Latest / Not Another Energy Podcast / Plug It In, Plug It In: A Little Solution With Big Potential
Transcript
- Bethany: Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to your favorite show, not another energy podcast. Bethany. Teresa: I'm Teresa. Bethany: And together we are Bloom Advisory Partners. Today we're gonna be talking about. Something that's near and dear to my heart, not necessarily the thing we're going to be talking about, but my camp. So as we've chatted about before, and also my co-op. We've chatted before. I have a camp up in Lionsville, PA that just means the world to me. It's my little sanctuary space. And as we've mentioned before on the pod, my my co-op there is Northwest Rural, and I love them so much. And recently, Teresa, I've been looking into getting solar, but not the kind Kind of solar that you might be thinking of. I've been looking Teresa: 'Cause the kind I'm thinking of, I would like, Don't do it, don't, don't do it. If it's not utility scale, don't do it. Bethany: Y you I don't think I'm gonna put utility scale, solar into my camp, but you have it we Teresa: I haven't been to your camp yet. Bethany: and we should fix that. I think we need a bloom like weekend retreat to get, to get our your creativity flowing for twenty twenty seven. Teresa: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So what is it? Are you floating it in the lake? what what are we talking about here? Bethany: Yeah, well no giant hamster wheel with lots of hamsters. What do you think as a power source? Yeah. And Teresa: L less solar but potentially more reliable. I don't know. Bethany: hamsters are cute. No, I started looking into plug-in solar. Have you heard of this plug-in solar? Teresa: Yeah, yes. I okay, so d what's let's level set, right? Everybody Bethany: Okay. Teresa: knows I don't hate solar. I think utility scale works well. I think they've sort of figured out the farmland part of it. I have a personal weirdness against residential rooftop solar and people claiming you'll never pay a bill again when that's not really true and you know, personal friends experience with holes in their roof and you know, I knew Bethany: Yeah. Teresa: I knew a woman who literally lived in Virginia, got rooftop solar and the squirrels ate the caulking and then snakes Bethany: Yeah. Teresa: got into her house. So just personally, yeah, nightmare, right? So okay. So I'm gonna Bethany: That's a nightmare. W Teresa: groan a lot through this episode, but you tell me. Tell me about plug-in. Bethany: You don't you actually might not grow in Teresa because plug-in solar actually addresses almost everything you just mentioned. First of all, it's not on your roof, okay? So you don't Teresa: Okay. Okay. Bethany: have to is it it doesn't you don't have to worry about I mean, I'm not saying that in general you don't have to worry about squirrels and snakes. I mean they're everywhere, but this Teresa: I generally worry about them anyway, but okay. Bethany: Yeah. And nobody is promising you that you'll never pay a bill. Again, plug-in solar is not designed to take over your entire usage. It is much lower scale. So think of it like it can handle like your your refrigerator usage, right? So it's like so it's never going to take all of your usage away, but it's going to kind of mitigate it. It's you're gonna you're gonna use less of your utilities energy and more. of your own little solar energy. So no false promises, not a guarantee, no squirrels and snakes, but you're not putting this on your roof. Teresa: Okay. I can I can see for your y your camp and it being in a rural area where you might want s certain things running and the keep going. you're I I'm not there yet, but keep Bethany: Well so but what you just said is a large reason why I was looking at it. When I'm not there, like I do still leave my refrigerator on. Right, because I don't Teresa: Yeah. Bethany: want to have to take all my food back and forth, every time I go up there. So a plug-in solar could kind of mitigate that. So instead of taking the power from my co-op, the plug-in solar could actually cover all of that for me. So in theory, you know, I would be paying less on my electric bill because I have the the plug-in solar running when we're not there and we don't have a ton of things on. Now, if you are there and you've got your TV going or you know, your dishwasher, your washing wash or dryer, your AC, it's not gonna cover all of that, but it will still cover a portion of that, meaning you're still paying less for your utility or co-op energy. Teresa: Okay, so I have so many questions. First, how are you installing this? Because there's no way you're just plugging something into an outlet. that's not how