Re:Bill and Melinda Gates: America’s Top Farmland Owner
by csomar on Thursday January 14, 2021 @02:49PM
(#25781478)
Regarding solar, you don't really need much land. Most residential homes can install it on their roof and this also applies to flat industrial building which do not consume a lot of energy. This also makes your solar production decentralized.
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Re:Bill and Melinda Gates: America’s Top Farmland Owner
by adolph on Thursday January 14, 2021 @04:01PM
(#25782445)
As I understand it, the challenge is syncing when changing from standalone to integrated modes. The challenge is such that most home PV can’t operate standalone.
https://www.digikey.com/en/articles/synchronizing-small-scal...
Re:Bill and Melinda Gates: America’s Top Farmland Owner
by danans on Friday January 15, 2021 @02:50AM
(#25788127)
> As I understand it, the challenge is syncing when changing from standalone to integrated modes.
It's not challenge to switch from grid-connected to off-grid mode. The reason that solar PV systems today shut down during grid outages today is to protect line workers from current feeding back to to the grid from the PV - which is to say the automatic shutoff is there by design.
Home battery storage systems, however, have transfer switches that automatically "island" the PV system from the grid in the event of an outage so that it can continue to produce power.
> The challenge is such that most home PV can’t operate standalone.
Decentralized != Off-grid
Re:Bill and Melinda Gates: America’s Top Farmland Owner
by dzhiurgis on Thursday January 14, 2021 @08:56PM
(#25785974)
My guess installation on residential roof is probably 10x more expensive vs just dropping bunch of panels en masse in a dessert.
Re:Bill and Melinda Gates: America’s Top Farmland Owner
by CRConrad on Friday January 15, 2021 @06:08PM
(#25797802)
I'd guess it's the other way around. A roof is a flat and stable surface, close to infrastructure (roads, power lines). In the desert, you have to (literally) lay the groundwork first.