Alternative Energy projects

[CuzCumminsGuy]

Something you may consider, which I am looking into. I have a friend up in Indiana who has a business, as his entire business is off the grid. He uses three 48 volt forklift batteries, you know, the big heavy-duty lead acid type batteries that are about three feet long by about 2 feet wide and 3 feet high, the ones that take an overhead crane to lift. But just using one of these with some panels and an MPPT inverter (he has two inverter's on his system, one that is 120 volts and the other a 220 volt) could power quite a bit. You may can pick up one of these batteries from a salvage yard, or locate a company that is going out of business. His solar panels are stationary, but you can look on You Tube to see how to build an X and Y axis frame which will track the sun, and produce more power during the daylight hours, then will return to the east for when the sun rises the following day. The last time I was up there about 2 years ago, he had added a small wind generator to supplement his system, and he also has a diesel back up generator just in case. But he powers his warehouse lights, computer systems as well as his cabin with all of the comforts of home. And the good thing about this is, when the power company shuts down from a blackout due to bad weather, you will still have power! So you have to weigh out the cost here as well, as a few days without power could mean more loss of not being able to pump water during the summer for a garden, or to lose what may be in your freezer, as everyone's needs are different.

 

[3930dave]

Something you may consider, which I am looking into. I have a friend up in Indiana who has a business, as his entire business is off the grid. He uses three 48 volt forklift batteries, you know, the big heavy-duty lead acid type batteries that are about three feet long by about 2 feet wide and 3 feet high, the ones that take an overhead crane to lift. But just using one of these with some panels and an MPPT inverter (he has two inverter's on his system, one that is 120 volts and the other a 220 volt) could power quite a bit. You may can pick up one of these batteries from a salvage yard, or locate a company that is going out of business. His solar panels are stationary, but you can look on You Tube to see how to build an X and Y axis frame which will track the sun, and produce more power during the daylight hours, then will return to the east for when the sun rises the following day. The last time I was up there about 2 years ago, he had added a small wind generator to supplement his system, and he also has a diesel back up generator just in case. But he powers his warehouse lights, computer systems as well as his cabin with all of the comforts of home. And the good thing about this is, when the power company shuts down from a blackout due to bad weather, you will still have power! So you have to weigh out the cost here as well, as a few days without power could mean more loss of not being able to pump water during the summer for a garden, or to lose what may be in your freezer, as everyone's needs are different.

Starting from just basic lighting in a shack at one extreme, to every mod-con you can think of (some of which I still don't have) in a large modern home at the other extreme, people have made off-grid work well for a long time.

What's changed in the last 35 years are the cost vectors. PV panels have come way down in price; same with inverters. Efficiency of both are better. Labour costs obviously are up - still an advantage to the DIY'er today.

People get hung up on batteries, for a few reasons. Many people don't want to maintain anything today, and prefer to just ignore their car battery till it dies. So, when that group of people sees a large battery bank, it instantly gets classed as something they don't want to deal with. Even though the maintenance requirements of even traditional FLA batteries are minimal - keep the terminals clean/greased, and the cells topped up.

Some people don't want to allocate space for a battery bank - shouldn't be an issue with a rural property though.

Many people balk at the cost of a battery bank. That decision is largely gated by personal priorities and whether or not someone is oriented towards/capable of paying up front - many consumers today are not.

Sweat equity can still gain you a lot, in terms of the system you end up with. You raise an excellent point about industrial battery sources - you can gain access to well built high capacity batteries, for a fraction of their selling cost, by spending the time looking for options. An old timer I was talking to about 15 years ago scored some excellent large batteries that were brand-new - they'd been rejected for some minor spec variance (physical case sizing, or something like that) by a major utility customer. The distributor sold them to him for not much more than pennies on the dollar, as they were effectively scrap.

Some people point to battery life as a deal-breaker. Obviously shorted cells have to be dealt with, but what people forget is some of that "life" rating is tied to capacity loss. Personally, I'd never under-size a standalone battery bank, so a slight loss in capacity 10-15 years out would have no impact in my case.

