In countries like Germany, balcony-mounted solar panels are all the rage. But from breaker-masking to voltage mismatches, America’s grid isn’t ready for it—yet.
I love how you address only 1/3 of the items I brought up!
I have 0% loss on my house (except for the inverter losses, which the solar farms would incur as well). With 0 trees blocking anything.
Upkeeping massive transmission lines isn’t free. Adapting solar to the current grid also isn’t free and lossless. Transformers on the road to bring down voltage are a 1-2% loss on their own.
Massive fields of solar has upkeep/environmental costs as well.
If you choose to misconstrue me bringing up valid points as to why we should also be installing solar on buildings as an argument to never install solar farms… that’s up to you. But there is value to putting production as close to load as possible.
I love how you address only 1/3 of the items I brought up!
You brought up losses and environmental impact. I addressed only losses.
Okay. “Environmental impact” is hard to quantify, but you could try and put a dollar figure on the cost of putting a solar panel in the desert. You should already be internalizing any costs, though, and that’s not where companies are choosing to stick solar farms.
But there is value to putting production as close to load as possible.
Sure. It’s just that having solar panels on balconies relative to solar farms in a desert is outweighed by the drawbacks, if your goal is cost-efficient generation (which as I pointed out in my original post, isn’t always the primary concern).
I love how you address only 1/3 of the items I brought up!
I have 0% loss on my house (except for the inverter losses, which the solar farms would incur as well). With 0 trees blocking anything.
Upkeeping massive transmission lines isn’t free. Adapting solar to the current grid also isn’t free and lossless. Transformers on the road to bring down voltage are a 1-2% loss on their own.
Massive fields of solar has upkeep/environmental costs as well.
If you choose to misconstrue me bringing up valid points as to why we should also be installing solar on buildings as an argument to never install solar farms… that’s up to you. But there is value to putting production as close to load as possible.
You brought up losses and environmental impact. I addressed only losses.
Okay. “Environmental impact” is hard to quantify, but you could try and put a dollar figure on the cost of putting a solar panel in the desert. You should already be internalizing any costs, though, and that’s not where companies are choosing to stick solar farms.
Sure. It’s just that having solar panels on balconies relative to solar farms in a desert is outweighed by the drawbacks, if your goal is cost-efficient generation (which as I pointed out in my original post, isn’t always the primary concern).
I brought up losses, upkeep, AND environmental impact.
All three of these items affect the cost of generation that you’re ignoring.