If you got solar + batteries on a suburban home (not rural where off-grid is common)...

Would you consider or allow or specify the system to be set to export power out to the grid, or would you decide to not allow power to be exported back to the grid?

My personal view is that if I pay to get solar/batteries (I have neither currently) the energy I collect and transform from light to electricity then into chemical energy (how it's stored in batteries) belongs to me and I should not be expected to share that energy with any other energy users if I don't want to.

But if I do choose to then all well and good.

The current push to get solar/batteries is linked with a cultural viewpoint that you must 'prop up' the power grid with your own personal 'power station' system. I think that's toxic.

This same mantra is now pushed with electric cars where people are being brainwashed into thinking their EV should be used a a 'grid battery' when it's plugged in to (dis)charge.

I also dislike that all solar/battery gear for homes is made in China, so by getting it you do nothing to support your own country's manufacturing and 'smarts' sector (think STEM, etc.). If I could get solar gear made in Australia I'd be way more interested.

An additional issue is that people do not pay full price for the stuff - they only get it because they are receiving perceived incentives/discounts and then the installer gets Renewable Energy Credits to trade meaning there's a market incentive for the industry. Also, nearly all households who get solar/batteries and probably an EV or two buy it all on finance (novated leases for EV's), so the homeowner doesn't even actually own outright any of the equipment until all the discounted financing gets paid off.

Sure we do that with our homes, but usually you don't get 'industry rebates' to take out a home loan where there's a 'lien' linked to that discount/incentive for a third-party interest in your house (except if you fall for a rent-to-buy or similar scam).

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MarineBob · 61-69, M

We have generac power cells runs all 220 aways and everything as needed

saragoodtimes · F

@MarineBob comfort knowing the generac is on standby even though we seldom need it

Royricky09

Check out the video of an Australian guy who doesn't pay a single penny for electricity. He built a great system from laptop batteries

ArishMell · 70-79, M

I suppose the finance arrangements vary from country to country.

Inthe UK, it seems a straightforward purchase of the equipment and its installation and maintenance; and you can pay straight off (if rich enough), bank-loan, finance-company or whatever hire-purchase the seller offers. Plenty of householders are buying these systems.

Yes I would consider "exporting" surplus electricity if what was called the "Feed-in Tariff" or a replacement is in use. I think the FIT was ended a few years ago.

Though let's be honest, its export represents no loss to you even if you are not paid for it.

I don't believe in using an electric vehicle as a storage battery except for your own home only, and then only in a power-cut, because it will only need re-charging. Might be useful for that, perhaps, but would add to the complexity and cost of the system.

I don't like so much of this all now relying so heavily on China, either.

swirlie · 31-35, F

This issue of 'sharing' sounds particularly 'communist' to me. Communist meaning, that everything you do is FOR the State, not just for you alone.

I've been involved with solar off-grid home projects through Habitat For Humanity here in Canada and everything I've read that you just wrote about 'sharing' power simply does not exist in Canada. This is the first time I've ever heard of that concept.

In Canada, you have different options for your solar panels/wind generator.

1) You can hook directly to the grid and sell 100% of the power you generate to the local power commission while staying connected to the grid yourself, meaning you don't have storage batteries in your home because you don't use any power you generate through solar.

2) You can do a combo where you have storage batteries and once those batteries are fully charged to capacity, then any excess solar power is routed to the grid where you sell your excesses to the local power authority for a profit.

3) You can remain connect to the grid and any solar power you generate is routed though your meter out front on the pole, which turns the meter backwards thereby generating a 'credit' instead of actually selling the power to the grid for a cash value.

I have never heard of using EV power to dump back into the grid as if that power in my EV battery belongs to a commune of sorts and must be redistributed for others to use. What's up with that?

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@swirlie Nothing "Communist"or any other political "ist," but the idea of using an EV as a reserve battery for your own home is likely only that - an idea tossed around by EV and solar-array enthusiasts.

We used to have a so-called "Feed-in tariff" in the UK, rather as in your Option 2, to encourage households to install solar arrays. I think it has been ended, but really, you are not losing anything if "your" surplus electricity is "exported. You are simply not being paid for what without that option, would not be generated anyway. Electricity's nature is such that if you do not switch anything on and your batteries are fully-charged, none is generated.

swirlie · 31-35, F

@ArishMell

Nothing "Communist"or any other political "ist," but the idea of using an EV as a reserve battery for your own home is likely only that - an idea tossed around by EV and solar-array enthusiasts.

No, you've missed the entire meaning of that part of his post where he said that energy you've stored in your own batteries should not just be kept for your own use but shared with the State, hence my comment about that "communist" social strategy to share ALL with the State.

As it stands, the idea of using an EV battery as a reserve battery for your own home is not just an idea being tossed around, it is a reality in North America today.

If you own an EV, you can plug your vehicle's battery directly into your household electrical supply through an outside electrical outlet on the side of your house.

The DC power supply from your vehicle then runs through an inverter inside the house, then to the main AC supply in the house where all household circuits are powered simultaneously.

This of course requires a modification to your home's existing electrical system to accommodate the outside receptacle in addition to an inverter located at the electrical panel.

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