Really awesome video and I'd love to have something like that on my own house when I'm an official grown adult who has life responsibilities and shit.
Gotta say the 2nd half of the interview was hard to watch. The lazy eye dude was hard for me to focus on.
Still watching the video, but i Still dont really see how this is amazing. Its just a battery and it doesn't = more power for you over any other type of battery.
I used to live in a place completely off the grid so solar/generates where the only solution.
Is the only benefit is its size ?
Because the only complexity of my solar system was it had 20 car batteries and when i wanted to use solar I had to flick 1 fucking button.
Is it really just a compact battery? And unless solar panels have become amazing int he last 3-4 years How the fuck are these people able to run there house?
I used to live in 50 degree plus temps with sun all day and It couldn't power my house for more than 2 hours.
[QUOTE=Evanstr;51057304]Still watching the video, but i Still dont really see how this is amazing. Its just a battery and it doesn't = more power for you over any other type of battery.
I used to live in a place completely off the grid so solar/generates where the only solution.
Is the only benefit is its size ?
Because the only complexity of my solar system was it had 20 car batteries and when i wanted to use solar I had to flick 1 fucking button.
Is it really just a compact battery? And unless solar panels have become amazing int he last 3-4 years How the fuck are these people able to run there house?
I used to live in 50 degree plus temps with sun all day and It couldn't power my house for more than 2 hours.[/QUOTE]
Have you never paid an electricity bill, man? That shit's expensive. All you've ever used are stand-alone solar panels with some crappy car batteries. That's probs why it only powered your house for 2 hours.
The point of this isn't to have a completely self-sufficient house. It's to help drastically lower your electricity costs.I was paying 660GBP a year for electricity alone, but with this, it'd be a measly 215GBP a year (I did 55GBP * 9 months * 0.1 [for hopefully only using 10% of the grid's electricity instead of the 6% the guy averagely used in the vid] and then I added 3 * 55GBP for the Winter months where solar power would be crap). That's a huge saving.
I'd love to get one of these, because not only does it store solar energy for your own personal use, it sells the excess energy back to the grid, so you're making money in two ways. Maybe the solar panels / batteries you had were low quality or something.
[QUOTE=loopoo;51057419]Have you never paid an electricity bill, man? That shit's expensive. All you've ever used are stand-alone solar panels with some crappy car batteries. That's probs why it only powered your house for 2 hours.
The point of this isn't to have a completely self-sufficient house. It's to help drastically lower your electricity costs.I was paying 660GBP a year for electricity alone, but with this, it'd be a measly 215GBP a year (I did 55GBP * 9 months * 0.1 [for hopefully only using 10% of the grid's electricity instead of the 6% the guy averagely used in the vid] and then I added 3 * 55GBP for the Winter months where solar power would be crap). That's a huge saving.
I'd love to get one of these, because not only does it store solar energy for your own personal use, it sells the excess energy back to the grid, so you're making money in two ways. Maybe the solar panels / batteries you had were low quality or something.[/QUOTE]
I had 13 solar panels, the amount of storage capacity by the batteries was a fuck ton and how does me paying my power bill mean anything (of which I do which is fucking massive).
All Im seeing this as though is a easier to use/install option for consumers.
And I think if you do the numbers a solar system for your house makes you money in about 12 years time from the initial investment cost of like 15 thousand.
Really not trying to shit on solar power tech, But for the average joe it just seems like it isnt worth it for another 8 years atleast.
[QUOTE=Evanstr;51057436]I had 13 solar panels, the amount of storage capacity by the batteries was a fuck ton and how does me paying my power bill mean anything (of which I do which is fucking massive).
All Im seeing this as though is a easier to use/install option for consumers.
And I think if you do the numbers a solar system for your house makes you money in about 12 years time from the initial investment cost of like 15 thousand.
Really not trying to shit on solar power tech, But for the average joe it just seems like it isnt worth it for another 8 years atleast.[/QUOTE]
car batteries are absolute shit at storing electricity that is in use. Its the same reason why leaving even a cabin light on for 5-10 hours can completely drain the battery. This is powering an entire house and is doing it without much grid pull through the day/night.
If your car didn't have an alternator, your battery would be dead in the water in an hourish trip.
