Lack of batteries hasn’t really been a barrier; people generally sell excess power generated back to their utility during the day and use electricity from their utility at night.
Terms are almost always that the rate you get paid for generation is less than what you pay to have electricity delivered though
Ah, I’d had this impression from other conversations that batteries were half the cost of getting into solar, but perhaps that was for going off grid altogether (in which case I’d imagine the power company would want their battery back)
Yeah, if you want to go fully off-grid, it’s a lot more expensive; you need enough batteries to store full overnight power, and you need enough solar panels to charge them on a cloudy day in winter. It’s cheaper to do an on-grid system where you generate as much electricity as you use over the course of a year, which is a lot more common.
This would be nice because during bad winter storms the power can go out for days. Not really in town, but if you live in more rural areas it can be an issue.
Interesting, as a Vermonter this is the first I’ve heard of this proposal, and I’m pleasantly surprised with GMP’s plan. I live somewhat out in the boonies, and experience power outages at least a few times every year, sometimes lasting a couple days, with one particularly bad winter storm leaving us without power for over a week (the old wood stove really came in handy then). I’d absolutely love to have a battery installed, if they ever offer it to me.
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