Solar goes EXPONENTIAL - surpasses even Tony Seba's projections

[@electricviking]

The best solar company in Australia just installed my new solar system. Check them out here: www.resinc.com.au/electricviking

[@krishnachandramenon8]

I'm from India, last month 4kw solar system installed for $2520/- in INR. Cheaper and with an ROI within 2-3 years.

[@thebestevertherewas]

which company dude, is it available pan India ?

[@krishnachandramenon8]

@@thebestevertherewas it's after subsidy and Dcom registration fees refund, it's a listed vendor in the government MNRA site. Not sure about pan India. Adani's Topcon n-type 8 panels, actually 4.58kw.

[@tibsyy895]

Try to do that in Switzerland! 😂

[@a.v.gavrilov]

@tibsyy895 They do it too

[@kiae-nirodiariesencore4270]

That's great news! India will be a world solar powerhouse without doubt. I live in France and put 8 x 300 wP panels up in 2019...now that tech looks so old!...New panels going up next year will be 450 wP each. Even so, the old 8 panels have provided 75,000 km of driving my EV since I bough the car and the panels at around the same time.

[@mbarber4089]

A major issue you did not mention is with 100 per cent renewables we should see a dramatic reduction in pollution and cancer rates over time. I lost my wife to cancer a few years ago. For me this alone is a massive incentive to move to renewables. I regularly watch your channel. keep up the great work.

[@aaronsinspirationdaily4896]

I’m sorry for your loss. I too have had the same loss.

[@willm5814]

yes, I lost my parents to cancer 35 years ago - I learned the cancer link to burning 'stuff' about 50 years ago - it's an amazing benefit of going to clean energy!

[@tysonfinn1470]

Yes, I think people are ignorant to the pollution from cars just because they can't physically see it

[@hogey74]

Sorry to hear mate. A timely reminder for me about the unacceptable risks we all too easily accept or ignore.

[@MrJaykay12345]

As an engineer, solar and batteries just make sense , cheap , low maintenance, no moving parts , quick to install and can be installed almost anywhere where there is sunshine ☀️, it’s going to happen super quick the move to solar and batteries 🔋, even probably ahead of wind 💨 and other more capital intensive renewable or low carbon sources of power.

[@grantbuttenshaw]

What's going to happen super quick?.

[@alexandruilea915]

​@@grantbuttenshawMass adoption as prices continue to go down.

[@grantbuttenshaw]

@@alexandruilea915 prices aren't going down....they have already fallen

[@alexandruilea915]

@@grantbuttenshaw they have continued to go down for years, why would they stop now? For batteries they will surely continue to go down.

[@grantbuttenshaw]

@@alexandruilea915 they have already bottomed out....Tesla powerwalls haven't changed price in 7 years... Do you think prices drop to zero? They will not get any cheaper...battery manufacturers are already making a loss..

[@snoflite5234]

75KW system here, it takes care of ALL my energy needs for house and auto's. My daughter and I installed the entire system.

[@smb-zf9bd]

How big is your house (sq feet) and what about temperature?

[@ngana8755]

10kw is what an average American home uses. 75KW could be sufficient for a small farm even. In Africa, 75kw would power 17 households if each household consumed 580 kWh per year.

[@TricoliciSerghei]

@@ngana8755 No no, maybe in Europe it's 10kw, in America for some reasons an average household needs 30kW.. Maybe they love everithing bigger? It's the land of giants? :)

[@cathyhaynes2903]

@@TricoliciSerghei It's also the land of very hot summers and very cold winters. And a lot of uninsulated housing.

[@incognitotorpedo42]

congrats on the DIY. With the money you saved, you could easily afford such a giant system.

[@VortokMercadia]

As I worded it to someone in my first year of college, "The way I see it, electricity is basically the lifeblood of modern civilization."

[@kiae-nirodiariesencore4270]

It is indeed, and it is becoming a commodity with no constraints on supply. I recommend reading a recent article in The Economist called 'Sun Machines', very thought provoking.

[@philwaddell4958]

@@kiae-nirodiariesencore4270that whole economist edition was fantastic.

[@davidwestwater2219]

Electricity comes from oil gas and coal. Try going off grid and powering your house on solar and using air conditioning and anything else you want. Like you do with a traditional house. Try running a big roof figurator and a freezer, and having an air conditioned home and et.Cetera et cetera

[@fotoguru222]

@@davidwestwater2219 That depends on where you live. My state doesn't use oil or coal. Very little in the US now comes from oil. The percent from coal is decreasing rapidly as well. Gas will probably still be around for decades, but in the future it will come from renewable sources, i.e. biofuels and solar and wind powerd synthesis..

[@SparkySho]

Ty Nikolai Tesla

[@jcfallows]

It's an amazing positive message for the future!

[@MarkChen-m8n]

@@jcfallows Yes! Exactly what this world has need of !

