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Jesse Peltan
@JessePeltan
I keep seeing "sure, maybe solar works, but what about all the materials you need for the batteries?" A battery that can store 100% of the daily production of a solar panel - *weighs less than the solar panel.* Batteries are the most mass efficient way to provide peak power. That's why we use them on satellites. Now, mass alone doesn't tell you the cost of a system, but LFP batteries are made from abundant materials and can be manufactured with continuous roll to roll processes. Costs dropped by >85% in the last 10 years as manufacturing scaled and technology improved - and they're still dropping. Batteries are not going to be the limiting factor. I can assure you.
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Jesse Peltan
@JessePeltan
At ~150 Wh/kg, a 23kg LFP battery pack could store the full daily production of a 38 kg 720 W solar panel. Solar + batteries provides orders of magnitude more energy per unit mass compared to any chemical fuel. A battery has a much lower specific energy density than diesel, but x.com/JessePeltan/stโ€ฆ
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David Watson ๐Ÿฅ‘
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SoCal Supremacist
@JWorldwide4
You're really up against the fact that a lot of people, especially on the American Right, are going to oppose solarization on tribal identity grounds. They see it as having been championed by the other team, and as such will make every excuse imaginable to oppose it.
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Jesse Peltan
@JessePeltan
Conservatives should love technologies that help people provide for their families, even when government systems fail. Many of them already do
@cnsrvtxns4nrg
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Jesse Peltan
@JessePeltan
Solar should not be part of the culture war. Solar is energy sovereignty. Solar is for everybody.
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Jesse Peltan
@JessePeltan
Batteries have a higher power density than Pu-238 RTGs. That's why Curiosity has an RTG + batteries rather than just RTGs. It's also part of why most of Earth's satellites run on solar + storage rather than RTGs.
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Jesse Peltan
@JessePeltan
If Curiosity wanted to supply its power demands directly from RTGs instead of using RTGs + batteries, it would need 9 of them instead of 1. 26.5 kg of batteries do what would require 360 kg of RTGs. Batteries improve the utilization of other generation and allow you to do a lot x.com/JessePeltan/stโ€ฆ
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Trevor Blackwell
@tlbtlbtlb
You should probably double the numbers for the batteries to include housing, inverters, etc. But it doesn't change the conclusion.
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N. Schmid โšก๏ธโ˜€๏ธ๐Ÿ’จ๐Ÿ’ง๐Ÿ”‹
@N_Schmid
Most people sleep at night (lower power consumption), and 50% of energy demand is heat, which can be stored cost-effectively (e.g., hot and cold water tanks). This old table remains valid for water.
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alienzzzzz
@awoooouwuooooo
People are afraid to use resources without recognizing that it's okay to use resources, it's not intrinsically immoral Batteries aren't bad things. They're actually really cool and very very good
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John
@RealJohnShoe
I kinda wanna make a startup for a solar panel with integrated batteries that can hold useful charge. I guess you wouldn't even need to store a whole day's use because some of the peak day will get sent straight to the end user.
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Darryle Pfauntsch๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ
@DPfauntsch
Solar โ€œalwaysโ€ works and will offset or replace your grid usage, batteries are a great bonus since you are not impacted by grid outages. I think there will be a time in a decade or two that energy prices will come down but you can still save money now IMHO
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Akajohnsmith
@Akajohnssmith
This is a really impactful graphic comparing the materials used in nuclear, wind and solar / battery systems. You donโ€™t see this kind of comparison often.
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Neo26
@NeoMatrixS
At what cost to the consumers? How many power system blackouts are assumed in your analysis? Ever-increasing utilization rates of solar and wind power make the electric power system more difficult to control.
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VoxTC
@PoliTeeCee
A battery that holds 100% of a solar panel's daily power means at least 4 of them per panel are a good idea.
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Taija
@travelingflying
Yeah, concerns about battery materials often overlook how efficient and scalable todayโ€™s tech really is. LFP batteries combine abundance, manufacturability, and rapidly falling costs to outpace most limits people imagine.
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______
@KORIANDOL0
Batteries still suck. They're heavy, store very little energy, are fragile and sensitive af, require forever to be charged and last a fraction of that time and they pollute for real. This is the practical reality despite your silly propaganda. I love electric vehicles but...
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Forcee
@forcee99
What about countries like Africa If batteries arenโ€™t going to be a limiting factor How can poor families in Africa afford a battery system that can power their homes or businesses during peak hours Batteries here cost way more than solar panels I can go on
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Joshua Val Marner
@MarnerJoshua
Batteries ARE the limiting factor right now. Let me know when that changes without trillion-dollar currency-manipulating economies propping them up.
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Stonk Cold Steve
@StonkColdSteve
Lol this is capcity in GW. You need to compare energy in GWh. Apples to oranges comparison when looking reliable baseload vs. unreliable intermittent
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Veritas First
@veritas_first
So if you want to save a week of power from a solar panel, the battery mass is 7x the solar panel. If we want to save solar from summer to use in the winter, the battery mass is ~150x the mass of the panel.
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