Solar generates fifth of global electricity on summer solstice midday peak

Re:Solar generates fifth of global electricity on summer sol... by tzs on Sunday June 23, 2024 @12:13AM (#40764734)

> The issue you really run into is that, even at idle, the generator burns a fixed amount of propane. The minimum is about 2 gallons per hour. Which is roughly $6

All the loads that I might consider a generator for are intermittent (well pump, fridge, microwave, space heater).

I've wondered if it would make sense to get inverters for the fridge, microwave, and heater and get a pool of batteries, and just use the generator for charging batteries and powering the well pump.

With a sufficient number of batteries in the battery pool it should be possible to only need to run the generator when there are sufficient batteries to charge that the generator can run at its most efficient output.

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Re:Solar generates fifth of global electricity on summer sol... by jaggederest on Sunday June 23, 2024 @04:53AM (#40765809)

Yes this is roughly what I'm looking to do, but if you have an inverter and a battery charger, it seems silly not to also hook up some solar panels!

At that point the generator will only run if the batteries dip below e.g. 20% charge, making it extremely affordable.

[ Parent | on HN ]