[@SparkySho]

Ain’t it

[@Ruhdddch]

Installed 8kw in 2014 for $5800 ... in texas..... after rebates and all....about 95 megawatts produced so far Living it and loving it

[@markvalery8632]

Did you do this yourself? My 10kw system in early 2014 in MA was $40K before all rebates.

[@EneriGiilaan]

I assume you did mean: 95 MWh (megawatt hours)?

[@kotgc7987]

Congrats on the new solar! I haven't had an energy bill for 15 years. Just cleaned the solar panels for the 1st time, so amazingly clean after 15 years. Bar chart shows about 10-20% more energy now per day. Only regret is I didn't have a monitor of how much energy solar makes and I used the last 15 years. I can recommend some UX friendly software if you don't have any software monitors. Solar rocks!

[@MrZoltano]

Viking, what matters is the Silent Majority. I am one of them and we agree and approve. So thank you and keep on electricing!

[@SparkySho]

I always thought th silent majority was silent 🤷‍♂️……….but look what I got to think with HA

[@rl8571]

The DIY aspect of this is so easy that once you get into it you just keep adding. Its still going to grow because DIY segment is just getting started. Once I discovered ground mounts it just snowballed. I knew nothing six months ago and now i have 1200 watts panels ground mounted feeding 6kwh batteries. The best part its all under $5k. When i knew nothing, the solar knock vendors are quoting $3 per panel watt and grid tie only with no batteries for a 7k install. Just reminded me of the days of putting a PC together. Once the math of power, ratios, and storage grabs a hold of your brain it becomes obsessive. Thanks for your insights.

[@philblum1496]

Is there a website where I can learn all this?

[@buzzsaw838]

@@philblum1496 seconded, it sounds very doable for sure

[@PazLeBon]

cool

[@ferfromla]

Solar definitely works. My solar system has saved me a ton of money, and I have had zero problems with it. My next step is installing batteries, which will cover all my energy needs. Solar is the real deal.

[@MarkChen-m8n]

Hey,Viking Man! I am stoked, by the positive progress that's been made,as well as hope for the future. Somehow,someway, ridiculous comments find a way!

[@fuzzymonkey777]

60-70% of aluminum's cost comes from the energy used in smelting. Lots of things should become cheaper with free energy.

[@davidkendall2272]

I love Tony Seba, and have followed him for many years now, and he has been right in his very positive predictions about the disruptive energy transition to EVs, Solar + battery storage. I am sure he is fine with underpredicting the transition. Love your episodes Sam, always make for great viewing. I installed 13.2 kWh solar PV system in 2012, and two Powerwall-2 batteries in 2018, and have been all in on EVs since 2012, and our all electric home operates as a microgrid ~8 months of the year, providing all our energy needs and charging two EVs, while exporting ~50% of or excess solar back to grid via net metering. Totally satisfying and absolutely works.

[@PazLeBon]

its been obvious for a couple of decades

[@abdulyusuf9982]

Thanks to China for believing in renewable energy

[@gdiwolverinemale4th]

lol ... thanks to Western government money printing. Stupidity has consequences. All taken into account, the savings are minimal

[@electricviking]

Our pleasure!

[@ecognitio9605]

"Our" ? 😂. Lol i knew something was off about this channel. ​@@electricviking

[@eIectrostatic]

​@@ecognitio9605That's called trolling the trolls 😉

[@MarkChen-m8n]

China believes in the🙈🙉🙊

[@hardi.howdy.983]

When you installed solar at home, it definitely surpassed even Tony Seba's projections 😁

[@johnsbone]

It looks like the national Building Regulations here in the UK will be requiring solar PV on all new homes started after 2026. "Homes for the Future" Even here in the UK (England) we are seeing even north facing PV panels being "more than cost effective". They stay cooler and this almost offsets the lack of being south or west facing. Based on the real data in 2023/2024.

[@gdiwolverinemale4th]

Which shows ... it is id eol ogy driven. Were it really needed, the regulation would not be necessary. But ... as always

[@michaelmartin9022]

​@@gdiwolverinemale4thGot quite the crazed fanatic 'ere, 'ent we, lads?

[@yasaralamin1246]

​@gdiwolverinemale4th, you know, fossil fuels are receiving huge subsidies, too. Right?

[@nicholaspostlethwaite9554]

I suspect if forced on developers they will do the minimum possible. So small arrays not utilising the max roof space. Developers are the blight on the land.

[@gdiwolverinemale4th]

@@yasaralamin1246 What subsidies are those? Farmers get some relief, for very obvious reasons. Regular people don't, myself including

[@Tieveileb]

I’ve been preaching the huge potential of SWB for years, as you have, but always got back those looks that said ‘nice guy, but a little crazy’. If the world gets all its ducks in a row, we can be headed toward a world of abundance.

[@frenchydampier2209]

He’s spot on the money. Put up more than you need for those rainy/ cloudy days. ( we can pretty much count on 75% of the winter months being cloudy. Up here in Northern America). But EVERY DAY. Will generate some electricity. I will have a 10KW. Battery plus a bi -directional charging system off my EV. ( worst case a 3.5 KW back up gasoline powered generator.) I’m just not sure If I’ll be grid tied or not.

