u/Vegetable_Cold9959

Were in the foothills east of LA. Lost power twice last october during santa ana winds, longest was 31 hours. Threw away about $200 in freezer food, worked from my phone hotspot for two days, slept in 90 degree heat with windows open. We said never again and then procrastinated for 6 months like normal.

Put in an anker e10 three weeks ago. Two battery packs, 12kWh, power dock into our main panel. Went with Anker's install service, they have a flat rate in socal through end of august. The electrician they sent was local and clearly had done a bunch of these already. Wall mounted in the garage, power dock wired into 12 circuits, tested the automatic switchover. About 5 hours start to finish.

We killed the main breaker to test and everything stayed on. AC kept running, fridge didnt skip, wifi stayed up. The switchover is supposed to be under 20ms which is fast enough that nothing notices. My UPS on the office computer didnt even beep.

Running it in self consumption mode right now. It charges from rooftop solar during the day, runs the house through peak hours. After peak the battery usually dips below the reserve level I set, so the system tops it back up overnight during off-peak. First full month bill just came in and we saved about $190 compared to same month last year. That wasnt even the main reason we got it but its a nice bonus.

Main thing for me was knowing the install cost upfront. Every electrician I called had a different price and they all added caveats about panel upgrades and extra materials.

I keep saving screenshots and fan art from games and it all sits in a folder on my phone. Recently started printing some of them on coasters and wood blocks and using them around the house. An Elden Ring boss on a coaster I see every morning beats a wallpaper I stop noticing after a day. Curious what other people do with game art they save.

Germany legalised Balkonkraftwerk about a decade ago. Slow start, lots of regulatory back and forth. Once they raised the limit to 800W and simplified registration it took off. Over 1.1 million installations now.

The thing that seems relevant for this sub is how the market evolved. Early adopters went panels only. Then the shift moved towards panels + battery because self-consumption from panels alone is around 20-30% for most households. With storage that goes to 70-80%. Payback dropped under 4 years.

UK electricity is 27.69p/kWh. German rates were higher at peak (35-40 cents) but with Octopus and other ToU tariffs adding an arbitrage layer the UK maths isn't far off.

On the policy side, Germany also started with panels-only regulations and added battery provisions later. Similar to where DESNZ is now.