What is the benefit of using the nat gas "grid" instead of the electricity grid

Charge controllers aren't that expensive. Batteries are, and they must be replaced after so many cycles

This is a very large batter bank, even if you omit high loads like A/C, dishwasher heated dry, electric dryer, and electric oven.

You would need to implement this as demand based pricing in any state where the population isn't already full of mindless drones used to being told what they can do with their own property.

I think you are underestimating how much customers will react to what you're suggesting.

You'd think on a tech site people would understand that a temporary buffer is a bit different than a storage mechanism capable of capturing power during 4 hours and discharging for the other 20. Anyway you're following the script. I didn't say batteries don't exist. And of course it's possible to run 100% on solar, wind, and batteries. As I said, I could in my own home. But I don't. It is too expensive per kWh to cycle the batteries like that and far cheaper to use the grid as a battery, even though I only get about 40% credit for every kWh I sell. So you went on arguing with me as if I claimed it wasn't possible. That'd be pretty dumb since I designed a home system that makes it possible. I said it's not practical and won't be practical. I could be wrong. My crystal ball isn't any better than yours. But that's what I think based on what I know, taking all the hopium out of the equation. And for that I get called an idiot by people who have zero practical knowledge in this area.

5+ more paragraphs without any substance

I'm not interested in debating the definition of a relative adjective

Yes, if you match your usage to the variable generation, the storage problem goes away. This seems... impractical.

People are way too excited about these one-offs. What's the storage solution for Texas? Pumping low lying water? Molten salt? If these are our solutions, power sources will be orders of magnitude more centralized than they already are. Wrong direction.

Your reply was pretty reasonable which is why I didn't ignore it. But what drives me nuts about this religious debate is that I can't criticize the ignorance of baseline/variable difference and how storage is a real issue without being called an idiot or fossil fuels lover. I generate more solar power than I use and I have batteries. But I still have a hefty grid bill because this is more complicated than on paper. And nearly everyone calling me an idiot has no home install, has never designed a systems and has zero practical experience with storage. I'm not calling myself an expert, but I certainly know more about this than people reading articles in a politicized information space.

Another 6+ paragraphs that could have been used to explain what the heck you're talking about, but instead droned on about my presentation or calling me mean or boasting that you've got me pegged. Ok!

Wow that was preachy. What else would I expect from the solar/wind high order priests, I guess. Thanks for all the advice. Wish you used some of those long paragraphs to explain wtf your point is. For example, you could have explained how solar generation isn't dependent on how many hours the sun shines in a day, if only for entertainment value.

But to be clear I care little for my "presentation". If my "presentation" changes how you react to my points of fact, I'm not sure the problem lives with me.

Btw I say this as someone who spent a lot of money on a home 7kW PV system with batteries! I love it but the religious nutso-ism is amazing to watch

Um, ok. Well, anyway, no technological breakthrough is going to change the number of hours per day the sun shines or the wind blows. So that means storage. And that means huge losses storing and retrieving the energy. There is an obsession about wind and solar, and it's religious. People obsess over the technologies and then later come up with these justifications for how "the tech is gonna get there eventually!!!". This is backwards. Why swim upstream and use variable power generation for baseline power? It's stupid and expensive.

This is exactly my point. These numbers are just counting MW generated over a year and dividing by MW consumed over same period. Think about it for a few minutes. This is a very very different thing from actually running off of solar and wind.