Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Wednesday January 24 2018, @05:26PM   Printer-friendly
from the musk-sells-solar-cells-by-the-solar-shore dept.

Trump administration imposes tariffs on imported solar cells and modules at 30% and certain washing machines up to 50%:

This new determination sets tariffs on imported solar cells and modules at 30 percent with a gradual decrease of that tariff over the subsequent four years. In years two, three, and four, the tariff will be imposed at 25 percent, 20 percent, and 15 percent, respectively, of the value of the import. The first 2.5 gigawatts of imported solar cells imported are exempt from the tariff (but it seems that a similar provision was not made for solar modules). Though the executive branch has broad authority to impose whatever tariff it wants after the ITC finds that an industry has been harmed by imports, this tariff decision closely matches the middle-ground recommendation made by two of the four-person ITC's commissioners. Those commissioners recommended a 30-percent tariff on modules and a 30-percent tariff on imported solar cells in excess of 1GW, with declining rates after the first year.

Whirlpool shares rise after Trump tariff on washing machine imports

The new tax is expected to hit Trump's desk on Tuesday. The administration is imposing 20% tariffs on the first 1.2 million machines imported each year, and 50% on those after that. There will also be a 50% tariff on washing machine parts.

Naturally South Korea and China are upset and plan to argue their case at the WTO. From the articles I read this morning there should be a boost to US manufacturing but the gains may all be offset by the losses with people not wanting to pay more for solar. I think regardless of price people will do solar for solar's sake, but there is sure to be some impact on sales and installation jobs.

Guess I should have bought that 30% off washing machine at the Sears going out of business sale.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 5, Informative) by c0lo on Wednesday January 24 2018, @07:22PM (6 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 24 2018, @07:22PM (#627313) Journal

    If you are going with lead-acid batteries, stay away from the car batteries - they are optimized for power density (heaps of amps for short time to start that damn'd SVU tractor) and don't take deep discharges very well.

    Search for "marine battery" or "deep cycle battery" - will maybe add you some $100 in cost over a car battery but you won't mourn the death of it after 6 months of use. Prefer large Ah capacities, you'll get to discharge them less and this has huge impact on the lifetime of the battery.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +3  
       Informative=3, Total=3
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   5  
  • (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Wednesday January 24 2018, @07:38PM (3 children)

    by fyngyrz (6567) on Wednesday January 24 2018, @07:38PM (#627323) Journal

    Search for "marine battery" or "deep cycle battery" - will maybe add you some $100 in cost over a car battery but you won't mourn the death of it after 6 months of use.

    That's good advice (+Informative for you), though my vanilla-ish (~100 AH) car batteries have been in service for almost three years now... OTOH I have not ever discharged them all the way, so there's that.

    Still, to start, I'd just go with a cheap battery until you have more serious plans. But whatever floats your boat and doesn't sink your wallet.

    I have one system that is all ultracaps - that's eventually going to be the way to go, because they simply don't wear out in any practical sense but the space required at the present time is pretty horrible compared to a battery. Plus they need their own special electronics for charge / discharge. Sigh. They aren't quite there yet for most practical systems. But it was fun to build. Lots of challenges.

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday January 24 2018, @08:32PM (2 children)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 24 2018, @08:32PM (#627358) Journal

      I have one system that is all ultracaps - that's eventually going to be the way to go, because they simply don't wear out in any practical sense but the space required at the present time is pretty horrible compared to a battery.

      Price-wise too.

      My latest foray into "back for your buck" in electrical energy storage (how much Wh for $1), still shows something like:
      - lead-acid (deep cycle) - best Wh/$
      - NiMH
      - LiPo
      - ultracaps - worst Wh/$
      At least when considering consumer prices.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Thursday January 25 2018, @01:12AM (1 child)

        by fyngyrz (6567) on Thursday January 25 2018, @01:12AM (#627494) Journal

        ultracaps - worst Wh/$

        Sort of. But the ultracaps probably won't need to be replaced in my lifetime. Batteries, at least with available battery tech thus far, just don't last. And batteries waste a lot of energy when charging.

        At least when considering consumer prices.

        No doubt! I bought all mine surplus off of EBay. A generation or two back tends to be very inexpensive compared to new. And the tech is still improving, so there's hope yet.

        Hey, and you can probably will your ultracaps to your kids / grandkids because they'll probably still be working when you go nipples north. Batteries suck. :)

        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday January 25 2018, @03:09AM

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 25 2018, @03:09AM (#627520) Journal

          Sort of. But the ultracaps probably won't need to be replaced in my lifetime.

          That is, if everything you can account for getting outside the spec-ed range is enough and really taken care off and durable for the duration of you life.

          And batteries waste a lot of energy when charging.

          Depends on you charging current/cell.

          Hey, and you can probably will your ultracaps to your kids / grandkids because they'll probably still be working when you go nipples north. Batteries suck. :)

          Neither ultracaps are that immortal.
          Only considering that the outer layer is still plastic (most probable, LDPE) - won't degrade for centuries while protected by the tons of garbage on top inside the dump, but letting you down after some years due to temperature variation, some ion-rich air, good forbids to keep them in the Sun's light, etc.

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
  • (Score: 2) by captain normal on Wednesday January 24 2018, @08:42PM (1 child)

    by captain normal (2205) on Wednesday January 24 2018, @08:42PM (#627361)
    --
    When life isn't going right, go left.
    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday January 24 2018, @08:51PM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday January 24 2018, @08:51PM (#627363) Journal

      Depends on where you live - 'tis why I didn't provide a link.
      I know I'm not gonna pay S&H for a ton of lead with "fragile/dangerous goods" classification from US to Australia, I suspect won't make sense for European soylenters too.

      ---
      ** that acid, even if as a gel? certainly dangerous it the enclosure breaks.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford