Royal Australian Mint to be covered in 924 solar panels

[r9453]

If the storage/batteries were more cost effective I would install a system at home and go off the grid altogether :ok:

I get the impression its only a matter of time before that is the case. My brother and I both bought houses in the same NSW north coast town a couple of years ago. He installed solar (ex battery) and I did not. His bills are cheaper but I'm not sure we will live long enough for him to come out in front.

On my morning walk I go through a new subdivision with about 100 houses and none of them have solar panels on the roof. And yet in the main part of town every 3rd or 4th house seems to have panels on the roof.

[JeffH]

trout,
The battery option time is fast approaching now there is another big player in the market.
LG Chem Lithium Ion Battery - 6.4kWh - 48V
LG Chem Resu 6.4Ex vs Tesla Powerwall
Lithium ion batteries have two major advantages over lead-acid batteries as usually used previously;

• They can be regularly discharged to at, or near, their full rated capacity without compromising the overall life.
• The number of charge/discharge cycles they can supply is many times larger.
• Also, maintenance is minimal and no nasty acid fumes and spills.

Living where you do freight will be a factor -large batteries are very heavy.
My link above is not an endorsement of RPC. They are a well established company with a good range of products but their prices aren't necessarily the best. It pays to shop around for a large purchase like this.

[trout]

When prices for the storage drops to a reasonable level it would be a worthwhile proposition.
7k per unit is still far too pricy and with all things if you wait a while the hardware not only becomes cheaper it gets better as well.
A wind generator and a bunch of solar panels would run my house easily, The storage is the killer at the moment.

[robbiegal]

trout,
The battery option time is fast approaching now there is another big player in the market.
LG Chem Lithium Ion Battery - 6.4kWh - 48V
LG Chem Resu 6.4Ex vs Tesla Powerwall
Lithium ion batteries have two major advantages over lead-acid batteries as usually used previously;

• They can be regularly discharged to at, or near, their full rated capacity without compromising the overall life.
• The number of charge/discharge cycles they can supply is many times larger.
• Also, maintenance is minimal and no nasty acid fumes and spills.

Living where you do freight will be a factor -large batteries are very heavy.
My link above is not an endorsement of RPC. They are a well established company with a good range of products but their prices aren't necessarily the best. It pays to shop around for a large purchase like this.

are they a fire hazard?
are they the ones that explode and set airliners of fire in fullflight?

[r9453]

I remember seeing an interview with Bill Gates where he was talking about the future of technology and renewable energy sources. He reckoned rooftop solar would never catch on because people would perceive it as a fire hazard.

[AussieSilver]

I have had solar for over 6 years now with a 52c rebate through Origin , its only a little 1.5 unit and cost $3000 back in the day but has paid for its self so would recommend i get one small bill after winter as heating is electric . Am moving to rural Queensland next year and would like the Telsa power wall or something similar but we are finding it hard to find someone who will install up there apart from the old school 12 batteries which i don't want . Anyone know of any decent companies who can install 100km south of Gladstone .

[Fulvio]

I'm not sure we will live long enough for him to come out in front.

Did you not see Elon Musk's presentation a couple of days ago? Its on my FB wall.

It has never made any sense to build a roof and then cover it in panels. Now that he's making solar tiles, the roof IS the panel, and vice-versa. And check out the drop-test, where identical bowling balls were dropped on a bunch of different types of tiles. The glass solar tiles came through unscathed, while the others turned into dust and rubble.

Take the cost of a new roof into account, and the maths suddenly changes dramatically. And we build 100 MILLION new roofs globally every year, so how long before economies of scale kick in, do you think?

People laughed when he started Tesla, and they laughed again when he brought out the original PowerWall. Musk is no fool though, and I would definitely take him seriously.

[trout]

People laughed when he started Tesla, and they laughed again when he brought out the original PowerWall. Musk is no fool though, and I would definitely take him seriously.

People thought that Henry Ford was a mad man as well :angel:

[JeffH]

Back in the day, when there were two big solar panel manufacturers (one British and one American) their modules were proof tested for hail with 1" (25.4mm) steel balls fired into them at 50mph (just over 80km/hr). I would not like to be subject to that!
I suspect the Chinese panels that proliferate now would likely be embarrassed by that test. [But they are about 20% of the {dollar} price of what the modules were then. Take inflation into account and solar modules are probably around 12.5% of the cost in past years.]

[trout]

solar modules are probably around 12.5% of the cost in past years

That sort of discount would be awesome with lithium batteries :yahoo:

[Fulvio]

That sort of discount would be awesome with lithium batteries :yahoo:

Bah batteries. OK for computers and vehicles, but for fixed installations, flywheels are the go: