-
@snowy said in Solar Power and Storage - a nerd's view:
@tewaio said in Solar Power and Storage - a nerd's view:
a simple software patch to stop jack-knifing.
I went and took a model X and a model S for a test drive yesterday. Tesla really do seem to have thought of everything. All of the cars (and I assume the trucks) have a sim card built in and the car's software is updated automatically. People who bought 3 years ago got into their cars last week and had more power and range from a software mod. Very clever. You can also buy the car and if you decide you want auto pilot later on, they just send it to the car (at a cost).
I also didn't realise that you basically never use the brakes and therefor never replace pads. Battery guaranteed for 8 years but probably last longer. 800,000 km expected useful life. More fast chargers popping up around NZ so within a year or so should be able to get all around the country with a 20min recharge stop every 5 hours (depending on model 75 / 100).
Not much difference in performance between the 2 models, both very quick. Both handle O.K, X not quite as good, higher up but massive amount of room in it. S corners O.K but not as good as RS4 (not many cars do). To be fair it weighs almost 500kg more than my car so understandable, even if both are 4WD with traction control.
I am seriously considering getting one next year. They are almost maintenance free as well as being able to use my solar to charge, the high initial cost comes down if you keep it for a reasonable period. They are also really good fun, the acceleration kills both of my V8s and are really nice spaces to be in. The X can also tow, so that solves the boat and trailer problem (kills the range though).
I might miss the noise sometimes...nah. I'll keep the TVR and record it to play in the Tesla.
Nice update. My neighbour has a P90D with all the bells and whistles, and having driven it a few times its a fantastic car. Am thinking of getting a 2nd hand one myself next year, they've massively come down in price in the UK. £40-50k for a relatively low mileage 75 or 85. Battery life will be reduced but probably worth it, there are a lot of Tesla early adopters who have to get the latest one each time the pack size gets upgraded, and so the 2nd hand market is pretty vibrant. There are boatloads of chargers in the UK and its a small country anyway. Thinkwhen you consider the combination of space, looks, performance, tech, cost, and lack of maintenance its hard to beat.
-
The one time I drove a Tesla, I was obviously impressed, because I can't afford a luxury car and have never really drive one.
But that takeoff. Neck-snapping, and only half as fast as the Roadster!
The used inventory is interesting tho - particularly as the free Supercharger allocation lives on for the life of the car.
https://www.tesla.com/en_AU/used
Can pick one up for $110K including onroads. Its not the highest spec model but it'll keep you going.
-
Falling battery prices
Article includes a link to Bloomberg's technology podcast - Decrypted
-
And really you don't even need that much storage - just enough to smooth any frequency bumps during regular transmission and also ramp up in peak. The Oz feds are saying "1MWh of battery for every MW of renewable energy installed" but that's bullshit.
Pumped hydro will do a fair bit of heavy lifting, as will concentrated solar power (CSP).
-
Here is a good piece on "baseload" myths:
https://medium.com/@evanbeaver/more-baseload-would-actually-be-bad-for-australia-45d13256c902
-
-
Interesting article on big batteries on the network in Australia.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/tesla-big-battery-outsmarts-lumbering-coal-units-after-loy-yang-trips-70003/They have a massive stabilising effect, and seem to bring other opportunities into play (slower response to peturbations are possible, with the batteries carrying the short term slack).
-
The design of big battery lends itself to the frequency control market - energy networks run at a certain frequency, and if it goes too high or low you risk shutdown as equipment and generators exit, to protect themselves. This could lead to a System Black, where assets on the grid progressively shut down as bad frequencies trip their circuits.
When our older coal units start tripping in the heat, other generators have to jump in. Sometimes these are spinning reserve - big coal generators that are contracted to connect in a contracted time. But increasingly this could be battery power, as it is better suited to sub-second response time.
This is particularly important when understanding that demand forecasting is less accurate than e.g. wind energy forecasting. Predicting user habits is difficult!
-
This is a really impressive achievement. >15% efficient perovskite modules at >10cm2 made by scalable fabrication techniques. On cell level almost 18% efficient.
The future is non silicon solar
-
Interesting thing happening: Tesla called me because they want to send a tech out to "service" my Powerwall and "get some diagnostics".
This is fucking weird, because pretty much every single thing they need should be part of the remote monitoring system they already have.
Only thing I can think is that they want to check out the connection between the Reposit smart controller and the rest of the system.
And here they're out of luck, because the Reposit box connects to the inverter and gives instructions, and the inverter (via the BMS - Battery Management System) is what tells the Powerwall what to do. Effectively its not interacting with the Powerwall at all.
This may all be in relation to the proposal in South Australia for 50,000 households with Solar + Tesla Powerwall 2, creating a pretty fucking large VPP fed by Solar.
But I'm spitballing.
-
@antipodean if there's one thing I'll say about Tesla, its that they don't give much away, financially or otherwise.
We've got one of the Powerpacks installed at at DC and its pretty clear nobody is 100% down with the commercials involved. I'm probably going to get involved in a meeting with the network and Tesla next week to see WTF is going on.
-
Learning lots from this reddit thread
Do ozone holes (like the one above NZ) make solar power in that area more effective? http://reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/8k38qs/do_ozone_holes_like_the_one_above_nz_make_solar/
-
@crucial domestic solar users can help alleviate this by setting devices to run in the middle of the day.
Google California Duck Curve.
But yes, it's a looming problem, particularly for grid operators like coal who aren't nimble enough to respond to changes.
There are a few bits of tech coming online in that regard, including cloud detection for localised power drops and surges, and a more widespread coordination of solar data resulting from that.
One advantage of Australia's big grid is it's rarely too much all at one time - and if it is, then it's usually summer where demand is peaking.
In the next few years we'll see more people install solar with storage or retrofit batteries as they can afford it. At that point, demand-response technologies start to really take off for a smart grid.
Google Virtual Power Plant.
Some of the pumped hydro projects also show promise for buying excess to top up their reservoirs. However they are years off breaking ground.
There is a LOT of old coal generation to replace in the next 15 years. There is kind of irony that about 50% of our fossil fuel capacity is built for a few days per year, but renewables capacity has to be well over that to account for Sun don't shine/wind don't blow.
-
@stockcar86 said in Solar Power and Storage - a nerd's view:
Learning lots from this reddit thread
Do ozone holes (like the one above NZ) make solar power in that area more effective? http://reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/8k38qs/do_ozone_holes_like_the_one_above_nz_make_solar/
So science. Wow.
-
Nice one @infidel. Do you mind sharing the square meter cost of those?
I'm in process of buying a house with corrugated iron roofing, so thinking that within the next few years I want to replace it with something better - these sound like a good option for a largish (300sqm) house in an area with a decent amount of sun (Napier). I don't want to wait around long enough for Elon's new ones
Solar Power and Storage - a nerd's view