Off-grid used to be the exclusive domain of back to the land, birkenstock wearing DIY'ers. Today it is relatively common to find electrical contractors for hire for off-grid and obviously intertie work - that turnkey ability opens up the market more today.

More people today are starting to pay attention to the numbers...... esp. if you reside in an area where utility costs are spiraling out of control.

The traditional top reason for off-grid (remote property, not yet serviced) is even more attractive today, as line installation costs have climbed to the point where that alone can pay for most or all of the alt nrg hardware - often with money left over.

Rgds, D.

 

[buickanddeere]

So if I make 12,000 kwH and assume something like $0.15 per kwh (estimating utility fairy-tale fees....) if purchased, that's $1,800.00.

Add HST at 13%, and you'd pay $2,034.00 to replace that power. Assuming just a marginal 30% income tax rate, you'd need to make $2,905.71 to pay for that power.

Rgds, D.

lets consider you paid income tax on the money used to purchase the PV equipment .
Utility power is 24/7, using it when you need it.
You can not effectively use all the solar power when it is generated in the daytime and still have to generate or use batteries at night.
The 12,000 KW hr is the annual total production. During the months of December, January and February the electrical output from the PV panels is near nil. One month was less than 100Kw hr. What will your electricity cost you through Dec to February ?

 

[buickanddeere]

Starting from just basic lighting in a shack at one extreme, to every mod-con you can think of (some of which I still don't have) in a large modern home at the other extreme, people have made off-grid work well for a long time.

What's changed in the last 35 years are the cost vectors. PV panels have come way down in price; same with inverters. Efficiency of both are better. Labour costs obviously are up - still an advantage to the DIY'er today.

People get hung up on batteries, for a few reasons. Many people don't want to maintain anything today, and prefer to just ignore their car battery till it dies. So, when that group of people sees a large battery bank, it instantly gets classed as something they don't want to deal with. Even though the maintenance requirements of even traditional FLA batteries are minimal - keep the terminals clean/greased, and the cells topped up.

Some people don't want to allocate space for a battery bank - shouldn't be an issue with a rural property though.

Many people balk at the cost of a battery bank. That decision is largely gated by personal priorities and whether or not someone is oriented towards/capable of paying up front - many consumers today are not.

Sweat equity can still gain you a lot, in terms of the system you end up with. You raise an excellent point about industrial battery sources - you can gain access to well built high capacity batteries, for a fraction of their selling cost, by spending the time looking for options. An old timer I was talking to about 15 years ago scored some excellent large batteries that were brand-new - they'd been rejected for some minor spec variance (physical case sizing, or something like that) by a major utility customer. The distributor sold them to him for not much more than pennies on the dollar, as they were effectively scrap.

Some people point to battery life as a deal-breaker. Obviously shorted cells have to be dealt with, but what people forget is some of that "life" rating is tied to capacity loss. Personally, I'd never under-size a standalone battery bank, so a slight loss in capacity 10-15 years out would have no impact in my case.

Off-grid used to be the exclusive domain of back to the land, birkenstock wearing DIY'ers. Today it is relatively common to find electrical contractors for hire for off-grid and obviously intertie work - that turnkey ability opens up the market more today.

More people today are starting to pay attention to the numbers...... esp. if you reside in an area where utility costs are spiraling out of control.

The traditional top reason for off-grid (remote property, not yet serviced) is even more attractive today, as line installation costs have climbed to the point where that alone can pay for most or all of the alt nrg hardware - often with money left over.

Rgds, D.

Off gridders are common enough in remote country where there is no grid. Hunt camps, cottages and other temporary season locations . Tends to be a lot of LP tanks hauled into those self reliant off grid applications.
Or off gridders are somewhere where the utility was 10's of thousands to run a service to a remote property in the middle of a swamp .
Off gridders where there is a utility connection and the utility prices are not extreme due to subsidizing commercial wind, solar and natural gas installations. These off gridders with access to low cost utility power are either hobbyists with a tinker project, tin foil hat types or wide eyed fanatical environmentalists.

