Batteries, a possible downside

ClissAT

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I just heard on the jungle grapevine that the govt or the power suppliers might put a monetary tax or other 'fine' on the installation, use or ownership of power storage batteries.

So just when they have us all brainwashed into thinking we need our own off grid systems so we can protect ourselves from the ever increasing outages & power costs, they come along & tax those very installations.

I remember the same thing happening when the banks changed us over from over the counter transaction to ATMs which were free. Then the fees made an appearance.

OH & here's another thing....... Those of us who have gone out & got cheaper electricity charges are in for a shock in the coming summer.
Apparently, buried deep in the extra fine, fine print of those cheap tariffs is a reference to being able to throttle your power should you use too much at certain times of the day.
I stress 'the day' because it all relates to the use of air conditioners.
If you have a cheap tariff you will either have to change to another tariff that allows the use of aircon or face throttling if there isn't enough power to run your area.

We have smart meters to thank for all these new taxes.
Of course aircon will be available for use at night time probably after midnight!
And yes there will be the occasional time when it will come in handy but think about the fact that most others in your neighbourhood will also be thinking the very same thing, & bingo you have a power shortage again, so yours will be throttled then too.

I'm in the process of designing a completely off grid aircon system. I'm planning to use caravan aircon units powered by some panels. One in the bedroom will have the ability to be plugged in to 240v much like a caravan unit can be.
My power bill is not that big but if I added aircon it would sky rocket, hence the off grid unit system.
In my area it does not make sense to have a full solar power system because the storage batteries are still too expensive. I would still have to pay the exorbitant 'daily supply charge' which constitutes aprox one third to one half of my bill because I have to run water pumps at night time.
 

Ash

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It used to be thought of as conspiracy theory that the government was usurping individuals' ability to be self-sufficient in power, but it's now more and more evident that their goal is for increased control over its citizens and decrease individual independence.
 

Mark

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ClissAT

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Did you see the 60mins interview (or was it Ch7? anyway it was last night on either ch7 or 9) interview with Elon Musk about his installation of the battery in SA?

He was surprised that people in Australia should struggle to pay for power since we are swimming in the darned stuff!

He doesn't have much faith in most political agencies it seems & would rather just go ahead & do stuff rather than wait years for some politician who (in, not his words, but it was his meaning) is paid far too much for doing nothing good.

If he had his way we would be all living in solar powered houses driving very fast solar powered cars. There was a very quick clip of him arriving or leaving in his car & it did not move slowly! :D

now that IS something I can relate too!! Bring it on!!!
 

Robyn67

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electricity, it's generation and its costs is one of my main grievances with our government. I hate how I am charged a daily use fee for still being grid connected. That I only get 12 cents a kilowatt back in the middle of peak time. In some European countries the feed in Tarif is the wholesale price, as you're selling back to the market.

Successive governments have failed in policy to develop the market, they'Ve sold off infrastructure telling us it would be cheaper only to see prices increase and without those companies investing in the future. Particularly the integration on new technologies with the poles and wires technology.

With our natural resources and talent, we could have been world leaders in developing this technology, instead we are importing products and paying for overseas intellectual knowledge through patents.

I could say a lot more on this topic,
 

ClissAT

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Well said Robyn67... & welcome!

Yes most of us know we are being ripped off to the hilt but we seem powerless (pun intended) to do anything about it.

Very frustrating attempting to change any government sponsored snout plunging. Those new power company execs on their 6figure salaries are never going to voluntarily give up their power bill payer funded pig troughs for anything.

For the price of one coal powered power station we can have 6 massive solar farms in the north Queensland coastal hinterland on old can farms.
 

Ash

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A neighbour of ours set up a 5kW solar power system when the rebates were good and despite generating the same amount of electricity each year, he has found the electricity bill go from being always in credit, to zero to now being always in the red, needing to pay Ergon something each quarter. They know how to make money, not to reward investment or caring for the environment.
 

Ash

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Oh, and as for batteries, going for a quality set up like the Tesla Powerwall II that is touted to provide about 10kWh of storage rated at 7kW load, will set you back more than what it's worth for the lifespan it is rated for (about 10 years).
 

ClissAT

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I'm afraid I've become very sceptical of anything even vaguely purporting to be in the consumers' best interests!
If politics & big business are involved it can only be in favour of them, never the consumer.
As a user of grid power, even if only in emergency situations, the consumer is forced to stay connected, thereby paying the daily supply charge as a minimum amount each quarter.
If you can work it wisely, that should be the total of you bill.
Get yourself a solar system but don't tell anyone, don't apply for rebates, handouts or feed in tariffs, as in the end it will go against you.
Just do your own thing as quietly as possible.
 

Robyn67

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you're probably right Clissat. My husband was working out, that if 3 or 4 of our neighbours created our own independent system that was all connected together (like or own electricity company) we wouldn't need as much individual solar on our roofs and we could also supply our neighbour behind and make a small bit of money.

We only have 3 neighbours, one is off grid, then us that is mainly off but still grid connected, one with a small solar system and the other with none. We are seriously thinking of banding together to try to do this. The neighbour with full reliability on grid is quite interested. Its probably a few years off yet, but two of us already have enough in place.

And Ash, you are so right with the cost of batteries. Ours cost a fortune (we chose LG as we thought it seemed a bit better than Tesla). The reason we decided to get a battery is that we tend to all be more at home in the afternoon onwards - so really using more electricity when the sun isn't around. But it was a big decision and financial cost - being just under half the cost of the whole solar.
 

ClissAT

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My initial thoughts when I read your post Robyn, was how far apart your neighbours are as to how far the wires have to run to link the houses together so there isn't any voltage drop.
But I'm sure you've thought of that one.
 

Robyn67

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mmm not sure if they have thought about that. None of us have the knowledge to organise it, we would have to bring people in who knew more about it.

But I think there was some talk that we would need a .... not sure what it s called, but sort of like a relay or transformer or stabiliser and that this would need to be in one of our paddocks as we are sort of in the middle.

Anyway, loads of talk at the moment, we'll see what happens.
 
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