Tesla Home Battery

[splat]

This I'm curious about, as it seems like lots of states that have exploding solar industries are now getting pushback from utilities who don't want to deal with the wholly different business model. Those guys are about the last people on the block to be comfortable with sudden change, so it doesn't surprise, but that seems like a bottleneck in a lot of states right now.

The bottleneck is fear based reluctance rooted in the perceived losses to shareholder earnings. Some utilities are quick to embrace change, some aren't. The hudge utilities embrace change and market new tech to their advantage. They know if they don't change that someone else will push the change through and they (the utility) will have missed the opportunity to channel the money and the good will in their direction. Some don't want to give up the profits of hydro power transmission (margins!) or the investment in their own coal-fire plants that have 20-30 years of life left in them. The utilities that refuse to help ratepayers become rate earners will brew even more animosity from ratepayers who will install solar and disconnect completely to spite the utility. This solar change hasn't been sudden. It's been brewing for over 20 years.

[Ted Striker]

those guys^^ are fucking idiots anyhow

Which guys... BC Hydro? I don't doubt that.

we built a dam, put in 1000ft of 2" pipe around a moraine to run a small water turbine, combined with upgraded 24V solar panels and new batteries I was able to run the log splitter for 2 days straight, LED light bulbs helped now I just turn a light switch any time there is a very small honda BU generator which never gets used and instead of carrying milk pails we got all the running water you want for showers ... as long as you are not a warm-duser

That's fucking cool. So I'm guessing this hut is between the Bulkley Valley and Terrace?

[Snow Dog]

we built a dam, put in 1000ft of 2" pipe around a moraine to run a small water turbine, combined with upgraded 24V solar panels and new batteries I was able to run the log splitter for 2 days straight, LED light bulbs helped now I just turn a light switch any time there is a very small honda BU generator which never gets used and instead of carrying milk pails we got all the running water you want for showers ... as long as you are not a warm-duser

Sounds complicated. I met a guy at Anderson Lake (North of Pemberton, North of Whistler) in the 80's who had a micro-hydro on the water access part of the lake. No permits of course but he had 120VAC for himself and his neighbours (for a fee) to run some lights at night. Anderson Lake is a mountain lake so he built a weir on a creek up the mountain. he probably "borrowed" materials from BC Rail or BC Hydro back when nobody cared.

[creaky fossil]

Wall-mounted lithium ion batteries designed to store energy generated from home solar. 10 kwh unit for $3,500, $3,000 for 7 kwh unit. Can put out 2 kwh of continuous energy. More details here:

http://www.teslamotors.com/powerwall

what do we think? Looks pretty damn cool!

I think your 5th grade humor and 3d grade IQ do not make for good comedy, and your 4th grade writing skills don't make for good posts or mini-essays.

But hey, you've got the hipster (un)irony down pat, and I bet you own at least 3 pair of girljeans and 2 fedoras.

[WaistDeepGroomers]

I think your 5th grade humor and 3d grade IQ do not make for good comedy, and your 4th grade writing skills don't make for good posts or mini-essays.

But hey, you've got the hipster (un)irony down pat, and I bet you own at least 3 pair of girljeans and 2 fedoras.

Thanks CF!

[splat]

You got a gigawatt of enthusiasm, Dunfee, I'll give you that.
Here's some cool shit:

Hawaii is on its way to having the greenest grid in the nation.

The state legislature sent a bill to the governor’s desk this week that moves the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) up to 100 percent by 2045 — which means that all electricity provided by the electric companies will have to come from renewable sources like solar and wind. Nationwide, electricity generation makes up about a third of all carbon emissions.

“We’ll now be the most populated set of islands in the world with an independent grid to establish a 100 percent renewable electricity goal,” State Senator Mike Gabbard (D) told ThinkProgress in an email. “Through this process of transformation we can be the model that other states and even nations follow. And we’ll achieve the biggest energy turnaround in the country, going from 90 percent dependence on fossil fuels to 100 percent clean energy.”

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/201...en-grid-plans/

[shirk]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...its-first-week

800M in a week. Pretty good if they can deliver.

Even better if it sparks the movement to get North American's thinking more sustainable power and burning less coal.

[Game Over]

jesus -> I followed a few links after that piece and have come to the conclusion that think progress must run on unicorn farts.

also solar panels are not exactly "Green"
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...ility-ranking/

[wooley12]

Well, time was the science and statistics said that NYC would be 6 feet deep in horse shit in twenty years. And then they started using 4 h.p motors to get around. One shit problem solved, another started. All that caustic waste is being dropped in China anyhow. They'll have their own New Jersey.

[stfu&gbtw]

I've reserved two. Presuming there aren't any unforeseen technical issues (and there may be, but Tesla's been working with a few batteries - they know more about it than I do) I'll buy them as soon as they become available.

I've been running off a 8480kw/h DCLA battery array for the last seven years... It's huge and it's a pain in the ass to maintain. It will be great to switch over to unvented, maintenance free batteries - with a 10 year warranty no less!

[grskier]

It was kind of a rhetorical question. I live in Wenatchee. Even when it's clear in the winter I only get 3-4 hours of direct sun at my house, so it would be kind of pointless to have solar. I could probably make tons of electricity in the summer and sell it all back though.

This

[grskier]

We have a number of community solar projects here, that are really attractive:

http://www.easycleanenergy.com/

We have a 4.2kW system installed behind the house, that I need to do about $1000 of work to... That takes the edge off, but with a growing family that keeps the laundry room going when we are home, plus the freezer, etc... I'm looking at investing in either the above, or this system to get closer to offset.

As far as the financial reasons... I'd rather spend 10% more on a 20ish year cycle to lower my footprint than keep with status quo... but that's just my inner hippie I guess. I have no idea if my efforts will make it such that my grandkids can ski or not.. but I'd rather try than not.

[char]

I've reserved two. Presuming there aren't any unforeseen technical issues (and there may be, but Tesla's been working with a few batteries - they know more about it than I do) I'll buy them as soon as they become available.

I've been running off a 8480kw/h DCLA battery array for the last seven years... It's huge and it's a pain in the ass to maintain. It will be great to switch over to unvented, maintenance free batteries - with a 10 year warranty no less!

Aside from the maintenance PITA what is the price difference between the two systems when new?

[XXX-er]

That's fucking cool. So I'm guessing this hut is between the Bulkley Valley and Terrace?

yeah Burnie hut is a commercial BC ski OP in the Howson range southwest of Smithers, the weather pattern is part Terrace/ part BV valley so lots of snow, there was no shortage this year, the skiing is on glaciers so big terrain and the water system is legal