Sunnova Energy is seeking permission from state regulators to develop microgrids for new housing developments that would not be reliant on established electric utilities.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/01/business/energy-environme…
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Great idea until you realize that the sun only shines part of the day.
Someone is going to have to finance a lot of battery storage - to get you though 12-14 hours of dark each day.
That can be individual battery packs in every house - or a community battery facility that ‘someone’ is going to have to pay for, either up front, or in monthly charges.
If folks build ‘net zero’ energy type homes, they won’t contribute any power to the grid - they’ll generate/store and seldom have to get power from the grid -
Until the 3 or 4 days of rains come, with no sun, their batteries run down, and now the entire subdivision needs megawatts of power from ‘somewhere else’.
Whose going to pay for all the electric lines, power transformers, megawatt power interconnects, etc.
Oh, and I’m sure they wouldn’t be counting on NG or diesel generators in that eco- microgrid system, either, right? For use on clouded rainy days in a row.
Of course if you cycle your batteries all the time, storing power for night, using it at night, they’ll wear out in 10 years and you can spend another $10,000 or $20,000 replacing them. Each house. 2000 houses.
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