Dependent
I have a solar array on two of my houses both of which generate power from the sun for me to use to power my houses. When I'm not using the electricity it feeds back to the grid and I get paid for what goes out. Naturally, I get charged for what I draw from the grid when the array isn't producing, like at night, and somewhere in between is my power bill.
Right now, I'm paying just over seventy five percent less each quarter for my electricity bill because of the solar systems which is a significant saving considering the cost of electricity here. I could reduce it by installing battery storage but a decent battery is somewhere around $14,000-$18,000 AUD currently and I'm disinclined to part with that money just yet.
I've had one of the systems since October 2016 and it's been great to see the savings and the data which I can compare daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and on a lifetime basis using the Enphase app on my phone connected live-time to the system. Below are screen captures from the app comparing the month of May for 2023, 2022 and 2021.
The metrics are: Imported, produced, exported, net exported, dependence on the grid, Co2 reduction and a chart showing production, consumption, currency equivalent and import/export. This can be drilled down to daily, but I have it set to monthly for the purpose of this post.
I didn't get the array with the sole purpose of reducing Co2 output to the environment but that's one of the benefits; it causes less impact on the environment to use solar power. The array saves me a lot of money, its main purpose, and I recovered the outlay within about three years. My second system on the house I live in has only been in for several months but it's going along nicely. I was fortunate to have taken advantage of a government scheme and got that array for free saving me about $7,500 AUD. Yee haa, right?
Below is the lifetime screen showing from October 2016 when I got the array until now. This one is measured in MWh Megawatt hours not Kilowatt hours. Look at the lifetime saving of Co2...28.1 tonnes saved. Pretty good right? Check out the currency equivalent value below also...$13.1K. Legit right?
I find it interesting to note the changes as the weather patterns change and since having both array's installed the way power is used in the properties has changed. It's a simple matter of shifting as much usage to the daytime when the sun provides free power. The dishwasher, washing machine and dryer, working in my workshop, charging of devices and batteries is all done during the day and in the evening lights are turned off when not needed and most appliances are turned off at the switch so standby lights don't burn power. These two houses are also lit with LED lighting, a much more economical way of lighting.
Interestingly, you can see the dependence on the grid is reasonably stable year on year with a mid-fifty percentage over the lifetime. I think that's not too bad; I could probably affect that more by additional adjustments with usage, but things are going well and I'm content.
I'm certainly no environmental crusader but I take some care; I love nature and feel that we should treat it better.
I don't litter, recycle to keep waste out of landfill, re-use and repurpose to reduce waste, shun the buy-mentality that plagues humanity, streamline vehicle usage to reduce emissions, have my solar arrays of course, have a low impact on nature when I'm out in it and do a few other things besides...but every one of us is to blame for what's happening to the planet which, in my opinion is not reversable with humans in situ.
But what about you? What do you do to help the environment, reduce your carbon footprint. What could you be doing better? How heavily dependent upon the power grid are you? What's your thoughts on alternative energy like solar? Feel free to comment below, tell me about it, or ask any questions about what you read here.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default; tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind - galenkp
[All original and proudly AI free.]
Any images in this post are my own.
Oh that's nice, I heard that kind of selling your extra electricity from our teacher and it is really amazing
It's a pretty nifty concept. The government/energy providers don't mind paying as it takes pressure off their infrastructure and they get some additional power to utilise (sell on to others). They get the better deal out of it, but the home owner wins also.
I recently wrote a post about the environment heh heh!
I too have solar panels as you know and I confess that in addition to doing very well for the environment, they are also really good for your own pockets.
I have practically eliminated the cost of the bills between the savings and the earnings of the current that I resell; of course all this is accompanied by sustainability for the environment, I always try to do my part to leave a better world for those who will come, after all this land of ours belongs to our children and our grandchildren who have only given us a loan for as I see it (so goes an Indian proverb heh heh!)
Your posts are always very interesting my friend!
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I saw that one and yeah I know you've got an array. It's good that there's a dual purpose, cost saving and the environment. Have you noticed that it's made you use power differently, be more conscious of how you use it? It has for me.
I'm also wondering, do you have a system to self-monitor it? I have the Enphase system, regarded as the better one, on one house and the other uses the Fronius system which is good, although the free version (which I use) doesn't have the ability to drill down like the Enphase one.
Heh heh you're using too many technical terms for me lol!
I have an app that allows me to control panels and batteries, so I know how much I accumulate and how much I enter into the network; as far as the earnings are concerned, it is approximate and is expressed in yen :-(
however, I am registered with the GLS of my country, practically the company that carries out the exchange on the spot and from their site I can find out exactly how much I have earned every month by re-introducing electricity into the grid.
Obviously, like everything in Italy, it's a bit of a rip off because they pay me around 8 cents (it's the minimum, from there you can go up depending on the period... in February, for example, they even paid 50 euro cents ), but I always pay much more on the bill than what they give me to use our electricity.
But it's always better than nothing ;-)
Yeah, that's what I meant, production and consumption; it's good to know it, the patterns. Erm, Yen? What the fuck? Lol.
This is also important. It's a recent feature added to Enphase and I've drawn attention to it in this post. To see it expressed in a dollar value makes it hit home.
Same here my brother, same here. That's how life goes these days. I'd not be upset to see electricity go off (world wide) forever...That'll sort the men out from the boys. Alas, here we are...and we have to accept it as it is.
Yes, unfortunately some things must be accepted as they are; on the other hand it's better to spend your energy and focus on what you can change and accept what isn't... at least at the moment ;-)
I’ve been suspicious of the focus on Carbon as the issue and generally keep quiet about most of it, because I don’t have enough knowledge to say much with confidence.
You should listen to this podcast, to perhaps get a bit of differing information on how crucial carbon is and the levels we are at right now are flirting with ecological disaster.
The show is called Kosmographia and it’s by Randall Carlson, quite the brilliant guy when it comes to the planet on many different levels. He’s not arrogant and he brings a shit load of data to a discussion. It’s episode 091 of Kosmographia if you want to search it out instead of clicking on the link.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ACDk0Dm3mqlFE7mml9IOK?si=bRxBLgXzTsu2Z47GcXJLbg
What he’s saying is looking at actual history, from ice cores and one other that I wasn’t too familiar with yet, tens of thousands of years or longer, levels of CO2 in the atmosphere were considerably higher than what they are now. We are at about 406 parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere and plant life can’t survive at 150 ppm or below, and struggles considerably at 250ppm.
In the old historical data from the core samples and others, the earth was maintaining 2,000 ppm of CO2 and the plant life absolutely thrived, they can tell by cross referencing the age with some other samples taken from around the same time elsewhere from peat moss I think it was, and bogs. The layers of plant life were significantly denser and thicker in those levels of CO2 because it’s such an important compound for photosynthesis.
I’ve been listening to his episodes all week and it’s really incredible the topics he covers and the data he presents, with plenty of sources ranging all kinds of countries and regions in the world.
Besides that long winded response, I think it’s awesome you got some panels up there, the more we can decentralize the grid the better we can get at reducing the burning of coal, which I think is certainly one of the worst sources of energy. Natural gas is a good substitute for sure.
I’ve actually gotten the little man into picking up trash with me when we go out, particularly in nature. We’ve made it a point to bring bags with us so we can pick up most of the things we see, with exceptions of course for nasty things like diapers and such but we may start to bring gloves or something for those fucking things. I would say over the past 4 weeks or so, we’ve picked up and trashed about 100 or so things so a pretty good start!
As I said, I'm more interested in reducing my power costs than what the array does for the environment.
I believe the environmental stuff is a money-making exercise...Yes, I believe humans are negatively impacting the environment because we are fucken idiots and don't give a fuck, but I also think the environmental recommendations/reports are based only on a very short span of time...then purposely misconstrued to help drive revenue in many different ways.
