this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2025
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451
‘If 1.5m Germans have them there must be something in it’: how balcony solar is taking off (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 20 hours ago by youradhere@feddit.org to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 38 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (17 children)

“Plug-in solar is part of the whole array of options,”

I don't understand how this works? For our system we need an inverter that cost about $3000.- (half if it doesn't have to handle a battery), and it needs to be installed by an authorized electrician.
For a small system as the one shown, the price of panels are peanuts, the 2 panels shown should cost less than $150 combined. While the cost of inverter and getting it connected is way way higher. There's a lot more to this than not being on the roof!?! But which isn't disclosed.

The article says nothing about how the power from those panels is made usable.

[–] zergtoshi@lemmy.world 10 points 17 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 6 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

OK thanks, so they are indeed complete systems including inverter, so it can be connected to the grid.
I suppose they've made some cheap low power inverters then, but the power still needs to have stable voltage an frequency and synchronization. So I wonder how cheap it's possible to make?
I also suppose it still needs an authorized electrician to connect it? Unless Germany has some fancy system that is prepared for "plug in" connection of a local power source.

[–] kalleboo@lemmy.world 13 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

In the EU, as long as it's under 800W it can be plugged directly into an outlet in your home without any kind of installation, back-feeding the grid that way.

You're not getting paid anything for the power you send back into the grid so anything you don't use you lose.

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 7 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

Still very cool, because selling surplus power is almost completely worthless anyway. (at least it is here)
In the summer when you can sell, prices are generally extremely low, we have sold about twice what we use, but the value of selling is only about 5-10% on average, compared to the savings of using it ourselves. That's because the price often drop to close to zero in the middle of the day, and sometimes even below.
Electricity itself is dirt cheap, the reason the prices are high are transportation and taxes, and short peak prices in the evening. Here transportation alone is more than the electricity itself during winter.
And we are only paid the pure electricity price here, which I suppose is the case most places.

[–] genevieve@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

It literally plugs into the wall.

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 4 points 16 hours ago

That's amazing. 😀

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 4 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

If you pay 3000€ for an inverter then that's probably included installing and whatnot. You can get a cheap 50€ 4kW inverter on aliexpress, or an expensive 500€ 10kW one.

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 6 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

No the price was not including installation, We have 11.2 kW panels and 7.5 kWh batteries. Installation was almost $5000.- !! That was probably mostly the 28 panels on the roof. But we had one installer handling everything, who was also responsible for the electrician.

[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 2 points 12 hours ago (3 children)

That's a massive installation though! Wow!

Also, you got a biig roof!

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[–] Aurora_TheFirstLight@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

I wonder if a whole building could use one or two inverters?

I feel that'll make the cost reasonable

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 3 points 16 hours ago

For apartment buildings I don't think that's possible, since electricity is a per household connection with separate meter.

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[–] sirico@feddit.uk 41 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

In b4 nimbys complain it's an eyesore despite most people never looking up

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[–] Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works 11 points 15 hours ago

Wait that’s a thing?

Holy shit that a thing!? That’s awesome!!

[–] feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world -5 points 7 hours ago

"100 million smokers can't be wrong!"

[–] Septimaeus@infosec.pub 5 points 15 hours ago

Would be nice if grid tied inverters weren’t such a regulatory PITA. Micro-deployment solar, and more importantly distributed energy storage, makes so much sense and could solve a lot of grid-related problems.

[–] MudMan@fedia.io 9 points 19 hours ago

I can tell you I have a portable solar battery for emergencies and if I need to use it the right place for the panel is in my balcony, so this makes a ton of sense. In an apartment building roof space is relatively small per unit, but at least where I am every unit has a balcony. In my case even a rear-facing balcony that doesn't face the street but still gets sun for anywhere between 4-10 hours a day. If/when I am in a position to explore a solar installation this would be a good thing to look into.

[–] seven_phone@lemmy.world 2 points 19 hours ago (6 children)

I am not sure 1.5m Germans all deciding on a single course of action is something to be happy about.

[–] alleycat@lemmy.world 28 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

You have Trump now. It'd be our turn to make jokes, if we had any humour.

[–] Duke_Nukem_1990@feddit.org 8 points 15 hours ago

Nah, making fun of germans is always ok, especially now that at least 1 in 5 voters are voting for literal Nazis again in Germany.

[–] weststadtgesicht@discuss.tchncs.de 59 points 19 hours ago

We have passed the torch of a fascist dystopia to another country.

[–] FelixCress@lemmy.world 27 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

Oh, German=Nazi reference, how original.

[–] sirico@feddit.uk 13 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

Nearly 100 years on time to move on and focus on the ones that carried it on I think

[–] NoForwardslashS@sopuli.xyz 6 points 17 hours ago

A mere drop in the bucket when 77m have decided on a much worse course of action in another country.

[–] Obelix@feddit.org 7 points 19 hours ago (7 children)

Why? Can you explain a little bit?

[–] einkorn@feddit.org 19 points 19 hours ago

*hurrdurr* Germany! Hitler! *hurrdurr*

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