I agree about the long term storage aspect of Lake Onslow - that is why I am ambivalent. BUT it is increasingly possible to store the excess power on windy & sunny days. I heard a podcast the other day about the Huntly power complex migrating to battery storage (and bio-fuel generation), and many developments I read about overseas are ad…
I agree about the long term storage aspect of Lake Onslow - that is why I am ambivalent. BUT it is increasingly possible to store the excess power on windy & sunny days. I heard a podcast the other day about the Huntly power complex migrating to battery storage (and bio-fuel generation), and many developments I read about overseas are addressing the "intermittent" problem. Personally, when I go camping I have a portable storage battery that I can use for cooking, charging cell-ph/tablet/torches etc that is easily re-charged either partially or fully by portable solar panels, 12v cig lighter outlet while travelling, or 1hr plugged into a domestic power point. I could almost live off this at home over summer, if it had a higher storage capacity & I had a personal wind turbine!
Hi Cindy, we too have a little camper with a solar panel on the roof. It is great being able to get by without relying on a mains connection. Bring on summer :-) As you allude to, you also get a bit more in tune with matching your supply and demand. Something most of us have little incentive to do at home (aside from the hour of power and similar plans). Somewhere, not that long ago, someone did a study on how much (actual) battery storage would be required to match an Onslow scheme. Assuming current battery technologies, the cost was truly astronomical (and the resource extraction to go along with it). I am by no means an expert on the intermittency problem though, and you have prompted me to do further reading to find out what is happening at the bleeding-edge (when I get the chance!) Thanks.
I agree about the long term storage aspect of Lake Onslow - that is why I am ambivalent. BUT it is increasingly possible to store the excess power on windy & sunny days. I heard a podcast the other day about the Huntly power complex migrating to battery storage (and bio-fuel generation), and many developments I read about overseas are addressing the "intermittent" problem. Personally, when I go camping I have a portable storage battery that I can use for cooking, charging cell-ph/tablet/torches etc that is easily re-charged either partially or fully by portable solar panels, 12v cig lighter outlet while travelling, or 1hr plugged into a domestic power point. I could almost live off this at home over summer, if it had a higher storage capacity & I had a personal wind turbine!
Hi Cindy, we too have a little camper with a solar panel on the roof. It is great being able to get by without relying on a mains connection. Bring on summer :-) As you allude to, you also get a bit more in tune with matching your supply and demand. Something most of us have little incentive to do at home (aside from the hour of power and similar plans). Somewhere, not that long ago, someone did a study on how much (actual) battery storage would be required to match an Onslow scheme. Assuming current battery technologies, the cost was truly astronomical (and the resource extraction to go along with it). I am by no means an expert on the intermittency problem though, and you have prompted me to do further reading to find out what is happening at the bleeding-edge (when I get the chance!) Thanks.