There are studies around core sampling showing that the planet is just doing what it has done before...right before an ice age in fact...but people will call me bonkers for saying that. The evidence is there though.
Humans cause damage, there is no doubt...so much so that my fucktard government banned plastic drinking straws. (I'm serious.) And yet, India and China pump out waste to make a gazillion pointless things that the lemmings of the world sheeple, just have to have.
Have a think about how many fucken different car air-vent air fresheners there are on the market - a shit load of different ones...There's massive factories pumping them out and massive supply-chains shipping worldwide just for that single item. Now extrapolate that out to all the millions of individual products, all produced by the millions and billions that we could do without. And my government ban drinking straws?...that's their big environmental effort. Wankers.
Humans are idiots...wasteful, uncaring of any but themselves and too stupid to see the planet is being destroyed, plants and animals made extinct, weather patterns changed by the infrastructure, roads, building, mining and farming we do and pretend to want to fix it...but there's no real effort being made. The sooner the planet eradicates us the better the planet will be.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't all pitch in...we should, and picking up rubbish is an easy way to do so...But how about taking the responsibility of not dropping it in the first place, or consuming less so there's less rubbish. And then there's those special super-assholes called smokers who think it's ok to flick their butts all over the place. We all need to do our bit, but unfortunately money rules the day and so that doesn't happen.
Bring on the ice age...better start squirreling something away for when it gets here.
Now that was a proper rant! Lol.
Yeah the consumerism is crazy and annoying for sure. We get some products but the things people focus on are absurd, such as drinking straws. I get that straws do damage to a small subset of the animal population like turtles. I think most people have seen the videos of straws getting taken out of turtles noses and yes it's difficult but they also don't seem to see the videos of the toxic sludge that gets pumped out of those factories and can't seem to care about that, because it isn't as convenient and moralizing as claiming that you are against plastic drinking straws!!!
I don't think we should be eradicated as a species, because we can do lots of good however there is a group of people who insist on keeping us under the thumb of these conglomerate corporations and that also means squashing real innovation and competition every chance it gets. There are certainly lots of better ways to do things but if they can't make a few dollars off the whole thing, they buy it and dump it to the memory bins.
I can't quite figure out smokers, especially ones who throw their damn trash on the ground. I had a lady yell at me for throwing compost in an area as she was smoking and flicked a cigarette butt. I was dumbfounded at how stupid her attempt at an argument was!
Haha, I thought you'd like that. I held back though.
I know...but it's inevitable. I believe that thinking we'll be around indefinitely is a little naïve. All things die, and the planet will too...But I guess maybe by then humans will have found a way to colonise (and fuck up) another planet...or would have eradicated ourselves in world war three. I understand, as someone who has a kid, that our demise is not a nice thought, but I believe it to be a certainty.
Selfish, ignorant and arrogant nutbags.
Yeah I think we will colonize somewhere else. I actually have half a mind that we are just one of many iterations of what we think of as "human" species on the planet. There is more evidence coming out of highly advanced species that existed around 12k years ago, who had pretty darn advanced tech to do things. Learned that as well from Randall lol. What they did to fuck it all up though, is the question. I know that at some point in the future we will fuck something up pretty bad, just not sure if it will be in my lifetime or not. A grim thought with children but sadly it is the nature of humanity.
I think humans should colonise two different places as follows:
Oh! I bet my healthy, thin and slender figure of smoker no doubt will find Uranus as a very placid and peaceful place to live and work in front of a computer screen well away of other nasty humans. LoL
;o)
It's called greenwashing and the latest sustainability reporting initiative in the UK are actually trying to work against this, but in the process are also pushing their own green agenda for us to be carbon zero. Carbon zero would of course mean we're all dead. Just saying.
Yep, this is why things are headed down the toilet, humanity I mean.
VERY INTERESTING
OK, but what makes you say that? Be specific or I'll assume you have not read this post at all and are simply commenting in an inane manner.
