24-07-2017, 10:28 AM
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Generate Your Own Power...
Saw this on the news this morning and If done right could be the future of energy supply.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40699986
If we could all generate our own electricity to fulfil our needs through Solar Panels and Wind Turbines just think of the advantages......
Here are ten reasons why I think its a good idea......
...There are many more can you think of any....(1) No need for expensive power stations polluting the environment with either fossil fuels or nuclear.
(2) No ugly electricity pylons straddling the countryside.
(3) No digging up the roads every few months to put thicker cable in for the extra two hundred homes that have just been built in a field next to you.
(4) No need to buy expensive electricity from the French.
(5) No need to start Fracking, digging up coal or finding a supplier of Natural Gas.
(6) Once installed, you won't have any energy bills to worry about and you will generate your own electricity for all the domestic chores it was too expensive to use electricity for....Heating and cooking.
(7) So you could have the gas supply removed, reducing the chances of your house been obliterated by a gas explosion.
(8) If you become part of a syndicate in your village and become a small network, you could share power i.e When neighbours are away on holiday or at work you could use some of their power at peak times and visa versa.
(9) The majority of electronic equipment you use has a transformer inside to reduce the voltage from, potentially dangerous 240 volts to 12 volts DC. There are many items now made for caravans, boats and camper vans that run on 12 volts, and LED lighting also runs on a low voltage supply, so why not just generate 12 volts instead.
(10) A 12 volt house supply will reduce the cost of house wiring.
24-07-2017, 11:15 AM
5
Re: Generate Your Own Power...
Originally Posted by Dobra
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So - when all the cars are electric, they will suck all your power just recharging them?
24-07-2017, 11:21 AM
7
Re: Generate Your Own Power...
Originally Posted by realspeed
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Durecel go on for ever and ever
24-07-2017, 11:35 AM
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Re: Generate Your Own Power...
The advantage of the grid is that you can sell surplus power to your neighbours. The problem with the grid is that it was designed to distribute power from a central location to distributed houses, it was not designed to have power fed in at random distributed locations.I think the problem with everyone generating their own power is the start up cost and the storage cost. There is no cheap way of storing electricity. Main suppliers do it buy pumping water up hill into storage reservoirs at night when demand is low then releasing it to generate power during peak demand during the day.
Wind power is not practical in a residential area because of the noise so you are left with solar and the lack of sunlight at night is a problem until batteries become much much cheaper.
In Australia diesel with solar assistance has become almost economic for remote locations but the problem with always be peak demand even in a single household running a stove, or heating requires an enormous amount of power. It is just not practical to retrofit existing homes at the moment to be self sufficient.
24-07-2017, 11:44 AM
9
Re: Generate Your Own Power...
BTW 12v will increase the cost of home wiring not decrease it.Power = current multiplied by voltage.
So a 1000watt heater at 240 volts takes about 4 amps (1000/240). See the problem?
1000watt heater at 12 volts takes about 80 amps. The copper wire needed will be as thick as your finger and you need two wires remember.
Your 12v electric kettle will draw over 160amps for 10 minutes the wiring needed will be too thick to bend if you don't want it to melt. There is a reason why caravans use gas for heating and cooking.
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