Terence Eden
@Edent@mastodon.social  ·  activity timestamp last week

What would it take for our home to be Solar Self-Sufficient?

Work in progress, but I think I have the answer.

🏠 I live in an ordinary house in suburban London.
☀️ Our solar panels generate 3,800kWh per year.
🔌 We use the same amount of electricity per year.

After crunching the numbers:

🔋 Capturing all our solar excess needs a 1 MegaWatt-hour battery.

#Solar#SolarPunk

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mau 🏳️‍🌈#EndFossilFuels
@mzedp@mas.to replied  ·  activity timestamp last week
@Edent ...I think your math is wrong. Here's a reference, they calculate that most places can be served by a 17kWh battery and a 5kW solar system.

Even if you have the worst location in the world, there's no way you need a 1 MWh battery.

https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/solar-electricity-every-hour-of-every-day-is-here-and-it-changes-everything/

Key takeaways 01 24-hour solar generation is possible – just 17 kWh of battery storage is enough to turn 5 kW of solar panels into a steady 1 kW of 24-hour clean power. On an average day in a sunny city like Las Vegas, US, providing 1 kW of stable, round-the-clock power requires 5 kW of fixed solar panels paired with a 17 kWh battery. This combination can deliver a constant 1 kW of solar electricity every hour over a full 24-hour period – and this amount of battery will be sufficient for most regions across the world. 02 It is possible to get 97% of the way to constant solar electricity every hour of every day of the year (24/365) in the sunniest cities. Cloudy days mean that 24/365 solar generation – maintaining the same constant solar output every hour of every day of the year – would need so much solar and battery that it is likely uneconomical. However, in sunny cities it is possible to get more than 90% of the way. Las Vegas can reach 97% of the way to 1 GW constant supply and Muscat in Oman – 99%, using 6 GW solar panels and 17 GWh battery. Even cloudier cities like Birmingham can get 62% of the way to a constant supply every hour of every day across the year. 03 The economics are great in sunny cities – just $104/MWh to get 97% of the way to 24/365 solar, 22% lower cost than just a year earlier and cheaper than new coal or new nuclear. In a sunny city like Las Vegas, the estimated Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) at this 97% benchmark is $104/MWh. This
Key takeaways 01 24-hour solar generation is possible – just 17 kWh of battery storage is enough to turn 5 kW of solar panels into a steady 1 kW of 24-hour clean power. On an average day in a sunny city like Las Vegas, US, providing 1 kW of stable, round-the-clock power requires 5 kW of fixed solar panels paired with a 17 kWh battery. This combination can deliver a constant 1 kW of solar electricity every hour over a full 24-hour period – and this amount of battery will be sufficient for most regions across the world. 02 It is possible to get 97% of the way to constant solar electricity every hour of every day of the year (24/365) in the sunniest cities. Cloudy days mean that 24/365 solar generation – maintaining the same constant solar output every hour of every day of the year – would need so much solar and battery that it is likely uneconomical. However, in sunny cities it is possible to get more than 90% of the way. Las Vegas can reach 97% of the way to 1 GW constant supply and Muscat in Oman – 99%, using 6 GW solar panels and 17 GWh battery. Even cloudier cities like Birmingham can get 62% of the way to a constant supply every hour of every day across the year. 03 The economics are great in sunny cities – just $104/MWh to get 97% of the way to 24/365 solar, 22% lower cost than just a year earlier and cheaper than new coal or new nuclear. In a sunny city like Las Vegas, the estimated Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) at this 97% benchmark is $104/MWh. This
Key takeaways 01 24-hour solar generation is possible – just 17 kWh of battery storage is enough to turn 5 kW of solar panels into a steady 1 kW of 24-hour clean power. On an average day in a sunny city like Las Vegas, US, providing 1 kW of stable, round-the-clock power requires 5 kW of fixed solar panels paired with a 17 kWh battery. This combination can deliver a constant 1 kW of solar electricity every hour over a full 24-hour period – and this amount of battery will be sufficient for most regions across the world. 02 It is possible to get 97% of the way to constant solar electricity every hour of every day of the year (24/365) in the sunniest cities. Cloudy days mean that 24/365 solar generation – maintaining the same constant solar output every hour of every day of the year – would need so much solar and battery that it is likely uneconomical. However, in sunny cities it is possible to get more than 90% of the way. Las Vegas can reach 97% of the way to 1 GW constant supply and Muscat in Oman – 99%, using 6 GW solar panels and 17 GWh battery. Even cloudier cities like Birmingham can get 62% of the way to a constant supply every hour of every day across the year. 03 The economics are great in sunny cities – just $104/MWh to get 97% of the way to 24/365 solar, 22% lower cost than just a year earlier and cheaper than new coal or new nuclear. In a sunny city like Las Vegas, the estimated Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) at this 97% benchmark is $104/MWh. This
Terence Eden
@Edent@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp last week

A rough calculation shows that a MegaWatt-hour battery would cost £500,000 today.

That's probably a bit much for the average home.

But battery prices have fallen 90% in the last decade.

Sodium-ion batteries are aiming for US$10/kWh.

It is possible that in a couple of decades, every home will be 🌞🔋💯

What does that do for energy prices? Productivity? The environment?
Dahie
@dahie@chaos.social replied  ·  activity timestamp last week
@Edent we are and will be in a phase of arbitration for the next few years, where energy price will fluctuate between high available/low cost and low availability/highcost. The more batteries there will be, the fluctuations will vanish and this is where we enter unchartered territory. I have yet to meet an energy expert who could answer what that market will look like. Especially the dynamic between energy and grid provider and the resulting conflict between grid costs vs production costs.