[@calamityjean1525]

If your grid has a significant amount of wind power, it would make sense to be grid-tied. Wind and sun are significantly anti-correlated.

[@RossBurrell-w8g]

Positive signs Sam ✨️. COP 28 last year looked like a oil and gas trade show, but right at the end a lot of countries signed up for a tripling of renewables by 2030. It's doable! Love podcasts like this 😍

[@aussie405]

The SWIS (South West Interconnected System) in Western Australia was running today with more than 2/3 of the power coming from small solar. Basically rooftop solar and they are curtailing the large solar farm from about 10am as there is too much electricity. The Electricity people need to get more wind energy for night time and then massage the peaks into the troughs with batteries. I am currently learning what time to start charging my EV at night so that I mostly empty the home battery by the time the sun takes over. Seems to be about 3am. 😂

[@fishingpol5195]

As long as it makes financial sense people will buy it. In a lot of places electricity grid prices have gone up a lot while solar panels/install dropping a lot. Battery packs still a bit pricey but I think they will drop in the next few years and I think we will see even higher switch.

[@gdiwolverinemale4th]

Indeed. The incentives are not great, except when compared with artificially inflated conventional energy cost

[@philiptaylor7902]

Keep the good news flowing, Sam. You do my heart good.

[@shaunharris7881]

You are correct and it’s happening today, I am with Amber energy and the wholesale price now is 1kw.

[@paulrandolph8469]

We got a solar estimate here in Canada. For an average house, they wanted CAD 63,000 (USD 46,700) to install. They're gouging the public, so we're going to wait a couple of years for prices to drop.

[@freeheeler09]

Paul, not sure how handy you are. But look up the solar kits. You can permit install the system yourself, then hire an electrician for a half hay to check your work and do the final hookups. It’ll cut your cost by more than half.

[@willdoe7681]

I am in Alberta and on top of the high install prices we are paying grid fees making solar more expensive than highly subsidized fossil fuel power. And the government announced huge tarrifs on solar coming down the pipe. Looks like we are stuck with old polluting technology

[@NadeemAhmed-nv2br]

This is a note America problem mainly, in other parts of the world you can get a 7 kilowatt system installed around $2000 ​@@willdoe7681

[@nicholaspostlethwaite9554]

Sadly yes it does seem the installers are ripping off everyone everywhere. They see it as a new gold rush overpricing, cheating, customers.

[@grantbuttenshaw]

Prices won't go down...they already did..

[@nathanhayhurst3212]

Sam, would be nice to cover some things to think about when moving to solar, like getting panels that are higher power output saving you in mounting hardware etc. All the ins and outs in being solar smart.

[@jcfallows]

Another great reveal about solar Sam thank you. My prayers are with you and your family.

[@gdiwolverinemale4th]

Only God can help us?

[@electricviking]

Thank you kindly

[@gdiwolverinemale4th]

@@electricviking A little message for you .... left wing ideology and government debt is the principal driver behind the scheme. There is nothing wrong with utilizing sun radiation, but it would never be viable if trillions of taxpayer money were not invested into it. China is the main beneficiary. We are the losers.

[@kotgc7987]

The unicorns wish you and your family happy rainbows.

[@beehappy7797]

@@gdiwolverinemale4th If everyone stops helping each other and leaves it to God, no one will get help.

[@sinan1752]

Thanks for showing us new visions

[@electricviking]

It's my pleasure

[@edwyncorteen1527]

My first solar panels were installed over seven years ago, with zero maintenance, still going strong today with no sign of reduced capacity, my record annual production was in year six (2022) so even here in the "sunny???" UK solar works.

[@pandasydelfines]

Go Viking.... !!! We're so very paying attention!!!

[@johnharrison8480]

Dear Sam, Many of us already have Solar and we're supportive of your KZbin efforts. I am still waiting for an affordable electric pick up truck not costing $100,000 USD, say $40k. My electric bill is usually $6 USD!

[@parthppopat]

Gujrat model went further in installing solar panels over exposed water ways. Water evaporates less & humidity prevents overheating of the panels. 🙂

[@alexandruilea915]

We have hidro dams here in Romania and the company running them also wants to cover them with solar panels.

[@alexandruilea915]

@@orionbetelgeuse1937 I think you don't know how it's supposed to work. They are mounted on floaters, not fixed in place and there is space between them for people to check them out. Instead of being an ignorant you could have googled it. It has already been done in China and other countries.

[@alexandruilea915]

@@orionbetelgeuse1937 I don't get how a big storm may cause any problems on a dam which has overflow valves on it. The array will stay mostly at the same level of water for most of the time.

[@walterpborn9807]

I have recently installed my own solar system and its working perfectly.. I noticed that the "weakest link" in a solar system is the inverter. I estimate that won't last more than 6-7 Years. Especially in Hot, dusty environments where I live.

