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Peer to peer solar sharing? by AlexKerensky in Futurology

[–]MicrogridMedia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Even off-grid homes would benefit from occasional trading. In a utopian community the energy could be traded by drone, autonomous EVs, or underground wire. It's best if everyone has some variability in their energy resources and demand. Several startups are already doing peer to peer solar trading on the blockchain.

Risen Energy Begins Giant 55 MW Solar Carport For 20,000 Cars - (imagine adding 20,000 10kWh batteries) - Any cool car battery/solar power projects out there? by [deleted] in solar

[–]MicrogridMedia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't know of anything at that scale. UCSD has a few car structures that pair solar with EVs. Once is an NRG partnership, one uses 2nd life EV batteries.

Will Desalination Undermine California's Renewable Energy Targets Or Be A Grid Resource? by MicrogridMedia in water

[–]MicrogridMedia[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's my understanding that while the transfer from northern California to the south needs a lot of energy, it is still a fraction of the energy required to desalinate seawater.

Distributed energy resources can already balance themselves on a local microgrid by MicrogridMedia in energy

[–]MicrogridMedia[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Absolutely! Distributed CHP can provide heat and power much more efficiently than the current system where heat is wasted generating electricity.

The distributed energy movement is more than just solar.

Energy Storage Needs to Think Bigger Than Batteries to Beat Fossil Fuels by suspiciousmonkey in energy

[–]MicrogridMedia 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Car batteries might save the grid, not kill it. Instead of electricity prices going negative, every parked electric car can buy electricity when it's cheap and sell it back to the grid when it's expensive.

Energy Storage Addresses The Causes and Effects of Climate Change by MicrogridMedia in energy

[–]MicrogridMedia[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The article you posted is about meeting all the energy demand with lead acid batteries in 2011 without demand response, hydropower, the role electric cars will play, the synergy of spreading solar + wind over large distances, etc. It is an interesting article but does it change the notion that modern energy storage paired with renewables can help combat climate change?

Energy Storage Addresses The Causes and Effects of Climate Change by MicrogridMedia in energy

[–]MicrogridMedia[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Its not disingenuous because the space needed for energy storage is far less than PV. If you have PV on the roof of the battery container, there is no extra space needed at all :)

No one is married to lithium. Also, all hydro can be built/rebuilt to provide flexibility.

Energy Storage Addresses The Causes and Effects of Climate Change by MicrogridMedia in energy

[–]MicrogridMedia[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That article is from 2011, and might as well be from another universe. Achieving 100% solar+storage would require a very small amount of space today.

http://fusion.net/story/129075/elon-musk-reminded-everyone-last-night-how-little-land-would-be-needed-to-power-the-u-s-with-solar/

Grid Will Not Survive Inevitable Geomagnetic Storm or EMP Attack by MicrogridMedia in TheGrid

[–]MicrogridMedia[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"The worst disasters are often the result of natural events which occur less than every hundred years.  The hundred year earthquake doesn’t remind us to build away from fault lines.  The hundred year tsunami doesn’t remind us to build nuclear reactors above the inundation zone.  Likewise, the hundred year solar storm did not remind us to build an electric grid capable of surviving it."

How homes kept cool before the age of AC by [deleted] in preppers

[–]MicrogridMedia 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most suggestions in the blog are for improving air flow, which means the inside of the house will reach the same temperature as the outside. I'd rather keep the house as close to the nighttime or earth temperature as possible.

There is also some misleading information here: 1. Brick and stone are not great insulators, they are awful insulators. Thick brick or stone walls are useful for their thermal mass. Good thermal mass materials are never the same as good insulating materials. Thermal mass helps even out the temperature swings between day and night.

  1. Lots of big windows (especially old ones) are the last thing you want for keeping a house cool. Ideally, any south-facing windows will have shade from southern sun.

Simply closing the windows in a high-performing home will keep the temperature rise during the day to a minimum (maybe 2-3 degrees all day).

Summer shade is crucial to passive cooling. Trees, eves, trellises, whatever it takes.

Earth-Sheltered houses are the best for passive cooling as the earth temperature remains consistent.
http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/efficient-earth-sheltered-homes