Hang on lads, I've had an idea...

[Horse]

Elon Musk et.al. are way ahead of you. His worldwide fleet of battery storage "tankers" are on wheels...

Wonder how many people realise modern electric vehicle (EV) charging points support bidirectional charging (also known as Vehicle-to-Grid or V2G).

Great idea though.

Using EVs for home storage has been mentioned here several times, but I didn't the tech was already installed.

[Buckaroo]

Pffft, we don't need no stinkin' wires

The very idea makes my hair stand on end

[Mike1976]

Elon Musk et.al. are way ahead of you. His worldwide fleet of battery storage "tankers" are on wheels...

Wonder how many people realise modern electric vehicle (EV) charging points support bidirectional charging (also known as Vehicle-to-Grid or V2G).

Great idea though.

Using EVs for home storage has been mentioned here several times, but I didn't the tech was already installed.

IKR but the maths insist the idea is a no brainer. Appx 1.7 million EVs with say, 75kWh storage each equates to 125 GWh of stored capacity.

That's almost two days worth of a nuclear power station running at full chat. Once you see that, you just know someone must have a cunning plan. If I owned an EV, I'd be checking the fine print...

[Mussels]

Elon Musk et.al. are way ahead of you. His worldwide fleet of battery storage "tankers" are on wheels...

Wonder how many people realise modern electric vehicle (EV) charging points support bidirectional charging (also known as Vehicle-to-Grid or V2G).

Great idea though.

Using EVs for home storage has been mentioned here several times, but I didn't the tech was already installed.

IKR but the maths insist the idea is a no brainer. Appx 1.7 million EVs with say, 75kWh storage each equates to 125 GWh of stored capacity.

That's almost two days worth of a nuclear power station running at full chat. Once you see that, you just know someone must have a cunning plan. If I owned an EV, I'd be checking the fine print...

If I could spare half of my EV battery for the grid to use as it pleases then I bought the wrong EV. I'd have a powerwall in my garage just for my use as I doubt the leccy companies would ever make it cost effective to effectively rent them my capacity.
If feed in tarrifs also cut the standing charge in half then I'd consider sharing, the suppliers are also becoming the customer so why not?

[Mike1976]

If I could spare half of my EV battery for the grid to use as it pleases then I bought the wrong EV. I'd have a powerwall in my garage just for my use as I doubt the leccy companies would ever make it cost effective to effectively rent them my capacity.
If feed in tarrifs also cut the standing charge in half then I'd consider sharing, the suppliers are also becoming the customer so why not?

If I were a betting man I'd bet there will be that option, rake in a share of feed in tariff (unless you have your own export meter and license etc.).

Plus of course the option to rent out your car as a self driving taxi while you don't need it.

Makes me wonder if AI is smart enough yet to find a free parking spot you could just send the thing off to.

I'm so glad I didn't grow up in that world. I reckon we've seen the best of the British roads...

[ZRX61]

That's almost two days worth of a nuclear power station running at full chat. Once you see that, you just know someone must have a cunning plan. If I owned an EV, I'd be checking the fine print...

Already an issue in Califailure....

[Dodgy69]

I'm probably thinking nonsense here, infact highly likely, but, is it possible to buy a solar panel and basically plug it into a house/garage socket and reverse your digital meter and therefore produce free lecky. ???

[Pirahna]

I'm probably thinking nonsense here, infact highly likely, but, is it possible to buy a solar panel and basically plug it into a house/garage socket and reverse your digital meter and therefore produce free lecky. ???

No. You need some bits of kit in between the panel and the socket.

The output from the panel will be in DC, the voltage will be variable depending on how much sunlight is reaching the panel. My panels are 48v, 500w. To make some sense of this the output from the panels is routed through a charge controller then an inverter, mine is an integrated unit. What you do with the output from the inverter is up to you. Mine is split between DC to a battery bank and AC to the house. When the sun goes, or there's not enough power coming from the panels, the batteries take over.

[Cousin Jack]

I wouldn't be relying too much on it to cook the Sunday roast.

