April 23, 2008 at 10:16 pm
A very good topic steve. We may found new source of energy day to day but how many of us are thinking of saving energy. We keep our monitor on while we go to cafe, we forget to put our water tap off, we forget to switch off the unnecessary lights.
Guys give a thought on this........
Save energy to stay happily in the world.:w00t:
April 24, 2008 at 5:10 am
A very interesting topic you have today. Us staying in South Africa are learning firsthand how important it is to prepare for Electricity Blackout. Our country power stations has not been maintained for the past 14 years and now we have blackouts without warning on a daily basis which lasts no less than 4 hours at a time. Our trips to work in the morning now takes us 2 hours to travel 12miles(20km) with traffic lights not working. Arriving at our office with no power to drive our call centres pc`s or switchboards has put another perspective on our daily support function. Our clients now find themselfs with corrupted databases.(I rebuild approc 20 daily). This has been happening the past 2 months and generators are unobtainable to purchase. We were and still are totally unprepared. Talk of "DARKEST AFRICA" is now the reallity. One of our previous prime minister preached of "The black danger". We thought he was talking about the black majority about to take over our country. Now we know he was refering to ESCOM our local power supplier.
April 24, 2008 at 6:32 am
The US Powergrids are substantial. I am completely opposed to use of storage devices for collecting solar as then you are dealing with hazardous lead acid or other batteries. Then what do you do with the waste. That is a solution for hermits who just want off grid. I prefer the method of put on enough solar\wind\geothermal resources to equal or exceed your annual average usage and feed back to the grid. Then you are helping others as well as pushing to the grid when you are gone for the day which is also when there is a very high electricity demand for commercial. Why not get others using 'green' power with or without their knowledge. In the US power companies MUST let you back feed to the grid. If they don't a fairly simple legal action will allow you to. There is just something about watching your power meter spin backwards. This also helps to wash your utility bill.
April 24, 2008 at 7:37 am
Storage is important to protect yourself. California had rolling brownouts and blackouts a couple years ago because of power issues.
I do think you should feed back the grid when you can and most systems do this. However if the grid goes down, your solar/wind/etc. system shuts down. The reason is that it can't "energize" the grid as that's a danger to a lineman looking to repair something. So you need some sort of of short term storage.
Out here we have a generator, so now the grid-connected systems start to make sense. Most people might not need a generator and would go with $2-3k in batteries instead of $5-10k for a generator.
April 24, 2008 at 8:14 am
The other HUGE issue is that we as humans and especially americans have lost a very important ability. Survival.
So the power is out. Who cares. You can't use your microwave. Your refrigerator and freezer are now just coolers.
This is not an issue for short periods of time. A small generator (<$1000) can sustain life for a darn long time (given that it is not heating season.) Yes we will have to change our lifestyles but it is all in what you are willing to do. People should be looking to decrease energy needs\consumption then they will be greener as well as not feel the hurt so much when a rolling blackout hits.
A gas stove, gas water heater, gass furnace (*need elec. for the fan) eliminates your inability to cook, stay warm. The furnace fan and fridge would be the key items that need a generator. During a blackout you just can't watch evening tv. Find a book and candle.
Long story short... slow down life. We have a hard time removing ourselves from the fast lane but if we embrace the slow lane i think we will be much more pleasing people to deal with.
April 24, 2008 at 8:15 am
Steve Jones - Editor (4/23/2008)
Don't forget that while you might have the panels to power your house, the power is only there part of the day. You need a storage system of some sorts, usually batteries now, that is fairly expensive.
No doubt. As of right now - cost is the biggest impediment to Solar (more than any of the other solutions it seems).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
April 24, 2008 at 8:57 am
Cost is a problem. My solar floodlight doesn't work as well as wired ones, cost more ($90 v $60) and isn't as bright. Less settings, etc.
However it doesn't need wires, so it works ok.
I hated to see some rebates go away. I think we should push more, just to drive some adoption. With gas (LP, Nat, and car versions) going up, now is the time to get people to drive things forward and make fundamental changes.
May 2, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Robert Hermsen (4/24/2008)
The other HUGE issue is that we as humans and especially americans have lost a very important ability. Survival.So the power is out. Who cares. You can't use your microwave. Your refrigerator and freezer are now just coolers.
This is not an issue for short periods of time. A small generator (<$1000) can sustain life for a darn long time (given that it is not heating season.) Yes we will have to change our lifestyles but it is all in what you are willing to do. People should be looking to decrease energy needs\consumption then they will be greener as well as not feel the hurt so much when a rolling blackout hits.
A gas stove, gas water heater, gass furnace (*need elec. for the fan) eliminates your inability to cook, stay warm. The furnace fan and fridge would be the key items that need a generator. During a blackout you just can't watch evening tv. Find a book and candle.
Long story short... slow down life. We have a hard time removing ourselves from the fast lane but if we embrace the slow lane i think we will be much more pleasing people to deal with.
I completely agree with this. I always like to think life is too short to be in a hurry (this applies to many things, but I usually think about it when I see people going down the highways at a breakneck speed! :crazy: )
Steve - great article. Energy use is definitely something my wife and I would like to manage better. We do what we can as we can afford it. Our goal is to eventually get solar and/or wind or something and hopefully be able to give back to the grid. Besides, no matter what anyone can afford, everyone can implement conservation in some way.
Ian.
"If you are going through hell, keep going."
-- Winston Churchill
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