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Tesla To Announce Battery-Based Energy Storage For Homes

Okian Warrior writes: Billionaire Elon Musk will announce next week that Tesla will begin offering battery-based energy storage for residential and commercial customers. The batteries power up overnight when energy companies typically charge less for electricity, then are used during the day to power a home. In a pilot project, Tesla has already begun offering home batteries to SolarCity (SCTY) customers, a solar power company for which Musk serves as chairman. Currently 330 U.S. households are running on Tesla's batteries in California. The batteries start at about $13,000, though California's Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PCG) offers customers a 50% rebate. The batteries are three-feet high by 2.5-feet wide, and need to be installed at least a foot and a half off the ground. They can be controlled with a Web app and a smartphone app.

299 comments

  1. Combined with solar by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Would make sense to have pv panels charge them up during the day and release energy at night.

    1. Re:Combined with solar by Blaskowicz · · Score: 2

      What about panels charging the batteries during the day, then release energy at the evening (before night and beginning of night), then charge batteries from grid during off-peak night, then release it during the morning.

      That gets more complex though and you'd want to add more complexity (smart water heater or something), I'd be wary of that complexity i.e. more and more stuff to build, buy and maintain.

    2. Re:Combined with solar by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 0

      Would make sense to have pv panels charge them up during the day and release energy at night.

      This may make sense in a few rare locations, like Hawaii, and isolated villages in Africa. But generally, it is dumb to turn expensive day-time peak electricity into cheap night-time base electricity.

    3. Re:Combined with solar by Solandri · · Score: 1

      Would make sense to have pv panels charge them up during the day and release energy at night.

      No that doesn't make any sense. The power companies are subsidizing this because it helps even out the day/night usage curve. Right now they have to build enough generating capacity for the daytime peak, then shut down a good chunk of it during the night. If they can keep it running during the night, store the power in people's home batteries, which then make it available during the day, it flattens that curve. They can satisfy more demand without having to build more plants.

      That's why prices are higher during the day - there's more demand at that time. Time-shfting solar from day to night is pointless (unless you're off the grid). Just send the power from the PV panels straight onto the grid during the day when demand and prices are highest.

    4. Re:Combined with solar by grantspassalan · · Score: 1

      We have a large, not too well insulated old house here on our farm as well as a large workshop, barn, irrigation pumps etc. and everything runs on electricity. There is no gas or oil heat. Last fall I installed a 20 k peak grid tie PV generating system. The farm would use up to 200 kWh/day. Now on a good sunny spring day, that solar generator is pumping over 130 kWh into the grid. Even on a cloudy, rainy day we still get about 50 kWh. The people that installed the solar system figured that it will have paid for itself in 8 to 10 years at present electricity prices. In the summertime it also helps the power company even out their peak load.

      --
      A sufficiently advanced simulation is indistinguishable from reality.
    5. Re:Combined with solar by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      many dhw (domestic hot water) solutions already exist that tap the cheaper electricity
      at a fraction of the price of batteries

    6. Re:Combined with solar by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Great blog post by Ramez Naam with lots of data concerning to the value of this kind of technology, and why the power utilities are excited about it:
      http://rameznaam.com/2015/04/14/energy-storage-about-to-get-big-and-cheap/

  2. and... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2, Funny

    Cue Slashdotters claiming it is either impossible or a really bad thing in 3..2..1..

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    1. Re:and... by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 2

      Cue Slashdotters claiming it is either impossible or a really bad thing in 3..2..1..

      Well, we don't have the information. Its a really expensive thing. My first question is how long will they last before they degrade significantly?

    2. Re:and... by Kjella · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Cue Slashdotters claiming it is either impossible or a really bad thing in 3..2..1..

      Impossible? No. Economical? I don't see how, if it were why isn't the power company doing this centrally? Then they could average it out across everyone on the grid, instead of just you as the problem is usually production not transmission capacity. I guess it might make sense if you're producing your own power with solar panels and don't have to transfer power into the grid when it's sunny and out of the grid when it's dark, but the price seems steep for what you're getting. I mean this tech already exists but only for solar powered cabins off the grid, it's really expensive per kWh and usually just to power light bulbs and such.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    3. Re:and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or Slashdotters wondering why the amount of money in his bank account has anything to do with anything.

    4. Re:and... by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Are you really this stupid?

      This isn't stupidity, exactly, it's obstinacy. And actually, it's cognitive dissonance. Typically, when you see someone passionately arguing against their own best interests, that is what at fault. In this case, one of the people ranting against solar and storage is arguing that if this were a good idea, it would have been done already, because they want to believe that they are more intelligent than Elon Musk, every PG&E employee, and the majority of slashdotters who have woken up and recognized that batteries have gotten immensely better within our lifetimes — and will likely improve just as much in the next thirty or forty years.

      People want to believe that they are smart and moral, and therefore they justify their poor decisions and the FUD they've spread by continuing to attack ideas long after they have been proven viable.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    5. Re:and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you really so childish? I want you to justify why you added the "stupid" comment.

      Yes, I'm calling out people to defend their childish name calling.

    6. Re:and... by jandrese · · Score: 1

      Did you read the cost per battery? There is your answer right there. The summary talks about saving money by buying power during off peak hours and using the battery when power is expensive, but you'll never made $6,500 doing that before the battery wears out.

      Also, the power company IS doing this, but only halfway. It's subsidizing half the cost of the system up front. Honestly, this whole thing makes a lot more sense for the power company than it does for the end consumer.

      --

      I read the internet for the articles.
    7. Re:and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There *are* a number of utility companies doing this centrally.

      However, the issue is that the cost of storing and recovering the electricity far exceeds the costs of generating it. Typical estimates based on current systems are that it costs $0.04/kWh to generate, but about $0.25-0.50/kWh to store and recover.

      As a result, this technology is used where generation shortage isn't the issue and there is some other constraint. For example, if power lines are at the limits of their capacity at peak load, the capital costs of upgrading the power line, or building a new line may be more expensive than local storage when amortized over the additional energy delivered at peak times.

      By using smaller batteries which can shift between retail off-peak and peak rates, or which can exploit the difference between retail sales of excess generation and retail purchase, then the economics look better.

      For example, my local power company charges $0.23/kWh for imported power, but only pays $0.05 for exported power. If it was possible to get the cost of storage and recovery down to below $0.18, then it would be financially preferable for me. It may also allow an upgrade of PV systems, in my local area, the power company requires the solar inverter to limit output to 4 kW per normal residential connection. Due to the cost of the inverter, and availability of roof space, it is common for installers to install 5-6 kW of PV panels, but lock the inverter's maximum output in software.

      Storage would be beneficial in this scenario because it would permit unlocking the inverter limiter, and diverting energy to storage, and only invoking the limiter when storage is full. For example, I get paid a subsidy for generation of $0.30/kWh (whether I use the energy locally or sell it by export). Limiting the inverter output is therefore very expensive in terms of lost generation. If the cost of storage is less than $0.48/kWh (subsidy + import/export spread) then there would be a financial incentive to install such a system.

    8. Re:and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Bullshit. Not all ideas are viable. Where's our flying cars? Where's our nuclear powered airplanes? How about gas turbine powered cars? We've built all of these, but it turns out the technology is just too expensive and of limited benefit to be viable to be used en masse. Deny it all you want, but Lithium ion based batteries are reaching the limits of their energy density. There are not any breakthroughs on the horizon that are going to make lithium ion batteries cost 1/10th their current cost per watt hour of capacity.

      You are also projecting. Perhaps its YOUR cognitive dissonance that is preventing you from recognizing that the technology is not viable. People like you are quick to turn to conspiracy theories and pop psychology as to why alternative energy is not mainstream when it is simple economics.

    9. Re:and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Economical? I don't see how, if it were why isn't the power company doing this centrally?

      The power company may be lazy, obstinate, or just profiting more in other ways, it is difficult to say, but with the Enron example, you can't say they're necessarily acting for the benefit of the public or the whole system, but may find their own gain to be at the cost of others.

      Sad, isn't it?

    10. Re:and... by mwvdlee · · Score: 1

      Very much possible (they're already doing it). and very much a good thing; decoupling time of energy production from time of energy consumption allows for both cleaner and cheaper electricity. But they still have a VERY long way to go if they cost $13k.

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    11. Re:and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      These batteries might not have been manufactured yet (although the article suggests some have with 330 homes already using them) but batteries definitely have been around and used in the past.

      The reason utility companies do not use them on a large scale is because they control the pricing and base load purchasing. They are required to supply a base load plus 10% of the average base load used. This is the long term contract energy supply and generally the cheapest they purchase because it's always there. They then purchase more expensive energy for over base loading and even more expensive energy for peak usages. This is why pricing can be cheaper at night - they aren't usually supplying anything over base load.

      Over base load purchasing is achieved in several ways. Sometimes it's just increasing output from a generating station or even on demand systems like natural gas generating. So their cost savings is just in not purchasing or creating the energy in the first place. There is no need for battery storage unless they are purchasing well over the base load requirements and that would eventually cost more than any perceived savings. But as a customer, a savings can be had with limited usages because it both allows the consumer to purchase off peak energy for use at peak times and moves the base load requirements making over base load requirements less. If everyone used these batteries the pricing structure would flatten out and there would not be any cheaper rates at night. Some utility companies do not even offer demand rates. They cost average and charge a single rate whether providing peak or base load power needs.

    12. Re:and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now your house is a suspected terrorist and can't fly anywhere.

    13. Re:and... by beltsbear · · Score: 1

      Correct, but it does provide battery backup during power outages and the net cost after 5 years is in the $3000 range. A good generator with auto-switchover can cost that with installation and it makes a whole lot more noise. Also the battery should last more then 10 years though with less capacity then when it was new.

    14. Re:and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Did you read the cost per battery? There is your answer right there. The summary talks about saving money by buying power during off peak hours and using the battery when power is expensive, but you'll never made $6,500 doing that before the battery wears out.

      Apparently you have no clue what you are saying. Have you ever lived in California and payed by the tiered billing? I lived in the central valley and during a heat wave in the summer my elect bills averaged $750 a month with a high one month of $975. I heated with gas and so during the winter my electric bills were $150. So roughly I spend $600 - $800 a month for a/c. The Tier 1 rate currently is $0.359 peak $0.111 of peak a savings of 2/3 or $400 a month but I was Tier 5 which is $0.531 peak vs $0.283 off peak. The billing is complex but during the 4 or 5 months I used a/c I potenially might have saved $1200 a year. If the batteries last 6 years I come out a head but guess what if PG&E builds a new power plant to meet increased demand the rates go up.

    15. Re: and... by jd2112 · · Score: 0

      Those who say that something cannot be done should shut up and stay out of the way of those who are doing it.
      And SpaceX, for those of you who think you can do it better, it IS rocket science.

      --
      Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
    16. Re:and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I estimate an ROI of about 257 years. With a 50% rebate, that drops to 128.5 years.

    17. Re:and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You need to look up the definition of cognitive dissonance.

    18. Re: and... by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 1

      Who is saying what can't be done, specifically, or is this just some general point unrelated to the topic or discussion?

    19. Re: and... by Tokolosh · · Score: 0

      Agreed. Especially with the subsidies, i.e. my money.

      --
      Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
    20. Re:and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ten years ago I lived in Virginia, near the coast. I didn't need air conditioning, and my heat, stove, and water heater were gas. My electricity bills were around twenty or thirty dollars, and gas twenty, but that was for an apartment. I hear houses average around $100/month. The power company there (my family is still there) just lowered the rates this month, thanks to new regulation passed by the Virginia legislature regarding fuel pricing and protection from price spikes.

    21. Re:and... by St.Creed · · Score: 1

      I agree. It's more false consciousness than cognitive dissonance.

      --
      Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)
    22. Re:and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So I guess what you're saying is that this Tesla product is for California and off-grid people only right now. That needs to get a little more recognition so the rest of us don't need to try to care yet.

    23. Re:and... by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      Irrelevant. This is an idea already proven viable.

      Has not been proven to be economically viable.

      Irrelevant. Not the only technology.

      It is the technology the solution in the ARTICLE uses. The rest is pink unicorns.

    24. Re: and... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      It obviously can be done, the question is whether it makes financial sense. It seems that, if it were cost-efficient to store electricity in LiIon batteries then the biggest buyers of them would be power companies, so maybe there's some market inefficiency that you can exploit by doing it in customers houses, but it even with that it sounds like it will have a very long ROI. I pay about £400/year for electricity (about $600). A $13K battery storage array would cost me the same as almost 22 years of electricity. Even if it reduced my electricity bills to zero, it would take 22 years for it to pay for itself. I think the overnight rate, if I switch to a tariff that has one, is about half of the normal rate, so it would actually take 44 years. Probably a bit less as electricity prices are likely to go up over the next few decades, but even with a 20 year ROI there are far better uses of my money.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    25. Re: and... by amxcoder · · Score: 1

      But a generator will likely run indefinately (provided you have enough fuel), vs a battery that will only power things for a limited time in a longer period blackout. Once your out, your out. Vs being able to keep a generator running and filling up gas every so often.

    26. Re:and... by BradMajors · · Score: 1

      Utilities do use batteries for short term electricity storage. http://www.aesenergystorage.co...

    27. Re:and... by plutoXL · · Score: 1

      Impossible? No. Economical? I don't see how, if it were why isn't the power company doing this centrally?

      Oh but the power company is doing it centrally. Only it's cheaper not to use batteries on that scale.
      http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumped-storage_hydroelectricity

    28. Re:and... by dgatwood · · Score: 1

      It could also be a real boon for windmill users. Store power that the windmill provides at night (when you probably aren't using much, if any, power) and sell it back (or use it) during peak usage periods.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    29. Re: and... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      You can add a smart meter.

      Then you constantly either load or discharge the battery during peak time and balance the grid.

      Actually you would sell this "option" so that a balancing power provider can put you and your neighbours who do the same into a virtual balancing power plant.

      Now if the grid needs an excess 5MW you and your 49 neighbours in the same virtual balancing power plant will each provide 100kW power.

      Supposed your battery has like 1MWh storage (just for easy calculating, likely you only have half of it)

      As you likely will provide something like 25% of the day time either loading capacity or discharging capacity, you provide 6h every day where your battery is either loading with up to 100kW or discharging with up to 100kW. Lets assume it is on average only loading/discharging with 50% of its peak. So we have 6h with 50kW "load", that translates into 300kWh of balancing energy.

      For that you would charge the grid operator a fixed fee something like 2 EURO per day to provide the option to use the battery as balancing power plant. Option means: he pays you minimum that fee regardless if the grid operator actually needs the balancing power or not. On top of that you charge the grid operator depending on how your "virtual power plant" is marketed by the "balancing power provider" up to 40 cents per kWh.

