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At least 1 million homes in the USA have solar systems on their rooftops and their use — together with local batteries — is increasing, enabling homeowners the ability to collect energy and store it for later usage on-site. This enables homeowners to cut their dependence on the electrical grid — and their bills. This could be economically painful for utilities. A new McKinsey study predicts two outcomes 1) electrical grid cut off completely 2) primarily local energy collection with the electrical grid as a backup.
The cost of collecting solar energy and storing it on-site makes the incentive too small even for residents of sunny Arizona to cut the electrical grid off. But partial defection from the grid with 80-90% of the demand supplied on-site makes economic sense in 2020 and total defection makes sense around 2028
The prediction by McKinsey is that the electrical grid will be repurposed as an enormous, sophisticated backup. One, where utilities only add energy at those times when the on-site systems aren't collecting enough energy.
My comment: So far good enough. But then why not simple connect to neighbors directly for electrical power transfer and cutting the utilities out of the loop even for electrical fallback needs? A electrical power mesh grid might need some interesting mathematical modeling though.
(As a side note, maybe this will soon make UPS for home use obsolete?)
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Saturday July 01 2017, @10:04PM (4 children)
But as people move towards electric vehicles, moving off grid isn't going to be practical. I have solar panels and there is no way we could go off-grid in winter. Summer, perhaps, with a large battery and some lifestyle adjustments. Winter? No way.
What might make going off grid practical is combined heat and power systems, or perhaps a fuel cell running off natural gas (or some other energy source).
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Saturday July 01 2017, @11:57PM (2 children)
Are there comparisons between a typical house's needs and what an electric vehicle can store? Could an electric vehicle be used as additional capacity, or would battery technology have to change dramatically/ludicrously before that happens?
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Sunday July 02 2017, @03:38AM
I don't think it is a dramatic change. Home storage needs to be cheap, reliable and maintenance-free, but most people don't care about size and weight (within reason). Do you really care whether that block attached to the back or side of your house occupies 2 or 4 cubic metres, and whether it weighs one or four tonnes? I don't. I do care about how much it costs and how long it lasts and how safe it is.
Lithium is the wrong tech for stationary storage.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday July 02 2017, @07:37AM
Expect a 10-20kWh/day as an average, if you don't switch on your electric oven or AC.
A Tesla car battery will see you through 3-5days. Probably, you'll need 12kW peak power worth of installed PV panels; given that PV will shed about 15-20% efficiency in the first 2-3years, you'll need 15kW installed solar power to begin with. And a lot of sunny days, or else don't disconnect from the grid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Sunday July 02 2017, @03:29AM
Solar power in AU is 3, 4 or 5 kW usually. Occasionally 8. Most of the roofs I see it on would have enough space to easily double the size of the panels. The main problem would be that power is mostly generated during the day, when the car is parked at work. What is needed is easily swappable batteries, or a home storage system cheap and efficient enough to use.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.