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posted by janrinok on Thursday August 29 2019, @12:25PM   Printer-friendly

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

With a battery in every apartment, the whole complex can store extra power when the sun shines, and then move it around where it's needed at night.

"When there's excess solar-generated energy produced, instead of just pushing it into the grid right away, it's going to be shifted and harnessed in the batteries," Richetta says. "Rocky Mountain Power will look at that in real time, and every day will constantly be able to say, okay, when can we use this solar?" Right now, in areas with a lot of solar power, there's often so much energy produced when the sun is out that it can't be used; without battery storage, when power is needed at night, utilities have to turn to more polluting sources.

The developer, the Wasatch Group, saw investing in solar power and batteries as the right thing to do for the region, which is already experiencing climate impacts including worsening wildfires and droughts. "We looked at how are we going to be responsible stewards," says Jarom Johnson, chief operating officer for Wasatch Premier Communities. "This was probably the best option that we could identify that allowed us to say, 'Hey, we're going to push the envelope.' It's going to challenge our standard mantra for development. But we have specific outcomes we're trying to pursue, which are we want to limit our footprint, and we want to allow a large portion of individuals to be housed without throwing a bunch of carbon in the air." The company took advantage of federal and state tax credits to offset the cost of the project, and will be paid by the utility for access to the virtual power plant.

But why are they inside the apartments, when they're controlled by the utility company?

Source: https://www.fastcompany.com/90394337/in-this-new-solar-powered-apartment-complex-all-600-units-have-batteries-that-form-a-virtual-power-plant


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @12:41PM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @12:41PM (#887249)

    The government says the ideal temperature for you to sleep is 82 F (28 C): https://finance.yahoo.com/video/study-suggests-sleeping-temperature-set-151514632.html [yahoo.com]

    This is based on peer reviewed science while anything you might say is anecdotal which can be ignored. So get ready for them to turn off that unnecessary AC at night to help you sleep at the optimal temperature.

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 29 2019, @01:06PM (3 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Thursday August 29 2019, @01:06PM (#887253)

    They pushed 78F as "optimal summertime comfort temperature" back in the '70s energy crisis, shopping malls complied, people stayed away in droves.

    My parents set the summer thermostat at 80F, not because of the government, but because they were cheap (of necessity, schoolteachers' salaries...) When we sold the house, the new owners tried to run the AC at 70F and experienced.... problems we had never encountered.

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @01:22PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @01:22PM (#887256)

      What problems? Needing a blanket?

      • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @05:09PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @05:09PM (#887371)

        I would guess additional settling, potential cracks/paint failures due to the now potentially dryer environment with more thermal stress.

        • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @06:19PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @06:19PM (#887420)

          The way it was phrased made me think it was like pre-mature ejaculation or anal leakage or something else that no one wants to talk about.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by janrinok on Thursday August 29 2019, @02:26PM (1 child)

    by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 29 2019, @02:26PM (#887286) Journal

    It all depends where you usually live. I would find it very uncomfortable to sleep in a room at 82F - and this fact explains why I dislike US hotels so much. They are far too hot and sometimes there is no way to control the temperature. I have had on occasion to resort to opening all the windows, or selecting aircon to get the room down to something more comfortable.

    In the UK the night sleeping temperature is recommended to be around 18C (65F) or sometimes lower. In fact, my thermostats are set to switch heating off at 18C. Anything more than that does not require any additional heating in the home. Below 16C indoors we would probably light the log fire.

    The temperature outside is currently 19C(66.5F) and I have spent some of the day outside gardening in tee-shirt and lightweight trousers. My neighbours had their lunch outside to make the most of the sunshine. At 27C (82F) we would be heading to the beach and sunbathing, seriously.

    You guys must get though a lot of energy!

  • (Score: 1) by Qlaras on Tuesday September 03 2019, @07:44PM

    by Qlaras (3198) on Tuesday September 03 2019, @07:44PM (#889267)

    Backtracking to the source:

    Digging into the tweet used in the linked video article: https://twitter.com/jenntitus10/status/1163517531971346434 [twitter.com]

    The ConsumerReports.org article: https://www.consumerreports.org/central-air-conditioners/best-setting-for-central-air-conditioning/ [consumerreports.org]

    Its about saving energy/costs, not about optimal temps for humans; and that number is an example based on their 'formula' after finding the household's agreed-upon "We're home and awake" temp of setting sleeping temp to +4F and no one home to +7F.

    Sure, 82F feels nice to lounge in in shorts and a tank-top, but I'm not going to be accomplishing much in it without sweating.