Alternative Energy projects

   / Alternative Energy projects
  • Thread Starter
#112  
Garandman said:
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
Click to expand...

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.
 
   / Alternative Energy projects #114  
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!
 
   / Alternative Energy projects
  • Thread Starter
#115  
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.
 
   / Alternative Energy projects #116  
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
 
   / Alternative Energy projects #119  
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.
 
   / Alternative Energy projects
  • Thread Starter
#120  
Garandman said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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