Solar power & Wind Power for residental use

[truckdiagnostics]

Personally I like this,
View attachment 451609
You would have to have a need for the hot water. Basically you are generating your own electricity, then using the heat from the engine to make hot water, either using the electricity on sight or selling it back. The pay back it the hot water. If they could come up with a small residential unit i would consider it. I think it has less carbon foot print than the solar and wind. All that glass in those solar panels don't make its self, nor does the concrete steal and aluminum in those wind turbines. Not to mention having to get the power lines to where the wind turbines are. Its funny no one what to figure the emissions that are emitted in producing the wind turbines and solar panels. They just want us to think they produce electricity and produce no carbon emissions in the process.

I think it would be time to bring this up again. Yes, there is a residential unit available, company in Wisconsin makes it. How much really made in US? These would take care of the power issue at night. Actually increase the robustness of the grid? :confused3: B&D maybe able to answer that better. There are plants locally that have a high hot water usage year round that are looking at unit just like this. They are however, "not green" but how green is our solar really? They are getting 7 year payback!:cool2: There are claims of the residential unit getting that also, and i believe this is without rebates. I have not looked into if they are getting hidden subsidies through the selling of it back.
Taking to a guy now about using residential unit to replace a wood boiler. Now, replacing that would lower the emissions going into the air. Just talking. It is between that and water furnace, they make an outside Geo unit that will sit right where the old boiler was.

I know way off the original post...., but not much of this one has been that spot on and yet it has gone on forever......

 

[buickanddeere]

I think it would be time to bring this up again. Yes, there is a residential unit available, company in Wisconsin makes it. How much really made in US? These would take care of the power issue at night. Actually increase the robustness of the grid? :confused3: B&D maybe able to answer that better. There are plants locally that have a high hot water usage year round that are looking at unit just like this. They are however, "not green" but how green is our solar really? They are getting 7 year payback!:cool2: There are claims of the residential unit getting that also, and i believe this is without rebates. I have not looked into if they are getting hidden subsidies through the selling of it back.
Taking to a guy now about using residential unit to replace a wood boiler. Now, replacing that would lower the emissions going into the air. Just talking. It is between that and water furnace, they make an outside Geo unit that will sit right where the old boiler was.

I know way off the original post...., but not much of this one has been that spot on and yet it has gone on forever......

Not 100% sure of the question?
Something to consider before installing an outside collector system to heat domestic. If your electrical supplier sells at variable rates. Install a timer on the water heater to only operate at nights and weekends.
The kids here have learned to shower in the morning before the heater shuts down. Then the heater is energized for 1/2 hour at medium rate from 4:30PM-5:00PM to have hot water for dishes. The heater is again powered later at 7:00PM and uses about 15KW/hr to heat the tank.
Saving about $35.00 a month with the timer. Heating at lowest utility rate after 7:00PM vs heating the same tank and water after 7:00AM during peak electrical price rate.
I'm considering 3 or 4 KW of 48V PV panels and a grid tie inverter to zero out the daytime electrical usage. Net metering is not available from my utility.
Since PV panels are so low cost now and to avoid using pumps, glycol etc with outside solar liquid heaters.To heat domestic water, perhaps a 1KW 48V electric pre-heater tank in series and ahead of the existing 240V electric heater. Supplied from the same 48V back of PV cells powering the inverter.
Still working the numbers to find the break even and payback.

 

[truckdiagnostics]

Apologize, is something like this, increasing the robustness of the grid. ecopower(R) Cogeneration by Marathon Engine Systems. I ran into something very similar on the Mariana islands. Hotel were using them, also seen rendering plants using the CHP units, they have high hot water demand year round and use most of the electric on site, for cooling. pay back has been very fast.

 

[Knight9]

Nothing subtle about your comments. Just plain noxious.

Noxious! LOL!! That's a good one Egon. I prefer 'accurate', but you are entitled to your opinion!

 

[Egon]

Noxious! LOL!! That's a good one Egon. I prefer 'accurate', but you are entitled to your opinion!

Accurate it may be but then by definition it would be one Wingnut making comments about another Wingnut!

 

[KiwiBro]

Sunedison looking in poor shape fellas

 

[Knight9]

Accurate it may be but then by definition it would be one Wingnut making comments about another Wingnut!

Well that makes no sense, but since it appears to be a person comment against me, I'll leave to a solo conversation.

 

[Egon]

Well that makes no sense, but since it appears to be a person comment against me, I'll leave to a solo conversation.

The term "Wingnut" may be applied to either party in a matter of different opinions. It is just the perspective.

 

[LAFarm]

In response to several different comments.
Not all Solar Panels are of foreign manufacture. When I purchased mine, Solar World was advertised as made in the USA and those are what I bought. Some of the other components in the system may have been imported, just saying that there is an alternative. SW panels were more expensive at the time of my purchase.
I also have an earth coupled heat pump with a SEER of 22. Has the de-superheater package that heats water anytime the unit is operating. This is connected to a water heater tank (EWH tank not connected to electricity) that is plumbed in series ahead of my electric water heater tank. This allows the ECHP to pre-heat all of my hot water from ground temperature up to a maximum of 145 degrees.
One other note about net metering and the cost to utilities. My solar panels are no different than everyone else's. They only generate power during the daylight hours and even then the output varies greatly depending on the intensity of the sunlight, ie cloudy and overcast days diminish output. Some utilities charge customers a higher rate during weekday, daylight "peak demand" hours and a lesser rate during "off peak" hours. During peak hours, my system sends excess power into the grid and the utility sells it at peak price to my neighbors. I typically draw most of that excess power back from the grid during night time "off peak" hours. There is no money that changes hands between the utility and myself for the differential. I do not have any problem with this scenario. The utility is able to pocket the difference. What I do object to is the utility's desire to only credit me the wholesale rate for what I send back into the grid and then to charge me the retail rate when I draw some back at night. I also am charged a monthly base rate just for having a meter, just like all of my neighbors. By "super-insulating" our attic and replacing all of our lighting to fluorescents, we have been able to reduce our total electric bill to around $30 per month.
I do not suggest that solar or wind can totally replace our current power generation mix of coal, natural gas, hydro and nuclear. However, I do believe that we could do more to address an overall strategy to diversify and encompass all sources of power generation.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

For those who think coal is so great, here is an interesting article. Taxpayers hand out massive subsidies to coal companies, who turn around and dump their liabilities on the public safety net. Beyond the environmental disaster, it's a dirty business in human terms too.

How your taxes ended up enriching coal executives who are betraying their workers - Vox