I suppose you are sick and tired of listening to stories like “Solar energy is useful dayly and wind when blows” or sentences like this.
In this article, I will show you practical solutions on how to save electric energy in your house and how clean energy should be used efficiently all day in common small homes (houses or flats).
What are small homes, and what is the relationship with solar storage
Let’s assume that we have a residential building with no solar equipment at all, modest consumers that spend about 500 kwh per month, and a huge solar storage system for supplying them. We can also think about small houses. In further discussion, the term small house will mean those smaller than 75 m2. These are flats in cities with 2 or 3 rooms in big cities. We will assume that they are made according to all norms and standards: thermally insulated, with remote heating, and, of course, not with electricity.In the case of houses, we will consider smaller family houses with no additional electrical charges. Other properties are the same as a flat.
Practical tips to reduce electric consumptions to 600 kWh per month
We should use less than 600 kWh. Believe it or not, it’s not difficult.
Let’s try to calculate how to consume only the magical 500 kWh of electricity per month over a period of 30 days.
Lighting The power of all light bulbs should be 4 * 100 W + 2 * 20 W = 480 W, or 0.48 kWh. This means that for lighting daily 2 kWh.
COOKING: 2 kWh hotplate works for three hours a day, but its average power is 1 kWh because most housewives change the temperature during cooking. Average cooking time is 4.5 h / day.
The 1.5 kWh oven, which is switched on every other day for three hours, only 45 kWh: 1.5 kWh * 2 h * 15 days = 45kWh /month = 1.5 kWh/day . The oven actually runs effectively for two hours because the thermostat shuts it off periodically.
WATER HEATING: The 50-liter, 2 kWh boiler works five hours a day, effectively two hours because the thermostat periodically switches the heater on and off.
TV with a power of 0.2 kWh, if it works for five hours every day, costs per month. 0.2 kWh x 5 hours = 1 kWh
COMPUTER: A computer with a power of 0.2 kWh, if it works for five hours every day, consumes 0.2 kWh x 5 hours x 30 days. = 30 kWh per month. = 1kWh /day ( sama as TV).
WASHING MACHINE: If you turn on a 2 kWh washing machine twice a week, the average consumption will be 1.5 kWh because more electricity is used for heating water than for spinning. We will spend 1.5 kWh x 2 hours x 8 days = 24 kWh 24 kWh per month for washing clothes:
REFRIGERATOR: This large household appliance with a power of 0.2 kWh is constantly connected to the electricity, but it works for about 10 hours a day because the thermostat cuts off the power supply when the desired temperature is reached. The average monthly consumption is:
0.2 kWh x 10 hours x 30 days = 60 kWh
AIR CONDITIONER: Modern inverter air conditioners are efficient. Its effective power is 1.2 kW, and let’s assume that it works 4 months a year (June–September). During that period, he consumes 1.2 kW * 6 h * 30 days = 216 kWh.
When we multiply this quantity by 4 months and then divide (distribute as a monthly average) by 12, we will get 113 kWh.
The total monthly electricity consumption, according to this calculation, is 617 kWh/month and 20.57 kWh/day.
| Consumer | power[W] | pcs | daily work[h] | sum [kWh] | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lighting | 100 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 9.72 | |
| Cooking | 2000 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 29.17 | |
| Heating | 2000 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 19.45 | |
| TV | 200 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 4.86 | |
| Fridge | 200 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 9.72 | |
| AirCondition | 1500 | 1 | 3 | — | 18.31 | |
| Washing machine | 1500 | 1 | — | 0.8 | 3.89 | |
| Computer | 200 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 4.86 | |
| sum | 20.57 kWh | daily | monthly | 617 | kWh |
Is it possible to store a huge amounts of renewable energy?
Storing energy is a difficult task. It’s so difficult that the electric grid is designed in such a way that electricity is consumed the instant it is produced.
Energy storage can be classified into three categories:
1: Seconds-minutes: This form of energy storage helps when a cloud temporarily shadows a solar panel or when electricity demand peaks unexpectedly. We use terms like ‘load balancing’ to describe this occurance.
2: Hours-days: This form of energy storage allows us to generate electricity when it’s sunny or windy and use it whenever we want to, for example, at night. Energy storage at this level is often called ‘bulk storage’.
3: Weeks and months: Energy storage at this level works with seasons so that maximum electricity is generated during the summer and stored for the winter. This is important in winter when the sun doesn’t shine as much (unless you are near the equator).
There is a clear pattern in what attributes each type of storage system should have
Let’s examine scenario no. 2…
One example in Australia: huge solar storage facility 480 MWh
Canadian Solar Inc., with e-STORAGE, which is part of CSI, and CIP have been chosen to build “The Summerfield battery storage project,” a battery storage project in South Australia. This is a way to store 480 MWh of DC energy. The project can currently store data for two hours, but it can be made bigger if the market wants it to be. The first of several sizable battery projects that CIP is leading in Australia is Summerfield. e-STORAGE’s SolBank battery technology will be used in the project, which is set to be built in 2025. We are only going to use this method to figure out how many homes it could build. Also, the Summerfield Battery will be a very important energy storage facility, making the regional grid more stable. During times of low demand, the battery system will store extra energy. During times of high demand, it will send power back to the grid. This feature is necessary to make sure that South Australia, Victoria, and the national energy grid always have a steady, low-cost source of electricity.
But what can we expect if we use this huge storage system to do our math? Let’s assume that we have enough solar power plants to charge
To show you how much power 1MW MW has, watch the video. A coal-grinding plant is a crusher with a motor of just that power.
And finally (very) impressive results
If we divide this amount by the daily needs of one apartment or house from the calculation above, we will get the total number of households: 480 MWh = 480 000 kWh / 18.77 = 25570 houses. This doesn’t look bad. Almost a smaller town could be supplied. However, consider the battery life of 6,000 charges (6000 days), after which the plant would require brand new batteries. That is the pain point of this supply system for now.