[@Julian_Wang-pai]

Good forecast EV and you're doing a great job informing us of these super positives 👏👏👏

[@MrLasox]

Australia are in a huge lead of the solar production and it will become much cheaper in the future too and with better solar panels (most likely) with new technology it's good it's getting invested alot now, but it will become even more popular in the future because of the side-effects of everything. More and more houses has it, cheaper solar panels, more watts with newer technology. It is finaly looking good!

[@MrLasox]

@@orionbetelgeuse1937 Have i ever mention silicon made panels? No, i mention. Solar panels. There are several sciences who are looking for new materials that can be making electricity. Many of them are looking promising and they could increase the efficiency by several percent. I did also clearly mention more watts with newer technology. Meaning that i don't belive in silicion made panels can getting much better then it is, but other materials can be more efficiency.

[@coffeeisgood102]

I did the math on the cost vs gain of my solar panels. The 30 year loan that I signed up for cost me $82000.00 at the end of 30 years which includes all interest and fees. If I had stayed with Florida Power & Light during that same time period I would have paid them $122000.00. And that is not taking into account any rate increases which would occur during that time period. So for me the question was do I want to pay FPL $122000.00 (plus rate increases) at the end of 30 years or would I rather pay the bank $82000.00? The answer is obvious. I would have been a moron to stay with FPL.

[@RickDenzien]

Our year-to-date production is 769 kWh. All our solar panels are not placed ideally as every roof is facing the wrong way. We still are off grid more than on. Battery backup is a huge factor effectively doubling our capacity. Only need to have a few more panels and we will be off grid 100% of the time, even on the darkest day of the year. We also charge 2 EVs Tesla Model 3. 😎 every solar company told us that we shouldn't do solar because it wouldn't work. Even the the solar tools from our grid provider (Peco) shows our house with the solar panels and also says we cannot do solar 😅 idiots! Solar is POWERFUL! ❤

[@gerardopadilla8607]

This was one of your best videos !!, "imagine if "

[@acmefixer1]

My neighbor got more solar panels and two Tesla Powerwalls a few months ago, and I noticed that the power line from the utility pole is no longer connected. His home is *off the grid* - he has disconnected from the So. California Edison Company's grid! That is super amazing! No more 150 dollar a month electric bills! That's $1800 a year, or about 45 thousand savings over 25 years. Easily enough to pay for the solar system! And his electric vehicles are charging for free.

[@jasonallatt5410]

Great news and video Sam! 😎

[@shawnstangeland3011]

Yes!! 400-500 watt panels are going for $125. So easy to put your entire house off grid.

[@mattg432]

No, off-grid is not easy, that's why a grid has been built in the first place.

[@ernestgalvan9037]

@@mattg432..the grid “was built in the first place” because when electrification started, there was no other way to distribute electrical power.

[@alexandrufrandes.]

Tony Seba knows his stuff!

[@waynemorgan5168]

Power will never be free because you have to pay for maintenance on the grid. Here in Louisiana after a hurricane it always cost a fortune to repair the damage

[@begelston]

Here around the 45 degree parallel in Minnesota, the generation of solar power varies a lot between winter and summer. The improving panel efficiency means that even here it will become more viable.

[@needmorecowbell6895]

I have a 12 kwh system. In my state, residential solar produces more energy than the grid uses during the afternoon hours. We could go faster, but we have to sort out who pays for the fixed costs of the power grid and battery storage.

[@oldguy4057]

I wish I had been more optimistic and forward looking when I installed by system in 2021. I put in a 4.2 kw system, with net metering (California wit Pacific Gas and Electric). I met my household needs. I did not anticipate my daughter giving my wife a Tesla Mod Y. She uses it a lot. She is a registered nurse who visits patients in their homes. The car easily needs twice what the house uses. I went from 12 used PV panels, each at 270 watts, to 30 of the same. The panels were used and cost me $2300 for about 40 panels. My next upgrade will require larger 240 volt ac wiring and some new 440 watt panels. I used string inverters that could handle 4 panels each. I bought racks, but built my own supports and installed the system myself. The California Public Utility Commission and the power company seem bent on killing new solar. New systems require payment of a monthly fee for net metering. We usually have three months each Fall and Winter with cloudy weather and low production, so batteries would be a problem.

[@gingerboi8711]

I can't wait until next year when I get a new roof and solar with battery back up!!! no more 300 dollar electric bills ! we already own two electric cars.

[@bleargh22]

A related topic that would be great to hear from you on is thermal storage like rondo, 1414, etc - using excess solar and wind to store heat and reduce gas for industrial heat

[@passby8070]

Its one of the cases that China's "over capacity" is benefiting humanity.

[@malcolmgreen8759]

A bit of a correction to the Viking… during a rain storm the percentage output capacity of a solar system is about 5% of nominal. An ordinary cloudy day the solar PV output is about 20%. This is what I know… we are solar installers and I monitor dozens of solar sites under different weather/environmental conditions.

