Check out my new battery!

[RNeumann]

How has the photon capturing been going on Badger Mountain ?

Rgds, D.

Ditto. Anxious to hear how solar works in the PNW. Also wondering how the solar structures did in the wind and winter weather. The water heater was also interesting tech- how did that end up working out?

 

[bigdeano]

Mass storage, or the lack of it, is what makes every single "alternative" energy source a non-starter when it comes to fundamentally changing our energy systems. Whatever other arguments there may be for or against them, none of that matters even a tiny little bit. Mass storage (whether distributed or centralized) is the key. We don't have it, and there is nothing on the horizon that even looks promising.

Check out flow batteries if you haven't. Looks like they're already using them.

 

[dragoneggs]

Ditto. Anxious to hear how solar works in the PNW. Also wondering how the solar structures did in the wind and winter weather. The water heater was also interesting tech- how did that end up working out?

Badger Mountain while technically part of the PNW... is not what most think. Eastern Wa grape growing regions get far more sun than us poor folk west of the the Cascades.

 

[3930dave]

Windward vs. leeward; OK, that makes sense.

Rgds, D.

 

[CajunRider]

I thought long and hard about installing solar at my place. Until I find a reliable way to keep the seagulls and the blessed pelicans from pooping on Every Thing, I'll have to wait. I really like your set up.

 

[3930dave]

CJR - long enough ago that I can't easily track it down, I saw a video of an installation on a farm in the UK.

Their concern was that dust from agricultural operations was going to really cut down solar panel output, so they set up 12v pumps feeding washdown nozzles on the panels. They were set up on timers to automatically clean the panels.

Rgds, D.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Check out flow batteries if you haven't. Looks like they're already using them.

Interesting! Thanks for the tip - that's a new one on me. Looks promising, but... not big enough, yet. If they pan out, they will definitely play a role, but I don't see a game changer there, yet.

 

[Garandman]

Just kind of guessing here, but it looks like your ROI will be about 10 years or even a little less? Nice setup and it sounds like you have learned a lot.

Looked at another way, given the high installation costs, his payback is essentially instant.

Think this may be the start of a trend: as power becomes decentralized and demand goes down, homeowner-borne installation costs may become the norm.

 

[3930dave]

Looked at another way, given the high installation costs, his payback is essentially instant.

Think this may be the start of a trend: as power becomes decentralized and demand goes down, homeowner-borne installation costs may become the norm.

It's another option, that didn't exist until not that long ago.

I see the most activity at opposite ends of the spectrum. People like OP, with access to financial resources, AND the relevant property, AND enough personal motivation (a fairly narrow slice of the population) will continue to make these decisions.

Much like cell tower technology enabled a similar leap-frog implementation of phones, many less-developed countries may never have what we think of as our "grid" today. Independent standalone power generation suits those countries well, and if we had those same choices available around the time my father was born, our grid probably wouldn't look like it does today.

Rgds, D.