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Hybrid grid solar arrays are tougher than they seem

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Hybrid grid solar arrays are tougher than they seem

from JoeUser Forums

So I have a 20KW solar array. Love it.  But it has one big problem for me that is surprisingly hard/expensive to solve: If the grid power goes off, so does the solar array.

That’s because the solar array feeds into the grid with me taking what I need first.  But if the grid isn’t up, the solar array has to shut down because it is no longer connected to the “circuit”.  Besides that, you wouldn’t want to run your house where the power could go on and off randomly based on clouds moving in the sky.

The solution is to have a battery sink for the solar array. The solar panels feed the batteries and if the power goes off, the house uses the batteries until they run out with the solar array feeding the batteries as best they can.  However, it turns out that those batteries can be expensive. Very. Very expensive. As in tens of thousands of dollars expensive.

My house has a backup generator already in the event that power goes out. But in a true Zombie apocalypse scenario, my solar array would be worthless.

140,399 views 28 replies
Reply #26 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I'll talk about whichever country i like, and Germany is a perfect example of how NOT to do it. Although UK comes close second.

As for 'old' articles, physical laws of nature don't change at all, so it's valid whenever. But here is a recent article to please you:

Germany’s Wind Performance Was Just As Bad As Great Britain’s – Sun And Wind Are Often AWOL http://notrickszone.com/2013/03/04/germanys-wind-performance-was-just-as-bad-as-great-britains-sun-and-wind-are-often-awol/ 

 And facts are just facts, no matter who tells them. And the facts are very clear, variable energy is not a realistic option for any nation. That is why for example Japan just recommenced building a new nuclear reactor instead of a wind/solar whatever system 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/in-japan-two-years-after-fukushima-nuclear-accident-work-resumes-work-on-new-reactor/2013/03/10/d572879c-83d6-11e2-a350-49866afab584_story.html

I guess they have less ecological hysterics to deal with. I rather not wait 20-30 years to find out the nation suffers all the time from blackouts and prices rise through the roof once the subsidies dry up. 

 

Reply #27 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Reality is a bitch: As prices for carbon emissions continue to languish, Berlin is planning to cancel some key subsidy programs aimed at increasing reliance on renewable energies. Germany and other European countries seem uninterested in fixing the problem. 

That the German government is facing a massive budget shortfall for projects aimed at transforming the country into a model of alternative energy and environmental friendliness is hardly new. The European cap-and-trade system has for months been sliding into inconsequence as prices for CO2 emissions have stubbornly remained below €5 ($6.47) per ton. The revenues Berlin earns on the mandatory emissions certificates have suffered as a result.

In response, SPIEGEL has learned, the Environment Ministry is set to cancel several flagship subsidy programs this month -- programs that were to be key elements of Germany's transition away from fossil fuels and towards complete reliance on renewables.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-cancels-trio-of-climate-programs-amid-funding-shortfall-a-889483.html

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Reply #28 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Germany once prided itself on being the “photovoltaic world champion”, doling out generous subsidies—totaling more than $130 billion, according to research from Germany’s Ruhr University—to citizens to invest in solar energy. But now the German government is vowing to cut the subsidies sooner than planned and to phase out support over the next five years. What went wrong?

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/project_syndicate/2012/02/why_germany_is_phasing_out_its_solar_power_subsidies_.html