You may not be able to afford to buy all of your electricity
 

Looks like my paranoid day dreams have become really.
December, 2018 excel energy has pledged to go to 100% renewable energy by 2050, that's not really that scary. No they want to be 80% carbon free by 2030, in 11 years.
Last time I checked excel was maybe 20% carbon free, most of that being wind.
Another problem, excel covers ND, SD, WI, MI, MN, not exactly what I would call awesome solar locals.
You look at Excels solar map and it's a joke. It would take about 1/4 of their solar capacity to power where I work.
I'm sure I will be able to afford it, but it is really going to cut into my hooker, booze and cocane related hobbies.
That pretty much guarantees a 100% increase in 11 years, you know like exactly what happened everywhere else they tried it?
This also means their generation rate could double, if it goes to 6 cents then I may be able to profitably produce solar power, as long as inflation doesn't devalue the dollar too much.
The main thing that I have been wating for before installing my solar panels has arrived, winter solstice. I am in the process of taking measurements and marking where the shadows are throughout the day that way solar panels can capture the maximum amount of sun and occupy the given space with as much panel as possible.


https://www.vox.com/energy-and-envir...an-carbon-free

Shouldn't affect you too much since you're going solar.

Inflation is a tax on savings, and negatively impacts little else.

.

Problem solved.

Just enact a “Sun Tax”...

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-24272061


For what it’s worth, Spain Abolished it’s 'Tax on the Sun' earlier this year.

Surely it will be back in the future, one way or another...

The grid will not go away without kicking and screaming.

And it can’t.



:turtle:


>

It may return in the future if home solar ever gets to the point that it produces more than the local network. One of the problems is that the grid tie converters monitor the power wave on the network to determine how to feed in the power.. Too many grid tie converters may cause instability.

But by that time the grid tie converters may well be orchestrated by the power company. They could be used to improve the shape, compensating for the cutoff effects caused by modern electronics.
They would not only provide power, but also improve its quality.

Thankfully my province is in the process of getting a new Hydro dam put in. Doubt it's power will get to many of you, though. Anyway, if they want us to drive EVs, they need to be able to supply us with enough clean electricity...not much point if we end up running them on "unclean" electricity; might as well leave them running on gasoline.

Of course, weeing as they spending billions building this dam, we might well get a hike on our electricity rates to pay for it. We'll be in the same boat as ya'll if we're not careful.

That's kind of what they are doing.
I already know excel energy is anti customer roof top solar.
They are thinking "how dare the customer generate their own power, we will fix that".... "there, now they can't afford their own solar panels".

Yeah and I am working on blocking the high voltage transmission line that will go through Maine to Massachusetts.

Not here. All of the solar power that goes on to excels grid has to go through an over the air controlled co-gen meter.
If the utility needs to they can remotely disconnect power from the solar panels in the event of an over voltage event. Which is unlikely.

No such thing here. We have an old-fashioned electromechanical meter and we keep it, as it prevents the power company from splitting supply and demand other than the yearly net total. Even though my power company is actively promoting solar initiatives and promotes netting, the government wants to put an end to it and may win out.

My son has added needs and we're looking for a way to get him through high school education. That may require us to move or pay for private schools... if not our roof would already bear a PV installation. Just now we can't take the risk.
But in a year or two all must be settled. Biding my time on solar, therefore.

Most utilities in the US will not allow an electromechanical meter on a solar install.

You guys would be surprised. Most power plants use solar collection over solar panels as they are more viable than panels. 40% efficiency vs 20%. Also, they can be added as an addition to the more common ngcc power plants here in the South. The heat exchangers back and forth make things more compatible. But give it time. In 2008 how many people did you even know that ran off solar? I mean even youtube was kind of bare.

If you feed solar energy into the grid, you're paying a "pro-sumer" tax in my part of Belgium ...

Trouble is, many people with solar installations still use up a lot of, or even most electricity when they ain't producing much if any themselves.

We have rewinding mechanical metering, so they want it to show no net use - anything extra you put into the grid, you "lose" - so many use extra electric heaters in winter .
That electricity still has to be generated somehow ...

The market solution to that problem is to net meter the market price of electricity at the time of use.

My energy company (GreenChoice) actively promotes home PV installations, even to the point where it works against them.
I have a double day/night meter, and they promise they will pay me high rate (tax and transport costs inclusive) for net overproduction on the day total while they charge me low rate for the night total.
I could theoretically have a small overall shortage and still get paid...!
Only if I have a total surplus will that part be credited at high rate but excluding tax and transport. As tax and transport make up most of the cost, that's significant.

I'll just drop this here:
Robots Built a House That Generates More Energy Than It Needs

dwell.com:The DFAB House is the world’s first home designed, planned, and built with mainly digital processes—and it's entirely powered by the sun.

DFAB HOUSE – DFAB HOUSE
edit: I like this a lot.

https://images.dwell.com/photos-6328...crete-slab.jpg

The curved wall supports the ceiling panels, made from a 3D printed mold. The window mullions are bespoke as well.

Automation/robotics will drive the cost of nearly anything near zero. If/when robots are able to make themselves and repair themselves, and handle more complex tasks, the only limit to what can be built would be mineral resources.

Consider a solar, wind or (fill in the blank) factory that is nearly 100% automated. Resources are mined by robots, delivered to factories by robots, turned into solar panels by robots, and installed by robots. The cost of anything is related to human time consumption. Robot time is worth almost nothing, especially if they were built and maintained by other robots.

