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Re:In Europe, Wind and Solar Overtake Fossil Fuels by _aavaa_ on Thursday January 22, 2026 @12:20PM (#46722193)
The term you're circling is "grid defection".

> must be connected to the grid.

That's a legislative problem. If a home can prove it can produce enough electricity for itself, it should not be forced to be connected.

> You can 'fix' this by making it so every home has a fixed 'connection cost' and then a smaller 'usage cost' on top

A lot of places already do this.

Re:In Europe, Wind and Solar Overtake Fossil Fuels by Night_Thastus on Thursday January 22, 2026 @12:39PM (#46722527)
It's not a legal problem. The reality is that the vast majority of homes with solar must be connected to the grid because that's how they're wired and designed. You can do a completely off-grid approach, but it's more expensive and requires large batteries. Most people just do the simple panels and don't have any intention of going off-grid.

Also: Even if half of a neighborhood doesn't need the connection, the work ends up being similar. It's more based on distance/area.

Re:In Europe, Wind and Solar Overtake Fossil Fuels by _aavaa_ on Thursday January 22, 2026 @10:18PM (#46727960)
Even if you stay connected, many place already charge you a fixed cost every month regardless of usage, which presumably should be covering this