      That means on a good day (won't be many like that) your battery makes you 120 Euro, per day.

      See: you look at it from the complete wrong perspective, oops, forgot the extra 2 Euro base income.

      As I said, the 1MWh storage might be exaggerated, so size the earnings down accordingly. Also balancing power usually costs in the 10 to 15 cent range, and not the 40 cents proclaimed above. However if you can participate in a virtual balancing power plant with a mere 1MWh installation (10kW - 100kW power) you easy make a few thousand Euro money per year!

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    30. Re:and... by Kjella · · Score: 0

      This isn't stupidity, exactly, it's obstinacy. And actually, it's cognitive dissonance. Typically, when you see someone passionately arguing against their own best interests, that is what at fault. In this case, one of the people ranting against solar and storage is arguing that if this were a good idea, it would have been done already, because they want to believe that they are more intelligent than Elon Musk, every PG&E employee, and the majority of slashdotters who have woken up and recognized that batteries have gotten immensely better within our lifetimes â" and will likely improve just as much in the next thirty or forty years.

      You use a lot of big words, I don't think you know what any of them mean. What I argue is that there's structural differences that makes this a better idea to to centrally than at home, regardless of how good or cheap the batteries get. If it's cost effective for you to store the power in a battery and use it in the daytime it's going to be more cost effective for them to store the power in a battery and sell it to you in the daytime. The very reason they sell it cheap at night is that there's no cost effective way to store the excess power for later, if there were the low night prices would go away. You're on the wrong end of the Dunning-Kruger effect here, buddy.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    31. Re:and... by codeButcher · · Score: 1
      Mileage may vary due to location. Where I live, I did the sums a few years back (PV + deep-cycle Pb acid batteries, vs. getting connected to the grid - breakeven point in years between the two). At the time, the grid connection was cheaper, but not by that much.

      In the mean time, I wish I had gone with the other option for a number of reasons, including:

      1. Grid power prices climbed steeply;
      2. The grid being unreliable and not delivering 24/7.

      Every day, I long to be not dependent on the grid. Even storage, which is charged from the grid as opposed from PV (i.e. a huge UPS for the household), would be preferable.

      --
      Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
    32. Re:and... by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      $6500 is less than a decent UPS for a server rack. At least a brand name one anyway.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    33. Re: and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Might need to scale your numbers down a lot. The feed to your house won't support 100KW, and 1 MWh of battery is about the size of a house!

    34. Re:and... by blang · · Score: 1

      If you simplify too much, you become a simpleton.
      While entrenched interests yield their muscle, you cannot ignore the laws of physics and economics.

      Batteries is not the answer to everything, in fact they are merely a distraction.
      Likewise recycling is not the answer to everything, it is a distraction.
      Technology is also not the answer, it is a distraction.

      Consume less.
      Waste less.
      Reuse more.
      Avoid wasteful trips.
      Stop throwing away useless stuff.
      Stop buying shit that has too much packing materials.
      Learn how to shower with less than scolding water.
      Wear a sweater in winter and don't wear one in the summer.

      Example of moron economics:
      Buying a hybrid car for $10,000 more to save money on gas, when your existing car has several more good years in it.
      In order for that to make economic sense your commute needs to be several hundred miles a day, and gas prices needs to remain at record levels for many years. Most car owners don't realize that the vehicle itself and insurance insurance is by far the most expensive part of owning a car, unless your car is a 15 year old honker, in which case it pays to keep that honker going, unless you're so inept that you don't know how to change a light bulb..

      The grid has other more cost-effective options than batteries for energy storage, and there are other more novel, but more appropriate technologies fo rlarge scale energy storage.
      FlyWheels, pumping water back into reservoirs, manufacturing of hydrogen gas for fuel cells, manufacture of methanol , etc.

      --
      -- Another senseless waste of fine bytes.
    35. Re:and... by LostMyBeaver · · Score: 1

      my concern is that Tesla has no interest in using recycled lithium and favors landfill for lithium waste. They are intentionally poisoning our planet foe aeons.

    36. Re: and... by LostMyBeaver · · Score: 1

      I believe he had nothing to say and said it anyway.

      He apparently didn't read the history of the rocket science comment and landed WAY FAR off.

      SpaceX doesn't qualify for the statement. They are building improved technology to go places in space, but he blindly used a comment that specifically was intended as a comparison against the initial space age where we were clueless and entering blindly to achieve something believed impossible with no fore-knowledge. SpaceX, while awesome doesn't fit his reference.

      Kinda sad. Some people can be so clueless. More important isn't the could. Should Tesla flood the planet with their toxic batteries

    37. Re: and... by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 1

      Its actually a poor logical argument. Only a small percentage of new ideas actually succeed, so the odds are greatly in favor of the critics. Employing critical thought and challenge is a key to success.

    38. Re: and... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      SpaceX doesn't qualify for the statement. They are building improved technology to go places in space, but he blindly used a comment that specifically was intended as a comparison against the initial space age where we were clueless and entering blindly to achieve something believed impossible with no fore-knowledge. SpaceX, while awesome doesn't fit his reference.

      I think perhaps his point was in reference to my point that Slashdot has been taken over by modern day ultra reactionary Luddites, who don't know a lot, but what they do know is that they absolutely hate almost everything, and that pretty much anything new is simply fucking awful.

      The concept of "Spacex doesn't qualify' is really the thing that is sad. You are telling me that channeling forces through the end of these candles, energy that is for all intents and purposes a barely controlled explosion is now so reduced to practice that anyone can do it? You, perhaps are quite wrong.

      Kinda sad. Some people can be so clueless. More important isn't the could. Should Tesla flood the planet with their toxic batteries

      So tell me of the lack of toxicity in the other methods of power generation. I'm glad to hear there is zero toxic waste in Nuclear, natural gas, oil and hydropower generation.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    39. Re: and... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Agreed. Especially with the subsidies, i.e. my money.

      You ar eright. Those oil subsidies are a bit of a nuisance.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    40. Re:and... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Irrelevant. This is an idea already proven viable.

      Has not been proven to be economically viable.

      Are you trying to say it will never be viable?

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    41. Re:and... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Batteries is not the answer to everything, in fact they are merely a distraction. Likewise recycling is not the answer to everything, it is a distraction. Technology is also not the answer, it is a distraction.

      Consume less. Waste less. Reuse more.

      I'm all about conservation, but in the end, it is every bit as much a distraction as that stuff you don't like.

      Because in all conservation efforts, the end is people using so little resources that it is effectively zero.

      While I suppose you don't believe that, tell me, what is the amount of conservation of materials that compensates for population increase?

      Let's say we all use 10 percent less of something. Let's say water.

      Each new person on earth then uses up water to the same level the rest of us are using, which is 90 percent of what we used before.

      So for every new person, how many people's savings in water have been used by this new person?

      So we have to reduce all that much the next year, then the year after that, and on and on. Eventually no one uses any water.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    42. Re:and... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      What I argue is that there's structural differences that makes this a better idea to to centrally than at home, regardless of how good or cheap the batteries get.

      Strategically, if I were at war with another country, I would hope that their power generation capacity was in as few locations as possible.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    43. Re: and... by Tokolosh · · Score: 1

      Yes, those too!

      --
      Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
    44. Re: and... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      But a generator will likely run indefinately (provided you have enough fuel), vs a battery that will only power things for a limited time in a longer period blackout. Once your out, your out. Vs being able to keep a generator running and filling up gas every so often.

      And! and! and.... The generator costs money to buy use and maintain, and it has to be exercised, because that fuel has to be used - you don't want old fuel in an emergency generator, Stabil or no Stabil. Its just one more thing that the some folks don't take into account when they do their ROI's and other calculations based on something that they just don't like.

      And if you want to see some real dollars go away, try replacing your entire house hotel load of power needs with an appropriately sized generator. Running a big freezer, an oil furnace, refrigerator, and all tungsten lights (assuming a person who hates this idea hates cfls or led lights too) is going to get you some serious bucks involved. Don't forget your capacity has to be enough so that you can handle the motor startups on the devices, plus you really need to have enough to handle the draw when a couple start at the same time. Don't forget you need to install a cutout system so you don't electrocute linesmen trying to get you your power back.They frown on that, although the ROI of a couple years in prison isn't too bad with those three hots and a cot

      So what's the ROI on a whole house emergency power generator plus installation plus fuel plus maintenance?

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    45. Re: and... by amxcoder · · Score: 1

      Yes, there are downsides to a generator as well, storing of fuel etc. But, I would say in an emergency situation, most of your argument goes away though, as most people would realize that some major catastrophe (hurricane, earthquake, etc.) has taken the power out, and it could be a while until it's back up, and start conserving their power to only necessary things to help live, like refrigerator and minimal cooking appliances or lights. A typical residential generator usage, would likely involve a very undersized generator that would not run the whole house, but would run just the necessities, maybe even requiring things to be unplugged for a bit while you plugged in something else that you needed. Possibly having more than one generator, so that you can start and stop ones that don't need to be used all the time to conserve fuel.

      Only an idiot (or someone filthy rich) would try to run his entire house on a generator (or a backup battery for that matter) without immediately scaling back power usage to absolute bare necessities.

    46. Re: and... by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1

      The average US monthly electricity bill is $120/month.

    47. Re:and... by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1

      Except that... in Tesla's case the consumer pays for half the cost of the battery, whereas in your hypothetical case the utility pays 100% of the cost.

    48. Re:and... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      You use a lot of big words, I don't think you know what any of them mean.

      You've proven full well that I do.

      What I argue is that there's structural differences that makes this a better idea to to centrally than at home,

      But you're wrong.

      If it's cost effective for you to store the power in a battery and use it in the daytime it's going to be more cost effective for them to store the power in a battery and sell it to you in the daytime.

      Cost-effective for who, and on what basis?

      The very reason they sell it cheap at night is that there's no cost effective way to store the excess power for later,

      It's not cost-effective for them, because they don't have a secondary use for the battery.

      You're on the wrong end of the Dunning-Kruger effect here, buddy.

      You still have failed to support your argument in the slightest. We're waiting, though we're not holding our breath, because we want to live.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    49. Re: and... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Yes, there are downsides to a generator as well, storing of fuel etc. But, I would say in an emergency situation, most of your argument goes away though, as most people would realize that some major catastrophe (hurricane, earthquake, etc.) has taken the power out, and it could be a while until it's back up, and start conserving their power to only necessary things to help live, like refrigerator and minimal cooking appliances or lights. How about an induction motor in the middle of winter, with temps in the teens to below zero? A typical residential generator usage, would likely involve a very undersized generator that would not run the whole house, but would run just the necessities

      So we're going to maybe freeze to death so you can win the argument? Kind sir, a Generac 8000 watt air cooled staionary is around 2300 dollars. And you can easily get over 8000 watts in operating a house. Of course, you could just let the freezer warm up and throw away a kilobucks worth of food. I've got a 6000 Watt generator, and I have to be really careful with the hotel load.

      Only an idiot (or someone filthy rich) would try to run his entire house on a generator (or a backup battery for that matter) without immediately scaling back power usage to absolute bare necessities.

      Most very respectfully fuck you and your attitude. I'll be that idiot, and you can freeze. Power outages don't happen when it's handy, and try iving a week or more in your know it all outlook.

      It costs a lot of money to have even a little generator and run it. Try the costs of running even a small one for a week or two, then come back with your asshole attitude. You not only pay, you don't get much sleep, because they suck up a lot of fuel. And they run out when they run out.

      Did I say fuck you? Fuck you.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    50. Re: and... by RespekMyAthorati · · Score: 1

      All whole-house (or whole-business) generators that I know of run on natural gas. Hence no fuel problems and no need to refill. In areas that don't have NG, propane is used from a big tank that also serves for heating.

    51. Re:and... by catprog · · Score: 1

      Deny it all you want, but Lithium ion based batteries are reaching the limits of their energy density.

      And energy density is not relevant for grid purposes. Even using 0.9 MJ/L you can still store 150Kwh in 600L

      --
      My Transformation Website
      Kindle Books http://www.catprog.org/rev
      Interactive CYOA http://www.catprog.org/st
    52. Re: and... by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      All whole-house (or whole-business) generators that I know of run on natural gas. Hence no fuel problems and no need to refill. In areas that don't have NG, propane is used from a big tank that also serves for heating.

      Funny, Just because all that you know doesn't make it all everyone knows. Just as an example, all the remote emergency comm towers around my area use diesel generators with a two week supply of fuel.

      And yes, I do understand that many installs use natural gas or propane jelly bean fuel source.

      But is this all being purposefully obtuse?

      My point isn't the fuel source, or my being a presumed idiot because I want to run my house for the week long outages we get here.

      The point that the haters seem to miss is that we get the people who simply hate this idea are handing out jaw dropping figures of the expense of batteries, without a mention of the expense of providing some backup power with traditional methods.

      Its the same logic as getting all indignant about a Tesla catching on fire, while simultaneously ignoring the dozens of petrofuel car fires that occur every day.

      Its selective mental filtering - as in "I hate this idea, because its new, so anything negative about it validates my hate. But don't tell me about the negatives of what I love".

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    53. Re:and... by blang · · Score: 1

      Batteries is not the answer to everything, in fact they are merely a distraction.
      Likewise recycling is not the answer to everything, it is a distraction.
      Technology is also not the answer, it is a distraction.

      Consume less.
      Waste less.
      Reuse more.

      I'm all about conservation, but in the end, it is every bit as much a distraction as that stuff you don't like.

      Because in all conservation efforts, the end is people using so little resources that it is effectively zero.

      While I suppose you don't believe that, tell me, what is the amount of conservation of materials that compensates for population increase?

      Let's say we all use 10 percent less of something. Let's say water.

      Each new person on earth then uses up water to the same level the rest of us are using, which is 90 percent of what we used before.

      So for every new person, how many people's savings in water have been used by this new person?

      So we have to reduce all that much the next year, then the year after that, and on and on. Eventually no one uses any water.

      That's easy enough.

      Consumption = #consumers * avg consumption per consumer.

      When I said consume less, it applies to both factors at the macro level, and at each consumer at the micro level.

      So yes, eventually, one needs to make less babies.
      Which again, one should encourage policies that tend to reduce overpopulation.
      Wealth tends to cause smaller families .
      More education causes smaller families.
      Atheism etc.
      Family planning (no more catholic church throwing hissyfits about condom prevention)
      The stone age pension plan of producing many offsprings so that they can care for you in old age is going out of style. In some countries they are plagued with both pests: A very powerful catholic church that is aggressively against prevention ( it is political suicide to go against the church), and a large impoverished population that still uses the stone age pension plan.

