Shoppinguin
Shoppinguin t1_j52r7ib wrote
Off-grid systems appear to be all the rage now, with more and more companies advertising and selling portable battery power stations and solar/wind generators. However, the idea isn't exactly new. Off-grid power by solar, wind and sometimes hydro, is used in remote areas for decades now. But lately, improvements in battery tech made it more economically viable to make batteries you can cart around with ease, that pack plenty of power to get you through a day. However, there's still the economy of scale. Small scale solutions are comparatively expensive, even more so where mains electricity is comparatively cheap. That's why small scale generation isn't really a thing in places, where mains grid is available. Experimental or DIY solutions aside, of course. But on a larger scale it's a different story. Usually power generation and storage gets cheaper per unit when scaled up.
Recently, Australia disconnected remote areas from the power grid and replaced it with power stations powered by solar and wind generators. They claim that due to the long and maintenance intensive power lines, this would help cut costs. Reliability does not seem to be a problem there.
Shoppinguin t1_j31f72s wrote
Reply to comment by ThinVast in Traffic study by former head of NYC DOT reveals what he says is ultimate cause of congestion by HEIMDVLLR
You absolutely don't need to be an expert to figure this out. Common sense is more than enough to do it. You have a given space for traffic in which you have to fit the transport demand in. Now go figure what works better to fit more people into a given space. Public transit or cars. Shared cars aren't supposedly as bad, as there are usually more people riding than if each of them had a car. I'm speechless how noone appears to have figured out that improving public transit is the answer to congestion. "Hate on cars" is just a lame excuse for laziness and not wanting sensible change. It's doesn't need hate to see why more lanes and more cars are no solution to congestion. Really, it's not that hard to figure out.
Shoppinguin t1_j52rsif wrote
Reply to comment by iNstein in what role will microgeneration play in our energy future? by anflop_flopnor
With soaring electricity prices everywhere it's now as economically viable as never before. However, you should massively overplan on solar and storage, maybe add some wind generators to the mix if you plan on never going back to grid in an emergency. Maybe even a small gas powered generator for emergencies could be a good solution. Being off-grid means, you can't rely on others to help you out, when wind and solar don't deliver. Especially in the winter, where solar delivers like 20-30% of what it delivers in summer(numbers derived from my own experimental setup).