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Supply and demand (slrpnk.net)
submitted 4 months ago by [M] to c/memes@slrpnk.net
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[–] 6 points 4 months ago (1 child)

Figuring out what to do with kilowatts is easy

So what you're saying is that if it's distributed enough (say, on the roofs of houses, sized to serve the needs of the occupants) it's not a problem.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Distributed vs centralized has no impact here. It's all about excess power across the entire grid.

    Sure, the solar system I own generates a few kilowatts and if I'm home cooking or running AC, I use almost all of it. But if I'm not home, my AC is off, fridge isn't running at that moment, all of that power gets dumped onto the grid. My neighbor's down the street do the same thing, their next door neighbor, the houses all in my neighborhood, and across the entire city, we're all doing this. A hundred or thousand homes generating excess few kilowatts adds up to megawatts

    Sure, the energy company pays a pittance for the energy I put onto the grid, but it's still payment. I'm not gonna put a dummy load on my house to not export power

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  • [–] 8 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

    But if I’m not home, my AC is off, fridge isn’t running at that moment, all of that power gets dumped onto the grid.

    And if it couldn't do that, your solar panels would warm up a little bit and nothing else of consequence would happen. Ditto for your neighbors' solar panels, and everybody else's. Whoop-de-do.

    It wouldn't even cause a net increase in the urban heat island effect, because if that energy weren't hitting solar panels it would just be heating up people's roofs instead.

    Sure, the energy company pays a pittance for the energy I put onto the grid, but it’s still payment. I’m not gonna put a dummy load on my house to not export power

    You're conflating an technological problem with an economic one. The only reason you claim my proposal wouldn't work is because you don't want it to because it cuts into your profit.

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