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What are you doing with your spare solar power? (lemmy.world)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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I’m curious as to what people are doing with their spare solar power.

I’m in the US and on NEM2. I already have batteries and discharge them when the rates are favorable.

But I still have a lot of leftover juice. My partner recently bought an EV but doesn’t drive much.

I set up a home lab and even bought a small bitcoin miner that turns on when electricity rates are favorable.

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[–] 6 points 3 months ago (1 child)

reading these replies hurts my soul so deeply that i haven't gotten into solar yet.

i desperately want to, but don't own a house! I've seen some regular trailers with panels mounted on; how viable is that? is it easy to tie in 'temporary' solar? could i just bypass the house's electrical completely?

in the southeast US, what would one expect to need for a small house?

it must be tough for things like dryers and ovens.

beyond the savings and independence, how susceptible to transient voltage events are solar setups? will i still need to be scared every time i hear thunder off in the far distance?

apologies for the barrage of questions from a rando stranger!

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  • [–] [S] 4 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    If you’re in Utah you can make use of “balcony” solar.

    If you’re not and you rent then you can still make use of solar but you can’t feed it back to the grid. You do need access to the sun though.

    Something like an ecoflow solar generator can be placed between something that uses energy constantly like a refrigerator. Then run the solar cabling outside somehow to a solar panel. The solar will charge the battery up, and the fridge will draw from the device. Once the sun goes down it will drain the battery and then switch over to grid power.

    You can even simply charge a small ecoflow off solar only and use it to charge your phone/laptop/tablet overnight.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (1 child)

    I always see people saying oh it's not worth it, solar won't generate enough, it won't work. I know it's area-dependant but this comment gives me hope... I'd love to have a little eco flow to do things like charge phones or small batteries (if even that's possible at 50/60°N in a flat.... I have a window box and some ledges maybe I can put something small on).

    This comment makes me hopeful it makes it sound like it's not nuts to want to do this... Can you comment on what this general consensus of 'there's no point'? Obviously, you think it's worth it! I'm hoping they're just dooming

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 3 months ago

    Some areas have cheap reliable energy. For example, areas fed by the Hoover dam.

    Others have difficult regulations that don’t let you sell back to the grid, making the investment difficult.

    In the US we have half of the voting population convinced that solar and other “clean” energy will leave them in the dark, even as their own fossil fuel utilities fail around them (Texas, Florida).

    Just like we had to design gas stations every 50 miles apart, we’ll need to design around the disadvantages of solar. That might mean maintaining fossil fuel in a way that lets us have a diversified energy grid that’s resistant to the limitations of wind and solar.

    The only hope I cling onto is that most of the voting population that dislikes clean energy will die soon due to their average higher age.

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