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Twenty four US states are now considering legislation to allow small, plug-in solar power systems that connect directly into a wall socket. (www.nytimes.com)
submitted 9 months ago by to c/energy@slrpnk.net
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I'm a little wary of plug-in solar in the US. Some of the bills propose allowing 1200 watt panels which can overload wiring depending on what else is on the circuit and how in the wall wiring is run. Limiting plug-in panel wattage to, say, 400 watts might be necessary

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[–] 34 points 9 months ago (8 children)

Any wiring can handle 10 amps. I don't understand why you think that's too much. We have really old wiring and it wouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for posting, this is awesome. Now do small wind too.

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  • [–] 10 points 9 months ago (3 children)

    Small wind is horrible, the efficiency of wind is entirely based on the swept area of the blades. At scale it's great, but at household sizes it's just not worth the cost. Turbines and windmills are a 'Go big, or go home' situation as far as being cost effective. Solar, even with batteries, is more cost effective for household or mobile sizes.

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  • [–] 5 points 9 months ago

    There are some interesting new technologies hitting the market. They use vibration to extract energy, rather than rotation. This is a lot more efficient at small scales. While they are extremely situation specific, they can outperform solar for some areas, particularly in winter.

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