Alternative Energy projects

[Garandman]

Interesting trend and the key to going off grid for many of us.

World's Deploying More Batteries Than Ever - But Slower - Bloomberg

 

[buickanddeere]

It's all just pushing electrons around..... if you know enough (virtually all consumers don't though), hacking a Prius is no big deal....

I do ramble on at times, so I'm likely repeating (maybe even in this thread.....) when I say that I like combining generators with batteries and inverters...... with a Prius, you already have that pre-packaged in Japan for you.....

Heck, when electricity rates go back to "normal" around here, it'll probably be cheaper to have a Prius idling in the driveway than paying daytime rates :thumbsup:

Rgds, D.

Ontario has power problems now and larger crisis(s) on their way. Daytime peak power will become so expensive that it will be cheaper to use solar panels and a grid tie inverter to generate daytime power vs purchasing power. Off peak power rates are currently low enough that batteries to power a property at night will never break even cost wise. The 20 year fixed rate contracts to wind, solar, some gas plants and some native "co-owned" hydro electric sites.

 

[3930dave]

Cheap, dense, compact batteries are what the mass market is looking for.... powerwall is one step closer.....

Remote properties have always been a key market. Alternate solutions are moving closer to mainstream.... higher traditional utility costs just accelerate this trend....... heck, I know of a local industrial customer that decided to buy an industrial diesel generator, rather than pay the ridiculous service line-in upgrade fee from the local utility.

Rgds, D.

 

[buickanddeere]

Cheap, dense, compact batteries are what the mass market is looking for.... powerwall is one step closer.....

Remote properties have always been a key market. Alternate solutions are moving closer to mainstream.... higher traditional utility costs just accelerate this trend....... heck, I know of a local industrial customer that decided to buy an industrial diesel generator, rather than pay the ridiculous service line-in upgrade fee from the local utility.

Rgds, D.

There are no cheap high density long life battery packs . Utility power has to be extremely expensive , unreliable or non existent to make wind or solar and battery storage cheaper per kw hr.

 

[buickanddeere]

Cheap, dense, compact batteries are what the mass market is looking for.... powerwall is one step closer.....

Remote properties have always been a key market. Alternate solutions are moving closer to mainstream.... higher traditional utility costs just accelerate this trend....... heck, I know of a local industrial customer that decided to buy an industrial diesel generator, rather than pay the ridiculous service line-in upgrade fee from the local utility.

Rgds, D.

Our local weed greenhouse is installing 30Mw of co-generation as it is cheaper than power from the 230KV power line that runs beside the facility.

 

[3930dave]

Our local weed greenhouse is installing 30Mw of co-generation as it is cheaper than power from the 230KV power line that runs beside the facility.

That's part of what's changing...... used to be if you wanted power in a very remote location, nobody could justify running tens or hundreds of miles of utility line for just one compound. Many jurisdictions now have substantially raised line-connect or upgrade fees, for even fairly short distances.

Back when, rural electrification was more like a Build It, and They will Come approach - the goal was to establish a large grid network, then start charging customers for consumption. Give away the Handle, then sell the Razor Blades.....

I understand the MBA/CFO driven culture of today...... but I see a collision course coming up...... ramming your customers with higher and higher utility infrastructure charges works best when customers don't have alternate (and declining in cost....) options to choose from......

Rgds, D.

 

[farmer2009]

http://www.southeastchptap.org/Data...les/owensboro-grain---chp_project_profile.pdf

Plants been in operation for a few years now. Never hear anymore about it. But it removed the utilities largest customer from the grid. They still have a connection to provide emergency backup power. Plant has its own backup before the grid.

 

[3930dave]

http://www.southeastchptap.org/Data...les/owensboro-grain---chp_project_profile.pdf

Plants been in operation for a few years now. Never hear anymore about it. But it removed the utilities largest customer from the grid. They still have a connection to provide emergency backup power. Plant has its own backup before the grid.

Nice summary sheet.

Cogen has been big in the industrial world..... they ran the #'s, and said - No Thanks, to grid rates. A big plant has been running at Canada's largest airport for a long time - it hit the news about a year ago as it never actually had an operating permit in place :laughing:

A friend mentioned a documentary he watched about 2 years ago concerning how much of a push Walmart was making into Alt Nrg - one of the last places they can save costs, so it has become a priority.

Zero sum game though...... This reality ^ is part of why utilities are turning around and hitting private customer's bank accounts so hard.....

Rgds, D.

 

[buickanddeere]

Western European industry that has been hit with $$$ subsidized wind and solar are using NG co-generation. Greenhouses in Ontario too. When the NG pipeline reaches the Bruce Energy centre, the cogen unit will go online fall, winter and spring.

 

[westcliffe01]

Our local weed greenhouse is installing 30Mw of co-generation as it is cheaper than power from the 230KV power line that runs beside the facility.

Must have been using the stuff they are producing to want to install 30MW of generation, since the city of a million I used to live in only consumed 38MW and they needed all those residents to pay for the energy production. Growing weed cant be THAT lucrative.

Now 30kW would be a more reasonable fit and they are still going to have a huge fuel bill if you run the numbers for fuel flow.

 

[buickanddeere]

Must have been using the stuff they are producing to want to install 30MW of generation, since the city of a million I used to live in only consumed 38MW and they needed all those residents to pay for the energy production. Growing weed cant be THAT lucrative.

Now 30kW would be a more reasonable fit and they are still going to have a huge fuel bill if you run the numbers for fuel flow.

Serious 30Mw . Seven acres of greenhouse uses over 30Mw for lights and heat in the winter .

 

[3930dave]

One of the more thoughtful presentations I've seen lately....

Why renewables can’t save the planet | Michael Shellenberger | TEDxDanubia - YouTube

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Egon posted this in Gale's EV thread..... thought I'd toss it in here too for perusal....

Drake Landing Solar Community

Well beyond a proof on concept...... if it works in AB on that scale, that's a pretty good test.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

For the iron and hydrogen fans.....

The battery invented 120 years before its time

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Building battery capacity in Europe:

Gigafactories: Europe tools up against US and Asia as a car battery force

But... now I'm confused.......

Near the Arctic, you can make "the world's greenest battery" using hydro-electric for prime power.....

..... but, hydro-electric is getting decommissioned in some areas of North America due to it being "bad" for the environment.....

Hmmm...... I guess it's both now !

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

An individual's hydro project.

Early days on his channel (I'd love to know the size of the Pelton, and the vertical drop on that run of pipe), but this is more a Walk in the Woods, Git 'er Done on Nyrs Day Before the Pipes Crack video.

I found this guy, when I was checking on the recent floods on the Coq, he had that early vid of the vanished bridge in his area.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Interesting design. Makes good (re-)use of low cost materials.

Wind Turbine Tutorial - OpenSourceLowTech.org

Rgds, D.

 

[MossRoad]

Interesting design. Makes good (re-)use of low cost materials.

Wind Turbine Tutorial - OpenSourceLowTech.org

Rgds, D.

I used to have free access those aluminum printing plates... no more.

Nice animation!

 

[3930dave]

Nice animation!

For us Gearheads..... a nice relaxing screensaver.....

I put that ^, in a email to a buddy.... then realized Darn, I'm Old.... bet kids don't even know that term anymore.....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Back in the olden-days, I was impressed by the performance of even simple (drain-back) hydronic-panel systems that were written up in Homepower. Really liking this guys setup.

Building the basic panels... biggest problem would likely be accessing the tempered glass....

Rgds, D.