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Couldn’t you run a diesel generator and turn a profit with this?

No because this works through Tesla software.

And even if you could I doubt with fuel costs, the cost of the generator and cost of operating the generator you are not making much profit off $2/kw.

But the real reason of course is that from CA’s perspective they don’t want to incentivize cheap generators to burn diesel fuel in residential areas and try to feed that garbage power into the grid.

IDK. A Honda EU2200i (their second smallest portable generator) generates 2.2kw for a little over 3 hours with 0.95 gal tank [0]. Which sounds pretty close to break-even with fuel cost at this price. The efficiency generally increases with size. I'd imagine running a diesel generator (usually more fuel efficient) with red diesel could easily push you into profitability. Assuming you could somehow get this to work with the system - maybe trick the Tesla software somehow.

[0] https://powerequipment.honda.com/generators/models/eu2200i

But you have to buy and maintain the generator. In addition to the huge upfront cost a gas/diesel generator is going to require yearly maintenance (at minimum oil, oil filter, cycling the fuel). You’ll either need to do it yourself or pay somebody to do it, eating into your margins.

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