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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?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @12:41PM (7 children)
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.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 29 2019, @01:06PM (3 children)
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.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @01:22PM (2 children)
What problems? Needing a blanket?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @05:09PM (1 child)
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
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)
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, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @10:31PM
U.S. uses approximately 2.5 times the energy per capita as the U.K. according to https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.USE.PCAP.KG.OE?locations=US-GB [worldbank.org]
(Score: 1) by Qlaras on Tuesday September 03 2019, @07:44PM
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.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 29 2019, @01:13PM (7 children)
Probably something to do with the language controlling this:
Wouldn't it be nice if our lawmakers could actually think (and care) about the future implications of the laws they are writing, how little provisions like individual ownership can lead to crazy designs like this? What's the apartment fire going to look like with 600 lithium battery banks distributed throughout the structure? The lobbyists certainly think through the implications of the bills they write and push... How much money would it cost to get effective lobbying for something that the constituents want, but doesn't generate cash in the next 5-10 years? Have we really constructed a society where only those with insatiable lust for lucre, and dumb luck to amass great piles of it can call the shots?
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @01:17PM (3 children)
Also, the closer you have a power source to the demanding load, the lower the losses.
http://insideenergy.org/2015/11/06/lost-in-transmission-how-much-electricity-disappears-between-a-power-plant-and-your-plug/ [insideenergy.org]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 29 2019, @01:31PM (2 children)
All in all, if I lived in an apartment building, I'd sleep better at night if the bombs were stored in separate structures a minimum of 30' away from the inhabited ones. Power loss for an extra 50' of transmission is worth it.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/
(Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Friday August 30 2019, @10:18AM (1 child)
Is that why so many people park their cars on the driveway outside the garage, instead of bringing them in?
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday August 30 2019, @10:27AM
No, in reality people park their cars outside because they've got so much crap in the garage that the car doesn't fit anymore - and, in reality, all that crap is probably as much of if not more of a fire hazard than the car, particularly when it includes lawn care equipment with leaky fuel systems, big cardboard boxes, etc.
However, when a car does catch fire, it does much less damage to the home if it is outside, even though garages should be built to a "2 hour fire wall" code, that doesn't always work as envisioned and never prevents all the smoke damage and rebuilding of the garage itself.
Now, if you have installed a 300lb halon suppression system in your garage, that might be a better place to have a car fire than outside, but... better still to not have a flaming Ford in the first place. I wonder, what the fire damage potential is comparing a Tesla battery system to a full tank of fuel - the potential energy should be roughly equivalent, but I imagine the suppression system in the battery pack is a little more effective.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/
(Score: 1, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Thursday August 29 2019, @03:30PM (2 children)
Good points, actually. I just assumed that it was a case of virtue signaling. "Yeah, Gomer, I'm doing all I can for the environment. In fact, my apartment runs off of solar powered batteries. The bitches take up enough closet space! The hardships I put up with, because I care!" With credentials like that, you can get a lifetime membership to the Progressive Snowflakes club.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 3, Touché) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 29 2019, @04:02PM (1 child)
The snowflakes are anything but progressive in Utah...
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/06/24/7408365/
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 30 2019, @08:57AM
My skiing friends tell me Utah has some of the best snowflakes in the world.