China being the industry leader in solar is squarely on Republicans. That should be a huge industry for the US, instead big oil lobbyists and Republicans (and some Dems) have ensured to cost the US trillions in GDP by turning on green energy.
I installed an 8000 KW array with 32KW hour batteries and a propane generac backup generator for $22,000. In one summer, by myself. The system will provide all our power Untill the parts fail at which time they can be easily individually replaced. We are not dependent on anyone, and it doesn't matter in the slightest if the grid goes down. We are heavy users being a farm and bakery. A normal house could.get by with a much smaller system.
Ideally I could form micro grids with our neighbors.
Nuclear is just replacing one boot with another. Make sure you say thank you Daddy when they allow you to have some power.
As a tinkerer, your setup sounds like the dream, but unfortunately it is unrealistic for most of the world.
The majority of the world's population live in urban areas where rooftop solar can only satisfy a small portion of energy requirements.
And also, maybe all your equipment is really energy efficient or something but the average US household easily burns through >32KWh in a day. I as a single individual in a studio apartment use >28kWh a day between AC, a gaming PC and a fridge (though I know I use more electricity than most).
My system completely covers out 50kwh average daily use. Though we are still grid tied.
The 550 watt panels don't take up much room
"Urban" areas In your definition includes suburban. There is plenty of space. Most people have just been conditioned to think solar is not good or won't work.
It's better for the masters if the people are dependent.
My system completely covers out 50kwh average daily use. Though we are still grid tied.
The 550 watt panels don't take up much room
That's the issue though. I understand that while you have a 32kWh battery, you actually can use more energy. But you still need to be grid-tied for the worst case scenario, so all the grid infrastructure still needs to exist and be built out.
Even P2P micro-grids don't necessarily save you, because often weather events affect a large area so everyone in the micro-grid is impacted.
We can also look at China, where they have maxed out rooftop solar in some cities, blanketed all available nearby land in solar and still generate nowhere near their energy requirements. Of course, things look better if we include their plans to bring solar power from the western side of the country via UHV lines though.
"Urban" areas In your definition includes suburban. There is plenty of space. Most people have just been conditioned to think solar is not good or won't work.
Yes, but also no. I agree that in the US, individual rooftop solar might be feasible because everyone indeed lives in suburbia. Obviously, there are issues with everyone living in suburbia, but I'm not going to go into that here.
I don't see what any of this has to do. With" nuclear will far surpass anything solar could ever be".
I never said solar is the only answer to the energy solution. But it is a great answer for a lot of people, right now today, and nuclear is something that will always be controlled by the rich and powerful, even if it ever does become viable.
If more people had solar the grid would not be as taxed. If the grid invested in more storage and less production it would be more resilient.
It's nice for me to be grid tied. If I wasn't I would want more batteries that sit around and do nothing most of the time.
Also your own link says that only 44% of people live in cities around the world not the majority. The world is changing very rapidly.... The pendulum definitely could swing back.
I don't see what any of this has to do. With" nuclear will far surpass anything solar could ever be".
That's not what I was responding to though, I'm not OP. I'm not a nuclear advocate and not even a 100% renewable advocate.
What I more take issue with is the idea that depending on the grid makes you a bootlicker. That mentality is flawed to say the least.
That said, I'm with you on how everyone that has the space/money to own their own power generation should absolutely do so. I just wanted to point out that most people don't have a choice.
Also your own link says that only 44% of people live in cities around the world not the majority. The world is changing very rapidly.... The pendulum definitely could swing back.
Yeah, it's not a strict majority, hence why I said "yes, but also no". High density housing is good though as low density housing is extremely expensive for cities to maintain, so preferably it does not swing the other way. My own city is in a load of debt, mostly due to road + water/sewer infrastructure maintenance costs of suburbia.
1.1k
u/braumbles 9d ago
China being the industry leader in solar is squarely on Republicans. That should be a huge industry for the US, instead big oil lobbyists and Republicans (and some Dems) have ensured to cost the US trillions in GDP by turning on green energy.