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PeakOil is You

Prospects for large-scale energy storage

Discussions of conventional and alternative energy production technologies.

Re: Batteries could replace three California power plants

Unread postby Plantagenet » Fri 22 Dec 2017, 12:28:31

Tesla just built a huge battery storage unit in Australia---no reason they couldn't build three of them in California.

I'm surprised this isn't already approved and under construction in California---why is Australia so far ahead of us?

Cheers!
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Re: Batteries could replace three California power plants

Unread postby Shaved Monkey » Fri 22 Dec 2017, 17:32:37

Plantagenet wrote:Tesla just built a huge battery storage unit in Australia---no reason they couldn't build three of them in California.

I'm surprised this isn't already approved and under construction in California---why is Australia so far ahead of us?

Cheers!

Socialism
It was SA state government
Left leaning government with high renewable targets,this is state subsidised.
Relying on massive wind generation(a lot of solar too)
Needed storage desperately after 2 major black outs last year (one was a storm that destroyed pylons the other was no wind on a hot day).
Then it started with a tweet between 2 friends, from an Australian tech euntrapenuer to Tesla that went viral and gave Tesla lots of free publicity
and a State Government that was willing to pay for it with tax revenue.

a bit more Socialism will build an even bigger battery,with pumped Hydro
The scheme is State and Federally owned

The Snowy Mountains hydro scheme, built between 1949 and 1974, is made up of 16 dams, seven power stations and 225km of tunnels.

The proposal to expand the scheme – dubbed Snowy Hydro 2.0 – involves boring 27km of tunnels linking the Talbingo dam, at an elevation of 552 metres, to the Tantangara reservoir, at 1,233 metres, so energy can be generated by pumping water uphill to the higher reservoir when energy is cheap (say, in the middle of the night) and releasing it back downhill when energy is in high demand and prices are higher.

It will expand the Snowy Hydro scheme by 2,000 megawatts, enough to power 500,000 homes, adding to the scheme’s 4,100MW capacity.

Snowy 2.0 could run for over seven days continuously or 15 days at times of peak demand without “recharging”.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-n ... cked-study

When we get a left leaning Government back in Federally they hopefully change it to pumping water up hill with renewables instead of coal (as the current Conservative government likes)
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Demand for Solar-Storage Systems Explodes in Puerto Rico

Unread postby KaiserJeep » Wed 03 Oct 2018, 11:30:34

Demand for Solar-Storage Systems Explodes in Puerto Rico
A solar engineer describes his efforts to help residents produce and monitor their own power—but the grid’s instabilities are still making it hard to get ahead
By Maria Gallucci
Image
When I first met Gabriel Rivera last year in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the engineer was driving around with solar panels in his car. Hurricane Maria had ravaged the island on 20 September 2017 and knocked out the entire grid. Rivera was building household emergency kits, consisting of a solar panel hooked to a battery, to help people power their vital medical equipment. His own apartment was damaged in the storm, so when we spoke, he was in the process of moving the panels to a safer spot.


Remainder of article is at: https://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/renewables/demand-for-solarstorage-systems-explodes-in-puerto-rico
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Re: Demand for Solar-Storage Systems Explodes in Puerto Rico

Unread postby Outcast_Searcher » Wed 03 Oct 2018, 19:19:54

I thought the idea of the smaller, cheaper projects to run a minimum of household essentials to get by sounded like a good one, since most people (in Puerto Rico) can't yet afford to buy a full blown system and pretty much get rid of the power company.

With any luck, this would be similar to having a small generator, except it would be pretty much automatic, vs. having to buy and lug fuel, etc. for the generator.
Given the track record of the perma-doomer blogs, I wouldn't bet a fast crash doomer's money on their predictions.
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Re: Demand for Solar-Storage Systems Explodes in Puerto Rico

Unread postby KaiserJeep » Wed 03 Oct 2018, 19:32:31

Yeah, but we are talking about PR without A/C, which is going to be hard on older folks and sick people. But it's strictly in the rural areas where the grid has not been restored, the cities got power back very quickly. Food refrigeration, lighting, well pumps, and entertainment/internet are what the small systems provide.

In the mainland USA, the power grid is so reliable that we don't need battery/inverter setups. The bulk of our distributed solar is sans batteries, and software is being developed to integrate this seamlessly into the grid.
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Re: Demand for Solar-Storage Systems Explodes in Puerto Rico

Unread postby GHung » Wed 03 Oct 2018, 20:05:44

John Kimball at Sun Electronics in Miami has put together some small off grid systems for hurricane impacted areas that are very affordable:

http://sunelec.com/prsystems.pdf

Under $2000. Combining two of the last system on his chart could allow someone to live pretty well with intermittent grid reliability including lighting, a smaller fridge, TV/internet/laptop and a small 5000 BTU A/C like I use in our bedroom. It only pulls around 540 watts on full cool, about 55 watts when the compressor isn't running. With good management, a 12 volt system for around $3500 would provide most necessities. Train people to install and maintain these simple systems and they can add to them over time as I did.
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Re: Demand for Solar-Storage Systems Explodes in Puerto Rico

Unread postby KaiserJeep » Wed 03 Oct 2018, 21:22:08

The problem with permanently installed kits is skilled labor and roof space needed. There are also portable units such as the "Wagan Tech Solar e Power Cube 1500 Plus", which is basicly a wheeled suitcase weighing 124 lbs:
Image
Take it out of storage, wheel it into the sunlight, open the panels, and plug in USB, 12v DC, and 115v AC appliances and electronics:
Image
There are 80w of panels built in, and if that does not charge fast enough for you, another 300w of panels will plug into the unit for a 380w charging rate. The built in battery (100AH@12v) is also plug expandable using automotive style gel cell batteries. The basic unit is $1206 on Amazon.
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