Foghorn225 t1_j1hr75s wrote
>“There are more requests to connect to the grid, megawatts-wise, than we actually even have demand for electricity,” Long said. “So if we interconnected all these projects, we would be making more energy than we use.”
... Isn't that a good thing? They could then reduce their own energy production, i.e. not burn as much fossil fuels to offset the overage of needed energy?
hike_me t1_j1iblin wrote
The problem is when total solar generation exceeds the total demand. It can actually overload the grid. The utility companies need to balance generation with consumption, but if all the grid tied solar is outputting more than what can be used they’re screwed because they don’t have any other plants to shut down.
Currently net metering works because when homeowners generate more power than they use there are other customer nearby that can use the power.
If everyone has solar then we need grid-scale storage to dump excess solar into when it’s sunny and draw off at night.
I do love my rooftop solar, but the current situation definitely isn’t sustainable. At some point they’re going to dial back on the 1:1 net metering and people will start to need to install batteries to get full benefit from their solar.
Foghorn225 t1_j1jytqi wrote
Oh I'm getting quotes now, but I'm for sure looking for solar with the battery storage.
bubalusarnee t1_j1jt2fw wrote
>If everyone has solar then we need grid-scale storage to dump excess solar into when it’s sunny and draw off at night.
Yes.
And.
That's not difficult.
Sufficient_Risk1684 t1_j1jz2sp wrote
It sure ain't cheap. You want your bill to go up to save other people money?
bubalusarnee t1_j1k9kjl wrote
Yes.
I believe in paying for nice things.
That is how we get nice things.
You want to keep your bill cheap at the expense of the atmosphere? You a dollar slave, burning your kids futures to keep up your lifestyle choices? I invite you to take a longer term view, if you are capable.
Literally you can just put a lump of literal coal in their stocking. How bout that.
hike_me t1_j1kqiq4 wrote
How much have you spent on solar?
hike_me t1_j1k071r wrote
It’s expensive. People are bitching about their CMP bill now, wait till it goes up a few hundred bucks a month to build out all the infrastructure to support this.
bubalusarnee t1_j1k9x7f wrote
You know, you have people bitching in this thread about how people from out of state bought up all the good land before mainers could after that law passed.
Well, bub, those same assholes from NY and MA are building grid sized strorage at the moment, and you know why maine is gonna miss the boat?
Because you would rather moan and catastrophize and cry poor. If mainers don't, some asshole will.
I can only point at the sane future, I cannot chose YOUR LANE for you, but do try to take it on board, yea?
hike_me t1_j1kq1cb wrote
What Massachusetts is building for storage is a drop in the bucket compared to what is needed, and they’re spending billions on green energy. There are challenges to increasing grid scale storefronts
I already spent $27,000 on solar and I’ll looking at battery storage and have a reservation for an 85k EV, so I don’t think you need to worry about me “crying poor”.
Obviously Maine needs to spend money on storage but you said “it’s not difficult”, which means you’re grossly oversimplifying it.
mymaineaccount46 t1_j1mvfmi wrote
Storage options for solar are incredibly expensive. It's not a matter of a few dollars here or there, even a small battery for an off-grid cabin runs around three grand. Scale that up to a grid level and you're looking at a massive amount of money.
In addition to the concerns with lithium mining. It's just not actually a clear cut easy problem.
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