QUITE INTERESTING ...how we often react in front of some unexpected & inane situations some times. Isn't it?
¡Live & Learn! ...said that weird, wise and old philosopher.
I have never open your links, not once, so whatever you have linked here will remain a mystery. I'm simply not interested.
I'd ask you to cease commenting to me if I thought you'd acquiesce, but I don't think you would so I'm muting you instead.
All the best in the future with your account.
Goodbye.
Yeah! that says a lot about your interests.
There is an old saying that says: ¡The Truth Hurts! But as the really curious old scientist that I am, I always wonder and try to find out how much the truths hurt and can hurt in these new younger generations nowadays.
Yeah, the future of my account will remain to be seen yet. Since it is not that you have influenced much or made any difference in its growth either right?
Enjoy life
Enjoy my downvote.
Hi @galenkp. Here in the land of the possible electricity is under government rule, as well as water, internet. The rates are relatively low, that's why they don't work but they are increasing since this dictatorship has serious liquidity problems. I am not very fond of touching this subject but it is fatal.
What I do love is to talk about the environment, I try to reduce electricity consumption to reduce CO2 emissions and the most difficult thing is to raise awareness in my family.
Yes, you make a good point, if the cost of the utility isn't high enough the infrastructure can't be maintained and that then causes failures; the same thing happens in South Africa, and other places too.
It's good that you focus yourself on reducing your footprint on the planet, I hope you can convince others to do the same.
Hello
The issue of saving and using resources by reducing environmental impact interests me a lot, I think it's great that in your country and specifically you have this disposition for the use of solar panels and electricity supply networks of this type.
In my country it would be very beneficial to implement these alternatives, however, our problem here is very big because economically we are in very bad shape, so people who have money to invest in panels and that kind of thing don't do it.
Here the main problem is that all the energy comes from the same hydroelectric plant, due to the poor maintenance of the network we live with constant blackouts and electricity rationing, in 2019 there were two big blackouts for two weeks in the entire country, they were chaotic times. For this reason, electricity bills are extremely cheap because they cannot charge a high price for such a poor service, but at the same time that people do not pay, the problem of lack of budget to repair the system increases, it is like a loop of issues.
In my country we have a good climate, specifically in the area where I live we have something in common with Australia and that is that it rains very little, here the sun is always very strong, we also have wind, so implementing an energy system with panels solar and also wind energy would be a good solution, but there are no resources from the government and there are no individuals who can do it from a private company.
What I see as most worrying is that people with monetary resources are simply not interested in saving energy and they are not interested in reducing their environmental impact either.
In my case, there is very little that I can do, but in my house we do not use incandescent lamps, only led or fluorescent lights, we do not have many appliances, in fact right now we wash clothes by hand, I try to turn off the lights early at night and did not leave devices on standby. They are small things but they help, because it is not about money, it is also about not saturating the system, because when people consume too much energy, the transformers that are on the poles explode and the national company never replaces them because they say they do not have those things for the crisis.
I hope one day the situation will improve, I dream of having a house that has its own solar panels
If everyone was invested in using less, consuming less, then the world would be in a better way I think. But people just want more more more...An insatiable appetite for the latest thing, as if that will validate or make relevant the person.
It's a shame such a beautiful country as yours has declined financially...I don't know all of the reasons of course because I am not there, but greed is one thing that's to blame. Also, that loop of issues, you mention which I just commented to someone else about. Without the infrastructure (maintained) then it's never going to work well, and for that there must be income that doesn't get misappropriated. Sad that it happens there, and also in other places.
Point in case, solar arrays, wind and hydro power as you mention...Here there's some strong investment in those areas but in your location...I guess none.
It's amazing how different your situation is to here in Australia, a fairly affluent country, but I like that you're actively working to mitigate cost, power usage and damage to the environment. I'd like to see more Australian's do it, but most probably don't care enough; living in the land of plenty can have that effect.