      Will the world eventually need to re-introduce Mao's 1-child plan?
      Politically that is not likely nor very humane, so those who care for the future existence of humanity need to work on the known factors that can prevent overpopulation.

      --
      -- Another senseless waste of fine bytes.
  3. A first step by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is one step closer to getting houses off the grid. And it's a pretty big step at that.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    1. Re:A first step by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 2

      I don't think the number of off-the-grid users will change much. Fundamentally, a good-enough and cheap-enough battery will improve the grid and smooth out the fluctuations in daily demand - and with small renewables, the new fluctuations in daily generation.

    2. Re:A first step by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      13 grand will also buy you lots of electricity. Assuming a 7 year lifespan, you are spending 1.85K per year just on the batteries. My electric bill don't even add up to 1.85K per year.

    3. Re:A first step by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Not really. This is a step closer to having a more useful grid. Right now, the grid isn't much of a grid, it's more like a loose net with lots of big holes in.

      What would get more houses completely off the grid would be batteries that last forever and are relatively inexpensive. They don't need to be space-efficient, they just need to last effectively eternally, a human lifetime at least.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    4. Re:A first step by nvm_my_comment · · Score: 1

      And Rossi's e-cat being another (hopefully before 2020).

    5. Re:A first step by w3woody · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Mine's more.

      Where we moved to in North Carolina, we're only served by two utilities: AT&T (for internet/phone/TV) and Duke Progressive (for electricity). We use electric heating--which is expensive, and while our neighborhood will be getting natural gas in the next few months, it makes no economic sense for us to replace our central heating system with gas. (The payoff exceeds the lifespan of the HVAC already installed.)

      I have to admit, the primary reason for not getting solar where we've lived in Los Angeles and now in Raleigh is that it didn't make a lot of economic sense. But as solar cell prices drop, having a battery-backed solar system on my house starts to sound more promising--especially after the last storm which knocked out our power for a couple of days.

      Since we are on a well and septic tank, if we can get most of our power from solar then we can pretty much be self-sufficient if there is a major disruption in the future--and that's worth a premium over what we now pay for electric service.

    6. Re:A first step by itzly · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That's only true if you figure that the battery is worthless at the end of its useful life. That's a silly assumption, because it's still full of the same amount of lithium as when you bought it. Recycling that lithium is much easier and cheaper than mining new lithium, so they battery is going to have a decent trade in value.

    7. Re:A first step by catchblue22 · · Score: 1

      Actually, I think one of the biggest results of this will be to allow homes with solar energy to store ALL the energy they capture with their panels, instead of feeding that energy back into the grid. This will effectively neuter the arguments of power companies who say that grid feed-in is making the grid unstable, thus reducing the impetus for putting punitive fees on houses with solar panels.

      --
      This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when first he appears as a protector - Plato (423 to 327 BC)
    8. Re:A first step by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's sad that there are a few people who still think Rossi and his E-Cat are anything other than an investment scam.

      Note that 3 years ago, Rossi was claiming to have his gadget in production, with customers already using them (of course, all of his customers were "secret", so we had to just take Rossi's word that he was selling E-Cats).

      Now, 3 years after he claimed to be selling them on the open market, he's claiming that he needs more testing to even determine that they work. He now uses the mantra "positive or negative" to describe the anticipated results.

      He's found a group of gullible investors who have given him millions of dollars for something that never worked, and he's now stringing them along as he relaxes on the balcony of his Miami condo.

    9. Re:A first step by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

      We use electric heating--which is expensive, and while our neighborhood will be getting natural gas in the next few months, it makes no economic sense for us to replace our central heating system with gas. (The payoff exceeds the lifespan of the HVAC already installed.)

      Resistive heating or a heat pump? If the former, I suspect that replacing your AC with a heat pump would save you a lot of money. I would even go so far to say that if your HVAC is old then it would make sense to upgrade (because you'd have to replace the AC eventually anyway, and the marginal cost is small), and if your HVAC is new then whoever had it replaced last time was an idiot for not upgrading to a heat pump then.

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    10. Re:A first step by Moridineas · · Score: 1

      Where we moved to in North Carolina, we're only served by two utilities: AT&T (for internet/phone/TV) and Duke Progressive (for electricity).

      What about Timewarner?

      We use electric heating--which is expensive, and while our neighborhood will be getting natural gas in the next few months, it makes no economic sense for us to replace our central heating system with gas. (The payoff exceeds the lifespan of the HVAC already installed.)

      North Carolina generally has cheap electricity. If you have a heatpump, your electricity bill should not be that bad! Heatpumps generally work well in our climate.

      I have to admit, the primary reason for not getting solar where we've lived in Los Angeles and now in Raleigh is that it didn't make a lot of economic sense. But as solar cell prices drop, having a battery-backed solar system on my house starts to sound more promising--especially after the last storm which knocked out our power for a couple of days.

      I've run the numbers for the Triangle area after getting quotes through several local companies. Including both the federal and state tax credits and depreciation (this was for a commercial installation), break even is generally 7-8 years off. Probably worthwhile, but not a clear case. Add in a number 10 grand plus for batteries and the case is even more borderline. If you've got the cash, I agree it's great--would love to have power after a hurricane!

      Since we are on a well and septic tank, if we can get most of our power from solar then we can pretty much be self-sufficient if there is a major disruption in the future--and that's worth a premium over what we now pay for electric service.

      Isn't the price of electricity in NC literally 50% of what it is in California? We have cheap electricity.

    11. Re:A first step by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2
      Did you know that solar panels and batteries all self destruct the second they go out of warranty? Seriously, it's how God shows that the Koch Brothers are his chosen people.

      Sorry for the sarcasm, but I've heard this stuff before, Some years ago, I replaced my oil furnace and re-insulated my house. I had a good oil furnace, and replaced it with one of the 99+ percent gas furnaces. Pretty cool, they extract so much heat from the gas that the "chimney' is a piece of PVC pipe. The house was already insulated well, but I put some more in the attic.

      Today? Well, that payback is interesting stuff there. The folks who took your argument failed to see how the price of oil would skyrocket, (and after a lull, its heading right back up there) Many of these smart folk are paying per month, what I pay for the entire heating season. Plus they are keeping their houses rather colder.

      In addition, the house is warmer, with much less dust and grime accumulation, since oil heat is friggin' filthy, and the furnace doesn't use half the electricity for the igniter and blowers, which means I don't need as large an emergency generator to keep warm, although in my case, it frees up power for other uses, since I already have it.

      Warmer, cleaner, cheaper, and using real life costs rather than assuming everything will stay the same, I improved our quality of life, as well as turned the "payback" into a couple years. The other parts were worth it by themselves, even disregarding the money involved.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    12. Re:A first step by russotto · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually, I think one of the biggest results of this will be to allow homes with solar energy to store ALL the energy they capture with their panels, instead of feeding that energy back into the grid. This will effectively neuter the arguments of power companies who say that grid feed-in is making the grid unstable, thus reducing the impetus for putting punitive fees on houses with solar panels.

      Since Pacific Gas and Electric is actually subsidizing the batteries in the pilot program, which is for solar users, it would seem to demonstrate that the power companies aren't lying when they say grid feed-in is a problem.

    13. Re:A first step by Lennie · · Score: 1

      "GTAI and Deutsche Bank’s conclusion - based on the price trends of solar, batteries, electricity in Germany, and German feed-in-tariffs - is that ‘battery parity’, the moment when home solar + a lithium-ion battery makes economic sense, will arrive in Germany by next summer, 2016."

      http://rameznaam.com/2015/04/1...

      --
      New things are always on the horizon
    14. Re:A first step by catchblue22 · · Score: 1

      Since Pacific Gas and Electric is actually subsidizing the batteries in the pilot program, which is for solar users, it would seem to demonstrate that the power companies aren't lying when they say grid feed-in is a problem.

      I'm talking about states like Arizona, which has enacted a $50/month fee if you want to feed solar electricity back into the grid. If you install a solar panel and a battery system that has absolutely no interaction with the grid, you can they justify charging a fee for your system. They might as well charge you for installing high efficiency appliances, bulbs, or for simply using less energy.

      --
      This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when first he appears as a protector - Plato (423 to 327 BC)
    15. Re:A first step by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you know that solar panels and batteries all self destruct the second they go out of warranty? Seriously, it's how God shows that the Koch Brothers are his chosen people.

      Sorry for the sarcasm, but I've heard this stuff before, Some years ago, I replaced my oil furnace and re-insulated my house. I had a good oil furnace, and replaced it with one of the 99+ percent gas furnaces. Pretty cool, they extract so much heat from the gas that the "chimney' is a piece of PVC pipe. The house was already insulated well, but I put some more in the attic.

      Today? Well, that payback is interesting stuff there. The folks who took your argument failed to see how the price of oil would skyrocket, (and after a lull, its heading right back up there) Many of these smart folk are paying per month, what I pay for the entire heating season. Plus they are keeping their houses rather colder.

      You might have more acceptance of your arguments if you added another point: You don't need to have 100% solar. A small off-grid system can be used to charge your cell phone, run lights and a radio, even laptop and tv for well under a grand if you do it yourself. Charge up a few car batteries once every couple months and throw a tarp over it when not in use otherwise, or roll it all into a shed/the garage.

      In addition, the house is warmer, with much less dust and grime accumulation, since oil heat is friggin' filthy, and the furnace doesn't use half the electricity for the igniter and blowers, which means I don't need as large an emergency generator to keep warm, although in my case, it frees up power for other uses, since I already have it.

      Warmer, cleaner, cheaper, and using real life costs rather than assuming everything will stay the same, I improved our quality of life, as well as turned the "payback" into a couple years. The other parts were worth it by themselves, even disregarding the money involved.

    16. Re:A first step by khchung · · Score: 2

      Recycling that lithium is much easier and cheaper than mining new lithium, so they battery is going to have a decent trade in value.

      If this were true, we would be seeing a big market for trading-in old lithium batteries. Where can I sell/trade-in my old notebook batteries?

      --
      Oliver.
    17. Re:A first step by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This will make it much easier and more tempting to go off the grid in new construction, though. Especially in a rural area, a grid connection can have enormous front-end costs, much higher than the cost of this battery plus a set of solar panels. Even in an urban/suburban area, connecting a new house to all the city infrastructure is going to cost $50K or so, and then you have ongoing costs that are high in some places. For example, if I were to build a new house on Hawaii, I would absolutely go with solar + storage with Tesla's battery.

    18. Re:A first step by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1

      Yeah I think the cost of batteries is going to need to decrease to about 1/10th of what they are now for these to be viable.

    19. Re:A first step by RespekMyAthorati · · Score: 1

      Or, equally likely, Santa Claus brings you a new fusion generator.

  4. Crippling exploit in 3...2...1.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The batteries are three-feet high by 2.5-feet wide

    They can be controlled with a Web app and a smartphone app.

    Gee, that sounds like a great idea. I wonder what could possibly go wrong.

    1. Re:Crippling exploit in 3...2...1.... by itzly · · Score: 1

      Gee, that sounds like a great idea. I wonder what could possibly go wrong.

      Probably nothing. The battery controller will simply prevent anything stupid from happening.

    2. Re:Crippling exploit in 3...2...1.... by dotancohen · · Score: 2

      Gee, that sounds like a great idea. I wonder what could possibly go wrong.

      Probably nothing. The battery controller will simply prevent anything stupid from happening.

      I see that you don't work in software.

      --
      It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
    3. Re:Crippling exploit in 3...2...1.... by the+grace+of+R'hllor · · Score: 1

      By the battery controller he means the bit of electronics that actually controls the battery. If built correctly, it will not be able to harm the battery, regardless of the commands sent to it.

      The control software telling the electronics to switch to battery power in the middle of the night, though, could happen.

    4. Re:Crippling exploit in 3...2...1.... by Ksevio · · Score: 2

      Yes, what could go wrong? There are millions of computers hooked up to the internet that control batteries already (UPS or even laptops). What makes you think this would be any different?

    5. Re:Crippling exploit in 3...2...1.... by dotancohen · · Score: 1

      I know that he means the on-board electronics in the battery, including the temp sensors and such. I'm of the opinion that all software is exploitable, even int main(){ printf("Hello, world") } has a clever exploit when compiled on a common consumer non-posix platform. If someone wants to hack that battery, there is a way that just needs to be found.

      --
      It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
  5. Won't last long by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When everybody charges at night and uses it during the day, the less used period will shift and so the rates.

    1. Re:Won't last long by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But not everybody will do the cycle you mention, home with PV installations will do the opposite.

    2. Re: Won't last long by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If this is a great idea, why don't Tesla just arbitrage the situation by buying cheap energy at night and selling it back to the utilities during the day. I'm always skeptical of someone selling me something to do the arbitrage.

    3. Re: Won't last long by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because they need more battery manufacturing capacity and recycling capacity to get the automobile battery prices down. They don't care about arbitraging a few cents here and there on energy price markets, especially when the price structures could change or the arbitrage profit diminish. They're looking to build the ancillary industries that could make Tesla automotive a success.

  6. big news! by staalmannen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Distributed storage capacity has the potential to even out the prices over the day and match consumption and production. It also solves a major issue with most renewables. It would be even more interesting if people were allowed to store cheap electricity and sell it back during expensive hours for profit.

    1. Re:big news! by dale.furno · · Score: 0

      The electric companies are already working to do way with as much selling back as possibru, you'd never sell back at a profit.

    2. Re:big news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Distributed storage capacity solves nothing if the grid operators cannot manage it.

      Being able to choose as an end user, when your battery charges from the grid and feeds back into it poses the same problem as PV does now. It can unbalance the grid.

      It's only a solution if the batteries help balance the grid. This is bad for homeowners with PV, because they want to run their meters backwards and get paid, and grid balancing would reduce their ability to do that.

    3. Re:big news! by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Distributed storage capacity solves nothing if the grid operators cannot manage it.

      I bet you don't downshift your car because you think it's going to hurt your engine, too.

      It's only a solution if the batteries help balance the grid.

      Yes, that was what the GP was talking about. Good news! You get at least a "D" on your reading comprehension test!

      This is bad for homeowners with PV, because they want to run their meters backwards and get paid, and grid balancing would reduce their ability to do that.

      You have no idea what you're on about. Increasing homeowner battery capacity is how we're going to implement grid balancing, and when the homeowner's battery bank balances the grid, their meter is going to run backwards and they're going to get paid. But unlike a grid-tied system without batteries, they'll be able to release the power when they want to, and as such, they will get paid as much as possible while simultaneously also providing the maximum grid balancing value — by providing power when it is most needed. It is not a coincidence that power costs the most when there is the least power available.