 

[3930dave]

lets consider you paid income tax on the money used to purchase the PV equipment .
Utility power is 24/7, using it when you need it.
You can not effectively use all the solar power when it is generated in the daytime and still have to generate or use batteries at night.
The 12,000 KW hr is the annual total production. During the months of December, January and February the electrical output from the PV panels is near nil. One month was less than 100Kw hr. What will your electricity cost you through Dec to February ?

All those costs have to be assessed, for sure. Who will pay what ? That's an individual choice.

I (and many of the people hanging out in this thread) are well aware of the basics of alternative power systems. Some know a lot more than just the basics....

Low season output has to be accounted for - cloud cover is an obvious issue. What some people don't know is that PV output is actually higher at cold temperatures, so that aspect of Winter here is actually a bonus.

A commercial utility array that stays panel-covered-with-sticky-snow for most of a day or longer will lose significant output for the duration. If I owned the array (rural ground mount), then the first thing I'd do is clean the snow off that day. Ground snow cover can actually increase incident solar energy quite a bit - people have found this out the hard way, prototyping arrays on sunny winter days w/o adequate voltage regulation in place - having to scramble to disconnect, or add extra loading quickly. Modern panels don't need full sun to generate power, so cloud cover doesn't diminish output as much older panels did.

Personally, I wouldn't own an off-grid system w/o a back up generator. For that matter, I won't live on-grid w/o a back up generator - I currently own 2.

30 years ago I lived in an all-electric house (meaning heating too). Present govt is trying to push people back that way, but I can't see myself going that route.

Rgds, D.

 

[Travelover]

..................Alte has off grid shed and house systems, from lights only on up. I can pick it up to avoid shipping.

Off-Grid Solar Power Systems - Cabins, Cottages, Lodges | altE

Off-Grid Solar Power Systems - DIY Solar & Off-Grid Living | altE

Generally these "kits" are overpriced compared to the cost of buying the components separately, though the kits are convenient. Check out Solar Blvd for panels and controllers. For a shed project, two 6 volt golf cart batteries from Costco or Walmart would work fine.

 

[CuzCumminsGuy]

Well Dave, you certainly have your ducks in a row, so to speak! With this in mind, I have a question.....Where can I find a really good PV panel which is of the modern type, as compared to the older designs of say 20 to 30 years ago, which will produce more power per day even on cloudy days? I sometimes get ready to make a purchase, look on places such as eBay and am overwhelmed at this person stating this or that one stating that about their quality panels, that I just exit the site, with hopes I will run into someone I can talk with on a one to one conversation of where to purchase a great panel at an affordable price? I have written several companies, as there aren't any around this area of Southeast Georgia that I am aware of, and besides, they aren't interested in talking to a DIY person unless they will be both selling and installing the complete system.

I first became interested in solar power when I worked in the Mojave Desert at a solar electrical generating station as it was being built, as I was a welder in the solar field who welded together and installed the 13 foot long 2-1/2" diameter 2-1/4 chrome tubing which had a bellows on both ends with a 4" glass tube connected to the other end of the bellows for expansion purposes, as there was a vacuum pulled between the chrome and the glass tubes. A heat transfer fluid would be pumped in this smaller tubing, as this 13 foot long tube would be positioned in the focal point of an array of parabolic mirrors which would generate 800 degrees, as this HTF was pumped to a heat exchanger where it produced steam to turn a turbine to produce electricity. BTW, the 13 foot sections I welded together were at a cost of between $1200 to $2000 each, or so I was told.

