Idle dreamer
Idle dreamer
Idle dreamer
LFIRE wrote:
Anyone with good information on a true sustainable, off the grid, energy system to create electricity for the house ?
No, not solar or wind as they both require BATTERIES ( which are NOT sustaiable).
I looked th the magnetic generators ( they need some energy source) and hydrogen fuel cells ( dont seem available commercially for the home and may require batteries ... not sure on that.)
Would like ideas and opinions please. thanks
H Ludi Tyler wrote:
How do micro hydro turbines work at all in that case? Doesn't a load diverting controller deal with the varying load?
Len wrote:
The first question is are you sure you need electricity? If so, what do you need it for? When? Off grid power use cannot be compared to grid powered houses. Off grid power? Lights, water, refrigeration? You have stated that batteries are not sustainable, so I presume you are not using power for unsustainable things... entertainment, communication, cooking, heating....
The next thing... where are you? Or, what are your resources? Do you have lots of sun? wind? a stream? heat? No matter your wishes, you have to work with what you have. If there is no stream, no hydro. If it always rains... no sun. So what do you have?
Once you have your resources figured out.... you know when you have batteryless power. Time to schedule power chores ... Take a freezer for example... -10 C is safe for food... but cooler will not hurt... so if using solar, for example, when the sun is shining run the freezer as cool as you can so it can be turned off when the sun does not shine. Pump water to a tank above the use while the sun shines so when it does not you still have water pressure. Wash clothes when the freezer is as cold as it gets and the tank is full. Make and use a root cellar... learn other ways to preserve food.
However, Great as daylight is.... there are times when you need lights whenthe sun is not shining the wind is not blowing and the water is not flowing.... you still need some kind of storage. You can minimise how much storage, but probably not eliminate it. The reality is that we (mankind) survived without power just fine for a long time... much longer than with. Just about every electrical device could be termed "unsustainable".
You need to define (as the Amish do) what you will allow and what you won't.
Idle dreamer
Irene Kightley wrote:
Everyone contributing to this thread is using electricity - we don't need it but we want it.
Idle dreamer
Irene Kightley wrote:
Everyone contributing to this thread is using electricity - we don't need it but we want it.
Idle dreamer
Irene Kightley wrote:
In 19 years we've only ever had to replace two batteries.
Idle dreamer
Philip Freddolino wrote:
A controller controls low voltage DC for battery charging not high voltage AC for your loads. It would only work if you had a 12/24/48 VDC load that never exceeded the hydro wattage output. A severe limitation for the infrastructure cost of the hydro system.
Life is too important to take seriously.
LFIRE wrote:
I would like to know more about the system that does not require batteries. Could you give some links to sources and/or information? thanks.
Life is too important to take seriously.
winsol3 wrote:
My hierachy of appropriate technologies in generating power in small-medium sized:
1. Biomass gasification
2. Geothermal
3. Solar thermal (lo-temp)
4. Solar PV
5. Wind
6. Small Hydro
7. Tidal + wave power
8. Pumped storage
9. BioFuel
10. Other
For a residential application, solar hot water is the place to start. A drainback system is easy and cheap.
Life is too important to take seriously.
winsol3 wrote:
On your other comment about coal and local hydro power... we're all connected via the regional grid... so the NW exports unused hydro to offset others' coal use... so for every KWH you don't use you're displacing a KWH of coal somewhere else.
Life is too important to take seriously.
winsol3 wrote:
3. Solar thermal (lo-temp)
Idle dreamer
Nathan Wrzesinski
Http://TinyGreenLove.blogspot.com
H Ludi Tyler wrote:
Can you link to some references on how to set up a small solar thermal power system?
Life is too important to take seriously.
winsol3 wrote:
I am referring to a solar hot water system.
Idle dreamer
Life is too important to take seriously.
Idle dreamer
H Ludi Tyler wrote:
Thanks for clarifying. This thread is about electricity, hence my confusion.
Len wrote:I think the point of this thread is to explore when it is appropriate to use electric power to do a job.... and when it must be stored.
Another thing that has been pointed out, though perhaps not directly, is transmission loss within our own homestead. When is it better to have a second set of panels/batteries because a use is too far away from the main array?
Life is too important to take seriously.
winsol3 wrote:
On storage: I once got roped into an argument about the grid having a lower footprint than each home having storage batteries.
TheDirtSurgeon wrote:
I wonder if they count the embodied solar energy in the coal, natural gas, petrol?
Given that batteries are almost infinitely recyclable, and if the sun burns out we're all screwed anyway... I can't see how anyone could reasonably argue that there is LESS footprint in using non-renewables to generate grid power! Sounds like your adversary wasn't a real deep thinker.
Life is too important to take seriously.
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