Discussion The Random Discussion Thread

[SaintsSeptember]

So it lasts the amount of time it remains dark and then solar and other renewables provide the base load through the grid still but we don't need to run a power station or have huge storage batteries expected to run whole cities. Most houses have their own generating solar that feeds back in. It could work pretty easily.

Honestly the way technologies are going it's only going to get better. It provides incentive to make more and more efficient fridges and washers etc as well.

I'm building an off grid cabin and been researching solar systems for a couple of years and in that time things progress so much that what ever you buy now will be outdated in a few months. Guys are building solar generators in their back yard that will run a caravan or tradies ute and the price drops all the time.

A guy came up with a concept where they make everything 12 volt instead of 240 years ago and said it would revolutionise the power grid. The way we operate is a remnant from the past. Like big 1950s American cars in Havana or something. We have never really bothered with efficiency because people buy stuff regardless.

Well done on being cashed up Gringo.
I guess only the poor people sit in the cold and dark in winter.
How do you propose to do an apartment building? Personally i can't see the attraction to apartment life. I suspect there are millions of Chinese who could only dream about having their own house with a small yard, or a holiday cabin.

I'd go off grid in a flash, but i'd keep one of these in the shed.

YANMAR YDG Diesel GeneratorsYDG5500N

Latest YANMAR diesel generator for domestic, commercial and trades use. Perfect for construction sites. Low running and maintenance costs. 3kVa and 4.2kVa options for continuous use. Genset Honda Genelite. Fast Australian shipping.

www.scintex.com.au

The 12 Volt thing works, but low voltage DC is impractical for distribution networks.

 

[pebblesofsand]

Outrageous goal from Sam Kerr in the Womens FA Final

Sam Kerr scores twice as Chelsea wins Women's FA Cup

Trusted and independent source of local, national and world news. In-depth analysis, business, sport, weather and more.

www.abc.net.au

 

[SaintsSeptember]

You can store in bigger batteries than a power wall though. Maybe industrial applications will have large battery storages and maybe some kind of onsite fuel powered generator like they did in the old days for when electricity was less reliable as back up. It's not there yet but it will happen as renewables take over. It will get to a point where no investment will come in for old technologies and there will be a lot of work on things like efficiency of electric motors. They've already replaced every high-bay light with LEDs and it's meant to have saved some insane amount of power.

LED's are good. Our place does the thing where you walk around at night and only the lights in your area switch on. Kind of spooky.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Yeah ,big yank tanks are unfashionable , instead we replace them with massive pickups and SUV's.
Small efficient commuter cars use half the fuel , put out half the emissions of some of these.

 

[gringo2011]

Well done on being cashed up Gringo.
I guess only the poor people sit in the cold and dark in winter.
How do you propose to do an apartment building? Personally i can't see the attraction to apartment life. I suspect there are millions of Chinese who could only dream about having their own house with a small yard, or a holiday cabin.

I'd go off grid in a flash, but i'd keep one of these in the shed.

YANMAR YDG Diesel GeneratorsYDG5500N

Latest YANMAR diesel generator for domestic, commercial and trades use. Perfect for construction sites. Low running and maintenance costs. 3kVa and 4.2kVa options for continuous use. Genset Honda Genelite. Fast Australian shipping.

www.scintex.com.au

The 12 Volt thing works, but low voltage DC is impractical for distribution networks.

Make all new builds run on the lowest possible and practical system and make minimum efficiencies on white goods. Have a powerwall for each flat like a hot water service.

 

[jwikked]

You haven't got it completely right either.
I already did a study on running the factory where i work with 20% solar energy. Very viable.
It was based on us using pretty much everything that was generated on weekdays.
The next phase would be to have surplus Solar and store some.
I then looked at Commercially available batteries ..and simply not viable for us.
A Tesla Powerwall would have stored something like 10 minutes for us and we are not big.

From memory i think that the Snowy II pumped hydro scheme has capacity something like Hazelwood Power Station size. Its great , but its using existing infrastructure.

Yes a Powerwall will power a fridge , no it won't power industry.
A Powerwall won't even charge a Tesla in most cases.

Its physics , not a fashion statement. We need some sort of large scale energy generation to get us through windless nights or we will end up having brownouts when the existing coal stations retire.
But suggest that and everyone gets all emotional....Fossil Fuels .....Nuclear ......Evil Evil.... and pop their head in the ground pretending big batteries will be the answer.
Or maybe the solution is to do away with all industry so we can sell coffee to each other, except for the few lucky ones who work for Gina.

It doesn’t need to solely power industry. That’s why there is a mix of renewables required. Wind power works fine at night. Once every new home is required to have battery storage, things will look very different.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Make all new builds run on the lowest possible and practical system and make minimum efficiencies on white goods. Have a powerwall for each flat like a hot water service.

Powerwall's with existing technology are limited, they use material that is not available in quantity to roll it out to the world.
They "might " invent something else, they sure are trying.
They are not expensive because of manufacturing cost or production inefficiency, they are expensive due to materials, so i wouldn't hold your breath waiting for powerwalls to get cheaper.

My problem with waiting for new technology, is that no-one is doing anything for the interim period.
New power stations, don't just throw themselves up overnight.

California have a similar privatised system to Victoria, and brownouts are routine there now.
The well off ones have their power walls to get them through. Its the battlers who suffer.

If we get to the point where there is a real surplus of Solar etc, ( meaning that you end up generating more than 24 hours of electricity during daylight hours ) then VRB's might be a solution. The efficiency loss wouldn't matter so much then.

Battery Types for Energy Storage Applications

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sinovoltaics.com

 

[SaintsSeptember]

It doesn’t need to solely power industry. That’s why there is a mix of renewables required. Wind power works fine at night. Once every new home is required to have battery storage, things will look very different.

