Oh, I meant for my house. Solar panels on my roof. Where we are, there are lease programs that become cost effective if your average power bill is over $150 per month. Ours is not, even with a plug in hybrid, but part of that is because we get a discount for letting the power company shut off our AC a limited number of times each year. Much less of a problem when I am not working at home like I am now.
I think one solution to the power company shutting off your AC at certain time thing… (I wonder if this is something Taipower is contemplating too).
Get a small window AC, and find the smallest, best insulated room in the house and confine your activity there.
One problem with Americans is they’re too wasteful with AC. One person in a big 3000 square foot house and they’re cooling the entire house 24/7. No wonder there are so much power usage. Get those small window AC (you can buy it at Walmart for like 80 dollars) and just use that.
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They shut it off based on grid demand, not our individual usage, so window units would not help there. Also, we use lots of rooms throughout the day and have a pretty open floorplan, so not sure if window units would be more efficient. We do block the vents in a couple rooms we don’t use much. Also need to get a whole house fan to.bring in the cool air at night.
They would not be able to control your window AC and those use little electricity.
What the power company do is attach a device to your central AC unit where the power company can shut it off based on grid demand. The window unit mounts to an open window and plugs into a socket.
Unless they’re completely cutting power to your house (not just the AC) the window unit would still work.
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Good point!
I’m strongly for renewables, but this I agree with.
Don’t mean to be disrespectful, but be careful. I’ve read a half dozen or so articles about how rental of solar panels (esp in California, due to its current solar rental laws) can fubar your house’s market value, or at least complicate it. One real estate sales guy estimates that >50% of potential home buyers in Cali walk away from making a bid if the solar panels have been rented. That’s because under Cali law they must assume ownership of the rental agreement. You may find yourself on the hook for the balance of the rental term.
Probably don’t have to tell you this, but it sounds like it’s a very good idea to make sure the rental contract you sign allows you to opt out if you put the place up for sale.
Buying the panels would uncomplicate any future sale, but they’re expensive af, the payback is forever, and in times like now, when net migration is negative ergo it’s a buyer’s market, you may not recoup the upfront fixed cost.
Anyway, hope you have a pool. At least a breeze.
Thanks. I just meant to say that solar panels are not just for “rich people.” I would not do a lease, for the reasons you mention.
We might purchase though, if we decide to stick around. There are still good rebates through by the end of the year. Still a sellers market in our neighborhood, with high demand and low inventory.
No pool. Probably will get a whole house fan soon… cools off a lot here at night.
Solar panels are not that expensive anymore.
Yeah, that’s a great and $ reasonable option. It also likely adds to your house’s value.
I’ve owned 2 houses with whole-house attic fans, which we turned on before going to sleep and turned off first thing in the morning. Great sleep. One of my ex’s family’s house in Missouri had no AC, but did have a WHAF, and it was very pleasant at night.
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Still about 30 to 40k USD for our house/use if you throw in the battery packs. And I think there is a 16% federal tax credit. So cheaper but not cheap.
Some countries don’t do the battery packs, they just feed in the electricity net and reverse the meter, actually paying the customer. You only pull from the net at night or heavy use.
I think those countries have relatively small demand for electricity, and more nimble electric grids as a result (at least grids that are easier to modify). California is a pretty big state, after all, with almost all microclimates: ocean, mountain, arid, desert, and lush.
Not exactly apples to oranges, Belgium to California.
Interesting interview with Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. Hogan’s only the second Republican governor to have been reelected in Maryland (affectionately known as the People’s Republic of Maryland in the Mid-Atlantic region) in the last 242 years. He is evidently doing something right.
Hogan is among very few of those in GOP to serve in state government there, a situation that is mirrored in California. Both states are willing to do backflips to keep their lib bona fides current, and both often cross right over into dingbat land.
I think the key difference between Maryland and California, though, is that Maryland is, outside South Bend, Indiana, the heart and soul of the Catholic Church in the US. Has been always, especially Baltimore. Vatican II resulted in the old-fashioned ideas of “be thy neighbor’s keeper, do unto others as they would unto you,” etc., being mainstreamed into parishes - as applications of as well as the responsibilities of government - throughout Maryland in the mid-1960s, and from there Maryland became as liberal Democrat as it was Catholic.
So Maryland is different that way from California. Not apples to apples, but I think Maryland’s situation is one California could (should) learn from.
“Because I said so” only works if you have both the muscle and determination to enforce it. There is a showdown coming.
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2020/09/giant-cloud-of-incompetence-hangs-over-california.html
Toxic cloud of smug still hasn’t dissipated.
Anthropogenic regional warming:
The Blaze, of course.
Apocalyptic!
California leads the nation in solar generation, and also uses a lot of wind generation. These carbon-free resources help reduce the climate impacts of burning fossil fuels. But unlike conventional power plants, they cannot be turned on and off as needed. By design, their availability depends on the sun and wind at any given moment. They can work well in conjunction with resources that can be turned on as needed, especially in the evening when the sun goes down. These “balancing” resources can be gas-fired plants, pumped water or battery storage, hydroelectric power, or the collective actions of homes and businesses to move their consumption to different times of the day. California does not have enough of these resources. See problem #1—someone needs to be in charge.
Not even a mention of nuclear power. Crazy insane insane in the membrane.
According to the most recent figures from the California Energy Commission, nuclear power accounted for 9.18 percent of the state’s power mix, without producing greenhouse gases.Jan 11, 2018
And this while they insist on shutting down a third plant. It boggles the mind. Boggles it!