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Solar Is Cheapest Electricity in History, U.S. DOE Aims to Cut Costs 60% by 2030

(cleantechnica.com)
131 points mg | 5 comments | 26 Mar 21 20:07 UTC | HN request time: 0.96s | source
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rich_sasha ◴[26 Mar 21 22:13 UTC] No.26597628[source]▶
If solar were free, but we still needed to pay for battery storage, how would it then compare in cost to fuel-based alternatives (fossil fuel, nuclear etc)?
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turtlebits ◴[26 Mar 21 22:29 UTC] No.26597783[source]▶
People use way too much power for battery storage to be viable. The average household consumes 28.9kwh in a day (in 2017), which is way more than rooftop solar can provide.

Maybe when we have smaller houses and don't have a bajillion devices plugged in all the time.

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1. zizee ◴[26 Mar 21 22:47 UTC] No.26597922[source]▶
> The average household consumes 28.9kwh in a day

Maybe in the USA.

> which is way more than rooftop solar can provide.

Maybe in your part of the world this is true, but it is not unrealistic in many places.

Also, why are you limiting your thinking to rooftop solar?

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2. turtlebits ◴[26 Mar 21 23:05 UTC] No.26598065[source]▶
The article is referring to the prices in the US.

When land is at a premium, most people aren't going to cover their yard with solar panels. . Rooftop is already generally accepted.

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3. makomk ◴[26 Mar 21 23:24 UTC] No.26598202[source]▶
Probably in a lot of countries in the future. One common reason countries have lower average household electricity consumption is the widespread use of non-electric heating, and there's been a huge push to switch to electric heating for environmental reasons.
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4. belltaco ◴[27 Mar 21 01:13 UTC] No.26598916[source]▶
I don't get it, are these built on people's yards?

https://constructionreviewonline.com/biggest-projects/top-5-...

5. zizee ◴[27 Mar 21 03:58 UTC] No.26599788[source]▶
American houses tend to be bigger than those in other countries, and built with poor insulation than say those of europe.