      What is needed is net metering. The infrastructure cost and connection fee should be completely divorced from the cost of power, and the users of the power should effectively pay the providers with just a small cut taken off the top for whoever is managing the tracking and billing — which need not be the same as the infrastructure provider. Indeed, recent events regarding PG&E's inability to maintain neighborhood power distribution infrastructure provide some evidence that tying the two together is disastrous.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    4. Re:big news! by rocket+rancher · · Score: 4, Informative

      Distributed storage capacity has the potential to even out the prices over the day and match consumption and production. It also solves a major issue with most renewables. It would be even more interesting if people were allowed to store cheap electricity and sell it back during expensive hours for profit.

      true, and in a free market, that is exactly what would happen. sadly, the US energy market is no where near free. In the last three years, Koch Industries has successfully lobbied legislative bodies in 17 states to impede the deployment of alternative energy, and to drastically roll back, if not outrightly abandon existing programs. Case in point: net metering, where the utility company monitors power use and credits a homeowner for power sent back to the grid. In 2014, right here in sunny Az, three Koch-funded candidates were elected to our five person Corporation Commission, which, among other duties, sets utility rates. in february this year, they announced two structural changes that effectively kill net metering. the first change eliminates the ability to bank your credits over the length of a year, meaning that the credits needed to offset months where your PV array doesnt cover your power use are no longer available. the second change reduces the amount of money the utility will pay for your excess production, from full retail to less than half of wholesale. Arizona was seeing fairly strong growth in rooftop solar, until that announcement. in march, new residential solar permits were down 42% over Mar 2014. so far in april, there have been zero new residential permits.

    5. Re:big news! by Tokolosh · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You are wasting your time arguing against government meddling in markets. This /. article alone is full of posters extolling the virtues of regulations, subsidies, rules, taxes and mandates. The Koch brothers are grateful.

      The same applies to the healthcare business, where we have reached to point that going to a doctor's office is no different to going to the DMV.

      --
      Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
    6. Re:big news! by Socguy · · Score: 2

      Electricity prices are high when demand is high. Logically people are going to choose to sell their power when prices are highest, i.e. demand is greatest. This will have the effect of balancing the grid. Furthermore, we haven't even begun to talk about the concept of smart batteries where utility companies could request power from individuals 'on demand'.

    7. Re:big news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But...but....but I don't want some terrorist using *my* electricity for some evil plot! If I make electricity, I want it used in a patriotic, freedom-loving way. And no homos.

      Isn't that a similar argument people bring up when they hear about user-supported wifi networks and user-supported cloud servers? Never mind the benefits of offsite storage and improved security, people just don't want to participate in co-operative ventures unless they are forced to.

    8. Re:big news! by _Sharp'r_ · · Score: 1

      In 2014, right here in sunny Az, three Koch-funded candidates were elected to our five person Corporation Commission

      I'm in AZ also and are familiar with the race you're talking about. I knew they were utility-company supported, didn't see anything Koch related. Do you have a news report or campaign financing source or something I can look it showing major Koch money involvement somewhere?

      --
      The party of stupid and the party of evil get together and do something both stupid and evil, then call it bipartisan.
    9. Re:big news! by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Actually the money you earn if you provide "balancing energy" is usually much higher than the money you get for feed in tariffs.

      And keep in mind: balancing goes in both directions: sucking up surplus production balances as much as providing extra energy when demand is increasing.

      PV can only provide power into one direction and as it is not dispatch able it can not really balance the grid.

      However bigger PV installations have a notice able electric capacity, and can be used to stabilize the grid frequency to a small extend.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    10. Re:big news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are wasting your time arguing against government meddling in markets. This /. article alone is full of posters extolling the virtues of regulations, subsidies, rules, taxes and mandates.

      All functioning markets have regulation. Without regulation it's just warlordism, might makes right. If you're fond of such "free markets" I suggest you move to such a place - there's several to choose from.

      To put it another way regulation stops all the negative ways that enitities can compete (e.g. shooting your competitors, engaging in fraud, various forms of lockin etc.) while still allowing the positive ways that entities can compete (e.g. improving product, reducing price, innovating etc.).

      Regulation has it's problems (e.g. who's to watch the watchers, regulatory capture etc.) but when balanced correctly experience around the world has shown it's still far superior to the so-called "true free market" or "large scale central planning". There is of course endless discussion about how much and what type regulation is appropriate but any regulation that keeps the small number of more excessively powerful competing entities, such as the Koch brothers, in check is certainly worth examining.

  7. Fixed vs mobile longevity? by Dereck1701 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I wonder if they'll last any better as a fixed battery vs a car mounted battery, I think the car mounted ones loose 20-30% of their capacity after 10 years. For example I've heard that a lead acid battery that will typically only last 5 years in a car will last 20 years in a backup battery bank for a home/business. If the pack only lasts 10 years then I highly doubt this will be economical ($108 a month? that's more than my entire electric bill) except in very specialized applications. If it lasts 20 or 30 years ($54-$36 a month) then we're starting to get into the realms of sanity especially in areas with high peak usage costs.

    1. Re:Fixed vs mobile longevity? by CrackedButter · · Score: 0

      lose

    2. Re:Fixed vs mobile longevity? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I wonder if they'll last any better as a fixed battery vs a car mounted battery,

      Probably, since the job they will be doing is easier. More sustained charge and discharge cycles, less start-and-stop.

      If the pack only lasts 10 years then I highly doubt this will be economical

      There's no reason to believe it will last only 10 years. The 10 years number has to do with suitability for automotive use.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:Fixed vs mobile longevity? by swillden · · Score: 1

      By depreciating to zero in 10 years you're implying that a battery with 70-80% of its capacity is useless. That's hardly true.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    4. Re:Fixed vs mobile longevity? by karnal · · Score: 1

      Typical sealed lead acid batteries in my UPS devices last at most 5 years. That's with minimal use (one large outage a year, drained at most 50%, smaller minute-based outages) and no vibration to contend with for the plates within. I've seen cars and motorcycles last 7-8 years before failing. Of course, the car doesn't tell you the battery is failing until you either notice the starter moving slower under load or the car just doesn't start. UPS devices (good ones) will test the battery at least once a week to ensure fail-resistant use.

      Given that these probably aren't SLA batteries, they could last much much longer depending on depth of discharge allowed. li-ion, for example does remarkably better (2000 more cycles) at only taking the depth of charge down to 75% as opposed to 30% or lower.

      --
      Karnal
    5. Re:Fixed vs mobile longevity? by Agripa · · Score: 1

      The difference in environment has some effect however PbSO4 batteries in cars are starter batteries which are significantly different then the PbSO4 batteries used in traction and stationary applications. The later batteries last significantly longer even when used as direct replacements for starter batteries.

  8. Musk loves batteries because he is a robot! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All hail Cylon Musk!

  9. If utility revenues drop too much. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The only thing I see happening is the utility company maybe adding charges if usage drops below a certain point - Like in Texas a few years ago..

    Utilities have their own monopolies and hooks into the legislatures and they are going to protect their revenues.

  10. sound idea? by beefoot · · Score: 1

    I think the idea sound but it might be too expensive and not cost effective. Let's say that saves $50 a month in electricity bill (that is very optimistic). $13K / $50 = 260 months = 21 years. Let's say tax payers chips in to offset 50% of the cost. It is still 10 years to break even, not to mention installation cost and the battery may not last 10 years. If it is priced at $2K, that is a different story.

    1. Re:sound idea? by queazocotal · · Score: 3, Informative

      Let's be optimistic, and assume the battery lasts 10 years - 3000 cycles from full-empty.
      This is perhaps optimistic.

      I am using the numbers for my electricity costs.
      These are $.28 or so.
      If it's 10kWh, and lasts 3000 cycles, that's 30000kWh.
      Or close on $10K worth of electricity stored.

      Even with free electricity - it will never break even against grid cost.
      Actually having to buy solar panels makes the numbers much worse.

      Is it great for off-grid - perhaps. It's a _lot_ more expensive than even spendy lead-acid batteries.

    2. Re:sound idea? by Irate+Engineer · · Score: 1

      You did read the part about this being a pilot project? The first automobiles were out of reach cost-wise for most people when they first came out. The price will drop with volume of sales. And Musk knows economics well enough to know that your argument is the spur to get the cost point down someplace where your math will actually make these cost-effective.

      Also, electrical rates are coming up, if you haven't noticed. That accelerates the time to cost-effectiveness.

      --

      Left MS Windows for Linux Mint and never looked back!

      Vote for Bernie in 2016!

    3. Re:sound idea? by itzly · · Score: 2

      What did you assume for the battery trade in value when it's worn out ?

    4. Re:sound idea? by Socguy · · Score: 1

      Your numbers are out of whack. Depending on how the anode is constructed, LIB can go 10 000 cycles.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...

      Furthermore, that assumes a full charge-discharge cycle. That's not likely what's going to happen, further prolonging the life of the battery system.

    5. Re:sound idea? by rch7 · · Score: 1

      $1300 per kWh price is also out of whack. It is much higher than current batteries already in use for off-grid systems. Not to mention new technologies. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...

  11. Won't be cheap for long by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Electricity is cheap at night because usage rates are low. But if everyone is charging up their houses every night it won't be cheap for long.

    Also, if the energy source is still the grid, doesn't this seem like a poor solution since it will decrease efficiency (due to loss associated with the storage medium)? If charging occurs via solar or some other local renewable than great. But if this is just a way to essentially game existing power providers it seems like a step in the wrong direction.

    1. Re:Won't be cheap for long by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are places with massive wind farms that get lots of wind at night. Right now, there's nobody who wants that much power at night, so the power is not only free -- they actually pay power plants to not produce!

      The reason that power is cheap at night and expensive during the day is that there is not enough demand at night and too much during the day. Since the system has to be sized to meet peak demand, having storage to even out the peaks means that peak demand will decrease, making the system cheaper overall.

      So eventually it may get to the point where night and day prices are the same, but that's desirable -- it's cheaper to pay 1X all day than .5X at night and 2X during the day.

      dom

    2. Re:Won't be cheap for long by tomhath · · Score: 1

      having storage to even out the peaks means that peak demand will decrease, making the system cheaper overall.

      You are assuming that battery storage is cheaper than generation capacity. I don't see anything to support that assumption, in fact I would be very surprised if it's true.

  12. Subsidy doesn't reduce the cost by tomhath · · Score: 1

    Subsidy just changes who pays, the total cost of the battery is still the same.

    And your calculation of $13k/$50 is incorrect. Go to a bank and tell them you want to borrow $13K for 21 years at 0% interest and see what they tell you.

  13. Flywheels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Would prefer a flywheel over a battery for home storage, longer life, more reliable, non hazardous materials, smaller carbon footprint, faster to charge, can accurately monitor/diagose, can bury them underground.

    1. Re:Flywheels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not available. I guess thats the point that kills that idea ;)

    2. Re:Flywheels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Let me Google that for you. You can even get it as a UPS for the server room if you want.

    3. Re:Flywheels by blind+biker · · Score: 1

      I agree very strongly. Flywheels have some enormous advantages over chemical storage. One additional advantage to add to the splendid list you provided: they can accommodate any load and load profile.

      A sealed flywheel with magnetic bearings can theoretically last forever.

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    4. Re:Flywheels by Pulzar · · Score: 3, Interesting

      What's the downside of flywheels? Looking at wikipedia, the comparison to batteries is very one-sided, offering zero downsides.

      I would imagine that there must be some, or we'd all have flywheels sitting in our basements. Is it cost?

      --
      Never underestimate the bandwidth of a 747 filled with CD-ROMs.
    5. Re:Flywheels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.datacenterdynamics.com/critical-environment/flywheel-versus-battery-in-the-data-center/71642.fullarticle

    6. Re:Flywheels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe that it's mainly cost, storage space, and the potential for catastrophic failure if it's defective. They can store a huge amount of energy that you don't want to release all at once.

    7. Re:Flywheels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Flywheels need to spin fast. When you do that you start hitting limits with your materials. To overcome these problems expensive engineering/material tech is required. So cost is probably the issue. Though maybe that is changing.

    8. Re:Flywheels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Would prefer a flywheel over a battery for home storage, longer life, more reliable, non hazardous materials, smaller carbon footprint, faster to charge, can accurately monitor/diagose, can bury them underground.

      Ever hear of friction?

    9. Re:Flywheels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > What's the downside of flywheels?

      If the bearing seizes or the pedestal gives way, the rotor most literally turns into a Juggernaut, that is Khali's unstoppable war chariot running amok. The rotor of an electric locomotive's motor-generator set gladly ruins the whole factory building, if it breaks free during full power test (did happen). Possibly worse outcome than a boiler explosion, if we compare with steam locomotives, but happens less frequently.

      Also consider that a 3-ton unipolar generator rotor at full RPM has enough kinetic energy stored in it to propel a 1kg projectile into low-Earth orbit via electric railgun (that is if we ignore air drag resistance that would slow down and also melt the payload in transit). Do you want your house to fly away UP! style because of a basement-dwelling funny flywheel?

    10. Re:Flywheels by guruevi · · Score: 1

      Cost. Flywheels are huge chunks of metal and well-engineered precision metal at that size isn't cheap, they're also a single all-or-nothing unit. Batteries are mainly plastic, acid and some metal. You can replace a few batteries using some very cheap shipping and a single technician. Flywheels typically require engineers from start to finish including repairs and replacements.

      --
      Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
    11. Re:Flywheels by gregor-e · · Score: 1

      Of course, if your house gets SWATted and the cops shoot your dog and a round happens to hit your battery pack, there is likely to be a sub-optimal discharge from them as well. I imagine pretty much any energy storage mechanism will have a similar problem. If you're storing enough energy to power a house, you're storing enough energy to be dangerously inconvenient if it's all released at once.

    12. Re:Flywheels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When they fail, they tend to fail explosively.
        Tesla's batteries will catch fire when they burn, but the fire doesn't spread out, and is pretty easy to contain compared to say, a gasoline fire.
        A flywheel operating at high speeds, however, will burst into shrapnel flying at tremendous velocities, all over the place. When enough power has been put into it, it's like having a bomb go off.

    13. Re:Flywheels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Excellent overview of home storage options with physics/economics calculations to back it up: http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/09/got-storage-how-hard-can-it-be/

  14. not sure how useful for a house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Golf Cart Batteries cost about $125/ea for 1.25KWh, so 10kwh with a nice enclosure for $2k or so, life of 3-5 years. Note 3 years is the typical life of a golf cart battery and those are stored in unheated spaces that get down to 0 in the winter and up to 125 (unvented building) in the summer--exactly the worst way to treat a battery, so with proper control it is likely they will last a few years longer.

