Right thread this time
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People still won’t believe it
Reaching net zero by 2050 ‘cheaper for UK than one fossil fuel crisis’ | Climate crisis | The Guardian Reaching net zero by 2050 ‘cheaper for UK than one fossil fuel crisis’ | Climate crisis | The Guardian
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When will we wake up?
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I haven’t read this article but i did see a similar one recently that said that the growth had diverted underground water from populated areas.
This is probably the wrong place to put this, but has anyone installed a solar system on their home?
There was a leaflet that came around and I have arranged for an appointment with the salesman, but I really have no idea what to look out for, how much it is supposed to cost, or what the pitfalls are. We live in Germany if that makes any difference.
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I have been actively looking into it, along with trying and failing to get a grant for it.
Your in Germany right? You have the option of plug in solar (I believe they also call it balcony solar) which is very popular over there.
Some way or another I do plan to go for it. I have the roof space. I was hoping to go plug in as a starter route into a complete system with battery storage etc.
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Yes, I’ve seen those, although we actually have a roof rather than a balcony. We also still have gas central heating, which I will presumably have to get rid of when the boiler goes phut. However, the boiler is only 7 years old.
I have installed a couple (ended up with a bunch of PV panels through a company I was involved in 25 years ago) at our country place. Probably more relevant, I taught a course on the economics/finances of renewable energy projects for 8 years until last Fall, and still have some of the analytic software.
First question is grid-connected versus behind-the-meter - is power you produce going to go back to the grid, or only serve load/storage at your house. Storage adds capital cost, but so do the power electronics necessary for a system to be grid connected - a behind-the-meter system is not really much more than a self-powering battery back-up.
Depending on where you are in Germany, you may see fairly favourable pricing for energy you put on to the grid. On the downside, Germany is a remarkably poor country for PV deployment in terms of hours of insolation. Ironically, the very respected Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems is in Freiburg, in one of the real dark spots.
The site data you need that will affect capital cost and energy output is really about the roof. Is it flat, or pitched - and at what angle and azimuth? The cheapest possible deployment is on a pitched roof that is exactly at the optimal angle and azimuth (never happens..). A flat roof allows a rack to be deployed (subject to load-bearing calculations) at the optimal angle, but at additional expense. Another factor is nearby objects that shade the area (trees, buildings, in some locations hills/mountains).
Once you can calculate expected annual output, you can work out revenue/avoided costs (characteristically, the kWh you sell to the grid will be worth less than the kWh you avoid buying at grid prices). Depending on where you are, there will be other fees or tariffs (for use of transmission capacity), Germany is generally a favourable environment for those though there is some state-to-state variation.
From there, it is a question of PV array cost +installation cost + balance of system (power electronics, etc, possibly storage). With annual revenue and capital cost, you can work out levelized cost of energy, payback period, and net present value.
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Thanks for the tip. This is actually the sort of thing that I have been looking for.
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This tool is useful to determine potential solar radiation over the year:
(NB not my house, just randomly in Germany.)
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Yes, that is one of the tools I would recommend - it gives you optimal tilt and estimated annual output.
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It is astonishing how unmoored the political debate in the US has become from what is actually happening and what is possible in term of fuel use
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ERCOT very recently released a load projection suggesting a 300% increase by 2032. That cannot actually happen, but anywhere close is going to require more renewables.
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Living dynamite 
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Probably God’s Divine Retribution for the city’s woke, libtard tendencies.
https://x.com/jackprandelli/status/2051946729688223949
The Greens in Norway are enraged, Socialist Left party and the Red party against (latter is more pragmatic).
But the rest of parliament is in favour.
This will supply Germany with gas, the UK with condensate. But reaching the Paris Deal in terms of Co2 output will be harder.
Obviously this comes as a consequence of the war in Ukraine principally, but also the Hormuz fiasco.
Adherants of this will claim, probably rightly, that this is mostly to avoid the critical peak in 2030, which comes at the worst possible time at a time when Europe rearms and energy supply is critically uncertain.
In Norway, this is a real political problem. Because on one hand, the EU literally begs us to be a “safe” supplier of gas and petrolium, but at the same time we want to, and are obligated to, decrease Co2 emissions. Most every new car in Norway sold is electric these days, but the petrolium industry is a challenge. It is difficult to grow it as much as Europe wants, while at the same time decrease Co2 emissions enough elsewhere.
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