It's impossible to draw parallels between our two situations or between a country like Australia and third world countries...but we can all do something to make a difference I think.
Thanks for your great response and your thoughts, I have come to expect such intelligent responses from you, and I appreciate it.
You know if I needed to, I could almost live off the grid. I am still working towards it. The funny thing is, most people think when you talk like that, you are living in the middle of the woods by yourself, you know, living off-grid. I could be living in their neighborhood and they probably wouldn't even know it.
I like the way you do it. It is carefully planned, expertly calculated, and perfectly executed, People don't realize that you don't do something like that all at once, although you can... but, it is the step-by-step that is the way to go. Slowing and building my understanding of it all.
Hope you are having a great weekend!
Yes, thanks to shows like Preppers, people think those that take a more active role in providing for themselves live in huts made from bark and aardvark dung. Little do they know that they're neighbours, people in towns and cities, and all over the place.
I'm plodding away and moving closer to it, as you say, and I'm ok with that. I see it as somewhat of a hobby as much as a lifestyle choice.
Not a bad weekend here, not doing all that much besides range time shooting steel and a long walk yesterday. I did a hike today and am now relaxing. I hope you're well Swigster, and that your weekend is going well also.
Trash does not all go to landfills here, no. It is all around us. On the streets, in the bushes, hanging from the fence.
I'm just trying to reduce my own impact. Educate where I can. Plant trees but... hey, they were already growing somewhere. What I need to do is just find room for them to each grow free and safe. In my latest post I have a picture of nine or ten walnut saplings tightly packed. I think, come fall, I should disperse them. Like... near the river gorge ;)
Yes, I have noticed that in images left on Hive, not just in your region but all over the place. Sad really.
It's a complex matter and one that we're all going to have to pull in the same direction on, at the same time, if we're going to move it away from disaster.
Like you with the trees, if we all thought that way (and acted on it) we'd be going a lot better, but humanity don't have the ability to all have the same idea, even if it's a really good one, at the same time. So sad.
Pollution thanks to super consumer's behavior is the greatest problem, I think. The churning of car fresheners that you talked about, for instance.
I am doing nothing, really. Just abandon a yard for a decade and watch trees appear on their own.
There are studies and date, though, that people begin caring for the environment, when their society is wealthy. Poor people have other problems on their mind and give no **** about their waste, bad habits, or anything else than finding the next meal. Gulls and cats do that, too. They attack a trash bin with vengeance and they leave all the trash spread around after they've managed to pull their treat out. It's a good thing they don't produce anything plastic.
There's a constant drive towards more, more everything, and no one ever seems satisfied which leads to the over-production of products that we could actually do without.
You make a very good point about the disparity between affluent and poor and how that correlates to how each approaches the environment due to circumstances. It's a very complex issue when looked at from all angles.
Here they recycle trash by using it to produce power. I'm not sure if it's cost effective, but it does reduce the waste stream! Plastic is a growing problem, that needs to be addressed. Either by regrinding and reusing it, or by converting it back to fuel (which looks promising); but I Hate to see it in the wild! We all need to pick it up when we see it for useful disposal.
I do understand about the third world problems. It damn hard to worry about trash, when your kids are hungry! That's a very serious problem, that needs serious attention...they need real help! One solution would be to purchase this trash, for a living wage; to be recycled once collected.
I don't know what the answer is, all I know is that not enough people seem to want to do something about it and so the problem gets worse, despite all the initiatives that have been around for many years to arrest the decline. Smells like a money making initiative to me.
Plastic is a massive issue, the oceans are in bad shape because of it, but it'll recover when humans are gone, won't be in our life time but it'll happen, and then the planet can begin to heal.
It must be profitable to recycle, then clean up will occur. Fifty years ago, we had conservationist who would go out, and clean up a problem area. Today we have greenies who try to force others to do clean up by lawsuits. If the greenies put half the energy and money cleaning up themselves, the trash problem would be solved!
I will Always take out any trash I find, leaving the wild in better shape than I found it! Just not that hard to do....
👍🤠💙🎉🐾🐶🐾🎯
We love having the solar. A gift from my in-laws. 5KW all up. Takes up roof space, but its not like we were using it for anything else.
We do most energy intensive stuff during the day, just lights and screens at night.
Not sure how long the panels last, but so far so good.
It's really a great thing to have and my only issue is that I didn't get an array fifteen years ago. That's so cool you got yours gifted...my second system was a government scheme that the household was eligible for that has paid incredible dividends.
You're doing great. those are some great numbers you shared. Helping the world and saving money. I'll have to take a look into implementing a solar system when I get a house one day~
It's been a really great thing so far and will only pay us back more and more as time goes. The ability to track the numbers helps too and shows patterns we can work around, improve or change, to make the systems more productive.
Yes I saw the stats from the photos. It's a great thing since you got it from the free govt scheme. Hopefully in the future all places with good sunlight have built in solar panels on all houses once they can get it affordable to mass produce. It would be good for the world ~ It's kind of cool too because if you went on vacation to another country for a month you'd be making money too from the electricty hehe
Solar and wind power are wise. It is a good use of funds, and an achievable goal. We differ in only two areas, first I don't intend to connect to the grid at all, and I'm not concerned about CO² (since it isn't a control variable). Look at their 'model'; it is total feces, they haven't normalized their model for input variations, nor have they included the oceans in their thermal calculations. That said, I do love solar for the cost savings, and the independence it provides! You have made a good choice.
I'm half way to my goal of 24,000 watt hours for my homestead batteries, using salvaged laptop batteries. My system is 24 volts, and the cells will be current matched in assemblies of 8 banks of 7 LiIon cells in series. Each bank will have a TMOS power FET connecting to the common ground, that will allow the computer to shut down any problem bank individually. I have a power pole on the homestead, I just don't plan to use it.
If you really want to remove CO² from the atmosphere, use biochar (soaked in fertilizer tea) for your garden fertilization. It will provide amazing results, and the CO² will stay out of the atmosphere for a thousand years. The output of your garden (after the first year), will be at least half again more, and some see their produce double.
Stay blessed!
I don't buy into the climate thing that much, mostly because I think it's far too late to do anything about it, but I'm into saving money on power and my systems do that so it's all good.
Understand, I just hate bad (purchased) science! Interestingly, we are moving into a grand solar minimum, so cooling is inevitable. I'm planning for it....
I refuse to be grid tied because I don't think the grid will be reliable when the SHTF comes. I'm working on running a large generator on HHO gas with a custom gas generator design. If it's half as good as it is on paper, I may use it for heating too. So many options, it may run my truck too, using extra solar charging for the gas generator power source. But the generator's first....
Oddly enough, the solar panels actually collect heat as they generate electricity. They cause a local increase in temperature when they operate. I may collect this heat and use a peltier module bank, to make more electricity.
Keep on shooting my friend!
Energy savings are evident with the application of the solar array. I've never seen in detail the kind of pictures you show us. It saves a lot!
Very interesting indeed. That's what my family and I are planning to install when we can move in. Right now I live in a flat.
When I lived in Argentina, we recycled all the organic waste, we had in a huge garden, a place to breed Californian earthworms. With the humus produced, we fertilised the plants and trees. We hardly used any plastic. We didn't have a car, we don't have a car now.
In Argentina, they tried to implement the system of dividing the waste but it didn't work, here in Spain it does. So I always divide everything. I try to use as little plastic as possible.
A very interesting article, to implement it. Thanks Galenkp!
I believe it is important for people to recycle, to look into how they use power and reducing it, the same with consumerism, the want-ethos. But will that make a difference to the planet, a difference big enough to arrest the slide into oblivion? I do not think so.
In my opinion.... sincerely, I don't think it helps, as those who dominate this world have... things planned, not very nice things.
But the important thing is to help, the intention. I'm not a consumer, and I recycle... as much as I can, I'll do... my bit for the world.