    If you instead of Golf Cart Batteries buy the extended live storage batteries those push the price up to 3-4k with an enclosure life of 6-10 years.

    High Density Batteries don't really make sense price wise for a non-mobile installation where weight and size don't matter so much.

    I cannot see a $13k battery of 10KWh being that useful. The only serious issue with the standard lead acid battery is the leakage and venting but that appears to be fairly well controlled when using a smart charger.

  15. Very expensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't see the appeal here. $13000 for a 10KW-hr battery pack seems very expensive when you can get the same storage with conventional sealed AGM batteries for 1/3 the cost.

    1. Re:Very expensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you factored in the depth of discharge on lead acid? For long life you should only go to 50% or less - halving the effective kWh. For lithium you can go 100% DoD.

    2. Re:Very expensive by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

      They make deep cycle lead acid batteries for (mostly) boats. Typically they last 5-6 years in a marine application and you can drain them to about 10% without problems. Newer controllers are good in that regard. I'm using six deep cycle batteries pulled from various boats as my backup system. They should last for at least another 5 years since they are now warm and dry and not vibrating all of the time. They are also fully recyclable.

      Not sure why you'd want to go to a lithium based technology in a stationary application.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    3. Re:Very expensive by TubeSteak · · Score: 1

      They make deep cycle lead acid batteries for (mostly) boats. Typically they last 5-6 years in a marine application and you can drain them to about 10% without problems

      Not sure why you'd want to go to a lithium based technology in a stationary application.

      Lithium batteries have much higher charge and discharge rates.

      And while you *can* discharge lead acid batteries down to 10%, you *shouldn't*.
      The best lifespan is with a cycle that only goes down to 50%.
      A 10% discharge cycle leads to significantly shorter lifespans for lead acid batteries.
      This is not the case for lithium technologies.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    4. Re:Very expensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Those deep discharge marine batteries are hideously expensive. Less resilient AGM batteries are cheaper, but you can only go to about 50% depth of discharge if you want decent service life, effectively halving their capacity.

      The cost per kWh per cycle is now cheaper on Lithium and will continue to get better for many years yet.

  16. Could be useful in Ontario (Canada) by rnmartinez · · Score: 1

    Electricity rates are going up, making peak usage twice as expensive as off peak usage. I think that a lot of businesses could benefit from something like this if they could finance the upfront costs of batteries+ installation. While my understanding of our electrical systems is limited, it seems like batteries should have been part of our grid for exactly these reasons as well as emergencies etc. - it just seems like we have something that is always on, always outputting based on demand projections, so how do we make it smarter?

    1. Re:Could be useful in Ontario (Canada) by St.Creed · · Score: 1

      In Germany, companies that accept energy during peak supply actually *get paid* to use energy. Those batteries will not just break even, they're going to be a major money maker even in the first year.

      --
      Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)
    2. Re:Could be useful in Ontario (Canada) by Trongy · · Score: 1

      The price is a reflection of supply vs demand. If the demand changes drastically, but the supply does not, expect the price to change as well.

  17. Flamebait? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    I take it back, perhaps there is a conspiracy.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:Flamebait? by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      I take it back, perhaps there is a conspiracy.

      Its the new Slashdot, home for the reactionary status quo. These good folk will be clutching their hatred of anything new until they meet the actuarial tables.

      Unfortunately, they get mod points, and in their world, anything they disagree with is marked troll or flame bait.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  18. Infinite storage density by Halo1 · · Score: 4, Informative

    The batteries are three-feet high by 2.5-feet wide

    First 2D batteries ever! Advances in energy storage at a spooky distance made possible thanks to recently published ER = EPR discovery. Is Elon Musk really Ironman?

    --
    Donate free food here
  19. Re:Nice idea but... by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What happens if you buy this battery and a year or two down the road someone comes out with a battery that is twice as efficient as the one you have?

    Then the whole world changes, whole corporations go out of business overnight while others swell, and there is widespread financial chaos.

    This is the exact question I asked Solar City when I was considering solar panels for my house.

    That's because you don't understand the solar industry even a little bit. When new, more efficient panels come out, not only is their price per watt higher but the price per watt on the old panels comes down. The primary benefit is not reduction of cost, at least not at first, but in reduction of panel area needed. That reduces the size of an installation which can reduce its cost — but in the case of a residential solar system, that is rarely the case. Since they're usually fixed and roof-mounted, the amount of materials used to mount them is fairly small and there are no property cost considerations whatsoever. The homeowner doesn't care if they have three or six panels on their roof, because they're on their roof and they're not taking up any space they were using before.

    The truth is that improvements in batteries and solar panels do not come in 100% increments. They come in small increments delivered over long periods of time, just like the savings on energy costs delivered by a solar installation. Not installing solar now because you're worried that solar is going to get better is just depriving yourself of the benefits that you enjoy by doing it sooner. Meanwhile, your system can be upgraded piecemeal, so you can replace your batteries in 15 years and your panels in 30, maybe add some more batteries then. You can mix and match different kinds of panels to a certain extent; sure, you need different charge controllers for old and new style panels, but you can have both kinds of charge controllers right next to one another, connected to the same battery bank. So really, there is no basis whatsoever for your concern that a 100% efficiency improvement will come along tomorrow and eliminate the value of your investment. And frankly, if such a leap in efficiency were realized in a commercial product, then some government would probably buy up 100% of it and you wouldn't be able to get any anyway. Kind of like what happened with nanosolar, which was then driven out of existence by the chinese dumping panels on our market so none of us got to buy any of it. That stuff had the potential to be disruptive, but now we have to wait for someone to conceive of the idea again with some new and even cheaper technology because we're okay with goods produced with slave labor so long as it doesn't happen within our borders.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  20. big deal by sribe · · Score: 2

    So, for $13,000 up front, I can save at most about $80/month, maybe less, depending on the particular battery technology and how deeply the batteries can be safely discharged. (Yes, I used actual numbers.) It's a first step, but assuming that the capacity is 10KWh as mentioned in earlier articles, it's not really any cheaper than existing solutions. Now maybe Tesla will ramp up capacity and make them more available, or maybe it will actually be higher capacity, or maybe the price will come down substantially as volume increases. Because at 1/2 the $/KWh it would start to be really interesting, but right now, it's kind of marginal--at least for me at ~$0.15/KWh peak; obviously, in a state, CA for instance, where peak power prices are higher, the economics are better.

    1. Re:big deal by formfeed · · Score: 1

      But if you are in a place that has a couple shorter power outages every year and where thinking of getting a few more UPS-s and a standby generator, a large battery suddenly could be economical.

    2. Re:big deal by sribe · · Score: 1

      But if you are in a place that has a couple shorter power outages every year and where thinking of getting a few more UPS-s and a standby generator, a large battery suddenly could be economical.

      Good point. Especially about the generator.

  21. Dear Musk. by Lumpy · · Score: 1

    Offer a package with solar panels so we can get off the grid with no maintenance that a typical solar+wind offgrid setup requires.

    Most people can barely change the batteries in their TV remote, they cant handle the work involved in taking care of an offgrid power system. Been there done that.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:Dear Musk. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Musk is selling these batteries through Solar City, which does the installation along with solar panels, inverters, and other required equipment.

      He is on the board of Solar City.

  22. Re:Nice idea but... by Lumpy · · Score: 2

    I do understand the solar industry, that's why I fliped two big middle fingers to them and bought and imported all china solar panels and installed a 5Kwh setup for drastically cheaper than any of the overpriced US crap.

    Spent 1/2 the price got the same panels all monocrystalline and of very good quality build. It's been in operation for 3 years now with no problems. I use grid intertie and drive the meter backwards. No local storage.

    Electrical bill is $14.95 a month because you have to pay the "fees" and the scumbag leaders in my states government passed a law that allows the power company to not pay for any surplus I generate above my own use.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  23. Re:Nice idea but... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    I do understand the solar industry, that's why I fliped two big middle fingers to them and bought and imported all china solar panels and installed a 5Kwh setup for drastically cheaper than any of the overpriced US crap.

    Like anyone else, I will buy the panels which provide the most output for my dollar, and which fit in the space available. But if the world would institute some laws which would penalize countries for slave labor and environmental abuse, then it would cease to make sense to buy a lot of that crap. I sit here surrounded by similar crap, but the point remains.

    I use grid intertie and drive the meter backwards. No local storage.

    That's certainly cost-effective, but it won't help as much in an outage.

    Electrical bill is $14.95 a month because you have to pay the "fees" and the scumbag leaders in my states government passed a law that allows the power company to not pay for any surplus I generate above my own use.

    Yes, scumbags are always the problem. Obviously it wouldn't make sense for you to add a lot of battery on the basis of selling power back at shifted times.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  24. Solar rarely enough for the whole house by mi · · Score: 2

    Few people have the space for so many panels to run their house on them — even if the problem of storing it were solved. From MIT:

    Imagine that your house uses 48 kWh of electricity per day (about average). If you live in Arizona, where the average solar insolation per year is around 6 kWh/meters squared/day, you’ll need 53 square meters (574 sq ft) of 15% efficient solar panels. If you spend the extra money for 21% efficient solar panels, then you’ll only need 38 square meters (409 sq ft) of solar panels. But if you try to power the same sized house in Vermont, where the average solar insolation per year is around 4 kWh/meters squared/day, you’ll need 80 square meters (861 sq ft) of 15% efficient solar panels and 57 square meters (615 sq ft) of the 21% efficient ones.

    And 48kWh, which is cited above as "about average", means, no home-servers running 24x7 (about 200Watts*24h=4.8kWh — or 10% more than the estimate — per server), no super-duper Christmas lights, and other limitations...

    No, electricity companies are better positioned to produce electricity. And, truth be told, they should be using these wonder-batteries to store electricity during the night so they wouldn't have to charge more during the day. If only we had them properly competing with each other...

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    1. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by tomhath · · Score: 1

      And, truth be told, they should be using these wonder-batteries to store electricity during the night so they wouldn't have to charge more during the day

      Your plan would cost more than what the utilities are already doing. Doing it your way would mean they would have to charge more at night and during the day.

    2. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Rob+Y. · · Score: 2

      Your plan would cost more than what the utilities are already doing. Doing it your way would mean they would have to charge more at night and during the day.

      Not really. If the utilities used batteries to store energy generated cheaply at night and charged peak time rates for that energy during the day, the batteries might pay for themselves and provide more peak capacity when it's needed - without having to build new fossil fuel burning plants.

      --
      Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
    3. Re: Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      48kwh pr day???
      Holy crap. We use 12kwh pr day(no ac) for light, cooking, cleaning, washing machine, dryer, 4 drive NAS always running, home server(NUC) always running, 4 ip cameras, exterior lightning when dark, 3 computers, fridge, freezer, 50 bottle wine fridge, internet router, 2xwifi routers, 3 switches. When it gets hotter (32 Celsius) we add 10-12kWh for the AC(Mitsubishi with inverter controlled compressor), the house are properly insulated to keep the cold or heat inside.
      48kwh on average are just wasteful.

    4. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by cheesybagel · · Score: 2

      They do that already with pumped-storage. Reversible hydroelectric. There are also some liquid batteries. Li-ion is just too expensive and maintenance-intensive to use grid scale.

    5. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      e.g. flow batteries:
      http://www.prnewswire.com/news...

    6. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by ArhcAngel · · Score: 1

      As Tomhath stated your suggestion is still not cost effective. If it were they would be using it extensively in West Texas wind farms. As it is now they routinely shunt generated electricity straight to ground because the grid cannot handle the capacity being generated. For costs to come down production and operating costs need to become more efficient. Perhaps Tesla's program will be able to do that.

      --
      "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
    7. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by St.Creed · · Score: 1

      48kWh... must be a house in the US. ... In The Netherlands, the average electricity use for a family of 2,2 persons is about 3500 kWh/year, or about 9,6 kWh per day. That's around 20% of the energy use of an average house in the US.

      Perhaps in the US you don't need batteries or solar energy as much as you need decent insulation.

      --
      Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)
    8. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps in the US you don't need batteries or solar energy as much as you need decent insulation.

      Spoken like someone in a country whose average temperature spread, year round, is 0C (32 F) to 23C (74F). Even so, here in Colorado, my average daily energy use is 20kWh and my bill says I'm using much more than my neighbors.

    9. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it were they would be using it extensively in West Texas wind farms. As it is now they routinely shunt generated electricity straight to ground because the grid cannot handle the capacity being generated.

      IOW, they haven't properly balanced their system and the windmills are the ones getting the shaft.

    10. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Informative

      They do that already with pumped-storage.

      Pumped storage has an RTE (round-trip-efficiency) of about 80%. Modern li-ion batteries are over 90%. Pumped storage requires very specific geography (two reservoirs separated by a hill). Batteries will work anywhere.

      There are also some liquid batteries.

      The most common "flow" batteries are based on vanadium redox, and have an RTE of 65-75%.

      Li-ion is just too expensive and maintenance-intensive to use grid scale.

      Well, the point of this announcement is that Li-ion is getting cheaper. Li-ion grid storage still won't make sense in the middle of America, where power is cheap, and grids are wide. But it make make sense in places like Hawaii ($0.40 / kw-hr), where grid stability is already a problem.

    11. Re: Solar rarely enough for the whole house by amxcoder · · Score: 1

      I think PG&E just likes putting that on your bill to make you feel like you should save more. Mine says the same thing.

      However in my case it may be somewhat valid, as I run a home office with multiple PCs and such that goes with that, am home most of the day, as well as my wife and kids (who are homeschooled). So we use power almost all day long. And we are billed into the 3rd teir pricing as well. We dont have AC but all of our appliances are elec. vs. gas which doesnt help either.

    12. Re: Solar rarely enough for the whole house by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      It depends on whether you're using electricity for heating. In the last quarter, we used about 7kWh/day of electricity, but about 23kWh/day of gas. If you're on electric heating (and live somewhere larger than me), then 48kWh doesn't sound too excessive.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    13. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      Apparently a lot of the USA uses electricity for heating (and cooling). If you're using gas or oil for heating, then comparing your electricity usage to their energy usage is not an apples-to-apples comparison.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    14. Re: Solar rarely enough for the whole house by tompaulco · · Score: 1

      48kwh pr day??? Holy crap. We use 12kwh pr day(no ac) for light, cooking, cleaning, washing machine, dryer, 4 drive NAS always running, home server(NUC) always running, 4 ip cameras, exterior lightning when dark, 3 computers, fridge, freezer, 50 bottle wine fridge, internet router, 2xwifi routers, 3 switches. When it gets hotter (32 Celsius) we add 10-12kWh for the AC(Mitsubishi with inverter controlled compressor), the house are properly insulated to keep the cold or heat inside. 48kwh on average are just wasteful.

