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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : AI research project for this month
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| lizby Guru  Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3412 |
I read a recent PV Magazine article about the German grocery chain Aldi providing, in Australia, a 6.6kW solar, 5kW inverter, 10kWh (or 20kWh) battery system installed for $6,999 ($4,610 USD, 3,965 Euro). I spent a fun hour this morning asking Gemini various questions about this system. Estimated factory cost of goods in US$: 10 kWh Battery System: ~$800; 5.5 kW Hybrid Inverter: ~$550; 6.6 kW Solar Panels: $594; Balance-of-System (BOS): $660; Total hardware: $2,604 USD. For the average Australian single family residence, what is the anticipated payback time: 2.5 to 4 years. For a household with an EV but no solar (residential charging to be added): 2.8 years. For a household about to buy an EV, trading in a gasoline car: 1.67 years --$2,000 (from not buying gasoline) + $2,200 (from not buying electricity for the home) = $4,200 AUD per year If Aldi or similar system installed on all Australian single family residences, what percentage of total electricity generation would that represent? 26%-28% of final demand. How much gasoline would be saved with 100% Aldi system + 100% EV for single family residences, and what percentage of AU fossil fuel use would that be, and counting displaced fossil electricity generation, what total percentage would be displaced? 67.5 TWh equivalent gasoline: 4.2% of AU energy supply; 42.75 TWh Fossil Fuel Electricity Displaced: 2.6%; Total: 6.8% of AU energy supply. Note that the Aldi price is underwritten to a significant degree by government rebates which Aldi would collect: Solar Panel Rebate (SRES): ~ $2,145 AUD and Battery Rebate: ~ $2,500 AUD, for Total Combined Rebates: ~ $4,645 AUD. There would be an additional $2,500 AUD for the 20kWh version. This total price of $11,650 AUD or $14,150 (20kWh) is still far below the price of a comparable system in the U.S. or Canada--probably one-third or one-quarter of the price. If I had a suitable roof (which I don't), I would happily pay an unsubsidized $9,500 USD for a similar system. Payback time would be a lot longer because of $.125/kWh U.S. price for electricity in Florida (compared to $.40 AUD -> $.265 USD). The Aldi system includes blackout protection, so it will continue to supply the residence with power if the main electricity grid goes down. I'd pay a good bit for that feature alone. Maximum subsidies for 20kWh system for all 7.5 million AU single family residences would be around $54 billion AUD. Annual saving in oil and gasoline imports if all of those residences had an EV with residential charging would be ~$50 billion. ~ Edited 2025-09-14 01:20 by lizby PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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Revlac Guru Joined: 31/12/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1173 |
Interesting, thats the first I have heard about the Aldisolar system, just had a look and the local installers apparently will install it, if you could forward some of this to the solar forum section we could thrash it around and see if its any good,  also You previously mentioned Bluetti, its expensive in AUS but is convenient for camping but the 60V input is a let down.Cheers Aaron Off The Grid |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3412 |
The good news is that I haven't used it yet (because using it in earnest would mean that the grid was down). But I've decided that I need two power stations--one in the basement to run boiler, freezer, water pump, and another in the kitchen. The Pecron 1000 unit looks interesting, and is very often on sale for $399 USD. Being able to back them up with other larger batteries is crucial. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| Revlac Guru Joined: 31/12/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1173 |
It might be educational to put it to work even though you have no black outs, see if it runs a washing machine or some other items and see how it goes, alot lot of us started of running a few things standalone then added more after. I see a lot of portable power backup units available here in AUS, but I doubt many "Being able to back them up with other larger batteries" would really have to look through a lot of details Cheers Aaron Off The Grid |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3412 |
I can't see that I would ever try to run the washing machine during a blackout. In 20 years in this house the longest grid-down events we've had have been 10 hours (it helps that we are on the same local grid as the hospital, and the nearest power dam and substation is less than a mile away). I asked Gemini about outages in Australia and Canada, and it says that there are 3 times as many in Canada, and they last 3 times as long. In a longer outage, the main things I would want would be to be able to run the well pump so the toilet could be flushed, run the boiler if it is needed, and keep the fridge and freezer going. Lighting is almost incidental. Being able to run an electric kettle and an induction burner is easy with a power station like the Bluetti or Pecron. Here's an excellent Youtube explainer on how additional larger batteries can feed a power station with a smaller battery: backup for power station PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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