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Showing posts from January, 2018

Living Off Grid Part 5

Refrigeration is a necessity for most people who wish to live off grid. Unfortunately, refrigerators often use more energy than any other appliance since they run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The energy source of the refrigerator is key, if a refrigerator is powered by only by electricity then, it will always be a drain on the power system, whether it be solar or gas generator. Compressor based refrigeration needs a motor to drive the compressor, often this motor is powered by electricity or an internal combustion engine. Though it may be possible to drive the compressor using a clutch system connected to a steam turbine from a concentrated solar steam system. It may also be possible to drive the compressor using an electric motor, also on a clutch. I was reading about absorption refrigeration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_refrigerator It is interesting to note that even Albert Einstein helped design an absorption refrigerator: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ei

Energy Storage

As I have noted in my previous posts, a 30,000 square mile array of collectors or solar panels in highly sunlit desert will provide more that enough energy to meet ALL the energy needs of the U.S.. This includes all fossil fuels and all nuclear fuel usage. The problem is that of storage and demand, for the energy needed on a day by day, minute by minute basis is not constant. Furthermore, the amount of sunlight varies daily and the duration of sunlight varies throughout the year. We can minimize or eliminate the first source of variability by using climate engineering over the areas of solar power production, so cloud and light variability will no longer and issue. Given that climate engineering has negative effects for the biosphere, it might be best to restrict it's use ONLY over regions that are to be used for power generation. The second source of variability might be more difficult to address, especially with the technology available to us at this point in time. There ar

CSP Systems and Other Stuff

CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) power generation systems have a significant advantage over PV when it come to EMP, or Electro Magnetic Pulse. Since most of the components of CSP power generation are mechanical, it is very resistant against EMP attacks, unlike PV systems which are mostly based on semiconductor solar panels that are susceptible to EMP damage. This is yet another advantage of CSP systems, especially for off-grid applications. Now in regards to the future of the automobile and the fossil fuel industry, it would be advantageous if the U.S. could upgrade the electrical infrastructure so that all energy needs could be supplied via electricity. In regards to solar and possible CSP electrical production at industrial scales, energy storage is necessary. Considerable research has been conducted in this area and many of the most efficient methods to store energy are quite simple: https://youtu.be/m3p_daUDvI8 These energy storage methods are technically feasible, efficient,

Living Off Grid Part 4

Steam power generation is used in nearly all forms of electricity production. The reason is that nearly all energy resources whether it be coal, nuclear, natural gas, solar, hydrothermal, etc produce heat (there are some exceptions like water power). Most of the time this heat is used to raise the temperature of water so that it turns into steam and then the steam is used to drive turbines which drive electric generators. Steam electrical power production has been in existence, quite literally since the introduction of electricity. It is a well established technology that has been improved and made more efficient in the past 120 years. The difference between most of these forms of energy production is the heat source. Once the water is in steam form it will be treated nearly the same, it doesn't matter if it was heated by coal, nuclear, natural gas, or solar, the technology used to convert steam energy into electrical energy is nearly the same. This is a great benefit for Conce

!Living Off Grid Part 3!

After reading through some of the comments in the youtube comment section of the following video: https://youtu.be/jTvAL7ty53M It became apparent that maybe the system does not produce the amount of power noted in the title, 12kw. It depends on how the steam is used to drive the power shaft, how much heat is lost at the heating element, how well insulated the steam lines are, possibly the maximum pressure allowable in the lines, in essence it depends on the thermodynamics of heat engines and mechanical engineering limits. Someone mentioned the problem of steam condensing on the turbine or piston, etc. Modern Steam Power Generators with several refinements and new technologies have an efficiency of 44.7%: http://www.power-eng.com/articles/print/volume-111/issue-6/features/steam-generator-efficiency.html The pressures are around 600-1200 psi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_turbine#Marine_propulsion Typical Air conditioning units in cars run around 225-400 PSI using t

!Living Off Grid Part 2!

Traditional Solar panels may not be necessary for living off grid, there is an alternative process that also produces useful amounts of electricity, the Solar Mirror Array Steam driven electric generator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTvAL7ty53M What I like about this method of generating electricity from the sun is that building and repairing the system is within the range of technologies, materials, and finances available to most of the general public. For example, the pressurized water-steam chamber is easy enough to build with commonly available cost effective materials, metal working tools and parts. The steam driven pistons or turbines are also within the outer range of cost effective materials, metal working tools and parts, mirrors are inexpensive and commonly available, so is the generator, the generator drive shaft and the electrical box. Furthermore, it is easier to repair, maintain, and replace the system as it ages, when compared to semiconductor solar panels. A

Living Off Grid

I recently viewed some videos regarding "earthship" homes on youtube: https://youtu.be/efI77fzBgvg https://youtu.be/Ix11VQ8f7uY There are certain problems that often crop up for people living off grid: 1. Water 2. Fuel for Cooking 3. Refrigeration Here are some ideas that may help make these earth ships more reliable: 1. Dig a Well to tap into the vast flows of groundwater, with electric pump powered by solar and/or a manual pump like in the old days. https://youtu.be/0-KLWEnwiaY more reliable water supply. and/or 2. Use an atmospheric water generator, powered by solar, to extract water from the atmosphere. https://youtu.be/HMe7m56jMIg more reliable water supply 3. Use a parabolic solar griller to grill foods: https://youtu.be/7UUW3xL0FVA Reduced need for non-solar energy sources 4. Use a solar oven to bake: https://youtu.be/yPRkwnpv-C8 Yet another way to reach even higher temperatures is to make the walls of the solar oven like a dewar

A New Internet?

Given the recent move to eliminate network neutrality: Net Neutrality The time has come to build our own Internet, the people's Internet.  There are several videos on youtube describing how to build a wireless ISP (Internet Service Provider). Wireless ISP This is deceptive because most ISP's provide the local communication infrastructure to connect with the Wide Area communication structure known as the Internet. So even IF some group builds their own ISP, they may still have to use the global communication infrastructure, owned by large communication companies, to provide access to the Internet. The essential distinction is between Regional Area Networks, like a network for a room, a building, an apartment, a house, a city, a county/province, etc Local Area Network Metropolitan Area Network and Wide Area Networks, like a network connecting two cities separated by hundreds or thousands of miles. Wide Area Network Building a LAN or MAN is relatively easy, t