Energy Consumption Stats

From the U.S. Energy Information Administration:

• Average yearly houshold usage of 10.812 MWh (Megawatthours)
• ~30 kWh daily household usage

Highs of 15.435 MWh (~42.28 kWh/day) to lows of 6.166 MWh (~17 kWh/day).

As of now, for a consumer solar it's about $1 per Watt of solar. Assuming a 12 hour window of sun at full power, and 36 kWh usage, thats 3 kW or about $3k for the solar panels (at about .6x1x.035 m^3).

As of now, for consumer deep cycle lead acid batteries, it's about $.15 / (Watt hour). At 36 kWh, thats about $5400.

A LiFePO4 32650 5.5 Ah 3.2 V rechargeable battery goes for ~$120.00 / 80 units. At 36 kWh, that works out to about (120 / (80 * 5.5 * 3.2)) * 36000 = $3070

This does not include all the control hardware and electronics that are needed for proper usage.

As a rough estimate, New York average price for $.1854 / kWh at 601 kWh / month for about $111.32 / month or $1335.84 / year.

Future

• Galactic Scale Energy
• Annual Energy Review

Interestingly, I think the blog post was trying to point out the absurdity of continue economic growth but I take it as a rough time frame for our progression on moving up the Kardashev scale.

There's some talk about wealth and CO2 emissions going hand in hand, with some suggesting a total civilization collapse (from "Decline of the Empire" blog).

One post claims solar produces 20-30x less CO2 than coal, so I'm not sure if apocalyptic forecasts are to be believed.

2017-09-21