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Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity

electrek.co

241–250 of 317 posts

Re: Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity

#241
post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> China has done the world collectively as a whole a major service I doubt the Uyghurs would agree: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57124636 https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/in-broad... https://sustainabilitymag.com/articles/gb-energy-blocks-use-... https://www.greenmatch.co.uk/blog/solar-companies-linked-to-...

Most of them would. These are labour-rural-transfer programs thats been going on in PRC for poverty alleviation for 20+ years that retards in west twisted into slave labour. The entire coerced labour propaganda are bunch of country bumpkin Uyghurs getting enrolled in poverty alleviation programs where they're paid close to median wage, i.e. 2x+ typical subsistent agri income. This is equivalent to US starting a jobs…

i have a question for dang.

If I was to post a comment that frames the armenian or rohingya genocide, or indeed any genocide, in a good light, would my comment be flagged? What exactly is HN policy on moderating genocide-washing propaganda?

asking for a chinese friend

Re: Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity

#242
post #189

On the flip side here in Australia the government for years encouraged us to get panels put on our house by selling it as, "You can export power and create a small income exporting the surplus you create". So many people did so that at one point last year the government said, "So many people are exporting it now, and the surplus is so great on the network we may have to charge you for exporting it". Wholesale power p…

This is a bizarrely negative take. No residential is being charged negative prices without very, very explicitly joining a plan that exposes them to the direct minute-by-minute wholesale price. Most 'EV' plans include free hours during the day (and much cheaper power in the early hours as well), it's likely it'll be standard within months thanks to this. They are now also subsidising batteries while should help meet…

> This is a generational success story

So long as you ignore the working-poor. Those who live pay check to pay check, can’t afford solar / battery - or are renting so none of that applies to them.

Yeah, they can just get fucked.

What a success!

Re: Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity

#243

But it is so damn HOT there. And Australia has the most vicious animals and plants too. It is like an alien continent.

I’ve lived here 15 years and seen two snakes, zero deadly spiders, zero crocs. Yes, I’m on the city fringe. Like millions of others here.

[dead]

Re: Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity

#244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't look into the details, but It sure feels like a slap in the face to those of us who invested in panels. I think this is about battery sales for those that can afford it. Fill a battery up for free and use the power during peak hours.

There's currently a significant rebate on batteries in Australia. (Or maybe just Victoria?) So that's definitely one attempted solution. People are getting it for costs paying off in under 5 years.

Not the working-poor. Not renters.

By rebate you mean: a wealth transfer from tax payers to those who need it least, those who can afford a battery, those who aren’t renting.

Re: Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity

#245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't look into the details, but It sure feels like a slap in the face to those of us who invested in panels. I think this is about battery sales for those that can afford it. Fill a battery up for free and use the power during peak hours.

> I haven't look into the details, but It sure feels like a slap in the face to those of us who invested in panels. Sure. But if you live in Australia, you knew that slap was coming. You could almost have said to have signed up for it. Very early in the piece, the government offered to pay people who installed solar about $0.50 for every kWh you fed into the grid. To be clear, that was far more than the retail price…

What we’re dealing with is successive Australian governments with absolutely no plan for long term energy infrastructure, so they’ve lobbed it over the wall to the residential customer.

Here, you deal with it. No options. It’s solar and batteries rammed down your throat. At your cost. If it doesn’t work out, it’s on us.

No big (reliable base load) energy projects to power industry in to the future, China can do all of that for us.

Equality. Everyone can have nothing.

Re: Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity

#246
post #238

Meanwhile also in part of Australia where the states public electricity utility was sold in a fire sale to foreign investors. The owners gold plate the network so they can get away with charging some of the highest electricity prices in the world despite generation prices often going negative thanks to renewables. I would bet over time the supply charge and non-free hours will increase in price to compensate and over…

And for pointing out the obvious, you’re just being negative. A right-wing nut job conspiracy theorist.

No, I just run the numbers. The numbers they provide.

Re: Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity

#247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much is a Starlink setup? They are pretty expensive in Europe, are they cheaper in Africa?

I checked a random Kenyan address on starlink.com, and it would be around 386 USD for the dish there (with service for 50 USD/mo), so not cheap. In Poland I see that they're giving the dish for free with some 1-year contract (58 USD/mo). Maybe it'll become cheaper, they're making millions of them. And you could share it with neighbors - if you can get 300 Mb/s, you could connect like 5 families if the alternative is…

In NZ it is cheaper than broadband.

Re: Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity

#248
post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a bizarrely negative take. No residential is being charged negative prices without very, very explicitly joining a plan that exposes them to the direct minute-by-minute wholesale price. Most 'EV' plans include free hours during the day (and much cheaper power in the early hours as well), it's likely it'll be standard within months thanks to this. They are now also subsidising batteries while should help meet…

> This is a generational success story So long as you ignore the working-poor. Those who live pay check to pay check, can’t afford solar / battery - or are renting so none of that applies to them. Yeah, they can just get fucked . What a success!

Yep. Years ago I got sick of listening to people who don't believe in climate change and emission reductions due to tribalism crowing about the solar pv on their holiday house and their incredibly low electricity bills while cost of living keeps going up for lower income families. Everywhere you look anything good is twisted into a wealth transfer. If you are left behind you are never catching up now. Between the housing market and everything else the myth of a classless society has been completely obliterated in a generation.

Re: Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity

#249
post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a bizarrely negative take. No residential is being charged negative prices without very, very explicitly joining a plan that exposes them to the direct minute-by-minute wholesale price. Most 'EV' plans include free hours during the day (and much cheaper power in the early hours as well), it's likely it'll be standard within months thanks to this. They are now also subsidising batteries while should help meet…

> This is a generational success story So long as you ignore the working-poor. Those who live pay check to pay check, can’t afford solar / battery - or are renting so none of that applies to them. Yeah, they can just get fucked . What a success!

But isn't the OP article about distributing the benefits to the wider population? Add to that the uptake of batteries GP is mentioning will substantially reduce both the need for back-up power and the cost of transmission that have been driving up electricity prices.

Re: Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity

#250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't look into the details, but It sure feels like a slap in the face to those of us who invested in panels. I think this is about battery sales for those that can afford it. Fill a battery up for free and use the power during peak hours.

> I haven't look into the details, but It sure feels like a slap in the face to those of us who invested in panels. Sure. But if you live in Australia, you knew that slap was coming. You could almost have said to have signed up for it. Very early in the piece, the government offered to pay people who installed solar about $0.50 for every kWh you fed into the grid. To be clear, that was far more than the retail price…

The feed in tariff you refer to was 52c in the beginning and was limited to a 5kW inverter. I installed 6.25kW worth of panels with a 5kW inverter in 2011 and haven't paid a single power bill since. There's no slap in the face, sure I have to give up the FIT if I want the battery subsidy but I haven't paid a cent for power in 13 years (beyond initial investment).
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