[LINK] Distributed electricity generation

[Tom Worthington]

On 11/07/16 14:24, Marghanita da Cruz wrote:
> ... Ocham's Razor yesterday morning ...  distributed, rather
> than centralised, generation ...
> http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/ockhamsrazor/citizen-utilities:-the-future-of-solar/7558174#transcript

What the item did not cover is who pays for maintaining the grid and the 
generating capacity needed for when solar power and battery backup is 
not enough.

When there is not enough sunshine, householders can use the grid to get 
power from a remote station (currently using fossil fuel). But the 
householder will have to pay for that infrastructure, even if they 
rarely use it. A local generator on a micro-grid is an alternative, but 
the householders will have to pay to have that installed and maintained.

ps: There are some ways IT can help cope with renewable power 
fluctuations. As an example, Canberra researchers tracks clouds, so a 
suburb will have a few minutes warning of a cut in solar power: 
http://www.nicta.com.au/category/research/machine-learning/projects/solar-generation-forecasting/


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Tom Worthington FACS CP, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
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