Posted on 10/14/2019 9:30:10 AM PDT by rktman
One valuable lesson has been learned from the California blackouts concerning the greens' vaunted solar power.
People with solar panels fitted to their homes have long acted under the impression that these granted them some immunity to blackouts. They now know better. Those who went to the heavy expense of purchasing and installing solar panels are in the same situation as their neighbors: no light, no heat, no power.
How does this make sense? If you've got a system that generates power all by itself, with no outside aid or assistance necessary, then it's a sure thing that it'll continue generating power even after the grid itself is shut down, right?
Ah, but we're dealing here with corporate policy. And when that enters the picture, then sense of any kind quickly departs the stage.
It turns out that solar panels do not supply power to the homes they are attached to. Instead, they transmit power out into the grid itself. A complex system of credits is employed to reimburse the homeowner.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
They shouldn’t.
Houses blow up from natural gas, burn down from other power sources. Take safety precautions for whatever your risks are.
All day long?
My friend had a comparable system installed on his roof and only got half or 800kWhr.
Also, how much did it cost you?
The car interior was completely gutted. The dash had melted and the seat, no doubt nonflammable, had caught fire and was ashes.
This all happened from a little tiny cell phone battery. Multiply the energy storage of this battery x 1000, 10,000 (a guess) and you have Chernobyl. And how do you disconnect the power from the batteries since the power is fed within the house? There isn't an onoff switch that is easily accessible. Not like you can cut the power from it if it is in runaway. There is probably a switch on the outside of the house somewhere.
I’m working up to it. Get 1/7th of home power from utility solar, renting about 100 sq ft of panels for $15-20/month, currently breaking even on electricity cost (varies by month). I keep running the numbers, and it’s getting pretty close to reasonable - only big problem is going full-power off-grid is a big up-front cost; thinking about moving, and roof geometry will be a big factor.
We’ve learned to mitigate the explosive risks of natural gas, and accept the rare kaboom for cost/convenience benefits. Likewise have to implement safety features for large battery installations.
Maybe shoot for less power hungry appliances?
What is your minimum “comfortable” power usage? What luxuries are you willing to give up? For example: can you wash your clothes the old fashioned way — in a tub and dry them on a clothes line? Also, a TV is probably optional however Internet is important, etc. A stove can heat the house pretty effectively.
Also, charge lights etc. during the day.
Think about how your parents and grandparents lived. They probably had few lights in the whole house and one stove to heat the house when they weren’t cooking meals.
Or...I can put 1000 sq ft of solar panels on the roof, and not give up anything.
I don't believe that you will achieve it unless you already live a minimalist life.
An airconditioner is a huge power hog. And then there is the furnace — is yours electric or gas or some kind of oil? If electric then that is another power hog. Then do you have an electric stove? Or gas? Again, another power hog. Then an electric clothes dryer.
Other parameters: time of year, time of day. Clearly there are times of the year when the sun intensity is not that great and of course, during the day.
What time of day and time of year does the panel system drop out?
Some calcs.
1. minimum power required + 20%. That is everything running at the same time — airconditioner, electric stove, electric dryer TV on plus 20%. The power dropping out is very hard on appliances and your power distribution system — especially inductive motors. Can your standalone panel system handle transient loads? Power conditioning?
2. Time of day and day of the year. These two parameters determine performance. Probably follows some kind of parabolic curve where the offset is determined by the time of year and the time of day is the actual curve. The curve would probably flatten out. The result is peak power produced is less and power duration is less — sort of an area under the curve. Has to do with angle of incidence and intensity. Plus weather conditions, clouds, etc.
Either way, you are not going to be running the panels at night. Predictions: power window of operation is 2 hours on bad days and 5 hours on good days. If you can figure out how to align the panels with the sun during the days, then you might be able to extend this.
Batteries are a thing.
My power load closely correlates to sunlight intensity.
And my 100m^2 figure is already near 150% of baseline.
I’d keep grid connection (if they’ll agree, see CA) for convenience.
Got some more numbers to crunch and graphs to draw, but upshot is full home solar is reasonable if a few limits are accommodated.
It may not work for me because we use a lot of electricity. Although we do use a good portion of gas which reduces our electric consumption. Ironic, huh. Gas is a must if you have solar or wind. Lol.
I have not seriously considered solar and so I haven't run the numbers but I am betting that it is not that great vs $. And takes 10 - 15 years to reach the ROI point. I do know that there are some shady deals and dealers and a person could easily get ripped off.
Because just solar reduces your electric bill over time to pay for the system and theoretically pays back even when the breakeven point has been achieved.
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