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Comment Re:If (Score 1) 210

We have pretty reliable power here, the only thing a battery provides is energy arbitrage (buy low, sell high). Retail tariffs are fixed as well, so no exposure to market prices (ie Texas). Figures above are for the savings, and for comparison the other option for a battery is "not a battery" (ie. it's not essential, and there is no chance that we would disconnect from the grid).

Comment Re:If (Score 1) 210

Were we are - no problems. Not in a cyclone area. Any outages we have had have been distribution level. (ie car hits pole). But our area is underground power now, so not even that any more. (have some devices with >1 year uptime, no ups).

(Not that the powerwall is any use when the power goes out, it's grid tied only).

Comment Re:If (Score 1) 210

Our panels definitely paid for themselves. Installed for a year (with monitoring) and saved $2000, from a ~$6000 system cost.

A battery not so much. Have modelled a 13.5kWh battery (powerwall 2), and the additional savings would have been $600, For a 10 year life/payback this gives a $6000 budget, much less than it costs. Assuming round trip efficiency of 90% and no degradation.

Submission + - The STEM Crisis Is a Myth 2

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Forget the dire predictions of a looming shortfall of scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians, advises IEEE Spectrum contributing editor Robert Charette — the STEM crisis is a myth. In investigating the simultaneous claims of both a shortage and a surplus of STEM workers, Charette was surprised by "the apparent mismatch between earning a STEM degree and having a STEM job. Of the 7.6 million STEM workers counted by the Commerce Department, only 3.3 million possess STEM degrees. Viewed another way, about 15 million U.S. residents hold at least a bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline, but three-fourths of them—11.4 million—work outside of STEM." So, why would universities, government, and tech companies like Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft cry STEM-worker-shortage-wolf? "Clearly, powerful forces must be at work to perpetuate the cycle," Charette writes. "One is obvious: the bottom line. Companies would rather not pay STEM professionals high salaries with lavish benefits, offer them training on the job, or guarantee them decades of stable employment. So having an oversupply of workers, whether domestically educated or imported, is to their benefit...Governments also push the STEM myth because an abundance of scientists and engineers is widely viewed as an important engine for innovation and also for national defense. And the perception of a STEM crisis benefits higher education, says Ron Hira, because as 'taxpayers subsidize more STEM education, that works in the interest of the universities' by allowing them to expand their enrollments. An oversupply of STEM workers may also have a beneficial effect on the economy, says Georgetown's Nicole Smith, one of the coauthors of the 2011 STEM study. If STEM graduates can’t find traditional STEM jobs, she says, 'they will end up in other sectors of the economy and be productive.'"
Cellphones

Submission + - Samsung Blames Galaxy SIII Burn on "External Energy Source" (hothardware.com)

Submitted by
MojoKid
MojoKid writes: "Samsung has some great news for Galaxy SIII smartphone owners. As it turns out, your mobile device isn't at risk of overheating to the point where it catches on fire and burns through its casing, as a forum member at Boards.ie claimed was the case with his Galaxy SIII a couple of weeks ago. Fire Investigations UK (FIUK), an independent third-party organization, assisted Samsung with looking into the matter, and here's what they concluded: "The energy source responsible for generating the heat has been determined as external to the device... the device was not responsible for the cause of the fire," FIUK said in a statement. "The only way it was possible to produce damage similar to the damage recorded within the owner's damaged device was to place the devices or component parts within a domestic microwave.""

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