cheaper power by low tariff battery charging?

lol, fool, you should have stayed awake during basic maths then you would have realised how insignificant that amount is.

Economically silly. In fact, UPS systems generally only have battery capacity for a few hours at most. If they need more time, there's a motor genset. The purpose of the UPS is purely to avoid a break in the supply and its effects on the business.

On Thu, 22 May 2008 17:43:17 +1000, "MisterE" put finger to keyboard and composed:

Maybe this idea could be applied to charging electric cars if and when they become prevalent. A change in the legislation may be necessary though. Something for the Greens to think about?

- Franc Zabkar

Sounds like the kind of Einstein who has an energy polariser in his cold-water fusion powered car.

The losses involved in charging batteries and then discharging them through an inverter would wipe out any potential savings. Plus, Einstein would have to buy and maintain/replace the batteries and buy the inverter.

Doesn't make sense to save money on off-peak, they are probably just standby power systems for emergencies.

Why? Off peak is cheaper mostly because it utilises unused capacity. That doesn't change no matter what you do with it.

MrT.

Its because they don't have to pull the generators off and on. Companies are also given huge discounts if they can get their load factor (maximum current divided by average current) down to a minimum. In same cases companies can deliberatly waste power to get the average up, and its still cheaper, because they get a discount factor for having a low load factor! i bet the greens love that one. You can get charged more for less overall power because it you are inconsistent in the use and the generators have to come on and off, which is the real cost. I read a report that said if 50% of our power came from solar, the remaining power would be charged at nearly 8 times what it is today, just from the exessive cost of having to switch generators in and out at sunset/sunrise etc. I wonder why it is so expensive? The power companies were trying to use it as a reason to pay people less for power they pump into the grid than power they draw out.

Lol. can you give your reference for that? Sounds like bullshit from some one who doesn't understand what is going on. Aka generator says you actually draw so much power because of your bad PF, so we'll charge you that much. Improve it and you'll save money.

(snippo

The cost structure is based around the need for capital equipment to be in place for the peak load. So any off-peak load is a"bonus" of sorts for the generating body, hence the existence of preferential (aka discounted) off-peak tariffs.

BUT ... peak load is invariably during daylight hours (Mon-Fri at least) and especially so when aircond loads are present seasonally. So any solar contribution actually DOES present at the best times to offset the peak and therefore the size (and cost) of generating infrastructure.

place

generating

tariffs.

Well not quite a "bonus" when you are burning coal or gas, (even water reserves for hydro are finite) but yes many turbines are essentially idle, and therefore as I already stated, underutilised at those times. OP nuclear of course would be at almost no additional cost, (just supervision & maintenance costs) if we had any that is.

and

and

Not to mention wind is generally stronger during the day too.

MrT.