Posted By: bot de pailleAgain I dont undertsand this logic. You are saying we have to change loads to meet renewables, rather than storing the energy from reneawables to use it during peak times?

Yes, for some loads that would be sensible.

this means every one going to work at different times, half the population working during the night, some people eating diner and going to bed at 3pm... doesnt make sense

Now it's you taking the weasel; why does it have to be a simple either/or? Of course we need to store some energy for use at times when it's convenient. On the other hand, where we can reasonably easily shift the time of use of loads to match generation (or reduced demand) then we should do so as well.

What would be very stupid would be to store energy in one place then move it elsewhere to store. For example, if it's windy in the day we should use the energy available immediately to heat up thermal stores rather than use it to pump water up a hill then let it run down the following night to heat the thermal stores which are set to only run then just because historically electricity was cheaper at night.

In general, I think we need to set things up to be a bit more flexible and adaptable. It doesn't mean we have to take it to silly extremes.

May be I should have asked how much more they consume than an average standard meter

Multiply that by the number of domestic meters in the UK and we will need another large power station!


I seriously hope that they get dropped.

No because the energy will still be used hence unavailable for use elsewhere, 12v connection would be expensive, and the number of homes with pv is so small that we would still need another power station anyway.

Here is the latest revised spec for smart metering in the UK
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/380770/SMIP_E2E_SMETS2.pdf

Good luck with it.