For my link archive: Power (and Energy) | Die wunderbare Welt von Isotopp
Posted by jpluimers on 2024/09/20
Since the prices of solar panels have fallen considerably and the prices of batteries are expected to fall as well:
- [Wayback/Archive] 2024-03-19: Solar panel prices to remain low for up to two years, says industry exec | Reuters
- [Wayback/Archive] 2024-04-25: Tumble in storage battery costs to boost shift to renewables, says IEA | Reuters
making the conclusions of [Wayback/Archive] Power (and Energy) | Die wunderbare Welt von Isotopp the most important bit of his article:
Media power consumption is meaningless in the grander scheme of things.Household heat matters.
- Get rid of gas, get a heat pump.
- Cook electrically, not using gas.
- Make sure your household devices working with heat are state of the art:
- Get a decent washing machine.
- Do not use a tumble dryer, dry on a clothes horse.
- Get a decent fridge/freezer combo. Make sure it is de-iced and efficient.
- Watch out for always-on devices, but be sure to relate their energy use to the rest of the household
Mobility matters even more than household heat: Driving uses way more energy than living in a place.
- Work from home.
- When moving, do not use a car, use a bike. Or public transport.
- When using a car, use a small car. Weight matters.
- When using a car, drive energy efficiently: Going 130 km/h instead of 100 km/h uses 50% more energy.
- If you have to use a car, get rid of a combustion engine car, drive an electric car. It uses 1/3 the energy of a combustion engine car.
Make energy. Cover every surface in solar cells.Store energy.
- Get a battery that can provide enough power for your household. Power (Watt) is often a function of the cell count. Cells also provide capacity, so larger batteries (more kWh) also provide more power (kW) up to a limit (11 kW). When planning, check both numbers, kW and kWh.
- To get a household to self-sufficiency, surprisingly small batteries are needed. The minimum of either half the daily power consumption and the production in a day in March or October should be enough. You may want more, but that is because of power, not energy content.
- In any case, ~10 kWh LFP should be fine for most households. Having more than you can fill on an early spring/late autumn day is useless, and you won’t fill it Nov – Feb anyway. Having giant capacities in summer is useless, because you won’t empty the battery.
--jeroen
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 
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