Our Coastwatch hut is off-grid, so we have solar panels; a wind turbines and some fair sized batteries. We also only operate during the day, so any wind power at night goes straight to the battery. Even with all that we struggle at times to run 3 radios, a router, a radar and a CCTV. An electric kettle is impossible.

If you really want to live off-grid you need to invest in some serious fuck-off kit.

[Pirahna]

If you really want to live off-grid you need to invest in some serious fuck-off kit.

I've got more panels and batteries on order. Because of my position on the side of a hill in a forest, I struggle in the winter. I can survive a couple of overcast days but am struggling by the end of day three. I'm going to take it from 8 to 18 panels (500w) and double the battery from 10 to 20kw/h. That's another €4000 worth of kit. That should get me through an overcast week, or let me use the electric kettle and air fryer.

Grid electric isn't an option.

[Dodgy69]

I wouldn't be relying too much on it to cook the Sunday roast.

Our Coastwatch hut is off-grid, so we have solar panels; a wind turbines and some fair sized batteries. We also only operate during the day, so any wind power at night goes straight to the battery. Even with all that we struggle at times to run 3 radios, a router, a radar and a CCTV. An electric kettle is impossible.

If you really want to live off-grid you need to invest in some serious fuck-off kit.

What about a small nuclear reactor.

[Cousin Jack]

I wouldn't be relying too much on it to cook the Sunday roast.

Our Coastwatch hut is off-grid, so we have solar panels; a wind turbines and some fair sized batteries. We also only operate during the day, so any wind power at night goes straight to the battery. Even with all that we struggle at times to run 3 radios, a router, a radar and a CCTV. An electric kettle is impossible.

If you really want to live off-grid you need to invest in some serious fuck-off kit.

What about a small nuclear reactor.

Never thought of that. Do Amazon sell them?

[David]

I bet Temu do....

[Taipan]

If you really want to live off-grid you need to invest in some serious fuck-off kit.

I've got more panels and batteries on order. Because of my position on the side of a hill in a forest, I struggle in the winter. I can survive a couple of overcast days but am struggling by the end of day three. I'm going to take it from 8 to 18 panels (500w) and double the battery from 10 to 20kw/h. That's another €4000 worth of kit. That should get me through an overcast week, or let me use the electric kettle and air fryer.

Grid electric isn't an option.

So you're €8k into it so far? How long before you realise that investment or is it simply Hobson's choice? IIRC you said you wouldn't be there that long and would move into a town in a few years or have i got that wrong?

[Pirahna]

If you really want to live off-grid you need to invest in some serious fuck-off kit.

I've got more panels and batteries on order. Because of my position on the side of a hill in a forest, I struggle in the winter. I can survive a couple of overcast days but am struggling by the end of day three. I'm going to take it from 8 to 18 panels (500w) and double the battery from 10 to 20kw/h. That's another €4000 worth of kit. That should get me through an overcast week, or let me use the electric kettle and air fryer.

Grid electric isn't an option.

So you're €8k into it so far? How long before you realise that investment or is it simply Hobson's choice? IIRC you said you wouldn't be there that long and would move into a town in a few years or have i got that wrong?

My nearest grid electricity is perhaps a kilometer away. There's no guarantee the electricity company would connect me even if I wanted to. If they said yes, the cost of the connection would make solar look like a low cost option. So it's solar or nothing.

[Taipan]

I've got more panels and batteries on order. Because of my position on the side of a hill in a forest, I struggle in the winter. I can survive a couple of overcast days but am struggling by the end of day three. I'm going to take it from 8 to 18 panels (500w) and double the battery from 10 to 20kw/h. That's another €4000 worth of kit. That should get me through an overcast week, or let me use the electric kettle and air fryer.

Grid electric isn't an option.

So you're €8k into it so far? How long before you realise that investment or is it simply Hobson's choice? IIRC you said you wouldn't be there that long and would move into a town in a few years or have i got that wrong?

My nearest grid electricity is perhaps a kilometer away. There's no guarantee the electricity company would connect me even if I wanted to. If they said yes, the cost of the connection would make solar look like a low cost option. So it's solar or nothing.

So, although costly initially, it will have added value to the place?

[Dodgy69]

I reckon a home wind turbine kit would be generating well here atm. 🌪