But a one-time conversion from DC to AC can happen if the battery storage is in the urban area near the solar panels (again, assuming the solar is on the urban rooftops like in the link I provided). In that situation, solar power comes in as DC, stays DC to be stored in the nearby storage facility, then goes through a conversion from DC to AC only once.
“But a one-time conversion from DC to AC can happen if the battery storage is in the urban area near the solar panels (again, assuming the solar is on the urban rooftops like in the link I provided).”
The problem with Grid Scale DC transmission is the need to overlay a new power grid to connect up the dispersed DC sources, hundreds or thousands. In NYC, for example, it would cost a fortune to run new power lines underground, given what’s down there, and I don’t think running power lines overhead, between buildings (as is done in cities in many other countries) would go over very well. Obviously, it would be similarly costly to overlay a DC grid in non-urban areas.
But even ignoring that, at least in my experience, the huge solar farms that I’ve seen have been in less-populated areas, like deserts and farmland (for obvious reasons) without battery farms (since they weren’t needed until solar went big-time).
Where I live, in a suburban area, there isn’t a solar farm in sight, nor any large buildings, and obviously residential and smaller commercial buildings with solar only have AC hookups, yet there’s a huge battery farm a mile (upwind) from where I live. Thankfully, there’s people who live far closer, so they’ll care of hanging our councilmen when the place blows up.
So, back to my question, why are the battery farms being built in the urban areas, rather than far away, perhaps near the big solar farms?
Sorry for the tardiness, but here’s my answer to the question you tried to answer:
Transformers. High Voltage transformers pretty much all come from China now (why not, since they’ll ‘always’ be our friend, LOL), and now have a 6-year lead time, mostly due to demand (data centers and the power for them, for starters).
So, you find an existing substation that was anticipating a larger growth in load and you hook up to it. Free access to high voltage lines! (or at least no waiting time, which is important when you’re relying on government handouts to help with funding) That is exactly what happened where I live - the battery farm one a mile away from me is right across the street from an existing substation and now connected to it. As far as the concerns of neighbors, not a problem since you likely have deeper pockets than the opposition...and the opposition will not get any help from NGOs, the Sierra Club, or judges.
Needless to say, nothing is free, so us rate-payers will wind up having to pay for the much earlier expansion of this substation, when that time comes.