Solar power & Wind Power for residental use

[Redneck in training]

There is no practical way to transmitt that amount of power those distances . Even with DC transmission the construction costs, maintenance and losses in transmission makes such projects prohibitive.
The four time zones make no difference as the daytime peak runs 10-16hrs.
Green energy sounds great at a rally, meeting or on a news media bite to those outside the field . The harsh reality however is you had better be ready to pay over a $1 per KW hr. Of course to be "green" all home allowances and loads will have to be electric instead of gas or oil. Electric stove, electric fridge, electric water heater, electric furnace, electric clothes dryer . That would put daily energy consumption between 30-90Kw hr per day for a typical family. Who can afford those electrical bills ?

DC lines over long distance has about three times lower losses than AC lines. There are quite few in operation. The longest currently under construction in Brasil being about 1500 miles with projected 8% loss.
My guess is the DC transmission lines are cheaper to construct. I might be wrong though. There are only two wires the major cost is the conversion at the ends and disconnecting and protection devices.
Electric power in Europe is about 0.226 US cents/kwh. By my estimate the break even point for PV at that energy cost is about 10-12 years without incentives.
We have 100% electric house. I don't have exact number but about 75 kWh/day is about right.
Since the majority of energy consumption is heating or AC the excess PV energy can be stored as hot or chilled liquid or solid. Since we already have the heat pump it will be way cheaper than batteries. And such storage lasts long time. That will be my next project.

 

[LAFarm]

Gee, I'm glad everyone didn't listen to the naysayers when the automobile was being developed. Horse and buggy was fine. These newfangled horseless carriages were going to require all sorts of new industries just to support making them. Gasoline refineries, tire factories, gas stations and who on earth knew how to fix one if it broke. There was just no way these things could compete with the horse. What if you ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere? Could you feed grass to the car like a horse? Why no, that wouldn't work! Should we have just abandoned the notion of automobiles because of these reasons? Thankfully we did not. I don't think that anyone realistically expects wind and solar to completely replace coal, natural gas, hydro or nuclear. Our national energy infrastructure is already designed to support the generation, distribution and marketing of electricity from coal, natural gas, hydro and nuclear. These industries have been nurtured for decades by our federal, state and local governments through tax breaks, right of way easements and actually building dams for hydro projects. Taxpayers have directly and indirectly funded energy projects which have been integral in developing other industries. Why should we reject assisting the development of other forms of energy generation that can easily tie into the existing system? That doesn't make much sense to me. Computers were once considered to be impractical, far too expensive and much too large to ever be feasible for any application other than industrial or the military. Today, we all own and benefit from computers of some type which have enabled us to do things that were only imagined in peoples minds not so long ago. I have been employed in refineries and electrical generating power plants. Our country needs all of these vital sources of energy. In the few years since I installed some solar panels at my home, the technology has advanced and the prices have become more affordable to the point that one can purchase a system with much more kw capacity for substantially less than I paid. I have no regrets nor am I resentful of the cost savings that someone can have today. My system is grid tied and is subject to net metering. During the day, any excess that is generated goes back into the grid and is sold at retail to my neighbors. I am not paid by the utility for this energy. The trade-off is that at night I am able to draw the energy back from the utility if needed. Should I need more than was sent into the grid during the daytime, I am charged retail price for the energy just as ever other customer. I pay a monthly meter charge plus the cost of kw that is provided as do all of the customers of our utility. Should I have any excess kw that accumulates, my utility will pay me the wholesale rate when I terminate my electrical service. For example, the utility charges close to 9 cents per kw for electricity used from them. The wholesale price that they pay the power plant is approximately 2 to 3 cents per kw. Guess my point is, we should use all of these sources and diversify our energy portfolio.

 

[Ken]

To the best of my knowledge the periodic table was expanded just a short while ago. Yes - new elements!

With sufficient scattered point sources of energy integrated into a functional grid individual lost sources do have the same impact as the loss of one major energy provider. Widely scattered energy sources will make for an easier managed grid and result in less transmission loss. Japan might be familiar with this. Of course the North American western Coast didn't see any fallout from Japan or did they?

Can't recall anyone here taking about the , pouge wasn't it, Carberator. Must have been the Merry Breezes carrying tales?

Perhaps the biggest problem lies in the grid ownership wanting a monopoly eh.

Egon Maybe the need for John Galt to be located and have him return to his engine development.
Engineer inventor Philosopher never got hot under the collar when a disagreement came up. ken

 

[buickanddeere]

We need to have the electrical services of the wind and solar proponents connected to only wind and solar , then have these green customers pay the wind and solar rates . Instead of being subsidized by conventional generation and the rest of the utility customers.
People talk the talk but what really believe is shown when they open their wallets.
Net metering is an option for a only a few % of the grid connections.

 

[RalphVa]

We have a 3 kw solar system in now. Figure it's saving around 600-700 kw on our usage every month via our net meter. The stupid meter doesn't show this. Think it retains a credit for a short period, which is usually erased during the night. First 2 or 3 bills so far have been less in kw but don't seem to be that much less in $.

Ralph

 

[buickanddeere]

Our electrical rates are so high due to subsidizing wind, solar and NG. Even though my utility does not allow net metering . The break even point has been reached to operate 2-3 KW of grid solar to reduce the mid day usage of utility power.

 

[cqaigy2]

We need to have the electrical services of the wind and solar proponents connected to only wind and solar , then have these green customers pay the wind and solar rates . Instead of being subsidized by conventional generation and the rest of the utility customers.
People talk the talk but what really believe is shown when they open their wallets.
Net metering is an option for a only a few % of the grid connections.

We can "subscribe" to power generated by "green" sources. It cost more and you can do a percentage of total up to %100. We pay for %50 percent of your load at alternate sources rates. It's my decision to pay the extra for what i feel is of benefit to my neighbors and myself.

 

[cqaigy2]

We need to have the electrical services of the wind and solar proponents connected to only wind and solar , then have these green customers pay the wind and solar rates . Instead of being subsidized by conventional generation and the rest of the utility customers.
People talk the talk but what really believe is shown when they open their wallets.
Net metering is an option for a only a few % of the grid connections.

We can "subscribe" to power generated by "green" sources. It cost more and you can do a percentage of total up to %100. We pay for %50 percent of your load at alternate sources rates. It's my decision to pay the extra for what i feel is of benefit to my neighbors and myself.

 

[buickanddeere]

We can "subscribe" to power generated by "green" sources. It cost more and you can do a percentage of total up to %100. We pay for %50 percent of your load at alternate sources rates. It's my decision to pay the extra for what i feel is of benefit to my neighbors and myself.

That is a lot of money , to change so little, and feel that good about it. Makes for good conversation and hero status at parties for saving the world to those who don't understand the numbers.
Who thinks that the utility switched some wires to make your house green?
I have a story to tell about that some time .

 

[k0ua]

We can "subscribe" to power generated by "green" sources. It cost more and you can do a percentage of total up to %100. We pay for %50 percent of your load at alternate sources rates. It's my decision to pay the extra for what i feel is of benefit to my neighbors and myself.

I wonder how that power company keeps those electrons separate when they enter the grid... You know the green electrons vs the black electrons. Now this is just a personal opinion, but I think you are paying extra for absolutely nothing.