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Originally Posted by Rich H
The power grid does not have the ability to store purchased electricity for resale at a later time. If electric car charging load is added at night, it will force the construction of new fossil, and possibly nuclear, power plants to serve that load, regardless how how many well-to-do electric car owners build solar arrays at home and sell electricity to the grid on sunny days.
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My solar array runs the same time of day that my house A/C runs (also known as "first shift" to manufacturers and "normal business hours" to banks). Solar acts like the battery in a hybrid car - picks up surge/peak demand. It acts somewhat like a battery to the grid in that sense, and helps level the load on the grid by producing most power when more power is needed.
If electric cars use less power charging at night than industry and air conditioners use during the day, they are also load-leveling (by increasing demand when there is more capacity) to the power company. Some of the capacity is already there, or we'd brown out every afternoon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich H
And if, as you say, "...Using solar to replace cheap grid power is not cost effective...", then it cannot possibly be cost effective to use solar electricity instead of grid power to "...replace gasoline for mobility purposes...", as you suggest.
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What you really mean is that it is cheaper to charge an electric car with grid power than with installed solar. That's true and we agree on it. But it is cheaper to fuel an electric car with household solar than it is to run a regular car with $4 gas. So when people say solar is too expensive, the answer is "compared to what?" Compared to grid power, it's more expensive. Compared to $4 gas, it's cheaper. It is possible for the price of one thing to be between the prices of two other things.