Battery based vehicles of today and tomorrow pt 2

[Gale Hawkins]

Wisdom is not achieved by computers!

Yes Elon Musk is a good example.

 

[tradosaurus]

Millions could abandon electrical grid with new solar panel advance

This could happen in the USA by 2050 I expect.

"Scientist predict...". I've heard that many times before.

 

[riptides]

Wisdom is not achieved by computers!

Debatable now based on use.

In the future, probably five years or less, better algorithms will probably be created by computers and then consciousness as defined by human minds will be explored.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Yes Elon Musk is a good example.

From what little I know he is very very intelligent, wisdom I'm not so sure of.
Why do you say wisdom?

 

[Gale Hawkins]

He is wise enough to be a harder worker than the CEOs at his competitors Plus, he has the wisdom to envision the future and bring it into existence at a faster rate with higher quality than his competitors.

 

[WinterDeere]

I believe I need to get a new calculator.
"My 7.5kw array has produced 36 mega watt hours in 4 years.
This has effectively taken the electric bill off the table in these past 4 years."
I did some math: now of course this will be countered with "but I installed it myself", or "I didn't pay THAT much"...these are simple facts:
The average cost of a 7.5 kW solar system is $22,500.
Now there are two choices: buy a solar system for $22,500 OR invest $22,500 in, say, an S&P 500 index fund.
The S&P 500 historic average for last 4 years has been 11.88%.
Therefore that's $2,673/year.
Our local power company uses a residential cost average of 1mWh per month at $159.61. (Our usage is never that high...simply as a reference).
Now...that would be $1,915.32/year.
Therefore NOT having solar I save a bit over $720/year. Actually in my case...more like $1,000/year.
With solar...they're ugly. Where do I install them...on our brand new house roof? Garage? On the ground somewhere? For use at night takes batteries...but instead say I tie into the grid. I spoke to an agent with our power company and they charge 14c per kWh...solar they pay me 3c per kWh. (I.e., they charge retail, buy it wholesale).
So at end of 4, 10, 30 years the solar array needs maintenance, it's unsightly. Invested at the end of same (or any) time period my invested money nothing to bother with. It's increasing in value as solar depreciates. I'm responsible for solar maintenance vs power company is responsible up to and including the meter.
Being here 43 years we've lost power for a few days. I do have a 9kW gasoline generator that sits 99.99% of the time.
Bottom line: whatever makes a person happy...go with it! For us it makes no sense.

Good math, Fuddy. But it's even much worse than you calculate, because a "7.5kW array" will never generate anywhere near 7.5 kW average power when installed on a home in that poster's home state of Minnesota. Solar arrays are named upon their theoretical maximum, as in the noon hour on a sunny day at the equator on the equinox, not their actual average power installed in some location near 46 degrees latitude!

 

[Fixastuff]

"Don't factor in incentives or rebates!" Lol. That's a terrible way to run a business or household.

 

[WinterDeere]

"Don't factor in incentives or rebates!" Lol. That's a terrible way to run a business or household.

Not sure to whom that was directed, but the course of the conversation was a debate whether there's any merit in incentivizing solar, as it appears to have no hope of ever having a positive financial return on the residential scale with current tech. Those arguing they've seen a reasonable ROI, only after taking tax dollars to pay for their system, are missing the entire point of the argument.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Tesla marketing plan per Musk. 2 minutes version.

 

[Roric]

Go to PVwatts.nrel.gov, enter your address and configure a solar array.
You can see how many kwh you could generate in a year. You may see how I generate 9mwh per year, 36mwh in 4 years.

If you don't believe in rebates, incentives or tax breaks, never look at a farmers tax return, a oil companies' tax submittals or tax increment tax advantages for businesses. Since incentivized tax benefits are legislated and approved by the powers that be, some will find it unfair. A long time ago someone said "Vote with your dollars, vote with your feet, vote at the ballot box". Everything must change.

I stand by my math and calculated ROI on the installed solar array.
YMMV

I may have been making too much of the 'tilt' i detect here away from any green energy progress. I may have sounded confrontational.
I was mistaken in comparing my home array to one in Texas and for that I apologize.

regards'

R