      That's amazing. How were you able to tell GP was being "wasteful" and not just using a lot of electricity? I guess I should not point out that the amount that GP used was only 50% more than the average household in the U.S. and about on par with the average use in an extreme southern state.
      Plus there are many other factors. A large house uses much more than a small house. An all electric house uses more than an electric and gas house. Maybe GP is environmentally conscious and drives an EV and has to charge it every day. That alone would account for about half of the usage.

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    15. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by tompaulco · · Score: 2

      The average daily usage in the United States is 24kwh.The United States experiences extremes of heat and cold which most European countries don't have to deal with. Also, many houses are heated by electricity rather than coal or natural gas. Ironic that burning a more environmentally sound fuel (electricity) gets you roundly criticized by others for using too much electricity.

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    16. Re: Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think PG&E just likes putting that on your bill to make you feel like you should save more. Mine says the same thing.

      I don't have PG&E but my utility company tells me how I'm doing compared to 100 similarly sized homes in my area.

      I've only come in 1st once, but in winter (when I use gas for heat) I always do much better than my neighbors.

      That will change in June when I start using my A/C (and it will point out if I were more efficient I could save maybe $10 a year or something). By October I will be more efficient again.

      It's fun trying to beat out the neighbors, but I don't inconvenience myself trying.

      Side note: My TV is always on if I'm awake and often when I'm asleep. My laptop never gets turned off and often is using 2 monitors.

    17. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by mi · · Score: 2

      Your plan would cost more than what the utilities are already doing. Doing it your way would mean they would have to charge more at night and during the day.

      Whoever is doing it, if it makes sense for anybody to store power generated at off-peak times for usage at peak times, it makes more sense for the generating companies to do it: because they can afford bigger storage with dedicated personnel and manage the generation-storage combination finer.

      But, of course, this begs the question of whether it makes sense to do it for anyone at all — though TFA seems to suggest, it does...

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    18. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 2, Informative

      The energy is not generated cheaply at night. It basically costs the same. (The idea when to charge batteries is a misconception on /. You charge during peak times, see below.)

      That peak energy is expensive has not much to do with generation pries, but with grid logistics.

      Consider you have a load following coal plant running at lets say 75% during a peak period, does not really matter, lets say a random time between 10:00 and 17:00 (5PM for the americans).

      Now for some reason you get an extra load on the grid, which you can not fulfill, so you have to increase yield of the above plant. Unfortunately you can not adapt your plant to the exact demand, the coal plant can only change its yield in lets say 2.5% steps.

      So after you have increased the yield you are producing to much energy. So actually you burn more coal than you need to fulfill the demand.

      Either you have to sell the extra energy, store it in a pumped storage or let it go to waste in a resistor at the power plant.

      Regardless what you chose: it costs the energy company. Hence they demand a premium price for peak times.

      The closer the plants are running at the exact demand of the grid, the more likely it is they mainly create costs instead of revenue when they increase their yield. Or when demand suddenly drops!

      That is where smart meters and batteries or EVs come in
      During peak time, when energy is supposedly expensive, charging batteries will prevent that problem. Hence smart meter owners with storage capacity will mainly charge during peak times, and not off peak, for a special low price, not for an expensive price.

      Of course you are not simply charging constantly during peak times. The power plants or the grid operators will remote control your charging, so they can "balance" the grid with your batteries instead of using pumped storage or wasting the energy.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    19. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by dgatwood · · Score: 1

      And 48kWh, which is cited above as "about average", means, no home-servers running 24x7 (about 200Watts*24h=4.8kWh — or 10% more than the estimate — per server), no super-duper Christmas lights [komar.org], and other limitations...

      My home server runs 24x7. It draws 11W when idling, or about 264 watt-hours per day, and the current versions draw barely half that. Compared with heating and cooling, the server is lost in the noise. Unless you're serving a site that absolutely requires staggering amounts of computing power or desktop-sized hard drives, might I suggest you consider more power-efficient server hardware?

      If I were still using such an ancient 200W horror, replacing it with a 6W server would save me almost $650 annually at my current PG&E rate. In other words, the new hardware would be basically free after the first year or so.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    20. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I live n AZ and my daily use is around 10kwh/day. Granted I did stop running large servers 24/7 like I used to in college, but then nobody I know does either. I do have a rPi server and a laptop on 24/7 for about 1kwh. I also a very energy efficient home. Short of keeping my microwave oven going constantly, don't own enough electrical devices to use much more.

    21. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by mi · · Score: 3, Informative

      Li-ion is just too expensive and maintenance-intensive to use grid scale.

      "Grid scale" simply can not be more expensive than single-house scale.

      It is called "Economy of scale" and although some of such may have limits, beyond which cost of additional units begins to increase, none of the conditions for that would apply in this case.

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    22. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      The ONE advantage to living in a very high electricity cost area ($.21/kWh, total bill divided by kWh), i love being able to replace hardware and justify it with electricity savings.

      --
      Good-bye
    23. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...
      You know this sounds just like when my wife buys stuff we would never normally buy because it is on sale and somehow thinks she saved money.

    24. Re: Solar rarely enough for the whole house by ezelkow1 · · Score: 1

      Same here, also in colorado, and we always get the notice we are using more than our neighbors. Our furnace and AC are brand new(well 4 years old) and both pretty high efficiency. We also only have 2 people in the house and the heat/ac arent constantly cranked all day long. So Im with you in thinking they just put that on the bill as encouragement. I also get the same drops as you, summer it says Im doing better

    25. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      48kWh... about 3500 kWh/year, or about 9,6 kWh per day.

      What is wrong with Watts? W*time/time = W. Why add the redundant time/time ?
      Bloody furlong per fortnight weird units.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    26. Re: Solar rarely enough for the whole house by O('_')O_Bush · · Score: 1

      Just one of my computers running F@H draws 12kWh/day.

      --
      while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
    27. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 0

      The average daily usage in the United States is 24kwh.

      Or about 6.66 Watts in correct units

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    28. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by silas_moeckel · · Score: 1

      Thats a 600 a month electric bill around my parts of the US. WTF are you running I average 24kwh with 2 people home all day, all electric kitchen and dryer. A server (12x drives 2x 2.5 2xSSD and 8x3.5) that draws 160w or so steady state combined with UPS and power bricks for cablemodem, firewall, picocell, and poe injectors for voip phones and ip camera's. Hell the office UPS load is 207w with 2 desktops a laptop and a mix of 4k and 1080x1200 monitors.

      --
      No sir I dont like it.
    29. Re: Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My home uses less than 2.5 kwh per day days to a max of 5 on a laundry day, 3 people with plex and dvr server. I guess the other 40+ is what you get when you have cheap fuel and live in dumb places

    30. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So tell us how much m3 gas you used this winter? For my home the gas part is 60% of the total energy bill. Converting it moneywize to 100% electricity 50 kWh/day seems about right.

    31. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by amorsen · · Score: 1

      A home server can easily get by on 20W instead of 200W. My house uses around 4kWh a day on everything, and that includes among other things a server running 24x7.

      --
      Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
    32. Re: Solar rarely enough for the whole house by amorsen · · Score: 2

      If you are using 48kWh a day on heating, a heat pump is going to pay itself back in months or even weeks.

      --
      Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
    33. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by amorsen · · Score: 1

      24kWh/day = 24kWh/24h = 1kW. Which is a completely ridiculous amount of electricity.

      --
      Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
    34. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 2

      Actually you only need one reservoir. The lower one can be a river, and usually is.

      Or in your Hawaii example, it could be the sea ... use a salt water pumped storage system :D

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    35. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      24kWh/day = 24kWh/24h = 1kW. Which is a completely ridiculous amount of electricity.

      I can't do sums while jet lagged clearly.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    36. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by tepples · · Score: 1

      What is wrong with Watts? W*time/time = W. Why add the redundant time/time ?

      Meter devices that measure each household's electric energy use for billing purposes traditionally express this value in kilowatt hours, each of which is 3.6 MJ. Billing is based on the difference between the reading this month and the reading last month, which is an average power in kWh/month.

    37. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Teun · · Score: 1

      The climatic differences with Colorado are significant, a home AC is a rare thing in The Netherlands.
      Most Dutch homes will use a similar amount of energy in the form of gas for heating and cooking so we can double the OP's number to 7000 kWh/annum.
      Because of interest in PV for my own place (I use less than 1500 kWh/year) I had a look around and found this site bidgely.com, they can log your power consumption, analyse it and compare it to others.

      The software they use is trained on US consumption and doesn't work for European homes, as an example a typical US freezer consumes 300 Watts, a European one consumes 100 Watts.

      Having frequently travelled the US and other hot & cold places I can say the US can save a hell of a lot by insulating.
      Take Denmark as an example, per building code you have to have a minimum of 30cms (12") of insulation in the roof and floor, a little less in the walls and it really makes a difference!

      --
      "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
    38. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      The difference is i use actual math. I have several servers that are part of the household load just like the fridge or heater. I use Kill-A-Watts to measure the loads, calculate using my actual bills, you know showing my work... I can show you how my electricity load has gone down over the last 5 years, even as I add more computers to the network. I get what you are saying, but i cant change my costs, i can only change the load.

      --
      Good-bye
    39. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Teun · · Score: 1

      It's about the same in The Netherlands, 50-50 between electricity and gas.

      --
      "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
    40. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      80 square meters is only a 30x30' square. It's not unreasonable that you had that space above your home...

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    41. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 1

      What about cost efficiency? How many trillions of dollars would it cost every several years to fit and maintain a big hydro-electric dam with Tesla's batteries?

    42. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You put some effort in, but you're wrong on too many subtleties for me to pick it apart. Let me offer this instead:

      A modern nat gas turbine can spin up from 50% to 100% in a minute, so there's no issue there. The "lag" factor in spin up time is for antiquated hardware and less flexible plant designs. The required solution must adapt to crappy infrastructure investment by for-profit power companies:

      Brown outs. Use the tesla battery to boost voltage from, say 100V to 120V during a brownout.

      Taken en mass, or via neighborhood "booster" sites, the power company can then apply brownouts with greater frequency without damage to the residential and commercial customers. Networked reporting of battery levels, charge, output, etc can be used to calculate safe levels.

      That old plant with a 4 hour lag time can then be spun from 75% to 100%, run through the peak draw and then brought down, with the excess power flowing back into the regional charge plants.

      Or say "free market" a bunch of times and just break the electronics of everyone who doesn't have their stuff on a UPS already. We don't really care* about poor people, and the non-poor already have an APC/Cyberpower/etc on their PC/tv. Home owners and nice condo's will simply add a big UPS int he basement and new construction will standardize on it.

      * I mean _I_ care, but not enough that I will stop taking long hot showers, much less the urban Hummer Drivers out there.

    43. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Tge spin up times are irrelevant.

      Relevant is: the coal plants that only can adapt in steps and can not like a gas plant adjusted arbitrarily: they already exist.

      Hence you have costs in running them, especially in overproducing.

      There Re two kinds of peaks, the daily high demand on the grid, and the continuous variation around the last minutes average.

      Your plants have to adapt to that variation in seconds, not minutes. That is what pumped storage is doing. And that is what batteries can do, too.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    44. Re: Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, the Netherlands. Where 90% of the population is living in high density developments and 1000 sq. ft is considered a luxury. I don't know what they put in the drinking water to subdue the masses into these restrained living conditions.

    45. Re: Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      48 kWh a day seems really high. My utility Vermont has told me the average residental daily electricity use for the state is about 25kWh. I typically use between 20 and 30kwh for a five adult household. That still requires a lot of spacefor panels. We have a free standing 8k solar installation that covers all of our electricity it like 40 feet long and 15 feet high.

    46. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Because we pay for it per kWh? And it makes more sense to think of it as a daily cycle rather than a constant draw, because the draw isn't constant from one moment to the next but the daily usage (roughly) is?

    47. Re: Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Enabling nuclear is the real potential benefit - it has very long ramp up/tamp down times, but the energy is cheap and carbon free.

      Load balancing to increase the share of nuclear power would be very good for reducing carbon emissions.

    48. Re: Solar rarely enough for the whole house by BlueBlade · · Score: 1

      That depends where you're living. Here in Quebec, 90% of homes are heated using electricity, because it's cheap thanks to our huge hydro resources. In the winter, it's usually too cold for heat pumps to work. To give you an idea, here in Montreal, average temp for last february were -19C (-2F). A heat pump can save a bit during fall or spring, but usually the savings aren't worth the purchase & maintenance cost of the pump. It's all resistive heating.

      --
      Religion is the best example of mass psychosis
    49. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by tompaulco · · Score: 2

      24kWh/day = 24kWh/24h = 1kW. Which is a completely ridiculous amount of electricity.

      How is that a ridiculous amount of electricity? That is about the amount of electricity a 1.5HP motor uses. That is about 1/24th of he amount of electricity required to charge a Nissan Leaf battery. You people love to chastise people for driving gas guzzlers, and then when people change to electric cars, you chastise them for using too much electricity. At least if we go back to driving gas guzzlers our electric usage will go down.

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    50. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      There are several problems with your statements:

      1. " load following coal plant" No such thing AFAIK, they're all base-load. There are a few load-following nuke plants, but they're all in Europe. Load-following is done by combined-cycle gas plants and hydro while peaking is single-cycle gas and, rarely, diesel.

      2. "That peak energy is expensive has not much to do with generation pries, but with grid logistics." Partially correct, but mostly not. Peak load requires peaking generators that are inherently inefficient--see "spinning reserve". Done properly, batteries could be used as spinning reserve and peaking instead of wasting gas turning a turbine that is delivering little power to the grid. Here's an example (using Na-S instead of Li): http://www.pgecurrents.com/2013/05/23/largest-battery-energy-storage-system-in-california-to-improve-electric-reliability-for-customers

      3. "So after you have increased the yield you are producing to much energy. So actually you burn more coal than you need to fulfill the demand." Hence they are base-load, not load following, the maximize their efficiency. Ditto for nuclear plants (in most of the world). Since load-following is easiest with combined cycle (or single-cycle tied to a separate steam plant), they are used in modern systems. (The latter config (separate shafts and generators) can also be used for peaking.)

      4. "... let it go to waste in a resistor at the power plant." Citation DEFINITELY NEEDED here!

      5. "The closer the plants are running at the exact demand of the grid, the more likely it is they mainly create costs instead of revenue when they increase their yield. Or when demand suddenly drops!" This is so beyond wrong. The grid is at its most efficient when supply matches load, up to and just prior to firing up the inefficient peaking plants because the base-load and load-follower plants are maxxed out.

