SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Open Source.com has raised an interesting issue.
With household and municipal scale electricity generation becoming commonplace, it appears that the energy market is about to experience a major technological disruption. Of course, with disruption comes opportunity, and there's already some clear contenders in the field, from Tesla with their cars and batteries, Suntech with their solar panels, to Vestas with their huge turbines.
There's a big caveat with all of this large-scale investment though, and that's contending with the existing centralized power grids and the utilities that manage them. Open source models are a good fit for this new paradigm, with collaboration replacing monopolies and open systems displacing proprietary vendor controls. High quality open source software tools exist already, including the well-supported PowerMatcher suite, but how will this collection of solutions wrest control of the key "last mile" hardware from the hostile and entrenched utilities?
Any suggestions from the SoyLentil team? If we get it right, all of us could become unfeasibly wealthy...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday April 29 2015, @08:23PM
He spent most of his time in grad school poring over Hollerith decks. He told me he was modelling the North American power grid.
If anything drops off line anywhere in the grid - say because a car hits a power pole - all hell breaks loose. It's a significant computational problem to figure out how to keep the whole system online in the face of such transients. It's also a problem that it is expensive to start and stop a generator, but we use most of our power during the day.
Really the best solution would be for new housing not to be on the grid at all, but to be independently powered with solar and wind. Consider that a lot less energy is consumed by heat exchangers than by refrigerant pumps or electric heaters; the reason we don't use exchangers much is due to the greater up-front investment. But if you used a heat exchanger it would be possible to be off the grid.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by anubi on Thursday April 30 2015, @01:56AM
Yup... you can store a helluva lot of energy in a ton of water... by freezing it in the summer when the sun is shining, then using it later to cool your house with a chilled water loop, or freezing it in the winter, using the condenser coil to heat your house. FYI a ton of water is about 32 cubic feet... that's a standard 4' x 8' sheet of plywood base with a foot of water on it. Basically a children's wading pool.
When I erect a solar patio ( should I get into employment that will allow me to do this ) I intend to do this with multiple refrigeration compressors which I can bring online as panel output permits, and make ice as thermal energy storage. Most of my energy needs are thermal transfer anyway, so I will just use a pool of water and play games freezing it and thawing it to transfer the thermal energy in it in our out of the house. As long as the temperature differentials do not get too large, I do not have to spend substantial energy at the compressor.
Being the whole refrigeration plant is outside, I will be running propane (R290) as the refrigerant. Cheap, non-toxic, easy to get, and mixes well with lubricants. Only downside is it is flammable, so I do not want to use it in unvented areas. This also will give me a backup fuel supply should I decide to ditch my house air conditioning for cooking fuel during an emergency. But, in the meantime, I intend to plumb a keg of beer in the ice reservoir to enjoy on hot summer evenings. I have plenty of CO2 to drive it with as I already carbonate my own water for soft drinks. ( I hate buying beverages in those tiny little bottles and cans that are a royal pain in the ass to recycle ).
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 30 2015, @06:10PM
if you used a heat exchanger it would be possible to be off the grid
What some people fail to note that it is much more efficient to heat yourself than the whole house. Heat pumps are more efficient at heating the whole house if thats what you need. But when you only have to get warm, it is better to wear two sweaters, socks and turn on a 500 watt heater (and/or multiple 200w bulbs) near yourself.
I have this setup and is way more efficient than any other solution. I don't need warm air throughout the house. Just need to keep myself warm. ...but then I'm not married.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday April 30 2015, @07:13PM
We holed up in my office with a 1000 watt electric heater. We only ran the oil furnace to keep the house warm enough that the pipes would not freeze.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]