When I went to this site to take their TIG welding test, I was proficient at welding thinwall stainless steel tubing, as I asked the QC inspector what test I would be welding. He pointed to a test coupon on his desk, as it looked like bubble gum for a weld around it! He said that was a good weld, to which I replied, "No problem". He then said their good welds to bad rejects were around 15:1, as they would manually inspect them using a bore-scope. In the almost 4 months I was there, I had one bad weld, as this was when one of the owners of the company came into the fab shop and accidentally stepped on my TIG torch hose, cutting off the argon shielding gas to the torch head, and I came unglued! I chewed this guy out, pointed at what he had just done and explained how he had just ruined a couple of their 13 foot sections of tubes. He looked at the other co-owner and told him "We had better get out of here"! My General Foreman came over and asked what I was yelling about, so I told him, then he told me I had been yelling at the big guy, the owner, who we were working for! The owner returned the next day and apologized to me, but I did to him as well. He told me he was impressed that I cared as much as I did about making a good weld, and I was interested in doing him a good job, looking out for his best interest.

Solar Powerplant in the Mojave Desert in California from SciHD's "Machines!". (2) - YouTube

But this plant is completely different from the PV panels, controllers and battery banks. I am interested in finding a really nice system that can be upgraded as time goes on, as I have the room to locate a battery bank area and to build a frame for holding PV panels. We hardly ever get any snow down where I live, but I've had my share of it when working in Northern Maine during the winter, as I had a couple pairs of Sorel's with extra felt liners (size 15) and the largest Carhardt's I could find (I am 6' 6" tall), as I have had to work in 50 below weather, driving 25 miles to work on icy roads thru no-man's land, all of which was beautiful to me. Our main thing these days is having to deal with power outages from these hurricanes, which I believe is gonna get worse as time goes on.

Any suggestions of where to purchase well made PV panels, connectors, MPPT controllers and the like from? By the way, thank you and the other folks for responding to this, helping an older Southern boy to have one more project for the future to keep me busy! lol I love to work and to fabricate things!

 

[3930dave]

^ I like that welding story :thumbsup:. Always good to be around somebody who takes pride in their craft. I like the relative simplicity of solar->steam; for one, the back-end after that is just traditional (large-scale) generation.

Wish I was up to date enough to suggest - Contact this Distributor, and consider model X or Y or Z panels.... but it's been way too long since I went shopping....

Some of the big players may still be in the game (Siemens, Kyocera.....), and now the Chinese are huge in PV production - the obvious challenge being zeroing in on their high-end panels at a glance...... I hear you, there's almost overchoice today......

It'll take some reading, but 2 general suggestions that may help:

Spend some time on Homepower.com if you haven't already. I've always liked the structured and disciplined approach they use to present site installations - detailed cost breakdowns, trouble and failure reports, and in some cases, follow up notes a year or more later. That'll give you some direct grass-roots feedback from end-users, and some pointers on lots of things including building up systems in stages.

Homepower has been writing about alt nrg for a very long time. Unless they've priced them crazy high of late, spending a few $ for their How To, or Best Of, or Annual Buyer's Guide downloads would be worthwhile, as well as their general back-issues. If they're not open-access now.... (?).

Again, more reading, but I'd also cruise through some sailboat forums. Engineering-wise, I personally like to see things beat on extra-hard, to see what stands up well. Personal sailboats have used PV panels for a very long-time - it's a critical use/uptime application, that is often pretty harsh (minus sub-zero operation, hopefully). Will take some sifting their too, but you may get some sense of what manufacturer's panels are standing up well on boats.....

There's a few cool projects on TBN here, I'm thinking of one guy, SW USA IIRC....... got pissed off with what a utility company had quoted, and did a pretty serious off-grid build on his new homestead...... if I can track down that thread, I'll post a link here.

Have fun, and pls post what you get up to....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

High end system, deliberately over-sized battery bank.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/367749-check-out-my-new-battery.html

Rgds, D.

