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What Solarpunk changes have you made in your daily life? (lemmy.world)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/solarpunk@slrpnk.net
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I feel like I always think of solar punk as a macro thing where a lot has to change but there are still smaller wins we can implement, what have you been doing?

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[–] 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

So far I've mostly changed how I do stuff, rather than what i do. Electric car instead of ICE, Bike and train for commuting, Solarpanels and 20kWh batteries for most of my summer time energy needs.

At work I have more possibility to make a difference, though. So far I've had batteries introduced (solar was already norm) as an accessory to "our" buildings, I've gotten 2 thermal batteries (sand) built and are currently investigating building mounted small scale wind power. Among other things.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Could you please talk a little about the sand battery? What is that?

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago* (1 child)

    It is basically an isolated heat trap for excess electricity/heat during the summer to be used during winter. It is rather like ground heat except for a few notable differences:

    The cons are obvious:

    • Higher investment,
    • More complicated

    The pros:

    • Doesn't need as much power (higher heat output during winter),
    • The community has a goal of using 100% of produced electricity on site (as that is most economical), but this allow us to utilize the entire roof for solar energy, which will be more economical in autumn/spring.

    Cost wise, for the tenants, it's no difference, as the lower running costs of the battery is predicted to out weight the extra cost of capital, but in an emergency the house will be much easier to keep light and warm. The plan is to fit the house with batterier and V2G EV-chargers.

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