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by abakker 4220 days ago
That is very true - I should have been more specific. Solar doesn't generate in the evening hours, when everyone is still consuming their AC, their Lights, their TV and many home appliances.

Pumping workloads (AC, Refrigeration) are fairly static loads on the grid though and don't account for very much (~7%) of the overall energy consumption (http://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/).

The trouble with solar only really happens when their are spikes, either in over production, or over consumption.

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This is where on-site battery storage "fixes" the issue.

Most people are away from home during the day while their battery charges and then come home for a few hours at night when the battery powers the house.

Now, there are certainly cases, perhaps even many of them, where it wouldn't really work out. But for me it's the ideal setup. My wife and I live in a 1300ft2 house and use 250ish kwh a month in electricity including recharging an electric car a couple times a week. A 1.6 kwh system would cover almost all of our energy needs. Couple that to battery storage so we could use the energy we generate during the day when we are at home at night? Perfect!