      6. "Regardless what you chose: it costs the energy company. Hence they demand a premium price for peak times." You're right here, just not for the reasons you state above.

      7. "That is where smart meters and batteries or EVs come in During peak time, when energy is supposedly expensive, charging batteries will prevent that problem. Hence smart meter owners with storage capacity will mainly charge during peak times, and not off peak, for a special low price, not for an expensive price." The is exactly 180 degrees opposite to what's really happening. The cheapest power is produced by base-load and hydro, then combined-cycle gas. Thus, charging during least-demand times and discharging during peak when demand is highest is what the power companies want. See the above link; also many power companies have special late-night rates for electric cars, such as here in Arizona. Guess when that rate is? Is it in the afternoon, like you say? Hell no! It's between 11pm (2300) to 5am (0500). Here's the one for APS: https://www.aps.com/library/rates/ET-EV.pdf

    51. Re: Solar rarely enough for the whole house by anorlunda · · Score: 2

      I can't resist bragging. We live on a sailboat. We have 200w of solar. Our electric use use is 0.6 kWh per day. 80% of that goes to our 12v refrigeration system. Is this a hardship? No, we live a luxurious life.

      I confess, a big part of the secret is that we sail north in the summer to avoid the need for air conditioning and south in the winter to avoid the need for heating.

      What is good for utilities is good for homeowners too. Investments in energy conservation have a much higher ROI than investments in electric production, delivery or storage.

    52. Re: Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      I'm not against nuclear power, but I am against nuclear power operators, who too often cut corners and make the Geiger-Müller tubes go clickity-click, either at the plant, or at the dump site. When they fail to do things right, it's the taxpayer who ends up funding the cleanup.

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    53. Re: Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 0

      Heat-pumps also require large gardens. And dropping the ground temperature isn't great if you're growing your own vegetables.

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    54. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 1

      IOW, they haven't properly balanced their system and the windmills are the ones getting the shaft.

      Yeah, the idiots should have planned the winds more carefully. Relying on nature to generate the winds they need was never going to work, so they should get some giant wind machines from Hollywood. (Yes, I am being sarcastic. Glad you noticed.)

      --
      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    55. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Few big fat inefficient Americans have the space for so many panels to run their house

      FTFY. I looked into solar recently, my house uses about 16-18kwh/day for 4 people. My solar profile will give me an average 6hours/per day of generation over the course of the year, so a 3kw system will satisfy my requirements (3kw x 6 hours/day = 18kwh).
      Of course the sun never shines consistently year round so that's where the battery and off-peak replenishment comes in. This will be a revolution for a lot of people who are energy efficient.

    56. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Should also mention that a 3kw system will fit on a small house. My house is 120sqm (1300sqft which is about as small as houses get here). A bigger house might use more energy, but it will also have more roof space.

    57. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only because most people are ridiculously wasteful. Turn your damn thermostat up to 78 (or heat to 68 and wear a damn jacket), find some form of entertainment other than the brain-drain screen, and watch that electricity usage plummet. 7-8 kWh a day from panels is more than enough (a.k.a. bill credits every single fucking month for two years and counting) for a 2800-sq-ft home.

    58. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Stoutlimb · · Score: 2

      It can, when comparing like things. However, one of these is not like the other. At grid scale, it has to compete against the wholesale price of electricity. At residential scale, even though it is smaller and less efficient, it competes against the RETAIL price of electricity. This difference suggests a different source of the problem.

    59. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you already have a dam, you don't need batteries. The dam can increase/decrease water flow to adjuct electricity generation to meet changing demand.

    60. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      How is that a ridiculous amount of electricity?

      1W is about the same power as an apple falling 1 meter onto your head once per second.

      Do you want 1000 apples falling on your head every second?

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    61. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by Cutting_Crew · · Score: 1

      I can;t believe people only use 24 kwh. My average is roughly 2,000 kwh per month, about 70ish kwh per DAY. It will go higher in the summer months when its 100 degrees outside not counting the humidity. (Live in Central/Southern Florida, 4 bedroom, 2 bathm 2000 sq foot house)

    62. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by RyoShin · · Score: 1

      Pumped storage requires very specific geography (two reservoirs separated by a hill).

      What is the possibility of personal pump storage? Rather than use natural geography, you have two (rather large) tanks with a pipe and a hose between. Could this be useful for personal use in cases where a battery would not be useful? (For instance, a rarely-used location in the plains or desert.)

    63. Re:Solar rarely enough for the whole house by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      >which is an average power in kWh/month.

      which is an actual energy in Joules.

      There, fixed that for you.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  25. Re:Nice idea but... by erp_consultant · · Score: 1

    "Not installing solar now because you're worried that solar is going to get better is just depriving yourself of the benefits that you enjoy by doing it sooner" - What benefits? Not economic, that's for sure. The numbers Solar City gave me showed a net savings of $30 a month. That's it - 30 bucks a month. And that is assuming you buy into their calculations - which I don't. As I mentioned, they cannot control the rates that the utility company pays for the power you sell them back and the rate increases are merely speculation on their part.

  26. Re:big battery mining cost by retroworks · · Score: 1

    Usually mining and extraction are the greatest energy and pollution generating periods of a device's life. Not greater than the entire lifecycle of use and disposal, unless the product is used less than 10 years. if its used less than 5 the impacts of mining can be even greater than the product 's use. Don't crash and total your Tesla or Prius. http://science.howstuffworks.c...

    What's interesting with this home-battery is that this its use may not achieve any real energy savings, like a hybrid motor (which contributes captured friction) or like solar. Or maybe there is some lost energy in off peak hours and it contributes to efficiency, but that will be lost if the use of the product scales and every house has one. But the point is that the rare earth batteries must be mined in China, meaning a portion of the energy is being diverted to coal burned in China.

    --
    Gently reply
  27. Re:Nice idea but... by erp_consultant · · Score: 2

    That's how Musk makes his money. By selling over priced panels supported by dodgy break even calculations. Buying your own panels is the way to go. I know people that have done it and it's not that difficult.

  28. $13,000 buys a lot of electricity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Based on my average monthly usage and cost per KwH, $13,000 would cover all of my electricity needs for just shy of nine years. If they subsidize half of it, it's just under four and a half years. My home is 100% electric, older neighborhood means no gas lines were run here. We're also just talking about the battery. Not the solar system that would need to be installed to complement it. But then, I don't live out on the West Coast where electricity prices are ludicrous. ( My current locked in price for the next three years is 9 cents / KwH in case you're curious )

  29. $13K is the Only Obstacle by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 0

    I'm poised to install a $4K backup generator in the next few months. I don't live in a region where I can force my neighbors to pay for my tech goodies, and the $9K difference doesn't get paid for on any kind of time horizon that outpaces even a basic interest rate.

    The generator also has a near-infinite runtime, in the case of a bad storm. However, it needs more maintenance, so if there were price-parity I might opt for the battery.

    Give it another five years and that just might be feasible - good for Musk for getting this ball rolling, and kudos to the early adopters who take it in the pocket to promote the technology.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  30. 130 years too late by Deep+Esophagus · · Score: 4, Funny

    So Edison finally won the War of Currents and got Tesla to start using DC.

    1. Re:130 years too late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. It was rather clever actually.

  31. Old Wives' Tales by Khyber · · Score: 1

    "need to be installed at least a foot and a half off the ground"

    For what purpose? That old wives' tale of putting a battery on the ground causing it to discharge or drain is absolute bullshit.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    1. Re:Old Wives' Tales by St.Creed · · Score: 2

      I assume this is to prevent a leaking main from electrocuting everyone in the area, and/or to prevent gasses building up underneath and/or to have better airflow around the battery to keep the temperature from going up in hotspots.

      --
      Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)
    2. Re:Old Wives' Tales by russotto · · Score: 1

      "need to be installed at least a foot and a half off the ground"

      For what purpose? That old wives' tale of putting a battery on the ground causing it to discharge or drain is absolute bullshit.

      Cooling, most likely. Charging and discharging a battery results in heat; this battery is probably designed to take cool air in at the bottom and discharge warm air at the top.

    3. Re:Old Wives' Tales by Hadlock · · Score: 1

      Because sometimes it rains and not all houses are built at the top of a hill. My car's hubs got f*cked due to being parked in front of a storm drain during a big rain storm. This is in a fairly well planned suburban neighborhood. There are regions that experience flooding (New Orleans, the entire Mississippi River region, really) on a somewhat frequent basis. Since flooding is a common and very-non-zero event, you need to plan for it and that means putting in requirements like "don't put it on the floor, you'll shock everyone taking a shower in a 3 mile radius if this thing gets wet, idiot" on it.

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
    4. Re:Old Wives' Tales by karnal · · Score: 1

      Also, the higher up (assuming you're mounting this at ground level + 1.5ft - a garage, say - and not in a basement) you mount, the less chance of water getting up to the point of shorting out the packs.

      --
      Karnal
    5. Re:Old Wives' Tales by Khyber · · Score: 1

      The batteries themselves are DC. You could drop an entire array in a pool full of people and you wouldn't do much damage as they'd all discharge at their individual cell voltage levels as they short. It's not that dangerous unless the individual cells are going past 24VDC in that particular type of environment and someone's within a couple of feet of that pack and acting as a ground path to somewhere else. The inverter equipment hooked up to the batteries, on the other hand, and the charging equipment, should be kept well off the floor. AC-charged water is much more dangerous.

      Charging batteries generate hydrogen and oxygen, Hydrogen rises to the top, Oxygen can mix pretty well with a primarily-nitrogen atmosphere. Not a problem for a battery bank, single-level, on the floor. Cooling is about as simple as a large fan blowing across the array/pack, as that's where a majority of the cooling-capable metal (terminals) is located, anyways.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  32. future news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is anyone else getting tired of these "news" articles stating that there will be some news to announce in the future?

  33. Cost of the battery covers my electrical bill by Crashmarik · · Score: 1

    For the next 10 years. If the funds are invested at a reasonable rate could easily be 20-30 years.

    What's the lifespan of this thing ?

    1. Re:Cost of the battery covers my electrical bill by Anonanonaon · · Score: 1

      That's based on current energy prices and an assumption of continued reliable service. I'm not convinced the world is nearly stable enough to put those eggs in one basket.

      Should money suddenly lose its value, it would be nice to have something which doesn't rely on grid power.

      Though, you don't have to spend $13,000 plus expenses to get on solar in a meaningful way. Depending on how you manage your energy needs, it could be done for a fraction of that cost.

  34. Re:and...the problem with satire by omfgnosis · · Score: 1

    1. Why the fuck do you care?
    2. Sexual reassignment surgery is not "cutting your dick off".
    3. She has not even had the surgery.
    4. Why the fuck do you care?

  35. Re:and...the problem with satire by omfgnosis · · Score: 1

    I'm sure your wife appreciated your insane presumption of entitlement to tell people how they should look.

  36. This is of great interest to me. by wjcofkc · · Score: 1

    I have been thinking for awhile about building a house out in the country and not bothering to have it connected to the grid. My first thought was to go with a whole lot of solar panels and a couple giant propane tanks with a gas generator. Still, that is a lacking setup, but these batteries just might make the difference. I would probably buy more than one of whatever the top of the line battery would be. Of course, I have already checked the availability of water in the areas I have been considering.

    Throw in a couple substantially less hydrogen fuels cells to take over in the event I loose power and I might seriously go through with it.

    --
    Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
  37. Wendy's strategy: sell excess hamburger as chili by Steve1952 · · Score: 2

    Tesla seems to be adopting the "Wendy's strategy". Wendy's apparently sells excess hamburger as chili, thus somewhat compensating for daily swings in hamburger sales. Similarly Tesla is probably anticipating that their Gigafactory will also have unexpected swings in demand depending on vehicle sales and existing contracts with other battery suppliers.

    By selling the excess Gigafactory battery production as battery based storage for homes, Tesla ensures two things: 1 - a better ramp up in Gigafactory utilization during the early years, and 2 - protection from unexpected swings in vehicle sales.

  38. Re:Solar: putting Americans out of work since fore by linearZ · · Score: 1

    The coal industry supports THOUSANDS of American jobs. What do you hippy moron leftists propose to do about all the families your precious "solar" panels will put out of work? Oh that's right, you'll just pass some big-goverment high-tax shit and the swirl down the toilet of American society continues.

    You got it soldier! Back in the days of the agrarian society, everyone worked! And we worked hard!

    Progress sucks. Now we have to figure out what to do with our time when we the hippies win we are getting our energy from free sunlight.

    --
    Revolution is the opium of the intellectuals.
  39. Numbers don't look good for me by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

    Since I use on average 12kWh per day over the course of a year I would only save about $1 a day even if I transferred all of my electricity use from peak use to off peak use. Of course my peak use is only about a quarter of my actual use (40% of my cost) so my savings would be much less. That's using the 8 cent difference between peak and off peak that's coming into effect in Ontario in May.

    Think I'll look into a ground source heat pump. It'll cost a lot more (especially to drill the holes since I'm in a suburb) but I'll get rid of the expense of my A/C and my natural gas heating and hot water tank. The efficiency of the new furnace should cover the pump.

    1. Re:Numbers don't look good for me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since I use on average 12kWh per day over the course of a year I would only save about $1 a day even if I transferred all of my electricity use from peak use to off peak use. Of course my peak use is only about a quarter of my actual use (40% of my cost) so my savings would be much less. That's using the 8 cent difference between peak and off peak that's coming into effect in Ontario in May.

      Then perhaps you are not the target audience. I also don't have a LNG automatic cutover power generation system installed. Nor do I own and 18-wheeler tractor trailer and cab or freight locomotive to pickup a gallon of milk from the store. Perhaps neither you nor I are the target customers for this product. That doesn't mean there isn't a valid market for it, despite our mighty N=2 sample size.

  40. What if by Dirk+Becher · · Score: 1

    the electric companies don't charge this way in your country? Is the battery suitable for long time storage like say from solar or wind?

  41. Re:Nice idea but... by swillden · · Score: 1

    Electrical bill is $14.95 a month because you have to pay the "fees"

    To be fair, there *are* fixed costs to the power company in keeping you connected to the grid, in fact those costs are a fairly significant portion of the normal power bill. It's just that the current fee structure doesn't reflect it well.

    --
    Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
  42. 2D Fusion Reactor Too by Kunedog · · Score: 1
    Lockheed's fusion reactor was reported the same way:

    http://hardware.slashdot.org/s...

    The company says it has proved the feasibility of building a 100MW reactor measuring only 7 feet by 10 feet.

