Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted, clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts: 1

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Solar should be packaged with consumer appliances (lemmy.world)

submitted 4 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

24 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Like all buildings should have some kind of standard for solar panel placement added or retrofitted with a very low cost modular mounted frame. Then, when you get an appliance it has a built in battery and comes paired with the right size panels that are sized for each region in the local store/wholesale distribution layer.

The whole scheme is hybrid in the first phase of a decade or so while edge cases and issues come up, like how to handle high rise buildings. Then the burden of grid infrastructure is less of a burden on the poor in total because few people are going to replace all appliances in this instance unlike those that can install a whole house solar system. The entire thing would be more incremental and serviceable over time with modularity. It is less efficient overall compared to a single controller and battery but doesn't require large upfront cost or repurchase later down the line.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 days ago (8 children)

Except batteries are heavy and expensive? Which appliances can feasibly be battery powered for a practical amount of time?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (7 children)

Refrigerators, microwaves, and LCD TVs come to mind.

A refrigerator uses 300 to 800 watts. That is 2-4kWh a day

Microwaves use 600-1000 watts. 6.1 kWh per month if used 15 minutes a day.

TVs use like 100 watts. 4.55kWh a month with 1.5 hrs of watch time a day.

All 3 are big enough to accommodate an appropriately sized battery to mitigate their draw. Having a decentralized battery mesh system coupled with solar main power does have some advantages, but I find it hard to say that it would be more advantageous than a centralized system due to cost and complexity.

[–] potate 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

My (large) fridge hasn't even pulled 1kWh today. Modern fridges are impressively efficient.

I'm steadily electrifying my life - and adding solar panels as I go.

Solar is already super modular and if you package the panels, then you rob the consumer of the ability to pick a panel that works for them (physical size for example, but where you live will also have a big impact on capacity requirements). Also, solar panels have a lifespan that exceeds most consumer appliances. I just replaced a ten year old stove but my solar panels have a 25 year warranty. The replacement cadence is very different.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago

I think the fridge power consumption I found is based on an empty fridge, so having one filled with food is more efficient.

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