I’d be curious as well. I’m looking at batteries but my consumption is 80% in winter when whatever the capacity I install I’ll end up using the network :-/

[–] Eyekaytee@aussie.zone 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

do you have time of use charges?

if it’s more expensive to use power at night people are filling up during the day and using it at night, bit of electricity arbitrage

[–] a4ng3l@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

It’s the reverse currently, off peak after 10pm and the weekends. Definitely possible to edge that way during wintertime but the cost differential isn’t so big so the roi is definitely not great.

[–] LordXDnl@literature.cafe 17 points 3 days ago

I would say, of all the forms of power, solar comes the closest to actually sleeping

[–] Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Latitude and clouds really matter in these calculations. Further up north, the light gets weaker, so you’ll need to compensate with more panels. Also, the sunny hours fluctuate wildly between the short days in winter and short nights in summer.

The article mentioned Birmingham, and in that case, solar is just one of the many power sources they’ll need. Solar can support the mix, and in the summer it could even dominate for a while. They’ll still need a lot more from other sources.

The closer to the equator you are, the more sense it makes to use solar power. In places like Germany, it’s already fine, in Greece it’s really good. Anywhere south of that, it’s clearly the best solution.