[@kenknight6201]

I would really be interested in a video about the environmental effects of digging for the minerals that go into making solar panels versus the damage from fossil fuel consumption.

[@tomwinston6758]

Keep on keeping on…. Appreciate the great work.

[@electricviking]

Much appreciated

[@wlhgmk]

Sam, do you have your system set up so that only the excess power over the rest of your demand, goes to the EV battery. If one just charges when the sun is shining, if the under-floor heating comes on, a cloud covers the sun, suddenly, you are charging mostly with grid power.

[@somenameimtryingtomask]

45k on black are you sure. I got my system installed in one of the most expensive citifies in us. In NYC it costing me about 4500 -5500 after 4 year incentives.

[@tomarmstrong1281]

Correct me if I am wrong but my understanding is that the amount of solar radiation falling on the earth every day can produce sufficient energy to meet all of huamites needs for an entire year. Only a fraction of that can be converted to electricity, but it would still far exceed the worst estimation.

[@tomarmstrong1281]

@@orionbetelgeuse1937 Thank you for your response. My only comment would be to do some research on the initiatives, concentrating on finding good solutions to these questions. My original post simply pointed out that the amount of renewable energy available is colossal.

[@tomarmstrong1281]

@@orionbetelgeuse1937 The fact is that the surface area is comparatively small. Here in the UK, we have less suitable land mass than many other countries. Places like Algeria, for instance, have masses of otherwise unproductive sunlit land, which could be an enormous economic benefit to that country. Admittedly, the infrastructure needs to be developed. However, the UK has shallow seas in the Dogger Bank, which have tremendous wind potential.The emphasis has to be on the idistributive and storage nfrastructure. In light of current efforts I believe we will see substantial gains sooner rather than later.

[@hogey74]

Solar is so cheap in Australia that older gear is almost free. I've bought 4.5Kw of panels with most of the tracks, wiring etc for $300 AUD ($200 USD). All testing above 90% of rated power. Including a 3KW inverter. By the time I've built out my shed rig project with 14KWh DIY battery it will owe me about $4k AUD.

[@macemoneta]

The right way to do fusion power is with solar. We've got a giant fusion reactor in the sky. It's online and pumping out 173,000 terawatts of solar power; all we have to do is collect it.

[@calamityjean1525]

It's as if we were hungry and it was raining soup. Just hold out your bowl.

[@willm5814]

Here in Burlington Ontario Canada, it only costs my $1.75 USD to fully charge my Tesla Model Y from 0 to 100% - mind-blowing

[@garymiller8287]

Thanks!

[@electricviking]

Welcome!

[@scratchintheitch9472]

Even though batteries are half the price to what they were several years ago, they're still expensive in Australia

[@stefanweilhartner4415]

i am an optimist and i was aware that solar is growing very fast. but what i did not see, is, that the prices dropped again compared to last year by a significant amount. i thought that the prices might drop by about 5% but here in austria the prices dropped more in the region of about 20% compared to last year. i did not see that this is possible. this is the crazy thing. three years ago i calculated with about 80ct€ per Wp but prices are already in the area of 25ct€ per Wp. Of course there are differences in quality but really, I don't want to pay triple the price for a high end premium module that delivers 10% more value over 25 years. I go with the cheapest modules. If some of them are broken in 10 years? i don't give a f... because in 10 years i get tandem silicon perovskite modules with 30% more power for a lower price.

[@ChristopherLeeEdwards]

I published that solar would reach 1-2c kw/hr back in 2015. Tata energy admitted this week that it's 1c kw/hr over the lifespan. 1c for a battery, 1 cent for transmission, 1c for investors and 1 cent for retail. Solar now at 90% efficiency remaining after 30 years.

[@christophmartin5381]

Right now we have 2,8x the capacity we are using right now and that included with an EV. The south AND north faced roof are covered completely, we also have a 10kwh battery for the night. Now your asking why such over capacity? Well in near future we will cover mostly heating with it. 11.000kwh/y consumption now, then roughly 25-30.000kwh/year.

[@langleech]

Thanks solsr saved lots monthly in my house since we installed 13kw n Powerwall few years ago 😮 ,we are in WA Australia 🦘🌏

[@J2day2]

Fantastic news Sam!! I am so glad you share news like this in a sea of linear thinking, pessimism, doom and gloom. We can fix this, we have the tools we just have to believe it. This is like witnessing a Kodak moment transpire in real life. Like Tony Seba says the "caterpillar is becoming a butterfly" right before us. Personally I think 2025 is the crossover point where the future of energy starts to resemble a futuristic movie!! Potentially/unfortunately for many, this means the start of a real permanent oil glut but fortunately for almost all, the start of a future of near free energy!

[@biskero]

and if you add perovskite solar pv which increase efficiency by almost 50% it's going to revolutionize energy. It's going to be very interesting!