[QUOTE=codemaster85;51057470]car batteries are absolute shit at storing electricity that is in use. Its the same reason why leaving even a cabin light on for 5-10 hours can completely drain the battery. This is powering an entire house and is doing it without much grid pull through the day/night.[/QUOTE]
So basically the idea is to charge a battery that will have enough charge to power your entire house for more than a days usage?
What happens if a person uses more power than there solar can charge though? wont the battery just constantly be at 0.
SO its just a fancy battery in a cool box? that makes your solar panels 0% more efficient and costs around 2500 min.
[QUOTE=Evanstr;51057477]So basically the idea is to charge a battery that will have enough charge to power your entire house for more than a days usage?
What happens if a person uses more power than there solar can charge though? wont the battery just constantly be at 0.[/QUOTE]
it stores the power while out of the house working ect, and you use it when the solar panels are not functioning.
[editline]15th September 2016[/editline]
there's a gigantic difference between lithium ion batteries and car batteries for storing electricity.
[QUOTE=Evanstr;51057436]I had 13 solar panels, the amount of storage capacity by the batteries was a fuck ton and how does me paying my power bill mean anything (of which I do which is fucking massive).
All Im seeing this as though is a easier to use/install option for consumers.
And I think if you do the numbers a solar system for your house makes you money in about 12 years time from the initial investment cost of like 15 thousand.
Really not trying to shit on solar power tech, But for the average joe it just seems like it isnt worth it for another 8 years atleast.[/QUOTE]
Like the other guy said, I really don't think you can compare car batteries to a purpose-built Tesla battery that is meant to handle much of the load from a family house. And what does you paying your electricity bill mean? It means you'll have a better idea and appreciation of the fact of just how much money this thing was saving the guy.
And I dunno, I personally would love fitting something like this in my home. Yeah, shit, it may pay itself off in 12 years time, but then I'd be loving life. Who's to say it's just for my own benefits? Maybe when I pass on and my kids inherit the house, it'd be a huge help to them, too. I'm also pretty damn certain (depending on the aesthetics of the neighbourhood) that solar panelling on the roof adds a metric fucktonne to home value.
[QUOTE=Evanstr;51057304]Its just a battery and it doesn't = more power for you over any other type of battery[/quote]Lithium batteries are about 15% more efficient on recharge and discharge. They're also not all that great for continuous discharge as capacity reduces by about 20%.
[QUOTE=Evanstr;51057304]Because the only complexity of my solar system was it had 20 car batteries and when i wanted to use solar I had to flick 1 fucking button.[/quote]Geez that's about 20kWh of maximum capacity before inefficiency calculations. Even then that'd still outperform a tesla powerwall.
Panel powers the house and battery and the batteries power the house, I don't see why you'd need a switch unless I'm missing something.
[QUOTE=Evanstr;51057304]I used to live in 50 degree plus temps with sun all day and It couldn't power my house for more than 2 hours.[/QUOTE]50 degrees takes a lot of energy to cool. These kind of systems work best in environments where it's not cloudy and it's constantly close to room temperature. What else were you running at the same time? Because if I had to guess, to discharge the batteries you'd need about 7kWh of continuous discharge. You're not going to have the conditions to go off-grid with that kind of power usage and setup.
top gear could use him for episodes specifically with battery powered vehicles.
Also, if this becomes more affordable, safe, and environmentally friendly, I think places like Hawaii could have them installed and maintained by the government in every household or block.
I want this Tesla Powerwall and a Tesla Model S or something :(
[QUOTE=Evanstr;51057304]Still watching the video, but i Still dont really see how this is amazing. Its just a battery and it doesn't = more power for you over any other type of battery.
I used to live in a place completely off the grid so solar/generates where the only solution.
Is the only benefit is its size ?
Because the only complexity of my solar system was it had 20 car batteries and when i wanted to use solar I had to flick 1 fucking button.
Is it really just a compact battery? And unless solar panels have become amazing int he last 3-4 years How the fuck are these people able to run there house?
I used to live in 50 degree plus temps with sun all day and It couldn't power my house for more than 2 hours.[/QUOTE]
Size is one of the benefits yes. Lithium batteries are also much more efficient, and last longer. You aren't going to be able to sell a system to people if you say "yeah just dedicate a room to your battery system".