electricity or like basically building codes work. And I don't know what you're doing at your camp. Who knows what duct tape thing you've got going on, Bethany, but Bethany: Right, you have seen my camp. No, I'm just kidding. And first of all, I'd like to cave out all of with Northwest if you're listening. And I hope you're listening, because we love you. I've not done anything yet. We are in the looking into phase, so please don't send somebody to my camp. Like code violator. Yeah, Teresa: You're you're flagged in the system. Yeah. Bethany: seriously. Go to co-op jail. I don't need any of that. That we're so but to your point. you do need there's different kinds right so there is the kind that you do just plug it in but you have to get like an inverter right so I mean you're not in no scenario I shouldn't say this maybe who knows the rate of technology maybe there is one out there on the market or coming to market that you do just plug in but most of these require like you know a dedicated electrical line within like I I looked at it in my co-op like there's certain parameters you know I have to have a certain setup I have to have an electrician that is what do you call it? Certified? Certified electrician? I don't know. Yeah, license. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, you can tell how handy I am, right? Teresa: Yeah. Get licensed and bonded and certified. Yeah. Yeah. Not not, Joe Joe down the street said he could do it. And then he like he licks the wire and it sparks. Bethany: Yep, it's alive, one. no, I have to have a licensed electrician come out and do the work and prove that I had a licensed electrician. They have to inspect it. So it it it's called plug in solar broadly, but you know, you're not typically just plugging it in and going nuts. I mean, you've got them yeah. Teresa: Okay. So th the concept is more it's solar and you need all this stuff, but it's easier to install and get set up. Is that the plug in part of Bethany: Y Teresa: it? Bethany: yes, exactly. And it doesn't have to go on your roof. a lot of places also call it balcony solar. because yes, well, I'm using this for camp. Teresa, there is I know a whole nother class of electricity users that I know are near and dear to your heart that don't really get to benefit from solar and it's renters, multifamily dw dwellers. they might not have an option for solar within their community, but if they have a balcony, they could, they at least they have control because you and I have talked about how renters a lot of times get iced out of being able to be in control of their own energy efficiency. This is a Teresa: Yeah. Bethany: way to give them a little bit of that. So does that make you like it any better? Or groan a little Teresa: I don't Bethany: less? Teresa: I don't know. Now I'm in the world of how dare you put a ugly solar thing on the balcony next to me and now I have to stare at I don't know, Bethany. I have. Bethany: Have you seen what some people keep on their porches and balconies, Teresa? Teresa: I don't I yes. it's i it probably. Yeah, that does make more sense. you and I n both know that we've come out of that world where there's not a lot of space on multifamily on the roofs. So this could be an option for even the property owners to say, Let's get some solar in there by I don't know what it looks like. Maybe it maybe it looks better than I think. Maybe it's really pretty. Bethany: Yeah, and maybe there's ways to make it pretty, there again, I that wouldn't be a problem for me 'cause I actually have space where where I would put it in. But I think if I were a renter, let's say and I was really environmentally conscious and I c cared about climate change and I felt kind of powerless to do anything to reduce my own consumption, that would be an attractive option for me. And I will let the design people worry about the design. Teresa: Yes, I can see that. Yes, yes. I that that does make sense. My my i my brain on how do you get more renewables to people that don't own things say this could be an option. Bethany: Yeah, exactly. Well, and then there's two other options on the back end, right? So what if your making all of this solar, but you're not necessarily using it, right? Like maybe my maybe there's a super sunny day camp, and we're just gonna keep using my camp as an example. camp honor, by the way, that's my camp's name. Got a whole like little rug outside welcoming you there. We've all love to get you up there. so it's running super sunny day. I mean the solar is solaring. I'm not up there. The only thing really going is my fridge. So now I got a surplus, right? So there's two things. You could get a battery storage, right? So you could how yes, yes. Teresa: I'm