[@ianollmann9393]

If the period over which it doubles is contracting, then it is super-exponential.

[@stanmitchell3375]

Surplus can be used for hydrogen Hydrogen can be used to grow yeast for food

[@coacoacoa2]

This is certainly a good news, but the only thing that matters is how much energy is produced, not the installed capacity. It is not the same to have a coal-fired power plant that can always operate at 90% power and have a solar power plant with the same maximum power.

[@gdiwolverinemale4th]

Most of the people commenting here are delusional about the concept and believe they are changing the world by installing solar panels

[@freeheeler09]

The green energy revolution isn’t just about producing power. It is also about better insulation and leak sealing for homes, more efficient appliances, minor changes in the time of day when you use energy, etc. Heat pumps, induction stovetops, and wood stoves can all help you go off grid. We have efficient windows, honeycomb blinds and double insulated curtains on our windows to keep out summertime heat and winter cold. All of the se things mean our current house uses far less energy than the past homes I’ve built for us. .And, with smart electrical breakers, and minimum effort, you can time when you actually use energy. The green energy revolution is only partly about electricity generation! The rest is increasing efficiency.

[@SigFigNewton]

This was a video about growth rates. When total max capacity is exponential, so is actual generation

[@thorium222]

On average electricity will be very cheap but it will never be free. Very cheap is also good enough.

[@danabe3220]

Power my entire 23 acre homestead near Portland Oregon and charge my two Tesla's with ground mounted solar and 4 Tesla Power Walls.

[@grantgilligan8879]

That growth is most likely 90%+ government power generation installs. Even in CA where it is a great ROI, I see little new installs. I see huge projects in Mojave but not much else. Almost no homes in Northern Nevada.

[@ToddSinclair-ix1lu]

New chip design announced by Wolfspeed, improves efficiency of Silicon Carbide chip by 15% over other Silicon Carbide chips for the inverter in solar. Also improves efficiency of chargers for EV's.

[@therealjeffg]

Can you do a video on your solar system, its size, cost, output etc? That would be really interesting.

[@frankmynard6325]

More to the point, if richer countries make aid in the form of solar panels, whole populations living in extreme heat producing hardly any food can suddenly harness solar for agriculture and shaded greenhouses, it is completely transfomative

[@gdiwolverinemale4th]

The panels will disappear and reappear on the black market

[@calamityjean1525]

@@gdiwolverinemale4th So what? The main thing is that they get used.

[@gdiwolverinemale4th]

@@calamityjean1525 ... and I pay for it? Hell no!

[@SeanWork]

Batteries / storage is the game changer.

[@jgarbo3541]

Sam, idiots never apologize.

[@gdiwolverinemale4th]

You have power only during the middle of the day, not at night when you need it the most for heating or hygiene. The solar bleeps are rid err iculous

[@freeheeler09]

That is why a home solar system also includes batteries. And, a solar system includes a smart electric panel. With solar, you run your dishwasher, washing machine, do most of your home cooling and heating, run your well pump, and charge your cars during the day. It isn’t an inconvenience to switch much of your electricity use to the sunny times of the day. And, battery prices, while still too high, are coming down. Homeowners will soon have 40 kWh of storage, enough, with solar, to power most homes even though the winter.

[@aryaman05]

@@freeheeler09 Or make plenty of ice and hot water during the day and store them in tanks, for cooling and hot water needs 24/7, and take some load off battery system.

[@SigFigNewton]

@@gdiwolverinemale4thbattery energy density doubling every few years. And it’s already good enough for home solar to power the house at night.

[@alexandruilea915]

​@@gdiwolverinemale4thyou must have not heard of an electric boiler (stores hot water) or a battery if you belive solar is only good during the middle of the day. We have a heat pump with a thermal buffer (2000 liters of conditioned water). My current hot water is just cold water flowing through a 32 meters cupper spiral inside the 2000 liters buffer. If I raise the water temperature tu 50 celsius in the buffer I have enough thermal energy for 20 people to take showers without using any additional energy. The buffer is used for heating obviously, but we also have the hot water from it so it's like we always have hot water ready to go and I can heat that buffer up to 55 Celsius during the day with solar and the heat pump and thenhave a thermal buffer for the house heating as well which may last the entire night and end up not using any electricity for the heating that's not from the solar panels.

[@johnfrancis4401]

What is your pay back period Sam? How many years will it take to pay back the cost of the pV panels?

