Bloom Box
Just as with solar panels there are also hidden costs with the Bloom Box and these costs are hidden because both solar and distributed generation systems like the Bloom Box receive government subsidies. So who ultimately pays for government subsidies? Any government spending is in fact a tax on the people and so yes we the people pay for government subsidies which makes it hard to determine what is the real cost associated with either a natural gas powered system like the Bloom Box or the alternative solar panel system.
One of the biggest benefits of the Bloom Box compared to solar distributed generation is round the clock production of electricity. Solar must have a massive amount of battery storage to provide round the clock electricity power and the Bloom Box has this side covered. The downside to the Bloom Box is that solar beats it on price during peak times of the day. The peak time also happens to be a sunny time when electricity is needed most. Solar can create electricity during the peak times while the Bloom Box must rely on natural gas at a higher price during the peak time.
Natural gas prices go up in price during peak demand periods of the day while the sun has an unlimited supply of sun energy to offer solar panels on roofs during this same time. The fortunate aspect for the Bloom Box is that it does not remain sunny all day and it costs too much to have enough battery storage to hold electricity from solar during off peak times. A massive commercial distributed generation system could combine solar and the Bloom Box to come up with a system that could create on peak electricity from solar and off peak from the Bloom Box to come out with a pretty decent price for electricity. Best of all a distributed generation system like this would significantly lighten the load for a cities electricity generation and distribution infrastructure.
All things in consideration a total off the grid system is only feasible from a cost basis when using the Bloom Box. If we are just looking at meeting on demand peak times during the day the solar panel system has the Bloom Box beat. There are obvious advantages to both systems and it isn’t a clear case of which one is better than the other. Both have the hidden government subsidy costs to consider that the tax payers eat. In the end we will likely see the Bloom Box and solar distributed generation systems installed together in a hybrid type system that commercial and industrial facilities will use long before it is utilized by residential applications.