    Is there something about energy tech that makes people afraid to mention a third dimension (other than time, of course)?

  43. Need to beat SLA on price to change the market by hhammermill · · Score: 2

    Sealed Lead Acid Batteries (SLA) for home use go for about $250/kw. The current Tesla/SolarCity Pilot batteries go for about $1300/kwh; which means even with the 50% PG&E rebate it is still more expensive then SLA.

    Unfortunately lithium-ion does not have many advantages over SLA for home use because, unlike a car, weight does not matter.

    I really hope that when Musk does the actual product announcement that the packs are either much more powerful or much cheaper. Otherwise this really doesn't change anything. . .

    1. Re:Need to beat SLA on price to change the market by Agripa · · Score: 1

      The less expensive LiFePO4 batteries seem to be a better choice for stationary applications than the lithium cobalt batteries Tesla is making. They do not have as high an energy density but have a longer cycle life. Flooded cell lead acid batteries should be less expensive than sealed lead acid batteries and are what I have considered.

  44. Cost of replacing worn Li-ion batteries by tepples · · Score: 2

    Modern li-ion batteries are over 90%

    Last time I checked, lithium-ion batteries lost a substantial chunk of their capacity after a few years. Does the 10 percent loss figure that you stated include the cost of manufacturing a replacement battery?

    1. Re:Cost of replacing worn Li-ion batteries by sonicmerlin · · Score: 3, Interesting

      If you maintain charge between 20% and 80%, which Tesla does with its cars and almost certainly will do with its home batteries, you can make the battery last 10 years.

    2. Re:Cost of replacing worn Li-ion batteries by Zaelath · · Score: 1

      10 years still makes for $1300+ per year for the battery alone. (without the rebate)

      So what you need is:
                    $(current peak usage) - $(off peak charging) x 0.8 > $1300
      to break even.

      My power bills have never even been > $1300/year so it's hard to make that equation work.

      I'm sure the power companies are interested since if you get wide adoption it reduces the increase in their baseload so they don't have to build more plants and once you have a widely installed base you suddenly have "peak" overnight at the same level as during the day which is perfect use of their generation facilities, and they would adjust their pricing accordingly...

  45. Re: Wendy's strategy: sell excess hamburger as ch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Actually this is part of what makes Wendy's burgers great. They estimate burger needs as customers come in the door, and start to cook them before they are ordered. That way, when you order a burger you quickly get one that truly has just been cooked. The "excess", then, are the burgers they start to cook that go unsold -- they store the cooked meat for next day's chili. When there is a good stream of customers this works really well.

  46. Transmission loss by tepples · · Score: 1

    Ironic that burning a more environmentally sound fuel (electricity) gets you roundly criticized by others for using too much electricity.

    Perhaps they're assuming that transmission losses in the electric grid will more than offset the theoretical gains of using electric heat over natural gas heat.

    1. Re:Transmission loss by russotto · · Score: 1

      It's not transmission losses. Turning fuel into electricity at large scale is 40% efficient. Turning electricity into heat with resistance heaters is 100% efficient. Turning fuel into heat at small scale is ~85% efficient with a regular furnace, ~95% efficient with a high-efficiency furnace. The big gain in using fuel for heat instead of electricity is avoiding the Carnot limit, not transmission losses.

  47. Re:Nice idea but... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 2

    Regarding efficiency there is not much to expect from new solar panels anymore.

    The only thing you can do is combine several technologies, to gather light in several wave lengths.

    A typical mono crystalline PV cell might improve by 1% ... perhaps ... however the future gains will likely be in cheaper production, not in efficiency gains.

    Other gains are paint based solar cells, that can be painted on houses. So far they have low efficiencies, around 1% to 5% ... but they don't look like PC modules and can be painted everywhere.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  48. Reminds me of the post on The Verge the other day by melted · · Score: 1

    Reminds me of the post on The Verge the other day about $45K 3.3KW solar charging stations that San Francisco bought with taxpayer money. Man, I'm glad I'm not a CA taxpayer, because I'd be pissed. Let's very optimistically assume 365 days sunny days a year and 10 hours of sunlight. That's 12775 KWh of energy, which at $0.15/KWh works out to $1916 per year. That's 23 years before those chargers pay for themselves, and that does not include repairs and maintenance (such as, you know, washing those panels once a year, and replacing broken stuff), AND the assumption is that the batteries generate their peak output through the entire day. So realistically, 50-60 years before you have any chance of breaking even.

    This is basically the same thing. It makes no economic sense for 99.9% of its potential users, even those who already have solar.

  49. Then stop doing that. by Brannon · · Score: 1

    F@H is incredibly inefficient.

  50. Paleface earning Darwin Award. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > batteries ... can be controlled with a Web app and a smartphone app

    Hackers imitating the success of Stuxnet will turn those Li-Poly batteries into native american comms devices (hint: emit smoke signals they will)

  51. Re:and...the problem with satire by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

    I'm sure your wife appreciated your insane presumption of entitlement to tell people how they should look.

    I suppose you apologized to yours for a total lack of a sense of humor?

    My Asperger's friend says that the stick up yer backside has to hurt after a while.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  52. Re:Solar: putting Americans out of work since fore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If only families could feed their kids with smug superiority of statists and big goverment liberals.

  53. Re:and...the problem with satire by omfgnosis · · Score: 1

    I'm not going to bother defending my sense of humor, because that never works out for anyone. But I didn't even realize it was intended as such. All I saw was ignorance demanding insane barbie standards of people with male anatomies.

    You're right, we should humiliate "ugly" people being themselves. It's "funny".

  54. Sources other than fuel by tepples · · Score: 1

    Turning fuel into electricity at large scale is 40% efficient.

    Thank you for clarifying that the big loss in electric heating is generation, not transmission. But I think batteries like this are intended to work with power sources other than "fuel", such as wind turbines and PV. These are not only unaffected by the Carnot limit but also intermittent enough to need energy storage between generation and use.

  55. Re:and...the problem with satire by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

    I'm not going to bother defending my sense of humor, because that never works out for anyone. But I didn't even realize it was intended as such.

    No, I suppose you didn't realize it. Have fun with your outrage.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  56. Re:and...the problem with satire by omfgnosis · · Score: 1

    LOL you think me getting bored while day drinking on a Saturday and shaming shame-mongers on a dumb website is outrage?

    Shrug. More bored now. My poor liver.

  57. Re:and...the problem with satire by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

    LOL you think me getting bored while day drinking on a Saturday and shaming shame-mongers on a dumb website is outrage?

    Shrug. More bored now. My poor liver.

    Oh hell, I was supposed to be shamed? My wife will tell you, I ain't got no shame. A beer does sound good however. Cheers!

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  58. Re:and...the problem with satire by omfgnosis · · Score: 1

    Tell your wife the guy you argued with on the internet thinks she looks great, regardless of what you think.

  59. Re:Nice idea but... by rch7 · · Score: 1

    Nanosolar is out, but Stion and few other CIGS panel manufacturers are here and doing fine. And whole system may cost less with more expensive panels sometimes, as panels may be less than half of the cost now..

  60. Nice to see the model works solely with free cash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Without the 50% discount, and without a captive market of millionaires, how is this a viable solution?

  61. Re:big battery mining cost by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    a hybrid motor (which contributes captured friction)

    No. Energy lost to friction is lost as heat. You can only capture it if you use a stirling engine - but the additional energy used in carrying the stirling engine is not worth what you get back.

    Hybrid motor captures kinetic energy (energy of motion). While it is true that energy is lost as friction heat in brakes if you don't have a regenerative engine, once it has gone down the friction route, it is not recoverable.

  62. Re:Nice idea but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The problem is that CEO's in the United states EXPECT 7 to 8 digit salaries. This is 100% bullshit and needs to be stopped.

    I have yet to meet a CEO that is worth more than $800,000 a year. and I have met plenty of them.

    For example the CEO of Comcast, he is not worth minimum wage.

  63. It is situational by James+McP · · Score: 1

    Centralized power storage is appropriate for some scenarios, DEcentralized storage for another.

    Consider this: You have a 50MW power plant with 30MW avg demand and 45MW peak demand but the growth is where your grid isn't up to demand. Depending on how much backhaul is involved, it could be cheaper to put several MWhr of batteries out in the grid. Charge them when demand is low and feed the local sub-grids during peak hours.

    Alternately, you could have a 50MW power plant with 30MW avg demand but 55MW peak demand on a grid that can handle it. You can either add more generation or centralized batteries.

    In both cases, it's a cost effectiveness decision.

    Having said that, $13k for 10kWhr is pretty pricy. If you're willing to go with AGM batteries, you can get 10kWhr kit for $7k (google "full house backup battery"). This is only price effective if they're actually providing ~17KW batteries so you only discharge them 60% to give them several decades of total life.

    --
    I've been on slashdot so long I'm starting to get out of touch with the cool stuff if it ain't on slashdot.
    1. Re:It is situational by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lithium is about 60%-70% usable
      Lead Acid is about 30% usable

      (from a DoD perspective)

      So for 10KW usable of Lithium you require 16-17KW of Lithium.
      For 10KW usable of Lead Acid, you require 30KW of Lead Acid.

      16KW of Lithium is cheaper than 30KW of Lead Acid, so its a no brainer.

  64. The US is neither Capitalist nor democratic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The US is Crony Capitalist.full of people Rent Seeking for personal profit.

    It's for the children, after all.

  65. Combined with a form of fusion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the machines had found all the energy they would ever need.

    Oh, wait, wrong kind of battery, never mind!

  66. Hot rocks storage alternative by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.isentropic.co.uk/

    Large scale storage using temperature differentials.

  67. stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    this is retarded. Once enough people start taking advantage of it all that will happen is power companies will raise the price of electricity in the night hours.

  68. Re:Nice idea but... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    The numbers Solar City gave me showed a net savings of $30 a month. That's it - 30 bucks a month. And that is assuming you buy into their calculations - which I don't.

    You really don't think energy costs will go up over time? Ironically, the only way they wouldn't is if we committed to more renewables.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  69. Re:Nice idea but... by erp_consultant · · Score: 1

    The question is not will energy costs go up over time. They will. The question is how much. Solar City doesn't know. Neither do I. Neither do you. Yet SC is presenting their numbers as facts. They are projecting savings to potential customers that are pure speculation. That's what I take issue with.

    I'm all for renewables, don't get me wrong. I want a clean environment as much as the next guy.

  70. Decent idea by Muad'Dave · · Score: 1

    I hope these monsters are UL-listed and won't jack up my homeowner's insurance because they're a fire risk.

    At 10 kW * hr, I wonder what size inverter they supply? My house has a 20 kW generator and that will run everything, including the 2 AC units (mostly startup current). If their inverter is the same size, that battery will last _maybe_ 3-4 hours in the summertime.

    --
    Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
  71. Stupidly expensive by Codeyman · · Score: 1

    This is a horribly inflated piece of marketing. A lot of urban households in India have power inverters in their homes to be used during the all too common rolling blackouts/load shedding, and draw power from grid when there is electricity. These are locally assembled devices made from two or more commercial truck batteries. The whole assembly is highly serviceable and customizable according to the budget. These are fairly inexpensive and have low cost of maintenance, and much smaller than 3ft*2.5ft*2.5ft.

    It isn't that hard to make one yourself, just google for the schematics.

    I don't know why Mr Musk is getting into the battery peddling business when even a village in India/China can get you a similar product (may be less efficient and not really great to look at). I guess people pay money to have a "Tesla" or "Apple" brand on their hardware, be it batteries or cars or music players or phones. He might need the money to funnel into battery research, that seems to be the centerpiece of a lot of his undertakings.

  72. How does 'overnight' help home electric bills? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "The batteries power up overnight when energy companies typically charge less for electricity"

    ??? Since when is electricity for homes charged based on night vs. day?? My electricity bill is (and has been for almost 40 years) based solely on the amount of electricity used. There is no 'time-of-day' factor anywhere in my meter or in my bill.

  73. Joule vs. kWh sperglording by tepples · · Score: 1

    So are you willing to pay for all electric utility companies to replace meters that read out in kWh with meters that read out in joules, at the same time for all customers in order to satisfy franchise regulations that require a city-wide (or larger) uniform rate?

    1. Re:Joule vs. kWh sperglording by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      So are you willing to pay for all electric utility companies to replace meters that read out in kWh with meters that read out in joules, at the same time for all customers in order to satisfy franchise regulations that require a city-wide (or larger) uniform rate?

      Engineers use SI units to avoid stupid errors that have bad effects, like certain satellites falling out of the sky.

      If we stick to the internationally standardized units, it will be easier to compare energy and power with other instances of measurements of energy and power.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  74. Who pays for SI transition? by tepples · · Score: 1

    Who pays for the transition to "the internationally standardized units"? Meters would need to be replaced with pedantically SI-compliant meters. And besides, power in practice is correlated with daylight and climate conditions, which recur on cycles closer to 86,400 seconds and 31,556,952 seconds respectively. These numbers are far from powers of two and thus don't quite fit into the decimal SI. Who pays to teach people to multiply and divide by 86,400 and and 31,556,952 in their heads to estimate energy from power or vice versa over the course of a day or year?

    1. Re:Who pays for SI transition? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      It would only take a few lines of code to fix the units in electricity bills.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  75. Thinking in kiloseconds is still hard by tepples · · Score: 1

    But how would that fix the units in customers' heads? "If I turn on ten 100 watt appliances, I'm using a kilowatt. Easy so far. And if I leave them on for an hour, I'm billed for one kilowatt hour." Until you get customers to think about their energy use using kiloseconds instead of hours and megaseconds instead of weeks, you're not going to be able to avoid anthropic units entirely.

    1. Re:Thinking in kiloseconds is still hard by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      >But how would that fix the units in customers' heads?

      By not giving the uneducated a choice.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  76. People rejected decimal time by tepples · · Score: 1

    The last time fully decimal time was imposed by law, the people rejected it. It was imposed in France on 22 September 1794 after the French Revolution and revoked 7 April 1795 when France adopted what is now SI. Swatch tried again privately in 1998, dividing the day into a thousand 86.4 s millidays called ".beats", and it didn't catch on either. This is why the hour, day, and year still "are accepted for use with SI" (source). Thus, the kilowatt hour isn't an SI unit proper, but it's still "accepted for use with SI" with the value 3.6 MJ, much as the kilocalorie of food energy is 4184 J.

    1. Re:People rejected decimal time by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      WTF does decimal time have to do with the discussion Mr Strawman?

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    2. Re:People rejected decimal time by tepples · · Score: 1

      What it means is that history shows that education alone is not enough to scrub thinking in hours, days, and years from the public's habits.