Which utilities are trying to outlaw net metering? Not a single one that I know of. Some are fighting against renewable energy credits, but that’s a completely different beast. For every kWh I push back onto the grid, our electric company has to produce one less at their peaking plants. Not only that, but my system…

Just do a grid-tied system. FAR more cost efficient.

Utilities aren’t the least bit frightened of complete energy independence among customers. The number of batteries you would have to purchase for your home for that would be staggering.

$300 / kWh is still nearly an order of magnitude higher in cost than other time tested, reliable, proven technologies.

And it’s also 3x the expected price of Ambri’s batteries, which should have infinite lifespans.

Seriously? 10-20 year high grade (AA and AAA) corporate bonds will give you 3% or more - and they’re danged safe. The odds of not beating 3% (especially after considering tax treatments) even in an index fund are very low over the long haul.

If you still have student loans, odds are you’re pretty young. Even if we’re in a bit of a bubble, by the time you retire, the odds are extremely high that you would have averaged much more than 3% annual return.

You also should take taxes into account. Odds are that you can deduct some of that interest on your taxes,…

I guess we will. But his successes have largely been overblown. Is the Model S nice? Sure. Is Tesla even remotely profitable? No. Solar is nice. Is Solar City even remotely profitable? No. SpaceX looks great and is profitable, but nearly everything they’re doing is really tried tech, even so far as to having hired the…

Your civic hybrid battery wasn’t designed to be used as a significant storage device.

Hybrid batteries operate in shallow charge and discharge cycles, so even when net capacity is lost, there is enough remaining to operate the vehicle without any noticeable drop in mpg. First gen hybrids lost almost 70% of their…

What you’re failing to realize is that solar is a VERY small % of current electric supply and doesn’t displace a thing yet - so the scenario you play out of actually needing to store electricity is many, many years out, and there are much more efficient ways of doing it than batteries.

And yes, solar can be cheaper…

Because the $ figure I used ($150 per kWh) is a figure that Musk has been dreaming about one day maybe getting to, while admitting that they are nowhere close to it.

And there is an ENORMOUS difference between a battery application like a Prius and that of a full EV or using batteries for storage. The Prius only needs…

He’s a legend in his own mind, and has missed on countless promises in the past. The fact is that he has to get WAY below his stated target per kWh of capacity before batteries become usable as storage for anything other than very short term emergencies (like the small battery I have that can power my sump pump for a…

Have you looked at power demand curves? Demand during the day is WELL over what it is at night. What you need is efficient base generating capability with peaking plants to hit the daytime demand. Guess what solar works well as? That’s right - a peaking plant.

BTW, Solar City is far from the cheapest solar provider,…

Unfortunately, Tesla’s batteries won’t last decades.

I also don’t think the utilities will pay you squat for using these batteries. They’re looking for total shareholder return well in excess of what you could expect to get from battery storage.

The fact remains that there are cheaper, longer lasting, proven solutions…

If they do that, they will price themselves right out of the market. They’re already fairly pricey as it is, but that will kill them, unless the batteries are tiny.

The test installations you’re talking about amounted to $330/kWh of rated capacity, paid over 10 years. That’s an expensive battery, not a cheap one.…

No, he’s a billionaire because he made money off of PayPal and has convinced people to pay him fortunes to buy into his visions, even though those companies are losing massive amounts of money. This home battery vision only will have any significant impact on the solar market if the battery price drops to a tiny…

Only 50%? That’s a steal compared to the giveaways Kaisch hands out to political donors in Ohio.

You’re not confused at all. Home batteries make no fiscal sense for anyone where the grid is even the least bit reliable.

I’ve got 8.925 kW of solar generating capacity on my roof (a fairly large system). Like most people, I’m grid-tied and simply have a net meter. Whenever I’m producing more than I’m using, my meter…

And that is a good point - there certainly is a small niche market for what is generally not a cost-effective solution, and their additional costs for pursuing the market will be small. But this article claiming it is a “serious game changer” is ignoring fiscal reality.

Inverter losses are pretty minimal nowadays. Mine only has 2.808% losses in the inverter (between efficiency losses, night tare, and inverter power consumption combined). You’re likely to have higher losses charging a battery.

And yes, you could switch to all gas/propane appliances to save on electricity - however,…

Yeah - and utility scale applications might be significantly different than people imagine - such as using a bank of batteries at a substation as an alternative to rebuilding the substation in order to take stress off the grid. Even then, the costs have to be low, and lifetimes have to be very high - that’s why I’m…