Renewable Energy Is The Future

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by JSH

Interesting. How do they know you have solar besides if you tell them so you can get net metering? (Is net metering still a thing in Oregon - it seems be be dying pretty quick)

Net metering with an annual true-up (lose banked credit in March). I saw the surrounding area reach solar capacity limits in 2020, and that combined with 3 substantial subsidies had me pull the trigger. Haven't checked recently, but I would expect net-metering to now be closed to new installs in my area.

I've been on TOU pricing for a bit more than 2 years now and I can't make the math work for a battery work to avoid paying on-peak rates 5 days a week. The On-Peak window is short enough that I can simply used schedules to keep most of my power hungry devices off. So for I've spend about $500 on-peak.

For the heat pump I preheat / precool the house for 2 hours before and then cut it back so the heat pump basically doesn't run. Same with the heat pump water heater. The dish waster gets scheduled for after 9 pm. The dryer gets used on the weekend. EV only charges off-peak.

The only major electrical appliance that runs on-peak is the stove / oven.

It would be really nice if I could use the Bolt as a house battery but we are more than a decade behind other regions in Vehicle to Home tech.

My immediate solution is to run my 12v 4,000 watt inverter on the 100Ah battery I bought for a trolling motor. It can only handle the 120v circuits, but only the whole house AC and oven run on 240v.

I'd have to pre-cool the house absurdly cold to survive the 4hr of peak heat in the summer. I could run 2x 1-ton window units to make it tolerable in those 4 hours, but pulling 180 amps on a 12v battery is extreme.

My other option is to pull from the 12v battery in the van and have the DC/DC converter keep it charged.

[freebeard]

From Permalink #449:

Casimir Energy is a startup that has engineered a nanoscale structure to harvest energy from the quantum vacuum.
....
A solid-state chip that produces 1.5 Volts at 25 microAmps. Suitable for low power electronics. As production scales, cost per Watt decreases leading to phones, cars and houses.

picoWatts don't scale. Disavow.

Perpetual Motion Machine Raises $12M from Investors

[JSH]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

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I'd have to pre-cool the house absurdly cold to survive the 4hr of peak heat in the summer. I could run 2x 1-ton window units to make it tolerable in those 4 hours, but pulling 180 amps on a 12v battery is extreme.

Our house changes about 4-5 degrees over the 4 hours of on-peak rates. That was before I insulated the attic last fall. (Which dropped our winter heating bill about 25%

[redpoint5]

5 degree change is tolerable, but my guess is I get a 10 degree or more change if I can't actively cool... although that's beginning at 2pm, not 5pm, so the ability to pre-cool could probably work.

The neighbor's AC is running continuously right as I type this, and it's 63 degrees outside.

I would still probably come up with some scheme to avoid any electricity use during peak and would be tempted to use the same scheme to avoid mid-tier rates as well.

Don't need to spend any more time thinking of it though because PGE doesn't allow net-metered customers to switch to TOU pricing.

[Isaac Zachary]

I don't mind temperature swings all that much, as long as they aren't too hot.

Both of my parents lived in teepees. When I was young and we lived in a log cabin I remember waking up to seeing frost on the wall next to my head from my breath.

For about 6 months out of the year I do not run any active heating or cooling. I just open windows when it gets warm and close them when it gets cold.

[redpoint5]

I haven't run the heat in a couple weeks, and haven't run the AC yet this year. Supposed to get into the 80s though, so we will see if I can manage the temperature swings sufficiently.