 

[Garandman]

//Again, more reading, but I'd also cruise through some sailboat forums. Engineering-wise, I personally like to see things beat on extra-hard, to see what stands up well. Personal sailboats have used PV panels for a very long-time - it's a critical use/uptime application, that is often pretty harsh (minus sub-zero operation, hopefully). Will take some sifting their too, but you may get some sense of what manufacturer's panels are standing up well on boats.....

Interesting you bring that up. The cruising sailors I know are the best prepared folks around, as they have to perform their own medical treatment, have diesels and DC power, and the weather to contend with. And maintaining stuff in salt water is a challenge.

Maybe half the boats we see on moorings these days have solar panels to keep the batteries topped off, as bilge pumps are almost always wired direct: better to have a dead battery than a sunk boat! Weight isn稚 a big concern and many cruising boats have two or more large storage cells down near the keel.

Sail magazine has an article currently on wind turbines, which are also common. There are a dozen manufacturers. The power generated varies as the cube of the speed, so as a practical matter most start generating power at about 10mph and peak at about 25. These days they are almost always rigged in conjunction with solar panels. The benefit is that they can generate power on cloudy days and at night, providing a more consistent supply. Costs have come way down: $1,000-2,000 for marine units. Some of the manufacturers are also making small home systems with higher outputs (peak output for sail systems is around 400W, as the blade diameter can稚 be too large).

Approaches to protecting them from very high wind speeds vary. Some have flexible blades, some variable pitch, some internal brakes, and one design turns itself perpendicular to the wind direction.

Installing solar and wind power on your boat

Wind generators - buyers' guide - Sailing Today

Changing from Wind to Solar Energy - Sail Magazine

ASK THE EXPERTS: Wind Power for Charging Batteries | Home Power Magazine

 

[sandman2234]

3RRL post on building a house off grid also has some interesting info.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/104037-3r-home-barn-project.html?highlight=house

David from jax

 

[3930dave]

Interesting you bring that up. The cruising sailors I know are the best prepared folks around, as they have to perform their own medical treatment, have diesels and DC power, and the weather to contend with. And maintaining stuff in salt water is a challenge.

Maybe half the boats we see on moorings these days have solar panels to keep the batteries topped off, as bilge pumps are almost always wired direct: better to have a dead battery than a sunk boat! Weight isn稚 a big concern and many cruising boats have two or more large storage cells down near the keel.

Sail magazine has an article currently on wind turbines, which are also common. There are a dozen manufacturers. The power generated varies as the cube of the speed, so as a practical matter most start generating power at about 10mph and peak at about 25. These days they are almost always rigged in conjunction with solar panels. The benefit is that they can generate power on cloudy days and at night, providing a more consistent supply. Costs have come way down: $1,000-2,000 for marine units. Some of the manufacturers are also making small home systems with higher outputs (peak output for sail systems is around 400W, as the blade diameter can稚 be too large).

Approaches to protecting them from very high wind speeds vary. Some have flexible blades, some variable pitch, some internal brakes, and one design turns itself perpendicular to the wind direction.

Installing solar and wind power on your boat

Wind generators - buyers' guide - Sailing Today

Changing from Wind to Solar Energy - Sail Magazine

ASK THE EXPERTS: Wind Power for Charging Batteries | Home Power Magazine

Ocean crossing boats are obviously a critical application. Unless you have stops planned, you may have a diesel powered generator on-board, but only a relatively tiny amount of fuel.

Depending where you are (even if exactly known, and communicated), it can be many hours flying time to get help there if things go wrong. It stands to reason that the people who continue to sail large bodies of water have a very keen appreciation of what works, what doesn't, and why things fail. For the well-being of others, sharing said info is a good idea :thumbsup:

On a small-scale, I like wind power (and hydro) as an adjunct to solar PV. I like to diversify my energy sources in general, but specific to the climate I see here - wind is often high, when solar is at annual minimum.

