Wind and solar power with batteries failing Hawaii

F'in solar panels almost take out Texas power grid.

 

You have done well to implement some of the modern (1960's) concepts in your home arleigh. I have a copy of szokolay's "Solar energy and building" Second edition, have you read it? It's incredible the energy savings that can be had in his designs, the implementation of mass walls, and water heat sinks, roof overhangs etc. Of course with these designs the true benefits are had building from the ground up. I picked up an old copper manifold roof solar thermal HW system years back with the idea of utilizing it. All the modern ones don't use water in the heating circuit but a sort of antifreeze I discovered, and a heat exchanger. They are crap, the pipes are not copper and they last on average 10 years and are as expensive down here as 10 kVA of rooftop solar photovoltaics. No one in their right mind would install these old water heating systems in a grid connect home now but many do? Marketing, ill-informed people.

I'd wager not 2 in ten people would even know what the word photovoltaics means and most that install them have no idea of the energy draw of the appliances in their homes before the install. I see it on threads all the time, people wanting to boil kettles off little "solar generators" lol. What a scam they are, what a marketing ploy that name. 2000W for a kettle, more than my HW system draws (1500W) I run the HW off a timer, 4 hours a day from 10am~2pm and there is my free HW from the sun shining on my PV arrays. No need for re-piping and new containment vessels, a huge unit on the roof, just a switch in the meter box. If I was offgrid of I might consider it but PV is still the winner there cost wise. One day perhaps I'll install a charger and a battery bank so I can go offgrid here but the cost, au$8,000 minimum for a lipo unit that will die in 10 years hardly seems worth it given I don't get a power bill now.

I honestly get tired of talking to people who haven't a clue about the science they utilize in their own lives, like my brother who believes his non-plugin hybrid Toyota's battery is recharged by the regen braking system. I said that's impossible? There is no way a little deceleration here and there could ever match the energy consumed getting up to speed and cruising on it for 15 or 20 minutes. He just shook his head, the salesman had told him that and of course he believed it. I went to the Toyota website where it explains regen is only a small part and the battery is actually recharged off the internal combustion engine. He dismissed the idea, No one was going to tell him he'd been lied to over a major purchase. His car was 'Green'

 

The manufacturers are taught to lie, get used to it.
Having been a machinery repairman most of my life, I can tell you that one must be smarter than the machinery, even smarter than the engineers that made it. Now a days the difference between the novice and the engineer is getting narrower and narrower.
Late in the 1950s Briggs and Stratten introduced the aluminum block small engine to replace the cast iron one they sold, calling it the "throw away engine?
Though it was made to be thrown away, many still rebuilt them till Honda made engines that lasted infinitely longer than most, then every one started copying them.
I am always hesitant to accept newer technologies, I don't like being the Ginni pig. I made that mistake buying into the lithium ion boat batteries for my solar, boy was that a mistake. My lithium bicycle batteries gave me no grief so I got sold on the idea.
I like building stuff even if it cost me something, it is a learning thing I was "not" good at as a kid.

 

Yes, the technology doesn't scale well I'm afraid and the pushbike is about the practical limit. But such is the modern world that hucksters can play on the collective ignorance of the masses without interference and if the profits are big enough, can even influence political decision making.
Funny aside to that, I was at my chiro the other day and discovered his business was down by 40%, basically due to having been forced to close over the covid internment and now due to people being broke because of high interest rates and food inflation. I asked why he didn't hold a few seminars at hotels or the like to promote his business. He pointed to a framed picture, the medical association that regulates his profession and said that any form of advertising and promotion, even facebook posts is illegal now. So how do people know you're here I asked? Work of mouth he replied.

So all alternate medicine is now banned from advertising here, but the AMA doctors and all affiliates have the Federal and state governments on TV advertising for them. "Go see your doctor" "New flu shot is out, the health minister and premier strongly advise you go and see your Health professional and take the shot" "time for a cancer scan" Money--- Power--- Corruption.

 

There have been devices that helped reduce power consumption, I think they were capacitors aiding in the boost of energy to starting motors, beyond the capacitors already built in them.
I haven't seen those devices available in years, I suppose ignorance might play a part.
In retrospect I wish I had this interest in electricity when I was in school but there were no classes at the time
I was a stupid kid than as well.
I was fortunate, in later years to have found some solar (photovoltaic and thermal) books in a thrift store, but I did not have the property to do anything or the money to do anything till I got older. My son has those books now, so it's up to him to act on them. It's important to him but he needs property to do some of these things. Though the technology is improved since then, understanding the principles remain.
All too often people rely on the education of others to act on something rather than taking the initiative to experiment to build something one's self. No education is cheap, it's going to cost you, Ask Edison.