I don't know if we'll get there any time in the next century. In some ways robotics has exploded, but in other ways still has a lot of obstacles to overcome. AI/machine learning is a difficult nut to crack.

https://images.dwell.com/photos-6328...fab-module.jpg
[ibid]

At this point, the robot hold the part for a human to fasten. AI will drive design to the geodesic solution. A hexagonal rotating jig so the human doesn't have to climb a ladder. Boston Dynamics robots can do backflips now.

I think we'll be there in the next decade. Proof of concept in the next year.

I'm surprised we still send people on top of roofs to install asphalt shingles. Seems that repetitive and easy to calculate job would be an ideal thing to automate.

I've thought designing an asphalt roof laying robot would be a fun project.

The asphalt should come in a spool, not in squares (rectangles). Simply roll out, cut at the ends, overlap at the correct distance, and repeat.

Actually, why are nails used at all? Asphalt should be epoxied to the roof.

A roofing robot would be great.
Roofing sucks and roofers are either completely stupid or take every incorrect short cut possible.

A robot Tesla Roof installer. With tile delivery drones.

The biggest obstacle to any robotic automation will continue to be trade unions. Most people want that more or less guaranteed lifetime job which barely exists anymore anyway. Most of the people I have ever known can't conceive of being proficient in more than one field. Happily this forum is full of individuals who are multi-talented.
JJ

An historic example, Byckminster Fuller's Dymaxion Bathroom, killed by the plumbers.

https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/blogs....o8-300x281.jpg
https://blogs.uoregon.edu/dymaxionho...xion-bathroom/

If you want a life time job security get one in robotics, automation or just fixing other peoples mistakes.

"If you want a life time job security get...." over it.

I knew one person who retired at 65 from the only job he ever had. His name was Percy Zumwalt.

Yeah, I'm in IT and dabble in electronics/robotics, but I hope even much of that can be automated. Although I enjoy the field, I wouldn't mind if my job were obsolete and I were challenged to learn something different. Might even be the kick I need to pursue one of my many entrepreneurial interests.

Asphalt shingles should never be adhered to the roof sheathing. Firstly, they have a limited service life, and must be replaced fairly regularly. Secondly, rigidly adhering them to the a dissimilar substrate will cause failure due to differing rates of expansion and contraction from the large temperature changes that a roof has to endure. This is also why trying to use patching cement to flash in around roof penetrations doesn't work either. Everything has to be able to move a little bit

I'm a roofer/carpenter btw, and most homeowners know absolutely nothing about how their home works.

I went back through the thread to find Permalink #18 as your referent.

Asphalt roofing costs US$4-7 while the non-solar Tesla tiles cost $11. Considering the service life and airborne debris penetration resistance, why would the homeowner be considering asphalt.

This may change, Tesla have introduced a v3 roof that uses horizontal arrays instead of the vertical tiling system they had previously. Cost for the solar part is reduced as well.

I know I'm never reroofing or building a house with asphalt shingles ever again.

I wish I could say the same.

And it begins.
This,
https://www.heartland.org/news-opini...energy-mandate
Lead to this.
https://www.pnm.com/0115-ew-rate-increase-request
They wanted 14.4% but got half.

Interesting...
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=47316

Because of my Ethereum mining, I had $50 in electricity bill last month, and $40 in my latest statement.

The past 3 days I've had solar overproduction, so I may have rounded the winter lull and be back to net zero.

Good thing you've prepared for the price increases. Makes the ROI date come sooner than anticipated.

The crazy thing is that my solar was largely funded by regressive policies. Make everyone pay more so that people who can afford homes and expensive solar can enjoy low utility bills.

Riddle me this.
If "alternatives are cheaper" then why is the regulatory commission raising rate as newmexico adds more and more wind power?
As far as I can tell adding wind and solar makes electricity more expensive everywhere that isn't generating electricity with diesel generators or barging coal 1,000+ miles.
Change my mind.

I'd never say change my mind. Someone at 100 yards with a remote hole puncher might take me up on it.

you lucky dog! :P

Redpoint does your utility companies have minimum charges? I find my minimum charge is $70 and my utilities range from 150-250 lol

Why does solar have to be on grid, especially if you have an electric car? I was thinking of adding some panels to run stuff and charge the ranger, but then the thought hit me: I'm retired, I can charge during the day and back feed stuff from the ranger at night. I sure as heck not going to bother with telling NVENERGY or even the city building dept.

I’d worry more about the future cost of water than electricity.
My neighbor is 100% solar with no utility connection at all. No electric or gas. He changed all his gas appliances to electric. He has multiple batteries and can go for days without sun. Sun isn’t an issue here.
But the water table around here has fallen so low that you can’t drill a well. Two nearby hydropower reservoirs are so low they’ve stopped generating power. They’re talking desalination plants and LONG pipelines. New reservoirs won’t help here because we don’t get enough rain to fill them.

I have a 18 inch bore well that can supply 100 gpm all day. If water prices go crazy I'll be rich.
I'm going to drop in a solar pump and a pneumatic pump and if that's not enough I'll run 240v power over there.

Makes sense.


I have already considered trying to go off-the-grid, but it's harder to do it living in a small apartment.

The meter fee is $11/mo; the price of being physically connected to the grid and maintaining an account with the utility.

Modern meters won't run backwards unless they are programmed to do so. The old physical meters often could be run backwards without the utility finding out, so long as you showed some net consumption every month.

My meter was replaced with the exact same model, but apparently it was programmed to "net meter" rather than run in only one direction.