Replies

Thanks. To be specific: I hate govt interference in the decision for alternative energy (note that I don't call it "green" energy) and EV's. It should be purely free market. And I hate the idea of the grid depending on intermittent energy sources like solar and wind (the grid has to be dependable, and therefore has to depend on dependable sources like hydrocarbons and hydro power).

But when you put the word "decentralized" in front of solar, it becomes attractive to me. The physical science of hydrocarbons make them superior to solar. But decentralized solar means I can remove the political science from the equation: there aren't layers of politicians and bureaucrats between the sun and my property, or between my solar panels and my inverters, or between my inverters and my electrical panels and battery stack and EV. The only energy we have to buy from the over regulated energy market is the 20% of the power we pull from the grid (80% of the power is from homemade solar), plus the little bit of gasoline we buy for the little bit of driving we do in the gas pickup, plus whatever power or gasoline we buy for long trips (depending on which car we take). Basically for our all-electric home and for the 18K miles per year we drive the EV (just on home charged miles, not counting charging away from home), 80% of that is from homemade energy.

But you must do your homework to be sure solar and/or EV is good for your situation. It's not a one-size-fits-all solution like the Dims make it out to be.