Re:How cheap does solar power need to get before it takes ov...
by amazon_not on Tuesday April 19, 2016 @06:11AM
(#11525937)
> Or if you just flat-out want to move the facility somewhere it will be more useful.
While an interesting theory, I can't think of a single scenario where this would be economically justified.
> 2) They can be efficiently decentralized, which benefits reliability, and decreases transmission loss.
Transmission losses are about 6%, so not really any economic gain.
Re:How cheap does solar power need to get before it takes ov...
by erikpukinskis on Tuesday April 19, 2016 @10:44PM
(#11531923)
Wouldn't that be a 6% economic gain?
Re:How cheap does solar power need to get before it takes ov...
by amazon_not on Wednesday April 20, 2016 @02:14AM
(#11532586)
Only if your local generation plus battery system is equivalent or cheaper at providing power than the grid. Most battery systems aren't profitable even if power is free. So, no.
Re:How cheap does solar power need to get before it takes ov...
by ZeroGravitas on Tuesday April 19, 2016 @04:45PM
(#11530242)
Batteries have a variety of uses on the grid. If you're clever enough to use them for several of these at the same time, it makes it easier to pay their way:
1) You can move them around, as in an electric car. That's useful if you want to do mobile stuff like driving. Or if you just flat-out want to move the facility somewhere it will be more useful.
2) They can be efficiently decentralized, which benefits reliability, and decreases transmission loss.
But anyway, the solution is to use any and all technologies, right? Batteries make sense some places, gravity storage elsewhere.