austin; they sell a heat pump for 1600$ in Australia (installed); but the same unit is 9000$ (installed) in Austin. Part of the difference is labor (about 1000$); the rest ... I dunno? The difference in cost in electricity vs. propane runs about 1500$/yr. My current HVAC unit is good for another 5 years, or so. I'l…
1500 return on 9000 investment is 16%. Hard to beat that with other investments.
You don’t have to be around other people, and all the hassles that human society and population density entail. Some people are really into that. I’m really into same-day Amazon delivery and 30 minute latency on fresh pizza that I didn’t have to cook.
Taking time to cook elaborate meals is enjoyable if it isn't getting in the way of some other demand on your time. Living off grid you're probably going to have a lot less of those.
Living off grid means off the electrical and water/sewer/gas utility grid.
In almost no case does it mean off the internet now given Starlink; thus I think it’s silly to assume that a) being connected to the internet and b) having to admin all of your own utilities and associated equipment means you’re going to have fewer demands on your time. :D
Separately I love cooking as recreation, but don’t have much recreation time these days given my project-load (most of my projects being a form of recreation notwithstanding).
One of the reasons I am building a (mostly) off-grid place is because I like adminning infrastructure recreationally. I can’t wait to hook up my solar system to Home Assistant and Prometheus/Grafana.