Please bring SolarCity to Bali

Steve Rossell

davita wroteI'm not decrying his endeavors but battery technology really hasn't changed much in many years. The same principles have applied....but using different materials produce better efficiency. Most of the research has been to reduce the size for cellphones and tablets etc and has been successful...larger lithium polymer are now being used in the B787 Dreamliner....but not so successful. Musk's batteries ARE designed for integration into his home energy idea but....at what price? Imo all these energy savings will need governments to be involved and that doesn't sit too well with politicos as they have interests to keep the system as status quo. I invested heavily in Ballard hydrogen technology when California, Oregon, Washington State and British Columbia decided it would have stations up and down that corridor...never happened and I lost my investment.

Once again I agree with you guys. Davita, battery technology or energy storage, is for the moment still inhibited by old ways of thinking. That's to say that the gains in the tech' are by way of improvements rather than new systems yet to be developed and then geared toward mass production. And there's the rub. Mass production and planned obsolescence. Vested interests understandably don't want consumers to be autonomous and governments are fearful of lost revenue by way of tithes and taxes. All of which is totally understandable Markit but once again I'd point to the circumvention of such concerns and becoming more independent by figuratively and literally placing power (resource power) into individual control. It doesn't require the bringing down of the State, just a shift in thinking and planning. I'm excited by new tech' and what it can be used for despite my seemingly luddite leanings, e.g. my dumb phone ran out of credit last week and I haven't topped up the credit yet but the world is still turning and I'm still in contact with it. In the last week the Federal Minister for Energy in Oz put some spin on the highly contencious coal mine approval in the State of Qld., saying that it was a moral thing to do and that we Australians could help the millions/billions of people around the world without adequate power. What he failed to remind us of was that there is not delivery systems in place to provide those folks with the power generated by that moral mining. I could go on but it's nearing the witching hour and my spelling on this post has only too clearly reminded me that I've spent too much time typing and not enough time drinking beer. Selemat Tidur.

Markit

The Germans have many different concepts for power supply - clever for a country that has legislated its way out of the atomic era, me thinks. One that appealed to me and could have application here in Indo was the private ownership of small (micro) hydro power stations. Small towns/villages would build their own hydro power plant on the local river running off the mountains and with planned pay back, privately finance the whole thing. The "shares" in the company were privately owned and inheritable so the longevity of the project was assured. They provide a viable alternative to the net and whatever extra power they produce is fed back into that net and paid back at the going rate charged consumers (minus small handling charges, of course). These have been running successfully (and very quietly) since before the war. I have a spring fed river running next to my house that cries out for something like this but I doubt the technology/money/maintenance/community vision are available in a country where there are so many Gods to look after. Pity really

davita

Markit wroteThe Germans have many different concepts for power supply - clever for a country that has legislated its way out of the atomic era, me thinks. One that appealed to me and could have application here in Indo was the private ownership of small (micro) hydro power stations. Small towns/villages would build their own hydro power plant on the local river running off the mountains and with planned pay back, privately finance the whole thing. The "shares" in the company were privately owned and inheritable so the longevity of the project was assured. They provide a viable alternative to the net and whatever extra power they produce is fed back into that net and paid back at the going rate charged consumers (minus small handling charges, of course). These have been running successfully (and very quietly) since before the war. I have a spring fed river running next to my house that cries out for something like this but I doubt the technology/money/maintenance/community vision are available in a country where there are so many Gods to look after. Pity really

Germany has indeed weaned itself off nuclear energy over the last 4 years from 23% of consumption to 16% and another plant to come off the grid next year. However, they still use 43% of energy fuelled by coal and 10% by gas. The renewables that Markit mentions has risen over the same time by 11% to now be 28% of consumption. In contrast, UK has just signed a deal with France and China to build a new nuclear plant at Hinckley Point in Somerset....so who knows what?

no.idea

SamD wrotekept them at just the right temperature i.e. .5degC from freezing. You live and learn.

In the case of Bintang this is at -4.5 degrees. Freezing point is -5 degrees.

davita

no.idea wroteIn the case of Bintang this is at -4.5 degrees. Freezing point is -5 degrees.

Aaagghhh the infamous Bintang slushy...tried those once.....made me hiccup and pee alot...:drunk:

SamD

no.idea wroteThe lack of solar powered gear in Bali is annoying. I had two solar panels in Sulawesi 17 years ago. An NGO had put them into a nearby village. I purchased them for $100 each. I ran them directly to 2 heavy duty batteries and ran 12 volt lighting throughout my place. Currently I have solar power garden lighting that I purchased from Ikea. The only problem is the bloody tourists keep putting them into the pool because they look "pretty " when floating around. Of course this buggers them completely.

I was an early pioneer of solar power in Fiji back in the early 90's. I had six panels connected to a bank of deep cycle batteries that lived, worringly, in the laundry. It worked for a while, then started playing up so bad that I eventually bit the bullet to pay for the cable from the road to the house and put the house on grid power. I kept the solar solely for a small beer fridge that the solar vendor "loaned" to me. It was originally used for medical supplies but held a carton of Fiji Bitter and kept them at just the right temperature i.e. .5degC from freezing. I used to boast that I had the most expensive beer fridge in the South Pacific - $10,000 it cost me. You live and learn.

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