big, big fan of batteries. And if you say net metering next, I'm gonna say no. Bethany: Well, I would never call it that. I would just say flow back onto the grid. excuse me. The only problem with that, and here's where your end of the source comes into play, there's hardly any kind of policy or regulatory frameworks around this. A, it's so new. B, it's small, right? I mean, they're all they're worried about much bigger fish to fry. Teresa: Well, so I would argue against that. Net metering's been around for a very long time. I mean d more than a decade. The problem with it, and this is where like your plug-in solar people might be telling you it's new, it's really not. The problem with net metering is it was a big deal fifteen years ago and regulatory policies have eroded it to the point there's no value there. So Bethany: Uhhuh. Teresa: They like to throw it out as, you'll get a credit on your bill, but then now they're hedging their bets a bit 'cause your credit's really tiny. but I love Bethany: Yeah. Well and that's the that's the th yeah. Teresa: batteries tied to solar are amazing. Bethany: Yeah. I and now that does up the footprint and up the cost, right? But you do get the benefit of being able to contain some of that excess so that you're still able to access it, as opposed to if you're not in a situation where you could do net metering, you know, otherwise you're just giving them th your free energy. You're like, here you go, I don't know what to do, whether you Teresa: Yeah. Bethany: could have it. It's like when you go to your parents' house and they send you home with eighty five things, it's like that, but with electricity. Teresa: Yeah. wish I wish I could send the eighty five things to my my kids right now. I've I'm staring right now at the twelve hundred Madame Alexander dolls in a closet in my office that belong to my daughter. If anybody knows Bethany: y Teresa: or has interest in buying them Bethany: Anybody went about him, Alexander Del? But that reminds me the last time I was at your house, Teresa, I left with a car full of your son's stuff. You're like, here's all these, here's books Teresa: You did. You did. Bethany: and campuses and all these other things. So Teresa: Yeah, yeah. You didn't take the tent or the hammock, but okay. It's still here. Maybe you didn't see it. Well I'll save it for you for next time. Yeah. Bethany: You didn't offer me a tent or a hammock. I didn't. Yeah, save it. We'll take it up to Camp Honor when we do our retreat. Teresa: Perfect, perfect. Bethany: Yeah. Yeah. So there there are, you know, those two things on the back end too. So it's I also agree with you. I think a battery it and also the other thing too is no matter where you are, a battery is universal, right? Like, you know, in my co-op, I think I I think I might have told you this when were chatting about it. And again, I'm still doing my due diligence, so don't come at me if I'm wrong here. But from everything I found to date, if I wanted to participate in that, I would have to pay a six hundred dollar interconnect fee to my co-op. Teresa: That's that's I'm gonna be honest, that's actually not that bad. I've heard far higher interconnection fees from investor owned utility areas. So Bethany: Mm-hmm. Teresa: yeah, I think that's that's amazing. I I hope you prove me wrong. I hope we do a a podcast where we're just powered by your plug-in solar. Bethany: That my god, that would be so fun. And I might have to just go ahead and do it just so I can't prove you wrong. Cause I don't I don't I don't get the opportunity to do it. Yeah, I don't get the opportunity Teresa: that that that's the trend of the world. Bethany: to do it very often. So if I have if I have to do plug-in solar, I will do it. Teresa: No, no, I love I I I'm intrigued by the idea. Will you do it with a battery? I hope you do it with a battery. Bethany: If I well yeah, I think I would do it with a battery. maybe maybe not at first. Maybe I'll do it for a few months without a battery and then do it with a battery, just so I could kinda compare contrast. I mean, Teresa: Yeah. Bethany: might that be a useful useful exercise? 