I grew up on solar, my parents house has been solar only for 35 years now. It depends on where you live and your energy usage. If you want to heat your home in Alaska during the winter with electric heat from batteries, you are in for a bad time. Same with trying to cool a poorly insulated house in Arizona.
Solar equipment was much more expensive at the time my parents switched to it than today, but they still came out way ahead. Still have the original panels up, I forgot what % less they are producing now but they are still kicking. Added a few more over the years, which really helps in the winter. Right now with utility rates skyrocketing they are especially happy not to be caught up in it. Battery replacement factored in of course.
I’m not saying solar only is for everyone, but it has been great for us. Takes awareness of your battery level, the weather, more money upfront, and a decent location.
This is a good argument for utilities and natural monopolies to all be state owned and operated.
It’s a social good to use solar and if the market is not able to operate in a way that enables a social good, then clearly markets are the wrong choice for economic management of the power grid.
Which is it? Is it that it doesn’t work or that you need batteries to make it work which is expensive? You know… the thing I literally mentioned in my comment that it is purposefully kept expensive to prevent proles from doing it en masse? Because it can’t be both.
I will answer for you. It is 100% possible to live entirely off solar you own as many people do it day to day and have no grid connection at all. It doesn’t even take that much solar if you don’t waste a shit ton of power like most people in the west do.
I also do not get your issue with me using ““they”” when I quite literally name the they I am talking about early in the comment. Should I continue to write out “the capitalist state” everytime to make it more clear for you?
Also your entire comment is operating off of a massive assumption that the goal is 24/7 luxurious power like you are used to in the west. Electricity is not a “yes” or “no” question. You can have some, a lot, an abundance, none, etc. You can get a lot done on very limited power. I have 500W of solar panels and a small portable power station along with various rechargable devices. When the grid goes down I have, a DC cooler I can use to keep food from going rancid, a rice cooker I can use, a handheld radio I can use, my computer/phone, and I can keep my home dimly lit indefinitely. Which is much better than pitch black darkness. Can I slow cook a roast or turn on a gaming PC with a big beefy GPU? Can I power my AC? No. That doesn’t make what I can do any less valuable.
In a revolution any decoupling from centrally controlled infrastucture is a force multiplier.
So anyway… no. They don’t have me by the balls. I can survive just fine with the power grid cut off. Speak for yourself.
I will answer for you. It is 100% possible to live entirely off solar you own as many people do it day to day and have no grid connection at all. It doesn’t even take that much solar if you don’t waste a shit ton of power like most people in the west do.
No, you can’t just live off solar - you need batteries, and a LOT of them. I have 42kWh of batteries to go with my solar, and that would last me a day and a half off grid, max, unless my solar was absolutely cranking every day. At the moment in Winter I’d have to triple my solar panels to be able to go off grid even if the sun shined every single day and they worked at their maximum efficiency, which is not how the weather works.
Can I slow cook a roast or turn on a gaming PC with a big beefy GPU? Can I power my AC? No. That doesn’t make what I can do any less valuable.
It means that they have you by the balls though. It means that you’re not even remotely close to being off grid. Living like a homeless person by candlelight every night isn’t what people mean when they say they want to go off grid.
I can survive just fine with the power grid cut off.
I don’t want to just “survive”, and I’m not alone in that.
mod log checks out 42 kWh is absolutely fucking insane you could power a village off that lmao bye enjoy the ban. Not all of us are dainty little petit bourgeoise who cant survive without a carbon footprint 500x the size of the average global south residents.
Having solar panels does not mean “they” can’t cut your power off and ruin your life.
The sun doesn’t shine 24/7, and the amount of batteries you’d need to be able to be completely off grid is prohibitively expensive.
“They” still have you by the balls.
I grew up on solar, my parents house has been solar only for 35 years now. It depends on where you live and your energy usage. If you want to heat your home in Alaska during the winter with electric heat from batteries, you are in for a bad time. Same with trying to cool a poorly insulated house in Arizona.
Solar equipment was much more expensive at the time my parents switched to it than today, but they still came out way ahead. Still have the original panels up, I forgot what % less they are producing now but they are still kicking. Added a few more over the years, which really helps in the winter. Right now with utility rates skyrocketing they are especially happy not to be caught up in it. Battery replacement factored in of course.
I’m not saying solar only is for everyone, but it has been great for us. Takes awareness of your battery level, the weather, more money upfront, and a decent location.
This is a good argument for utilities and natural monopolies to all be state owned and operated.
It’s a social good to use solar and if the market is not able to operate in a way that enables a social good, then clearly markets are the wrong choice for economic management of the power grid.
I agree wholeheartedly, basic utilities should all be publicly owned.
full stop here. For everything.
Which is it? Is it that it doesn’t work or that you need batteries to make it work which is expensive? You know… the thing I literally mentioned in my comment that it is purposefully kept expensive to prevent proles from doing it en masse? Because it can’t be both.
I will answer for you. It is 100% possible to live entirely off solar you own as many people do it day to day and have no grid connection at all. It doesn’t even take that much solar if you don’t waste a shit ton of power like most people in the west do.
I also do not get your issue with me using ““they”” when I quite literally name the they I am talking about early in the comment. Should I continue to write out “the capitalist state” everytime to make it more clear for you?
Also your entire comment is operating off of a massive assumption that the goal is 24/7 luxurious power like you are used to in the west. Electricity is not a “yes” or “no” question. You can have some, a lot, an abundance, none, etc. You can get a lot done on very limited power. I have 500W of solar panels and a small portable power station along with various rechargable devices. When the grid goes down I have, a DC cooler I can use to keep food from going rancid, a rice cooker I can use, a handheld radio I can use, my computer/phone, and I can keep my home dimly lit indefinitely. Which is much better than pitch black darkness. Can I slow cook a roast or turn on a gaming PC with a big beefy GPU? Can I power my AC? No. That doesn’t make what I can do any less valuable.
In a revolution any decoupling from centrally controlled infrastucture is a force multiplier.
So anyway… no. They don’t have me by the balls. I can survive just fine with the power grid cut off. Speak for yourself.
No, you can’t just live off solar - you need batteries, and a LOT of them. I have 42kWh of batteries to go with my solar, and that would last me a day and a half off grid, max, unless my solar was absolutely cranking every day. At the moment in Winter I’d have to triple my solar panels to be able to go off grid even if the sun shined every single day and they worked at their maximum efficiency, which is not how the weather works.
It means that they have you by the balls though. It means that you’re not even remotely close to being off grid. Living like a homeless person by candlelight every night isn’t what people mean when they say they want to go off grid.
I don’t want to just “survive”, and I’m not alone in that.
mod log checks out 42 kWh is absolutely fucking insane you could power a village off that lmao bye enjoy the ban. Not all of us are dainty little petit bourgeoise who cant survive without a carbon footprint 500x the size of the average global south residents.
Can’t believe someone with a name like FreedomAdvocate turned out to have a reactionary mindset