[video]https://youtu.be/yKORsrlN-2k[/video]
What is the warranty and etc... on this sort of thing? I can imagine some savings through using it, but if it actually is going to take 10+ years to pay for itself, I don't trust what is essentially a battery pack to last that long.
Also I hope it never blows up.
But otherwise it seems like a very decent system.
[QUOTE=Fetret;51059048]What is the warranty and etc... on this sort of thing? I can imagine some savings through using it, but if it actually is going to take 10+ years to pay for itself, I don't trust what is essentially a battery pack to last that long.
Also I hope it never blows up.
But otherwise it seems like a very decent system.[/QUOTE]
10 year warranty. They are working on a new version though that should be cheaper and work with less complex inverters. If the Solar City merger goes through its pretty likely they will sell their own inverter as well to cut the costs down even more. The first gen is pretty low volume so suppliers charge a lot for it. Second gen will use gigafactory cells.
if the battery explodes ,will it leave a nuclear crater?
When you are powering a home, you do not need lithium batteries. You need molten salt batteries. Bulkier, but cheaper and have a far greater lifespan. When powering a car or a phone or anything that moves? Lithium all the way. Best energy density. When stationary encased in a protective housing? Molten salt.
[QUOTE=GunFox;51060151]When you are powering a home, you do not need lithium batteries. You need molten salt batteries. Bulkier, but cheaper and have a far greater lifespan. When powering a car or a phone or anything that moves? Lithium all the way. Best energy density. When stationary encased in a protective housing? Molten salt.[/QUOTE]
Molten salt batteries seem like they have some good potential for grid usage. But afaik everyone working on something that would be viable for residential usage gave up on it. If it's bulky and ugly it is a major issue, and people won't install it on their homes.
[QUOTE=Morgen;51063927]Molten salt batteries seem like they have some good potential for grid usage. But afaik everyone working on something that would be viable for residential usage gave up on it. If it's bulky and ugly it is a major issue, and people won't install it on their homes.[/QUOTE]
If I were to pick between a bulky and ugly but reliable house battery over a sleek but less reliable battery... Well...
I mean, it's both more economically and ecologically sound, unless I'm missing something.
[QUOTE=Drury;51063989]If I were to pick between a bulky and ugly but reliable house battery over a sleek but less reliable battery... Well...
I mean, it's both more economically and ecologically sound, unless I'm missing something.[/QUOTE]
Unfortunately, most of the public does not care.
[QUOTE=Morgen;51063927]Molten salt batteries seem like they have some good potential for grid usage. But afaik everyone working on something that would be viable for residential usage gave up on it. If it's bulky and ugly it is a major issue, and people won't install it on their homes.[/QUOTE]
They literally cost 1/10th the money to manufacture. That isnt even as cheap as they get.
Not only that, but they use resources, like sodium and sulfur, that are available in limitless quantities.
Given the massive increase in cycle life, they could simply be buried in the ground. Bulkiness is now a non issue!
[editline]17th September 2016[/editline]
[QUOTE=Gray Altoid;51064013]Unfortunately, most of the public does not care.[/QUOTE]
Show them a product that lasts longer and costs a 1/10th as much and I don't think they will care about how sleek and... Fuck who am I kidding. Apple has an entire company built around dipshits that would do exactly this.
Fuck people.
[QUOTE=GunFox;51064271]They literally cost 1/10th the money to manufacture. That isnt even as cheap as they get.
Not only that, but they use resources, like sodium and sulfur, that are available in limitless quantities.
Given the massive increase in cycle life, they could simply be buried in the ground. Bulkiness is now a non issue!
[editline]17th September 2016[/editline]
Show them a product that lasts longer and costs a 1/10th as much and I don't think they will care about how sleek and... Fuck who am I kidding. Apple has an entire company built around dipshits that would do exactly this.
Fuck people.[/QUOTE]
If it was that simple someone would of done it already. Afaik there's no residential molten salt batteries on the market yet. Problem with looks is that most people don't give a shit about energy storage, so it will reduce your house's market value if it looks bad.
NaS (Sodium-sulfur) variants aren't that great either. Tesla's existing Li-ion cells can exceed the cycle count, cost per kWh, and efficiency of NaS batteries on the market today..
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