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Comment by WalterBright | Hacker News Reader

I'll suggest again that the solution to this is to charge variable prices to the consumer based on the supply. For example, I pay exactly the same rate, 24/7. Of course this will result in a mismatch of supply and demand.

A lot of electricity demand can be shifted to when the supply is cheapest.

When the supply varies wildly, like solar and wind do, there's a giant impedance mismatch when demand is charged a fixed price.

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But also: consumers with Powerwalls and other home storage options.

Heck, you could even go to town running an icemaker at noon when power is cheap, and set out trays of ice in the evening with a fan blowing over it. That can even be turned into an appliance that would be an accessory to your HVAC system.

During the winter, one can electrically heat concrete blocks during the day, they release their heat at night.

(A concrete block makes for a pretty cheap "battery" !! )

Why heat concrete blocks? Doesn't water have a higher thermal capacity?

Depends on the actual concrete. It will have lower thermal capacity per weight, but that may be offset with higher density. (The most common concrete would be worse than water with capacity being 1.3 (vs 4.2 in water) and density of 2400 kg/m3).

Concrete blocks do not leak or wear out. They are cheap and zero maintenance. For more thermal capacity, use a bigger block. You can even make them structural - using concrete for walls.

Bake yourself, your pets, and your belongings during the day, and freeze at night, so that the average temperature, which you will experience roughly twice in a day-night cycle, is comfortable?

We used to have exactly this in the UK, back in the day. They were called Storage Heaters and we had a special "Economy 7" tariff where energy was a lot cheaper at night when demand was the lowest.

So basically floor heating :). Don't forget to use some heat pumps to tripple your energy gains

#engineering

Night rates are a thing in some countries. I'm not sure it's implemented anywhere in the US, though.

Time of use metering is an available option in some parts of the US, and I think mandatory in some places as well. I've also seen some tarriffs residences can opt into with a lower base rate, and a much higher peak rate, with some sort of real time indication that a peak will be coming in the next hour or day, depending on the system.

Of course, commercial/institutional energy users have had demand adjustment programs in return for lower base rates for a lot longer.

It certainly is in Arizona (called on-peak and off-peak), where air conditioner usage is high during the day.

Norway have introduced smart-meters that measure consumption with quite high frequency - I think something like every hour. Some concerns about privacy have been raised, and it's possible to be exempted with a doctors notice.

This is available in NC.

https://www.duke-energy.com/home/billing/rates

TOU summer rates:

23.456¢ per on-peak kWh

11.945¢ per shoulder kWh

7.012¢ per off-peak kWh

vs fixed summer rate of 10.369¢ per kWh.

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