"Right now, a construction site just outside Reno, Nevada, is humming with activity as Tesla Motors works to complete its first lithium-ion battery cell "Gigafactory." It's supposed to decrease the cost of electric cars by introducing unprecedented economies of scale to their most expensive component: batteries.

However, a new report from Bloomberg claims that influx of batteries might not just impact the electric-car business, but electrical utilities as well. It claims the Gigafactory will "scare the hell" out of utility companies because Tesla will also use it to make stationary batteries - which could be paired with solar panels to take homes off the grid.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk also owns home-solar company SolarCity, after all, and SolarCity is already packaging solar panels and batteries to power residential and commercial buildings in California - including some WalMart stores.

However, Tesla says it hopes to work with utility companies, not against them, and that opinion appears to be shared by some of the utility officials quoted in the report. This isn't the first time proliferation of electric cars and alternative energy have been linked to the inevitable decline of the existing grid, but how everything will play out is still largely unknown.

The lynchpin here is battery technology. Better batteries can not only power electric cars, but also partially negate the inconsistency of wind, solar, and other alternative-energy sources by storing power for later use. That could theoretically help individual homes go off the grid, by allowing for the storage of power for when the sun isn't available.

Steadily-decreasing solar-panel prices and the Gigafactory are expected to make that more viable for more people in the future, and that's why utility companies are supposed to be sweating bullets over Tesla."
ecomento


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"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

TBT

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Specializing in sarcasm and condescending rhetoric since 1971.

I'm perfectly fine witht the cheapest, most reliable electricity I can get. Don't give a damn where it comes from. The best of all possible worlds, though, would be if I could generate myself.

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I :heart; Q

All of the above, except that I don't expect future generations to subsidize my choice.
I am OK with paying the real cost now.

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"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

Well, I no longer have an electric bill. I even produce more than I use. 25 year warrenty on my 28 solar panels, and with riding my bike to work everyday, only 3 miles, now for over a year, my gas bill is almost nothing too. I am in control of almost all my energy requirements. That's got to worry those big energy companies. It worried the electrical companies so badly they convinced the PSC to end their conservation program. I just need a EV and I'll be set, especially in retirement.

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Ah, religion, bigotry dressed up as morality.

How big is your battery room? Are you using lead acid batteries or liquid ni-cads? 

Hows that AC working for you with 28 solar panels?

Maybe 200 watts each at 12 volts.

You aren't coming close to driving central air.

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The REAL truth is....both of the forum idiots are OWNED.
-BOTH of them have no clue who their owner is.
-They are both card carrying narcissists.
^These are PROVED facts.

Same questions for Havanabama, what type of refrig are you using? AC and Refrig seems to be the big energy draws, AC especiially when it kicks on...I think the heat pump even draws more amps on start-up (not that you have to have heat in FL)

5.6KW will drive a pretty damn big A/C system.
Math is so hard ain't it FK?

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"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

^^^^^ Hahahaha.

Can't 12V be converted to any voltage?

A fun site: http://www.wholesalesolar.com/StartHere/OFFGRID/OFFGRIDCalculator.html

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add a signature since I'm here in profile anyway

It's 5600 WATTS.

You do realize thats at 12 volts right?

Naaaaa...not you!

Central Ac runs on 220 volts.....NOT 12!

Better go back and do some more math...moron!



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The REAL truth is....both of the forum idiots are OWNED.
-BOTH of them have no clue who their owner is.
-They are both card carrying narcissists.
^These are PROVED facts.

Edited: 12/23/2014 at 08:09 AM by Fish Killer

LMAO.

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...

^gotta second that one

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add a signature since I'm here in profile anyway

When you do your voltage divider how many watts do you have at 240 volts?

You're brilliant!



-------------------------
The REAL truth is....both of the forum idiots are OWNED.
-BOTH of them have no clue who their owner is.
-They are both card carrying narcissists.
^These are PROVED facts.

I use 1400 kw per month....on average.

Using your 'off grid' calculations I would need panels that would produce 10370 watts.

10.3 kw.

That's 52 (200) watt panels.

I don't have a roof large enough on the southern exposure to install 52 panels.

How's your 5.6kw working for you now?!?!

Fool!

-------------------------
The REAL truth is....both of the forum idiots are OWNED.
-BOTH of them have no clue who their owner is.
-They are both card carrying narcissists.
^These are PROVED facts.

Edited: 12/23/2014 at 08:24 AM by Fish Killer

Still laughing.

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...

Laugh all you want...you STILL don't know what you're talking about.

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The REAL truth is....both of the forum idiots are OWNED.
-BOTH of them have no clue who their owner is.
-They are both card carrying narcissists.
^These are PROVED facts.

^^^^^Ain't it great when a nincompoop tries to argue with engineers on a technical issue!

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The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness -
John Kenneth Galbraith