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Batteries: How cheap can they get?

aukehoekstra.substack.com

301–310 of 311 posts

Re: Batteries: How cheap can they get?

#301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're worried about a weather emergency that takes out your power, followed a few days later by a second emergency that requires you to evacuate a long distance? I don't think I'd do very much to prepare for that scenario.

I think it's more about the long tail of situations that I'm not really able to imagine, or feasible emergencies but ones where my assumptions aren't valid. So not about a specific situation, more on principle that I want to keep my "get the heck out of dodge" energy store separate from my "hunker down" energy store. I admit it's less efficient to have 2 energy stores, but given we're already discussing potentially l…

> I'm not really looking to optimize for anything except having as many resources as feasible on hand.

Money is limited, so sharing resources between situations lets you be prepared for more situations.

Re: Batteries: How cheap can they get?

#302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> P.S. I've never heard of sparky being used as slang for an electrician, sounds very aussie. When I moved into a new house in Australia I asked the real estate agent if I could extend the fence, and he said I'd need a cheapie to do that. I said ok but scratched my head as to why it needs to be cheap, only to find out later what he actually said was chippy, slang for a carpenter.

Yeah, it's all fun and games until you're at Macca's and someone says, "Oi, can you pass me a chippy?" and they get real confused when you go find a carpenter.

Maccas is nz, maccies is Aus

Re: Batteries: How cheap can they get?

#303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it's all fun and games until you're at Macca's and someone says, "Oi, can you pass me a chippy?" and they get real confused when you go find a carpenter.

Maccas is nz, maccies is Aus

It's definitely Maccas in AU. Maccies must be a UK thing.

Re: Batteries: How cheap can they get?

#304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HDMI cables? Sounds like protectionism. Invent rules to make yourself more work.

Aren't there power delivery versions of HDMI? I can understand requiring a license for any power wires behind walls. I could also see the possibility that it's just an old law that doesn't consider data-only cables which don't have the safety issues that wires carrying power do.

While HDMI can provide a tiny bit of power and there are active cables for signal boosting, HDMI was never meant for power delivery. You might be mixing it with HDMI with Ethetnet.

Re: Batteries: How cheap can they get?

#305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's more about the long tail of situations that I'm not really able to imagine, or feasible emergencies but ones where my assumptions aren't valid. So not about a specific situation, more on principle that I want to keep my "get the heck out of dodge" energy store separate from my "hunker down" energy store. I admit it's less efficient to have 2 energy stores, but given we're already discussing potentially l…

> I'm not really looking to optimize for anything except having as many resources as feasible on hand. Money is limited, so sharing resources between situations lets you be prepared for more situations.

Agreed, there are tradeoffs. But from a principled perspective I recognize the risk in having to choose between escape and home power. Adverse events often stack in unexpected ways at the worst time.

Re: Batteries: How cheap can they get?

#306
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds great, but are there actual businesses who will come to your home and do an install, or do you need to to become a mad-scientist electrician and DIY? I got quotes on getting an LG system a few years ago and it was 4X these prices (also for me a problem is that my 'ancient' panels from 2013 use a single inverter instead of microinverters, so if I touch the system I have to replace it all). I keep hoping there w…

> do you need to to become a mad-scientist electrician and DIY? I did my own a couple years ago, and it worked quite well on the first go. I got someone else to build the LiFePo4 battery pack (16 CATL cells for 48v with a JK BMS). It was fairly easy to build. Mount panels on the roof, and wire everything (PV, battery, grid electricity if you want it, and the output) to the inverter. I added some extra steps to monito…

If your setup burns your house down, will insurance cover it?

Re: Batteries: How cheap can they get?

#307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm not really looking to optimize for anything except having as many resources as feasible on hand. Money is limited, so sharing resources between situations lets you be prepared for more situations.

Agreed, there are tradeoffs. But from a principled perspective I recognize the risk in having to choose between escape and home power. Adverse events often stack in unexpected ways at the worst time.

I get your point, but let's assume that you had separate resources for escape and home power, and then you needed home power for an extended period. Wouldn't you like to have the option to be able to use your escape resources to power your home?

Re: Batteries: How cheap can they get?

#308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, there are tradeoffs. But from a principled perspective I recognize the risk in having to choose between escape and home power. Adverse events often stack in unexpected ways at the worst time.

I get your point, but let's assume that you had separate resources for escape and home power, and then you needed home power for an extended period. Wouldn't you like to have the option to be able to use your escape resources to power your home?

I think so, but the tail risk impact is still worrisome. Guess it also depends where you live - I’m in a fair weather state, so powering my home is not a survival issue for the most part.

If I lived in eg Texas, I’d maybe have a BEV that could power my home and a separate vehicle for long range travel. Bit of a luxury.

Re: Batteries: How cheap can they get?

#309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s been some pretty big deals from Ecoflow (I don’t own any of their products nor affiliated). The Delta Ultra was on sale at Home Depot for $2800 before tax, 6 kWh battery, 7kWH continuous supply, with 21kWH peak wattage. Everything is built in including inverter. You can install their smart panel (probably requires a permit) and it’ll switch between grid and battery for you. I’ll be surprised these are illegal…

As someone who is interested in getting some kind of back up battery at some point, ty for making a recommendation. But could you clarify what you mean by the kWH unit you used on 7 and 21? Seems like those should just be kW, a unit of power rather than kWh, a unit of energy.

Oops, you’re totally right. That was a typo, it’s 7 kW continuous and 21 kW peak

Re: Batteries: How cheap can they get?

#310
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In central/northern Europe in january solar goves 10% of the output of summer, and you need 3-4x power to heat compared to cooling down in summer.

Where in central Europe is it 10%? And you get extra in summer, the actual overprovisioning is when you compare to the equinoxes.

This is a pretty late response, but even as "not too north" as Hamburg it gets close to 10%.

Hamburg is at 53.6 degrees North; Berlin is 52.5. Both are just farther north than Calgary, as a pretty reasonable comparison for the US.

To contrast, New York City is at 40.7 degrees, and Boston is at 42.3 degrees North.

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