Comment on Solar should be packaged with consumer appliances
CookieOfFortune@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Except batteries are heavy and expensive? Which appliances can feasibly be battery powered for a practical amount of time?
Comment on Solar should be packaged with consumer appliances
CookieOfFortune@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Except batteries are heavy and expensive? Which appliances can feasibly be battery powered for a practical amount of time?
Death_Equity@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Refrigerators, microwaves, and LCD TVs come to mind.
A refrigerator uses 300 to 800 watts. That is 2-4kWh a day
Microwaves use 600-1000 watts. 6.1 kWh per month if used 15 minutes a day.
TVs use like 100 watts. 4.55kWh a month with 1.5 hrs of watch time a day.
All 3 are big enough to accommodate an appropriately sized battery to mitigate their draw. Having a decentralized battery mesh system coupled with solar main power does have some advantages, but I find it hard to say that it would be more advantageous than a centralized system due to cost and complexity.
CookieOfFortune@lemmy.world 10 months ago
A 3kWh battery is like >$1000? Wouldn’t this double the price of a fridge?
Death_Equity@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I think the idea is to have the battery as an accessory that you can add-on.
jrs100000@lemmy.world 10 months ago
And the batteries wont last nearly as long as the fridge should. Do you just toss the whole thing when it starts defrosting every morning at 2am?
Death_Equity@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I think the idea is to have the battery with a passthrough, so the fridge draws from the battery and the battery charges from the solar/grid.
With modern battery monitoring the health of the battery could be monitored and warn the owner should there be an issue.
potate@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
My (large) fridge hasn’t even pulled 1kWh today. Modern fridges are impressively efficient.
I’m steadily electrifying my life - and adding solar panels as I go.
Solar is already super modular and if you package the panels, then you rob the consumer of the ability to pick a panel that works for them (physical size for example, but where you live will also have a big impact on capacity requirements). Also, solar panels have a lifespan that exceeds most consumer appliances. I just replaced a ten year old stove but my solar panels have a 25 year warranty. The replacement cadence is very different.
Death_Equity@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I think the fridge power consumption I found is based on an empty fridge, so having one filled with food is more efficient.