If it feels good to do then that's good enough, but overall it's not much help; you're right.
It feels good, yes.
Whether it helps or not...
How much climate change do the rulers cause? Too much...
Our conscience will be clear
You can give the word 'Dependent' two meanings and it will depend on how a person would perceive it - just by looking at the title firsthand. That came to mind when I first saw the title and it turns out that it was to a positive side talking about solar energy.
From what I know solar panels are pricey. I never checked the internet how much they cost, but knowing not a lot of Filipinos do not use solar energy at home, it must be because of how it cost. That is very common even if you're from the middle class society.
Also, I sort of come accross a post on facebook. It's a solar farm from Toledo City, Cebu Province in the Philippines where the location was surrounded in mountain ranges quite far away from civilization. It says it was the largest solar farm in the country. And it mentioned that the solar farm emits 46,923 tons of CO2 every year.
Now it makes me think... does that number of emission annually would contribute in what we now experience "Climate Change?" There are some theories going around why volcanoes are spewing lavas and several earthquakes are happening around the world, so I thought I could realate that to this one.
Here is the Solar Farm and the image is from Viajero Series PH.
You ask some pertinent questions indeed, but I don't have the answer.
I think there's a lot of smoke and mirrors going on to hide the true agenda and the little people, that's you and I, will never know. Climate change is a business and the billionaires become trillionaires, that's my opinion anyway. If you have a look in the comments of this post you'll see other such remarks so I'll not repeat them again.
I am saddened by this phrase, but knowing that it could be true in a way or so, I cannot do anything about it. With only me not wanting it to be true, there's no way it could be changed.
Although the first step can start with you, several minds and voices can move mountains.
Indeed.. but there's been people trying to do so for years and is the planet any healthier, the environment any better off? I think not. Go ask the animals that have become extinct, go stand in a forest that has been cut down for palm oil plantations, go swim in the ocean full of plastic floating a metre below the surface...no, humans are not doing enough, plain and simple.
We recycle a great deal, have done what we can afford so far to make our home energy efficient, like new windows and insulation. A new thermostat was installed that allows us to have settings for different times of the day for more efficient use. We are cutting back on our "stuff" stored away in closets, garage, or basements and are donating so it can be reused in most cases. This is still a work in progress. We have owned the same used vehicles for years and keep them well maintained.
We would like to upgrade the electric and water heater to tankless and eventually look to solar panels as well. Right now we are very dependent on the power grid without an alternative energy source. That said, I am one of those people that could get my family through without power if it came to that.
I am a firm believer in alternative energy. Especially solar and wind. However, it needs to be done smartly. Governments need to start selling it differently to people. Instead of saving the environment, they need to start talking about the cost savings and making the grants and other funded schemes more available and known to common people.
I like your thinking in the last paragraph...they put the emphasis on the environment and that's fine, but people are hurting financially and reducing costs is something that would be well received. Incomes not keeping up with inflation and the high cost of utilities here is really hurting people and I think that causes many to not give a shit about the environment as someone else pointed out in the comments.
Our utilities are constantly going up here as well. The infrastructure is aging and not able to keep up in many places. It is a bad deal all around. The administrations new infrastructure plan is supposed to help upgrade alot of that along with bring in clean energy alternatives, but WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, HOW? They have done a terrible job of communicating how it will benefit the guy at the kitchen table and how we can take advantage of it.
It's bonkers to think a country like America has ailing power grid infrastructure but I guess it's one of things that's out of sight and mind to some degree and so doesn't get the budget or attention it needs. On a smaller scale, people don't maintain their houses as well as they should, so a similar situation. Hopefully it's rectified. To think the grid struggles to supply Americans with power...Crazy.
I was just reading this beautiful piece then reminded my mum about the solar panel we spoke about years back and more or less skipped our minds. We went as far as getting the contact of the solar panel installers to make moves as the electricity bill is crazy high and still on the increase without warning too. Thank you for that. Though it may be pricey right now in comparison to the money to be saved in the long run - it is worth every dime.💕
I think the biggest regret people who get a solar system have is not getting sooner.