'Cause I mean how Teresa: Yes, yes. I'm gonna math it out for you too. We're gonna install this and we're gonna actually do your full capacity and we're gonna drag it down to a KWH comparison. We're gonna arbitra I'm gonna arbitrage Bethany: To set up a little Teresa: against the market. We're going all in. Bethany: Wait a minute, does this mean that I could use my camp as a work write-off? No, just kidding. Yeah, I Teresa: probably at this point. Bethany: mean it's it's our the bloom laboratory. so yeah, so obviously not everybody's a good candidate for plug-in solar. You do have to have, you know, good sun, right? I mean, if you're like so where my camp is, I get really Teresa: Yeah. Bethany: good afternoon sun on the front of mine. So I think that's where I would put it. The back of my camp is much more shaded. and you do have to have some sort of a footprint for it somewhere to put it safely. It does t most of the ones that I've looked at do need to be mounted or secured on something. I don't think it's a situation where you just f throw it in your yard and waah, give me solar. Teresa: Yeah. What's the footprint? Is it an acre or is it half an acre? Bethany: It really d no, no. It's literally think balcony. Think balcony size. I mean we're just talking a couple of square feet, Teresa: okay. Bethany: you know? I mean, you could get bigger, right? I mean you could Teresa: Yeah. Bethany: get smaller. Think about it. My my entrance light on my driveway at camp is solar powered. It's not plugged into anything, it only powers my light, so it you know, shines at night. But think of it a you know, as little or as big as you want. Teresa: So then how could it how how do the internal plugs work? Is it your refrigerator is now a dedicated plug only into the solar, or could you do a whole room where anything you plug into that room is pulling from Bethany: I don't know. Teresa: okay. Bethany: I could tell you, I it my understanding is that it just it it's just the the usage. It's not like you're not plugging it into your refrigerator. Teresa: Yeah, but it has to create the power into a plug so I guess it goes to the whole building. I have so many questions. Bethany: Yeah. Yeah, I would imagine it goes to the whole building. Let's say that it goes to the whole building. Let's say that so Teresa: And then it's just supplementing. It's not like you're inverting your entire usage on and off. Right? Like an Bethany: Right, exactly. Teresa: okay. All right. Hmm. Bethany: So the average, the average power draw of your dryer per se, it would not cover like a whole day of using your dryer, but it would offset some of it, right? So again, this Teresa: Okay. Yeah. Bethany: is all supplemental, right? Not like this is this is not designed to take o you know, to to completely take away your bill like the like like you said, the promises that rooftop solar makes. It's not for that. Teresa: Yeah. Yeah. I I like that I I will say the things that I like. I like that you are actually using the power. I get really annoyed with we've talked about this before, right? Solar companies that come through my neighborhood, they're like, I'm gonna make your bill disappear, but you're not actually using any of that power 'cause we're gonna sell it to the grid for you and I'm like, Cool, Bethany: Yeah. Teresa: but you're not giving me an extra credit for what you make off of it and then the poor door to door guy gets really nervous and It's just time for him to leave. But yeah, yeah. Bethany: Yeah, door to door people should hate to see you coming. You know you know too much. Teresa: but I like that you're actually using the power. And I think that's the most critical part here, which is Bethany: Yeah. Teresa: not this idea of like become some major energy expert. Just hire an electrician, put it in, size it for to your point, the the refrigerator Bethany: Yeah. Teresa: that you want to keep running. yeah. No. Bethany: I could see it being, if I am not up there then I'm not gonna have an electric bow. And again, Northwest, I love you. I'm not trying to take money out of your pocket. You guys are amazing. I'm always gonna because we we go up year round. So, I just and a part of me too just thinks that it's I'm I don't wanna get crunchy or whatever, but if we have it within our power to put more renewables into our life, isn't that always a good thing? Teresa: Yeah, no, that definitely is. I I don't mind being crunchy. I know that might be a shock to people that have been listening to this podcast, but I do tend to be crunchier than most people. I yeah, let's see how it goes. I feel like this is Bethany: All right. Teresa: gonna be like we'll check in. When are you gonna get it installed? Bethany: And I'm not say well, I don't I'm because I haven't decided on anything yet. Meaning, plug in solar people, you wanna sponsor me? Teresa: Ha ha ha. Bethany: We're gonna be doing a whole series about this. We're gonna be doing lab experiments up at Camp Honor. If would you like your name all over everything? Teresa: Right there. That's total Bethany. I we did not write this into the script. This is just how PR person Bethany instantly starts. Bethany: It's it's my PR mind, yeah. Teresa: Yeah. Bethany: Yeah. Well, you know, I you what, I I am gonna do it. I've been thinking about