Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Texans basically should view grid independent home solar as a minimum requirement.

Between this and the ice storm s couple years ago Texas has shown itself incapable of utility grade service.

In general I think the disaster resilience afforded by home solar is simply not valued enough by subsidies and incentives policies.



Texas is a highly urbanized state and a significant number of families don't have the ability to install home solar, so it cannot be viewed as 'minimum requirement' and some other solution is neccesary.


Maybe people could club together and form some form of group which provides that minimum requirement for the whole area. You could perhaps have an equal say in the group, and have a meeting every few years where you elect some people to run the thing on your behalf.


My guess is it'll meet the same fate as municipal broadband. (i.e. It is explicitly outlawed in Texas.¹)

1. https://law.justia.com/codes/texas/2005/ut/002.00.000054.00....


Or the state government could implement a regulatory regime that ensures its citizens have reliable electricity. A feat the other 49 states seem to have mostly accomplished.


In my country the price of roof mount solar is now under €2000 for 10kWp. That includes government subsidies, however they are not that high (€350 per kWp).

Texas is a much richer economy than where I live, so I see no reason why it couldn't be a requirement, at least for single family homes.


With a subsidu of €350 per kWp, does that mean the government subsidizes €3500 for the roof mounted solar that you quoted at €2000 for 10kWp?

If so that seems like a pretty substantial subsidy to me, the government is covering around 63% of the total cost.


We must have very different definitions of urbanized. Hundreds of square miles of suburbs doesn't quite count as "urbanized".


> Texans basically should view grid independent home solar as a minimum requirement.

And then hail punches through your solar panels and you have to pay for that.

If there were a cheap, easy solution, people would have done it already.


https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/2013/HAIL.png

Here is a hail map.

https://solarpower.guide/solar-energy-insights/infographics/...

Here is a rough solar install map

I think it’s not necesarily true that people avoid Solar because of hail, although anecdotally I know a friend who is reluctant for this very reason

That being said, flooding happens very often and yet homes in Houston are not flood proof.

And let’s not get into the whole cheap energy from carbon sources being subsidized


I have multiple friends who have had significant damage to their home solar setups this year alone due to hail and high winds in North Texas.

Some who didn't have hail damage are now having difficulty getting other roof damage repaired because in order for their warranty to be valid they need certain people to remove the panels before other roof work can be done. But those people are massively backed up by all the other people needing panels removed/reinstalled/replaced.


Is roof damage similar to solar panel damage? My instinct is that solar panels are more fragile


A lot of panels are pretty solid these days. For the friends I had in mind its regular roof damage. High winds tearing up the shingles leading to water ingress inside their homes.


Truly an insurmountable problem for our civilization.

Well, better keep driving 5mpg trucks and dying when the power company fails then.


Those people predominantly drive EVs...




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: