Huge power outages have hit major cities across Spain and Portugal. Flights, traffic lights, trains, phone networks and card payments have been affected, with reports of panic-buying at supermarkets. Follow the latest here.
instead of big solar farm, it’s more € 4 000 system with a bit more than a 1.5 KW of balcony solar,
…and…
It cannot allow for off-the-grid living but it does keep the grid safe and decentralizes energy generation. With the possibility of a call to share in case there is a catastrophic event.
Those do the opposite actually. Those are some of the small scale versions of the problem that @ms_lane@lemmy.world was referring to.
Those are “grid following” devices. So where they can contribute to a cascade failure is if there is a slight sag in the grid voltage or frequency (supplied by the “big spinny things” of utility grade generators that poster was referring to), the solar system would turn itself off to protect itself. This would enable full passthrough of your households electrical demand to pull from the grid directly instead. Where the balcony solar would be offsetting a nice chunk of demand, suddenly that demand is pulled from the grid instead in a fraction of a second. Now imagine ALL the houses doing that at once. The sudden spike in demand from all those households can cause utility grade solar/wind operators to pull their supply as well, further spiking the need for more electricity at that moment. Then you get brownouts or blackouts because the only supply of electricity was the grid scale generator with the big spinny generators (which form the grid), and the demand is beyond the ability of the generator to supply. So breakers are thrown cutting off electricity customers to protect the electrical infrastructure.
Because balcony solar are “grid following”, they cannot be called on to share in the case of a catastrophic event. They need a healthy grid in place before they can come online.
and decentralizes energy generation.
This point is true though during the good times. Any reduction in grid demand (which these balcony solar setups do) is a net positive. However, they don’t help in catastrophic situations because they depend on the grid being up and healthy. I wish more of the world allowed them. We aren’t allowed to do that in the USA, as an example. Putting up any amount of solar that connects to the grid at all, even solar that doesn’t feed power back (called “zero export” here) require detailed engineering plans and permits before you can install them. This increases the cost and complexity for any residential solar installation.
You’re completely right. But I suppose @Renohren@lemmy.today was thinking of using the battery and solar panels for personal use in case the grid is down. Which in theory is possible but afaik it requires additional measures, just having the battery and solar panels installed doesn’t mean your fridge will work without the grid.
Oh, yeah: I think the smart Meter ( mandatory linky brand in France) can block outgoing if no incoming in it’s options. So not the fridge (but that one has thermal inertia going for it) but maybe a few led lights, maybe a small computer?
No it’s good for the energy transition of you get solar+battery, especially if you’re in France. Sellers of these systems often promise you a return on investment based on historical data. Be aware though that due to the energy transition business cases can quickly develop unexpectedly. You’re taking on risk.
There’s some technical pieces I’m missing about the European implementation. Do you have a link to the system you’re looking at or the name? I’m happy to learn more.
I’m a bit proponent of solar. Get it in whatever form you can. Balcony solar is a great concept, so if thats what’s available to you, I’d say go for it. As for grid stability, you’re one person. You have no ability to affect operations at the grid level. The regulators in your region will have to account for people like you and your electricity needs and put in place solutions for future stability.
Any reduction in electricity from fossil fuels is a win. Get solar.
They are always associated with a Linky smart meter (only meter allowed in the Country, no matter who you are subscribed to, there is only 1 nationwide grid operator and planner ). That meter is designed with home batteries, home generation in it’s design as well as utilities ability to selectively put heaters / car chargers into an eco mode if the need arises.
…and…
Those do the opposite actually. Those are some of the small scale versions of the problem that @ms_lane@lemmy.world was referring to.
Those are “grid following” devices. So where they can contribute to a cascade failure is if there is a slight sag in the grid voltage or frequency (supplied by the “big spinny things” of utility grade generators that poster was referring to), the solar system would turn itself off to protect itself. This would enable full passthrough of your households electrical demand to pull from the grid directly instead. Where the balcony solar would be offsetting a nice chunk of demand, suddenly that demand is pulled from the grid instead in a fraction of a second. Now imagine ALL the houses doing that at once. The sudden spike in demand from all those households can cause utility grade solar/wind operators to pull their supply as well, further spiking the need for more electricity at that moment. Then you get brownouts or blackouts because the only supply of electricity was the grid scale generator with the big spinny generators (which form the grid), and the demand is beyond the ability of the generator to supply. So breakers are thrown cutting off electricity customers to protect the electrical infrastructure.
Because balcony solar are “grid following”, they cannot be called on to share in the case of a catastrophic event. They need a healthy grid in place before they can come online.
This point is true though during the good times. Any reduction in grid demand (which these balcony solar setups do) is a net positive. However, they don’t help in catastrophic situations because they depend on the grid being up and healthy. I wish more of the world allowed them. We aren’t allowed to do that in the USA, as an example. Putting up any amount of solar that connects to the grid at all, even solar that doesn’t feed power back (called “zero export” here) require detailed engineering plans and permits before you can install them. This increases the cost and complexity for any residential solar installation.
You’re completely right. But I suppose @Renohren@lemmy.today was thinking of using the battery and solar panels for personal use in case the grid is down. Which in theory is possible but afaik it requires additional measures, just having the battery and solar panels installed doesn’t mean your fridge will work without the grid.
Oh, yeah: I think the smart Meter ( mandatory linky brand in France) can block outgoing if no incoming in it’s options. So not the fridge (but that one has thermal inertia going for it) but maybe a few led lights, maybe a small computer?
The thing is, I’ve been eyeing those solar+battery systems to save up a bit but I really don’t want to be part of the problem with grid failures.
No it’s good for the energy transition of you get solar+battery, especially if you’re in France. Sellers of these systems often promise you a return on investment based on historical data. Be aware though that due to the energy transition business cases can quickly develop unexpectedly. You’re taking on risk.
There’s some technical pieces I’m missing about the European implementation. Do you have a link to the system you’re looking at or the name? I’m happy to learn more.
I’m a bit proponent of solar. Get it in whatever form you can. Balcony solar is a great concept, so if thats what’s available to you, I’d say go for it. As for grid stability, you’re one person. You have no ability to affect operations at the grid level. The regulators in your region will have to account for people like you and your electricity needs and put in place solutions for future stability.
Any reduction in electricity from fossil fuels is a win. Get solar.
There’s the popular but expensive ecoflow stream,
At the other extremity this solarchoc one seems too cheap to be serious and uses zendure hardware. I’ll have to look on review sites…
( https://www.solarchoc.com/plug-and-play/209734-kit-solaire-2000w-4-panneaux-solaires-jolywood-500w-1-micro-onduleur-batterie-zendure-autoconsommation-plugplay-wallis.html )
And many many others between those 2 extremities…
They are always associated with a Linky smart meter (only meter allowed in the Country, no matter who you are subscribed to, there is only 1 nationwide grid operator and planner ). That meter is designed with home batteries, home generation in it’s design as well as utilities ability to selectively put heaters / car chargers into an eco mode if the need arises.