
The DeepSolar Project - danso
http://web.stanford.edu/group/deepsolar/home
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jmpman
My power company has rather strict rules regarding solar deployments. If you
deploy solar, you now have to pay a different rate along with a connection
charge based upon your peak demand. Unfortunately the way their solar plan is
written, if you simply have solar powered landscape lighting, you’re
technically required to change to the solar plan. Of course they’re unlikely
to maintain political will if they start handing out huge bills because a
homeowner installed a few walkway lights they bought at Home Depot the last
weekend, but would the power company have such an unenforced policy if people
started installing solar powered AC units? If these units aren’t grid tied,
there’s no reason for the power company to be informed and they would remain
ignorant of a resident’s solar usage, and the resident is unlikely to be moved
onto a solar plan. But with this DeepSolar project, my power company has an
easy way to monitor solar panel deployment at scale and easily automate
billing, including retroactive fines. So much for my plans to build non-grid
connected solar AC. This technology enables an unforeseen risk to the
economics.

But, it is cool, so congrats to whoever built it... just makes me worried that
it will he used for unforeseen purposes.

