Re:Storage ‘not fundamentally needed’ for future power grid,...
by londons_explore on Wednesday June 21, 2017 @04:25AM
(#14601926)
Energy futures on a "by the minute" basis are great in principle, but they are hampered for consumers by the fact that current billing is flat rate.
Why participate in the future market if one can simply choose to not partipate and get to consume any amount of energy you like at a constant price?
Effectively you'd have built a market with an unlimited option to buy at the monthly-average price. A market like that can't work...
Re:Storage ‘not fundamentally needed’ for future power grid,...
by rbanffy on Wednesday June 21, 2017 @07:36AM
(#14602788)
If you embark in the floating price, you'll probably get better rates. The downside, you having to worry about it, is offset by the machines planning their own consumption within the criteria ("I want this dry in the morning") you set.
Considering this sophistication will probably not be easy to retrofit onto current devices, a combined, space/energy saving device is a given. As long as the clothes are dry and clean when I need them, I don't care at what time during the night the machine did its job.
With some extra cleverness, it could even negotiate very-short-term (hours) futures on energy prices based on current tendencies and knowledge of future house demand.