Wind power only works when the wind is blowing. IE Randomly.
So it doesn't work fine every night. Obviously.

 

[gringo2011]

Powerwall's with existing technology are limited, they use material that is not available in quantity to roll it out to the world.
They "might " invent something else, they sure are trying.
They are not expensive because of manufacturing cost or production inefficiency, they are expensive due to materials, so i wouldn't hold your breath waiting for powerwalls to get cheaper.

My problem with waiting for new technology, is that no-one is doing anything for the interim period.
New power stations, don't just throw themselves up overnight.

California have a similar privatised system to Victoria, and brownouts are routine there now.
The well off ones have their power walls to get them through. Its the battlers who suffer.

If we get to the point where there is a real surplus of Solar etc, ( meaning that you end up generating more than 24 hours of electricity during daylight hours ) then VRB's might be a solution. The efficiency loss wouldn't matter so much then.

Battery Types for Energy Storage Applications

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sinovoltaics.com

The off grid stuff is interesting. there are products available that run on low power so that you can legitimately run off grid without doing without much but rely on very efficient refrigeration and lighting. Perhaps government need to put in minimum efficiency standards like a lot of euro countries do. Same with cars.

 

[Sun Ra]

The off grid stuff is interesting. there are products available that run on low power so that you can legitimately run off grid without doing without much but rely on very efficient refrigeration and lighting. Perhaps government need to put in minimum efficiency standards like a lot of euro countries do. Same with cars.

Solar is a very good, low carbon footprint power source for indoor horticultural activities. It would be nice for Governments to help out with battery purchase and would be great if the price of these started to come down. Too expensive now for most people vs saving and how long they last.

 

[gringo2011]

Solar is a very good, low carbon footprint power source for indoor horticultural activities. It would be nice for Governments to help out with battery purchase and would be great if the price of these started to come down. Too expensive now for most people vs saving and how long they last.

That's a good point for home horticulturalists. I think it will happen.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Solar is a very good, low carbon footprint power source for indoor horticultural activities. It would be nice for Governments to help out with battery purchase and would be great if the price of these started to come down. Too expensive now for most people vs saving and how long they last.

Its subsidised by the "certification" scheme. The people installing it keep the certificate and sell it. That's how those people who go around replacing light globes and installing "energy saving apps" get paid.
The certificates are on-sold to companies who want to brag about being carbon neutral.

 

[Sun Ra]

That's a good point for home horticulturalists. I think it will happen.

Have it on good advice, it already is.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

The off grid stuff is interesting. there are products available that run on low power so that you can legitimately run off grid without doing without much but rely on very efficient refrigeration and lighting. Perhaps government need to put in minimum efficiency standards like a lot of euro countries do. Same with cars.

I went to a friends holiday house in the gippsland lakes years and years ago.
It was on a peninsula across from Metung, but might as well have been on an island for the access it had.
They had a Kerosine refrigerator and a wood heater and wood cooking i think.
At night they had a vintage motor running a 12 v lighting system. One of the old hit miss stationary engines, but pretty small
Put a bout a litre of petrol into it.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Have it on good advice, it already is.

None of that pesky getting traced from your high energy consumption.

 

[Sun Ra]

Its subsidised by the "certification" scheme. The people installing it keep the certificate and sell it. That's how those people who go around replacing light globes and installing "energy saving apps" get paid.
The certificates are on-sold to companies who want to brag about being carbon neutral.

So, the quoted final price for purchase and installation of a Tesla battery already takes this "certificate" into consideration ? The "discount / subsidy" is built-in to the final price ? If that's the case then more needs to be done. They are too expensive. Price needs to halve for uptake to really take off I reckon.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

So, the quoted final price for purchase and installation of a Tesla battery already takes this "certificate" into consideration ? The "discount / subsidy" is built-in to the final price ? If that's the case then more needs to be done. They are too expensive. Price needs to halve for uptake to really take off I reckon.

They are expensive.
That's the issue with them.

 

[George]

Once Daddy Musk is done with his midlife crisis, he’ll not only solve the energy quandary, but also cure the chinless epidemic.
View attachment 1292221

It really is an epidemic. Save us, Daddy Musk.

 

[gringo2011]

It really is an epidemic. Save us, Daddy Musk.

My grandpa would have had him institutionalised in a facility for males with no moral fibre.

 

[Mowman]

gringo2011
What you watching ?

 

[gringo2011]

gringo2011
What you watching ?

Succession at the moment. I have been going up to the bush a lot to try to get on top of the neglect over covid and trying to build something myself so haven't had much time for shows lately. Any suggestions? Succession is good but I hate waiting for it.

 

[Mowman]

Succession at the moment. I have been going up to the bush a lot to try to get on top of the neglect over covid and trying to build something myself so haven't had much time for shows lately. Any suggestions? Succession is good but I hate waiting for it.

Give Maid a go

 

[jwikked]

Succession at the moment. I have been going up to the bush a lot to try to get on top of the neglect over covid and trying to build something myself so haven't had much time for shows lately. Any suggestions? Succession is good but I hate waiting for it.

That last episode was wild. Keiran Caulkin is hilarious and a great actor.

Shiv being a cold bitch gets me going

 

[gringo2011]

That last episode was wild. Keiran Caulkin is hilarious and a great actor.

Shiv being a cold b*tch gets me going

Culkin's lines are elite. Has the best dialogue in the show. I didn't realise Shiv was an Aussie until recently.

 

[L_W_P]

Give Maid a go

Second this but damn, if you know anyone that's been in a DV situation it has some moments that hit way too ******* hard.

If you don't mind subtitles then the first 3 seasons of ELITE are... well... elite. Even if only for Carla