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Comment by blacksmith_tb | Hacker News Reader

Not necessarily - my home was built in 2013, with a metal roof and 5kW PV system. But because it's so efficient, I end up not just zeroing out my bill, but giving power to the grid for free (since I don't actually get paid for the power I generate, I just get credits). I have evened the odds out now to some degree with a plug-in hybrid, but I will have to see if in practice charging it will soak up some or all of the surplus I was losing...

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If you live uphill from work, then that car just might help to balance the load. Early in the morning, you leave with a minimal charge, and roll down to work on regenerative brakes while topping up the batteries. After work, you spend that charge and the minimum fuel necessary to get home. You charge your vehicle in the late afternoon, not long after peak sun. Your home power controller is configured to allocate 80% of the car's battery for household usage, overnight.

If you live downhill from work, however, then the only way to use that to your advantage would be to work an evening / night shift.

When home solar installations send excess power to the grid, they also do it in the middle of the day, when wholesale electricity prices are at their highest.

For now. When 10% of people have panels, that won't be true anymore.

So cheaper prices at the time of most usage (and previously highest cost to generate or consume) which is yet another positive externality of solar power.

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