[@grantchin1526]

I'm afraid we're a bit backward with solar adoption in New Zealand

[@grgmetube]

I have 3kw, 12 x 250w panels installed from 2015. I live in Invercargill with what I hear has one of the lowest solar insolation available. It has reduced my electricity bills quite a lot but I still use quite a lot from the grid in the evenings, especially in winter. I was going to install some more panels and battery storage but the cost would have been NZ$13900. I paid $9060 for original installation in 2015. I was going to install 4 x 410w more panels and a 7kw battery. I was not satisfied with the estimation of pay off time with saving, given by the company. They did the calculation based on the panels I already had plus the new panels and battery, not the new panels and battery alone. This greatly reduced the payoff from investment calculation. Besides I got a lot of pressure from certain persons saying at my age 72, I would not live long enough to see the payoff. I discounted that pressure at least to a certain extent because it reminds me of the attitude, "don't bother about climate change or any potential future disaster, because you will be long gone when it happens". The climate change thing though may not be helped much with solar in New Zealand because about 70% of electricity comes from hydroelectric and wind. It does help at least a bit on a world wide scale though by scale of economy from where panels and inverters are manufactured. The government is not offering help for rooftop solar and took away subsidies provided by previous government for EV's.

[@Julian_Wang-pai]

I live in a part of the world that isn't breaking into a sweat promoting the transition in any way. I could do with practical advice on how to add solar generated electricity to my house and garden (pumps, etc.).

[@christophreuter9572]

Solar is not working in every case. We have a difficult roof situation here, so that it is extremly expensive to install solar on our roof. The panels itself are so cheap, but installiation is heavy expensive and it is very hard to find someone who will do it.

[@nicholaspostlethwaite9554]

Just bear in mind not everywhere is Australia, hot and sunny. Lots of places are similar, loads of space and reliable consistent weather. But many are more commonly cloudy and closer to the poles than the equator, fortunately. Hot is horrid. 😁

[@calamityjean1525]

In northern Canada, Siberia, Alaska, and Scandinavia wind power will probably dominate. Wind is caused by uneven solar heating of the earth's surface, so indirectly wind power is also solar.

[@danielwalther5841]

A very interesting fact: solar panels also produce electricity when it is cloudy or raining (during the day, not during the night).

[@aussie405]

Point of fact, my solar panels have been producing at night. Only a tiny amount and only a couple of days either side of full moon, but they do produce.

[@danielwalther5841]

@@aussie405 With only Moonlight?! Very interesting indead! Funny, so one could argue the sun is producing electricity for 24 houers not only when the panels are placed in space.

[@aussie405]

@@danielwalther5841 it is a tiny amount. I imagine that in big solar farms it would be more obvious but still not meaningful in terms of keeping the lights on.

[@thereplacementfordisplacement]

I would rather have a second or third car that primarily serves as a v2g solution. I would be happy to use a leaf for this.

[@KJSvitko]

Solar panels and EV chargers should be standard in all new houses. All homes should be built to accommodate the elderly and disabled. This will be better for everyone. Large wide doorways and hallways make using a cane, walker or wheel chair much easier. Bathrooms or wet rooms need to have flat floors and no shower hump or pan. A flat floor allows for easy access and drains need to provided. Easy to use lever door and faucet handles are easier for the elderly to grip and open. Main floors should include a master bedroom, restroom, shower, laundry and wide walk in closet with few steps to enter. Homes should be designed with aging in place in mind.

[@rosalieroku3818]

Can someone please explain to me why almost no solar companies are profitable? I cannot understand this.

[@alsjogren7890]

Here in Seattle, we had heaps of hydroelectric power and not a lot of sun - other than summer. Population and business growth have cut the excess hydro that we previously sold to California seasonally. The other side of the Cascade mountains, eastern Washington, has sun and wind - and not a lot of population. Our peak electricity use is definitely winter - there is not a lot of air conditioning Do we need more electricity grid capacity? Do we need a higher price for electric rates for HUGE users - like data centers and aluminum smelters? Do we develop more solar farms in eastern Washington? Closed loop geothermal? Seattle City Light sources 88% from Hydro, 5% wind, 4% nuclear, 1% biomass, and 2% unspecified (buying power from elsewhere). But, we have to produce more. Is rooftop solar financially viable? In a condominium, how can the benefits of solar installed on community property be equitably split?

[@JeremiRoivas]

I tought you are norwegian. I was amaized when you said here Australia!

[@itsmeforsure5475]

The perovskite panels are supposed to be twice as efficient so when they come to market, I'll be looking.

[@fotoguru222]

Yes, however perovskite panels breakdown in a fraction of the time of silicon panels. They need to solve that problem first.

[@KJSvitko]

New homes should come with solar panels, a rain water collection system and an electric vehicle charger in the garage.

[@radiotec76]

I’m with you but I would like to be the one deciding what panels to install, making sure the inverters aren’t “dirty” causing radio interference in the AM and shortwave spectrum and select a durable and simple UL approved charge station.

[@S_Curves]

In uk my solar and power wall looks like it’s a 14 year payback. So effectively halves electricity price over 30 years.

[@willeisinga2089]

Hi Sam. Thank You Again for this video. You mention Gigawatts. I dont know how much that is. On my bill there is kWh. Can you Always mention kWh to make it clear to everyone. For Example a hectare Solar is a MegaWatt installed. 1000 MW is 1 GigaWatt. But on my Energybill it is in kWh. I Pay kWh. I produce kWh. How much kWh is a Megawatt. One Hectare Solar is One Megawatt and produces 1 Million kWh per Year. That makes your story clear. I hope you get the idea.❤👍🌹🌹🌹

[@kkarllwt]

One megawatt is 1000 kilowatts. A hectare is 2.2 acres. The equivalent of putting a 4 KW system on 250 houses.