it. I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on it. If nothing else for us to use kind of as an experiment over time to see how it goes. You know, but it it's and it's like many other things, it's already huge in Europe. you know, Germany has just did like I think it was like a thirty thousand unit installation and you know, so they're they're rocking and rolling with it. You they of I I feel like I don't know, and maybe you don't think this way, but I feel like they are and maybe it's because they don't have the same utility infrastructure that we have, they they do they are more likely to kind of pilot these like larger scale programs than we are here in the States. Teresa: Well, they also have a fully competitive market and their wires companies are just wires. So you don't get that conflict of don't install it. You're no longer taking from the ginormous nuke plant that I built down the street. So I'm just gonna Bethany: Thank you. Teresa: say no, right? Bethany: Well, to that point, will you play devil's advocate for a minute and tell me why my utility or my co op or my muni don't d why they do not want me to do this? What are what are they gonna say? Teresa: So I think there's a few different levels. The first one and always in respect to all of the electrical engineers and utilities out there, it has to be safe not just for you, but for the grid. You can't be pushing things onto the grid. one that could be, you know, messing up transformers for your neighbors. But two, I we do live in a world today, and I think we've seen it in Europe this summer. You start adding things to the grid and you don't know who's controlling it, and weird things start to happen, right? we have to respect the fact that we live in an interconnected society. then you have conspiracy minded Theresa, which is they own a bunch of generation, and if you're not taking their generation, they don't get paid for it and They don't like that, so better better stop it before it erodes revenue. Bethany: Do you think that even at that small of a scale that that about we we're talking a speck of sand on the beach of the world. Teresa: I think that there are and I I would not put co-ops on into this category, though I might put their GNTs, the generation and transmission providers that Bethany: Mm-hmm. Teresa: they participate in in this category, but I see it more on the investor owned site. Monopoly utilities will attack anything that they see in any way at all, no matter how tiny, infringing on their ability to basically control your life. With their light Bethany: Yeah. Teresa: switch. And it's a weird thing, and people don't believe me, but every single rate case we see this, right? so yeah, I do think that there could be a world where I mean, putting on my lobbyist hat, right? This is dangerous. People shouldn't just be plugging things in. You just explain that that's not what's happening, right? But in the world we live Bethany: Right. But the talking point. Teresa: in, I would glom right on to the fact that. Some marketing person said, we're gonna call it plug-in solar, and I would attack it based on that very fact, right? it's a scam. It's gonna blow up the transformer, right? Even my treadmill creates reciprocal power. Like, what are we doing? Bethany: Yeah. Yeah. Well and I would say too, yeah, one it's just can't have idiots out there What I would also argue too, it's a it's a foot in the door, right? Like it's well if we let the if we let them do this it's a it's a give an inch take a mile they they what's to stop the it from just starting to scale up from there so if they let us Teresa: Yes. Bethany: if they let us little plug-in solar people play then they gotta start letting other people play and they don't want that. Well I've been I've been I've been I've been influenced. Well I tell you what we're Teresa: Yeah, now you've got Teresa conspiracy brain, right? Like you have then. Bethany: gonna find out we're gonna find out we're we're gonna we're gonna ask our listeners to follow along Teresa but I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it. Teresa: Plug it in. We'll do a every d one Yeah. Yeah. no. Bethany: Plug it, plug it in, plug it in. Sorry. That's gonna be in my head now. That's actually what I'm gonna call this episode, by the way. Plug it in, plug it in. All right, well, I will keep y'all posted. You are on this journey now with us, so look for updates. thank you guys for joining us. It's always a pleasure to have you along. Thank you for listening. Once again, Bethany. Teresa: I'm Teresa. Bethany: We are Bloom Advisory Partners. We are going to plug it in and we hope you check back with us because remember, guys, energy is never just about energy.