Every once in a while, I enjoy reading about an olde Jacob being rebuilt:

Resurrecting a Classic Wind Generator | Home Power Magazine

Way too large for a sailboat (well, one I could afford anyway..... :laughing, and time has moved on to supply other designs and materials optimized for compact wind generators, but those Jacobs (when maintained - yes, it was a different era.....) were a top design in their day....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

3RRL post on building a house off grid also has some interesting info.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/104037-3r-home-barn-project.html?highlight=house

David from jax

Extensive thread, thanks for that. I always like reading the long-term feedback.

Rgds, D

 

[CuzCumminsGuy]

David, back in '89 when I worked at SEGS (Solar Electrical Generating Station) in the Mojave Desert, I stayed in the small town of Boron CA, as on the outskirts of town was located U.S. Borax, which was the 20 Mule Team Borax that once sponsored the TV show 'Death Valley Days'. (I stayed with a laborer who owned a home there, as he said I could stay with him for $150 a month, but I told him if he made it $200 a month I would do it, as he didn't make much per hour and I felt like helping him out a little being he was kind enough to let me stay with him). We were working at least 84 hours per week, plus all of the overtime I could stand!

Right down the road from his home was a guy who was what was called a 'Desert Rat', as his name was Hippie Bob. Bob, in his earlier years, had entered and had taken 1st place at the Oakland Roadster Show, and was almost a genius, as he was into just about anything. He lived in a 30 X 30 one room house with a bedroom, den, bathroom and kitchen located in his home with no walls separating what should have been rooms! He had a shop with all kinds of hi-performance engines which were all disassembled and inside, sculptures he had made as well as plans of homes he had drawn up, one of particular interest tome which showed it mounted on a crane 'ringer' (turret), so the upper part of the home could actually rotate. If you wanted to have the sun to rise in the morning and shine in the home, it could be rotated so it would, or if you wanted to also see it set that afternoon, this could take place as well!

He had a 12 foot tall chain link fence around his place, and mainly stayed inside, as he hardly ever went out except to go for groceries, or to drive for water in 5 gallon glass jugs (the older bottled water 5 gallon glass jugs) at a friends place close to Victorville CA, who had a free flowing artesian well on his property, and had once worked for Disney but was also a recluse with very few friends.

Anyway, Bob and I became quite good friends, as I will talk with just about anyone, as I make friends easily. (I am still this way.) I taught him a little about welding, as he had purchased a rig truck which had a Lincoln SA-200 welding machine on it, but knew nothing about how to operate it. He shared with me about the intricate plans about that rotating home on the ringer, as I soon learned he had once been an architect and quite a successful one at that, but got tired of the fast tracked and pace of life in the big city. He was up in age back then, as I have always wanted to stop by to see my ole friend again but have never been out that way since then. This was 28 years ago.

When I checked out the link you shared with me about the big home the guy was about to build, then decided to fire his GC and to build a log cabin instead, Hippie Bob came to my mind, as if he had built his cabin on a crane turret ringer, I'm sure it would have been a one of a kind home he would have liked, or at least I know I would have. Bob had shared with me that some guy had actually built his design years earlier somewhere up in the remote Rockie Mountains which overlooked a river, but could also be rotated to have an awesome view of the mountains as well.

Thank you for sharing the link with me, David!

 

[3930dave]

CCG - interesting, I didn't realize that Mojave project was done that long ago.

Architects can be interesting to talk to; having to work with them, well that's another story..... a "different" design may look cool - building it another story, maintaining it, yet another.

Lots of Miami influenced condos got built in Vancouver - while you can have workmanship issues anywhere, the design was unsuitable due to the heavy rain loads on the left coast. I like visually interesting buildings, but they still have to be able to deal with Mother Nature.....

Rgds, D.

 

[CuzCumminsGuy]

Yeah, SEGS 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 were all five located at one site, as this was where I worked. They had old LA County buses on site to bus workers to their area's of work during construction. SOLAR One and Two I was told was located in Daggett CA, as I never worked there, as this was where stationary mirrors reflected the sun onto a large, tall tank which was in the center of an array of powerful mirrors, but when it was completed, it was obsolete.