[@willeisinga2089]

@@kkarllwt and what is it in kWh. One megawatt is 1000 kilowatts. How many kilowatthour is 1000 kilowatts. I mean 1000 kilowatt is 1 MW. 1 MW is 1 Million kWh per year in Nederland. In Australia must be more. Most people dont know that. Always mention kWh. How much is a MW in kWh in Australia.???

[@rosvojeesus]

1 kWh is 1 hour of 1 kW. If you had a microwave oven that has 1000W (1kW) of power, running it for an hour would count as 1 kWh on your energy bill. And if you had a solar energy system producing an average of 1 kW, you could run that microwave 24/7 for free.

[@willeisinga2089]

@@rosvojeesus thank you.

[@DaveBjornRapp]

I think it’s hilarious when I go onto the ice car channels and they’re talking about how Evie’s are horrible… And then I sprinkle a little truth in there and they freak out and get angry at me. ha ha ha ha. It’s not going to be very long before it’s obvious even to them .

[@alexterrell1062]

It would be good to see some numbers. I estimate that 10TW of solar deployed is needed to replace all the energy provided by either Gas, or Coal, or Oil. So if the world can deploy 1TW per year, we could replace fossil fuels in 30 years. There is of course the slight opportunity of dealing with intermittency. The other issue: China already has over 1TW/year of solar manufacturing capacity, but we don't seem capable of deploying it all. What do we need to deploy it faster? I would suggest large scale offshore systems - e.g. 100GW in the Adriatic Sea, and it would be barely noticeable.

[@LinzDubNZ]

I hear a lot of talk about abundant energy and how the price will go to zero. Power companies won't allow this to happen. Personally I believe power prices will go a bit like broadband, where you'll pay a monthly line charge which will be determined by the maximum capacity (the peak of your power draw), and that the actual amount you use will be immaterial.

[@mateiasi1]

"Power companies won't allow this to happen" ? What can they do? They can bribe politicians to veto wind power installations (those require permits), but they can't stop people from installing solar panels on their properties.

[@gdiwolverinemale4th]

Some people do not realize solar power is only available when there is sunlight. It is difficult to find a proper qualifier for such

[@LinzDubNZ]

@@gdiwolverinemale4th Some people don't realise that if you have a battery, and a sufficient number of solar panels, you have free power, 24/7.

[@freeheeler09]

GD, that is why you also install batteries and a smart electrical panel. With smart breakers, I do all of my home heating and cooling, run the water heater, run the clothes and dishwasher, run the well pump, etc., during sunlight hours. And we installed enough batteries to get us through the night. I’ve also got an extremely effective wood stove, so we have no problem keeping the lights on and house very warm in winter. We also actually heat our water for coffee and tea and cook our meals in winter on the wood stove.

[@gdiwolverinemale4th]

@@freeheeler09 Aw ... The batteries and the panel pack are so expensive they do not pay off in 20 years. Plus, the battery power lasts only a couple of hours under a 6 kW load. You are likely unaware when you switch over to the mains.

[@willdoe7681]

In Canada solar has combined taxes and tarrifs equaling 250% not including the new round of tarrifs just announced. Add to that the 4.5 billion annual fossil fuel subsidies and you can see where we are heading.

[@calamityjean1525]

Sounds like Canada needs new politicians who will reduce or repeal those taxes & tariffs.

[@suchdevelopments]

🤗Good day from Goonellabah, NSW, Australia. You forgot Carnegie Clean Energy, an Australian company based in WA. I am promoting Carnegie Clean Energy. Carnegie owns and develops the CETO® technology, which captures energy from ocean waves and converts it into electricity. We use the latest advances in artificial intelligence and electric machines to control the device and generate electricity most efficiently and optimally. We have a long ocean energy history with a record of world-leading developments around Australia, particularly the Great Australian Bight. 🤗Cheers, Ian Cleland

[@brucerosner3547]

In California there is so much solar that there talk of negative electric rates. That is the utility will charge for pumping power back to the grid because the utility has to take generators offline which costs money.

[@calamityjean1525]

For home use, put in an extra-large electric water heater on a timer. The timer shuts it off when the sun goes down, and the tank is big enough to supply hot water all night . Utilities should go to institutions that use a lot of hot water, like hospitals, restaurants, etc (jails?) and promote oversized water heaters with low or negative daytime electric prices.

[@jeromejarboe6944]

Electricity is never going to be 0. There are infrastructure repair/replacement, distribution, administration and capital costs. Good example: there has not been a new oil refinery in the US since 1979. Upgrades maintenance and repairs on a single refinery is Hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Someone has to pay for that! We do in the cost of fuel!