cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/19852594

Edit: Be aware that some people try to post misinformation here, such as that such plants are not safe in the case of a power failure (untrue), or that they are not economical (untrue, their advantage is that they have very low installation costs).

  • HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.orgOP
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    1 day ago

    By the way: One reason why electricity from the grid is relatively expensive in Germany is that private consumers pay much higher prices than large, power-hungry companies. Effectively, consumers are subsidizing companies, which in turn can often profit from very low prices for power from solar generation, because companies can buy from exchange markets at spot prices, but private persons can’t.

    Balcony solar plants shift that tilted balance back a bit.

    • HaraldvonBlauzahn@feddit.orgOP
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      15 hours ago

      Regulations were very careful in the beginning, but now it is that basically anyone can plug in a system like this and register it.

      To note, there were some technical challenges, of course the plug needs to be safe when it is not plugged in, and the system switches off when the power fails, which is also for safety - these are not autonomous or “island” systems though of course, solar can be used for that.

      • B0rax@feddit.org
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        8 hours ago

        There are currently talks about tightening these regulations, to the point where it is no longer feasible to use these kind of systems :(

    • MrFloppy@feddit.org
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      23 hours ago

      Black Panther MEME VDE/ISO “We don’t do that here”

      With the next Revision of the ISO/VDE it can only get worse for this theme.

  • Valmond@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    So how good is it? I’m pondering a 400W panel but I have 2 balconies, one for the morning sun, one from around 11h…

    • rainwall@piefed.social
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      17 hours ago

      These systems tend toward 800 watts for about $600. Pay off is generally 4-6 years. With solar panels lasting for 30+ yrs, you gain a degree of power independence and a rough income of $100-200/yr.

      1200w setups are legal in Utah, so you may be able to get one of their systems in the states. Ecoflow has one called the ecoflow stream..

      Since the limit is 1200w in utah, what some people are doing is deploying 1200w into the active circuit, with another 1200w going fully into a battery. Since only one 1200w system is in use at a time, this is apparently allowed under the law.

      • Melchior@feddit.org
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        9 hours ago

        In Germany you can get an 800W system, so two solar panels, a converter and cables for 250€. You usually need some sort of attachment as well, which is another 50€ or so. They are surprisingly cheap.

      • Valmond@lemmy.world
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        11 hours ago

        I know Germany have relaxed their laws but I’m in France, guess I have to wait until the “revolution” comes here.

      • CosmoNova@lemmy.world
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        21 hours ago

        In North Korea you need your balcony solar cells to power your phone because most households have no power lines. Germans pretty much copied this tactic when energy prices briefly went through the roof and it caught on. North Korea did it first and it‘s actually kind of sad people have to resort to such measures in a seemingly rich country like Germany because we‘ve made us very energy dependent when we were world leaders in renewables not long ago. There should be solar and wind parks everywhere by now but citizens have to take care of that themselves. It has a nice side effect of being less reliant on the grid but no balcony cell is gonna power your fridge for very long on it‘s own. It‘s just cheaper in the long run but it really shouldn‘t be. The government shouldn‘t have slept on it for so long.