this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2026
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Trump Is Obsessed With Oil. But Chinese Batteries Will Soon Run the World. (www.nytimes.com)
submitted 1 day ago by remington@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org
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https://archive.is/jSRoU

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[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 18 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Heh ... I just finished reading this story from another source.

I've been offgrid on solar for over two years at this point. The future is here, it's just not going to be evenly distributed.

And, hey, if you feel like you need to provide corporate welfare to utilities that are endlessly raising rates, that's certainly your right. But it's very nice to have neither a monthly power nor natural gas bill.

Is it perfect? No. Sometimes I have to plug in to rebalance the batteries, and when things get truly frigid, I have to flee to shelter. Still, a few days in a motel a couple times a year is far cheaper than paying for power each month.

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I've been wanting to, but I only have one southern-facing roof and I can only get a few panels on there. Do you think it's worth it for partial power?

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What sort of load do you have? Like, kWh/month?

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'd have to check, I'd say slightly above average. All of my appliances and HVAC are electric now, and I have a fair amount of other electrical use. If we include the EV, well above average. I don't expect to ever get 100% off grid, but I wonder what percentage makes it worth it

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 1 points 1 day ago

"Slightly above average" is not a useful metric, I'm afraid. So, an EV means there's not avoiding a grid tie unless you've got acreage for solar and are interested in buying a shitton of batteries.

This is not the end of the world. What you can do is get a modest amount of solar and battery to lower your bills ... it doesn't sound like you'd be in a net-metering situation, so whatever shit rate your utility provides is off the table.

What I will say is that ROI is only going up currently due to endless rate increases (and our power is city-owned; YMMV).

How many watts do you think you could fit on that part of the roof? I'm assuming you're looking into 450-500W panels.

[–] LallyLuckFarm@beehaw.org 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I can't really tell you about your situation, but my wife and I did the math for our ROI on a set of roof mounted panels by assuming that the power company would continue raising rates. We averaged the delivery increases and generation cost increases over the number of years we had been in our home, then ran that annual increase over the lifespan of the panels. Rather than being a twelve year break even point it worked out to about seven. In our case, Maine has okay laws about net metering so check what your state and municipality's regulations about it are. Look at your overall financial picture. If you can't do it without a loan, shop for your own loan rather than just taking the installer's.

To answer your question anecdotally, this past summer we were very happy to only pay our grid connection fee of $18 monthly while our neighbors complained about $300 (or higher) each month. You might not hit your full generation needs, but you might make enough of a dent to make it worth your investment

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

People seem to be missing out on the ROI accelerating. Grid energy gets keeping getting more expensive per unit, and base fees, at least here, are absurd -- it was about $42 to get my first kWh. Between that and them cutting power for a week when temps were in the single digits, I did the late-night infomercial thing of saying "There's got to be another way."

Also, agreed: Never get your loan from an installer.

[–] locuester@lemmy.zip 1 points 22 hours ago

I ran the numbers on mine and it’d be 25 years ROI, which is also likely past the life of the panels.

I live northern US, with a hydro dam nearby and a non-profit co-op utility. $0.06/kWh. $25/mo hookup fee. And natural gas for heat.

Doesn’t quite make sense yet.

[–] hodgepodgin@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

any issues with your pipes freezing during those months? heating seems difficult to come by without much sun

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I live in a van, so there's no plumbing to worry about. Just turn the master switch on my power system so that the batteries aren't trying to charge in too cold of an environment.

[–] Sicurio@slrpnk.net 1 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

If you're worried about frigid temps I would recommend a diesel heater. I've been living in a tent for about two years now. It's gonna be sub-zero this week and I expect no problems staying warm with mine.

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 2 points 13 hours ago

I'm currently running my diesel heater. I've just learned over two prior winters how low temps can get and still have it livable in here. Last night was 39, and thanks to my down comforter, I didn't even have to run it until I woke up. 22 is another story entirely.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

How's the van life?

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It's better than being on the street. Mostly survivable, but not as satisfying as I'd hoped when doing my buildout. Of course, external factors didn't help.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 2 points 23 hours ago

For a moment I hoped this could be out of desire for adventure and not need. Sigh. I didn't mean to sound insensitive.

[–] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Well don't leave us hanging. Tell us more!

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 3 points 1 day ago

Job loss, mechanical failures ... usual delights.