You can see what mine has generated, the power and savings...$13,100 since I've had it and it'll keep producing for years. That's a significant saving for what now seems like a reasonable outlay.
Ahem, brother!
It looks like the solar panels are working out well for you. I haven't jumped on that boat yet, but I've been eyeing it for awhile. As things stand, I try to reduce power usage when I can. That's not because of price, but just because I want to be less wasteful. God knows corporations and the rich are wasteful enough with their power usage... my savings can't even begin to compare to their waste, but I figure maybe I can be a good example to someone. Anyway, I love the idea of solar. Until fusion power becomes a reality, solar may be the best clean energy most of us have access to. I hope the technology keeps improving making it even better.
Unfortunately even in Japan, litter is everywhere. There is an additional problem from the effort to fight litter. Trash bins aren't common in public, the idea being instead that if people are forced to keep their trash with them to throw away at home they will be less wasteful. However, plastic bottle recycle bins are common in public. Maybe you can see the problem. What people tend to do instead is throw their trash into the recycle bins. Often they stuff it in the bottles, which I imagine makes the recycling process harder.
A Japanese buddy of mine walks around the city for two hours every morning picking up litter. He's amazing. I don't go to that extreme, but I do usually carry a few small bags when I go out and I pick up the litter I see along my daily routes.
I'm surprised to hear about the little issue there.
We have litter, but surprisingly little really. There are bins everywhere and people use them...except for smokers, that special breed of entitled asshole who think it's ok to flick their butts all of the place with abandon.
All homes have three bins, general, green and recycle and they're responsibly dealt with (allegedly) when they get to waste transfer stations.
Anyway, there's litter, but not much. I don't think I'd like to see litter all over the place. It would depress me.
I'm glad I have solar, my regret being I didn't get it sooner. It's an outlay for sure, but worth it for the savings. I got a decent system on both houses and they're repaying me handsomely. It's a drop in the ocean as far as actual reduction of carbon footprint compared to China and India, orporstions, mining and all the other main offenders, but it's something.
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I'd love to get some solar panels for our house, but we are not sure how much longer we are going to be there. Plus, there are a lot of companies that sound great, but I think they are scams. I'd like to find a company that I can trust is legitimate. I think there are some incentives out there in the US, but the startup cost is still just really high.
If you're not staying it's probably not a good plan to go ahead although some real estate agents will say it'll increase value. Don't believe it, it's not true, certainly not a reason to get it in the first place - trust me on that, I was one for twenty years. If it's there it can add some appeal and maybe a little value, but outlaying to (prospectively) add that value isn't a good idea.
There's rogues out here too, I did a lot of research and was super careful, but I've been very happy with mine.
It's a bit of a minefield really, here anyway, and needs to be approached with caution.
That's my thinking on both accounts. We have some commercials on TV lately about it, but all of them feel like used car salesmen. It just doesn't sit right with me. We had a huge tree removed a year or two ago and that now gives us direct sunlight on a portion of our house pretty much all day. I think if we were planning to stay, it would be worth tracking down a reputable company.
Biggest cost here is Hot Water tank with the 20 min @pooky-jax morning shower hair etc. Routine.
5 min cold shower just ain't gonna happen bro.
I am considering and researching the solar gov schemes here and inserting a water heating factor. Would love to eliminate the 24/7 pre heated electric hot water tank system. Replace it with the solar heated water with a backup of on demand instant hot water system.
My brother years ago had a water heating system on his pool that used his storage shed roof and solar to warm the water.
Hot water can be costly, especially if it's stored. I have that system currently. When it fails I'll be going to gas continuous which heats on demand only. Gas is still costly here, but not as much as electricity. I've not investigated the solar option as far as hot water goes, am pretty set on the gas alternative as it's already plumbed to the house.
Let me know how you go with the solar schemes.