this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (3 children)

How about we start by making the whole thing less of a rort to prop up the power companies? I get 7c/kw for the 40-odd kw i make in the day and then pay 38c/kw to buy it back at night.

[–] frostwhitewolf 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I guess power storage is the biggest fuck you to power companies in this regard. Issue is with more people becoming independent from the grid will it force prices up more for people who don't have solar? The entire energy sector needs a shake up.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Renters and apartments are going to be fucked 😟

[–] Sup3rlativ3 1 points 1 year ago

There are new products for renters

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It's this exactly which is sending me to have a 25kw battery storage with a transfer switch to take myself off-grid when I have battery power available. Only when I have a full bank of battery power then will export. Makes no sense to not use the power solar generator owners make.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The problem is that energy is extremely cheap during the day due to the excess of renewables so that's why it's not all that profitable for power companies to buy it. One way to take advantage is to buy a battery and then use that to soak up the excess during the day (at the same time using as much as possible for your own needs) then discharge it during the night. But you'll have to run the numbers to see if that's worthwhile. In the long run, EV batteries can do this function too although that is part of the inverter driven problem the article discusses.

Of course, whether electricity should be under a market mechanism is debatable, but that's how it is for now.