SEGS 3 thru 7 was (is) located just off U.S. Highway 395, just North of Kramer Junction CA and Highway 58. My first day on there, I already had a job in the San Joaquin Valley, but was there to see if I could pass the solar field test, as the temperature was 121 degrees F. The test shop was d dirt floor outside under a low tin roof with zero humidity. I asked the QC what he was looking for, as he stated an inverted wedding band to flush for the first pass, then a filler and cap on the second pass. So I told him I would need 4 beveled pieces of tubing, 2 to get my heat set correctly and 2 to take the test. It took less than 10 minutes to set the heat and to take the test.

I waited for the QC to come back. He walked inside, asked me if anything was wrong and I told him I was finished. He was trying to look inside to see the penetration of the first pass, so I offered him my small flashlight so he could look. He then called the head QC to come take a look, and the solar field GF showed up as well. All 3 huddled up around where I had taken the test, then the GF spoke up and said "Hire him now"! I explained to them, "I already have a job right now, so I need to give a 2 week notice, and besides, there will be a Harley motorcycle run the following 2 weekends and I plan to make both of them". He then said, "Well, take him to the personnel department and let him complete all of his paperwork, so when he shows up for work, all of that will be completed and he can start to work and not have to get that done".

Two weeks later, I was in the Superintendent's office when he walked through, as I remember speaking to him and he just mumbled at me. Then the GF came in and wanted to introduce me to the Super, as I asked him if that was the guy who just walked in and mumbled? LOL They put me in their fab shop, welding 13 foot sections of tubes together with a TIG welder, as I was connected to a Miller 8-Pack machine, which had 8 welding machines. The next day, I was on the 8-Pack, but another welder took the machine I had been using the day before, as 'she' kept turning up the heat and I kept speeding up while making the weld.After about 30 minutes, I was making 2 welds to everyone else making 1 weld, and about that time was when the Super and the GF walked through the fab shop, as they noticed I was making double the welds as anyone else was! I heard the Super tell the GF, "If there is any overtime to be made, give it to the new guy from Georgia, as he is twice as fast as anyone else"!

I then walked over to the 8-Pack and went to adjust the amperage control, as Linda then spoke up, wanting to know why I was trying to adjust her machine. I told her it was the machine I was using, as she said she had been using it two days ago but she wasn't there yesterday. I then knew, she was the reason my machine was getting hotter, as she kept turning up the amperage of the machine I was using, and was the reason I was getting 2 welds to everyone else getting 1 weld! The Super and GF never did find out, but at least I got a lot of overtime by Linda turning up my machine when she thought it was hers!

I loved it out there. That was about the time when the B2 Bomber was flying at night, as nobody knew what it was at the time, but it was flying at night to conceal its cover. I did happen to see the B1 Bomber one day about 500 feet off the desert floor, and do remember seeing one of the space shuttle's fly overhead, as they used the large open pit at U.S. Borax to help line up with the runway at Edwards AFB, as I could actually head the double sonic boom! It still makes the hair raise up on my arms just thinking about it! Everyone in the fab shop stopped to watch it fly overhead, as it was a beautiful sight for me to behold!

The places I've been in my life, the things I have seen and the people I've met, and continue to still meet! I still love life, still love to work and still love to meet people and to help them when I can!

Cuz

 

[3930dave]

A small Cali company converting classic cars, and a DIY guy building his own powerwalls:

Meet the DIY Mechanics Retrofitting Classic Cars With Electric Motors - Motherboard

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Interesting battery tech, promoted by somebody savvy in both business and science:

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609027/this-startup-developed-a-promising-new-battery-material-and-a-novel-survival-strategy/

Rgds, D.

 

[Garandman]

Always got a kick out of the MIT professor who used his Prius as a power source for his house.

You can now buy plug out kits for them.

 

[3930dave]

Always got a kick out of the MIT professor who used his Prius as a power source for his house.

You can now buy plug out kits for them.

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.