Jude 2

Okay,

So I have been tossing around an idea or two for several years for creating my own power generating system.

I had been planning on building off grid systems and had not even considered the possibility of an inter-tied system.

I'm thinking of working on a simple alternator and pulley system for this.


I'm open to input and have a few questions. I thought some of you guys might be able to give me some good input.

1. Would you use a battery storage system with this?

2. What kind of alternator would you suggest for high output, endurance, and quality?

3. How many alternators do you think I would need to operate in conjunction to be able to essentially fully power my home?

4. Can I find alternators (or similar devices) that produce and output AC instead of DC?



My basic plan is to use an electric engine to power the alternator(s). The engine would be powered via the standard utility source. I'd like to be able to store and/or sell back any excess power generated to the local utility company.

According to most science teachers that I've spoke to, this would be impossible, you can't create a perpetual energy system (a system that creates more power than it uses).

The best way that I have read about is either solar or wind powered solutions.

Check this out.

Company called PacWind wind turbines for Homes, small businesses..

Cant find there website right now. but

Jay Leno installed one on his garage for his car collection..

http://www.popularmechanics.com/automot ... 16780.html

I saw a show on discovery talking about it. way kewl.

May even be affordable..

Because of "mechanical loss," you would never be able to produce as much energy as you were consuming to generate it. The viable alternatives are wind, solar, and hydro electric. Each of them has it's own set of limitations. I don't want to rain on your parade, but I wouldn't want to see you get into something that isn't going to pan out.


TW

Agreed, it is never sufficient to use the utility power and then try to produce more for use and resale. You need an alternative source of fuel such as wind and or solar. With enough capital this is very possible and you could resale to the power company but buying the parts and having them installed can be very expensive. I recently looked into powering a 4,000 sq. ft. building with solar power. The expense and trouble was not worth the savings for the individual.

Alan wrote:According to most science teachers that I've spoke to, this would be impossible, you can't create a perpetual energy system (a system that creates more power than it uses).

.

Response: How about an equal amount?

My thought is to create a car which with and intial charge or fueling can use the turning of the wheel to in turn charge the system which will power the other wheel once the intial charge has disapated. Then vice versa.

A guy here in Middle TN developed such a thing Scooter but his initial fuel was static electricity from the air. The govt. stepped in and confiscated his invention. He was in talks to sell to NASA, Isreal, and several other foreign govts. He put his device in a Delorean, with no other fuel source, and set records at the Superspeedway here in town. He was in the news, the papers, and the talk radio circuit for several years. He also put this device in a small aircraft and it flew without airplane fuel. NASA and the Air Force were very interested in this for powering their craft. He also powered his home on the device. I know a couple of guys who's father invested in this. They were looking to be very wealthy until the feds stepped in.

scooter wrote:

Alan wrote:According to most science teachers that I've spoke to, this would be impossible, you can't create a perpetual energy system (a system that creates more power than it uses).

.

Response: How about an equal amount?

My thought is to create a car which with and intial charge or fueling can use the turning of the wheel to in turn charge the system which will power the other wheel once the intial charge has disapated. Then vice versa.

Still not possible according to science, there is always some energy loss.

Full Quiver wrote:A guy here in Middle TN developed such a thing Scooter but his initial fuel was static electricity from the air. The govt. stepped in and confiscated his invention. He was in talks to sell to NASA, Isreal, and several other foreign govts. He put his device in a Delorean, with no other fuel source, and set records at the Superspeedway here in town. He was in the news, the papers, and the talk radio circuit for several years. He also put this device in a small aircraft and it flew without airplane fuel. NASA and the Air Force were very interested in this for powering their craft. He also powered his home on the device. I know a couple of guys who's father invested in this. They were looking to be very wealthy until the feds stepped in.

This is extremely hard to believe, the first thing would be the fact that there could be no resistance at all in any wiring, no heat generated, etc... The second thing is pulling that much energy out of the static electricity around you is, while I won't say impossible, unlikely.

Full Quiver wrote:A guy here in Middle TN developed such a thing Scooter but his initial fuel was static electricity from the air. The govt. stepped in and confiscated his invention. He was in talks to sell to NASA, Isreal, and several other foreign govts. He put his device in a Delorean, with no other fuel source, and set records at the Superspeedway here in town. He was in the news, the papers, and the talk radio circuit for several years. He also put this device in a small aircraft and it flew without airplane fuel. NASA and the Air Force were very interested in this for powering their craft. He also powered his home on the device. I know a couple of guys who's father invested in this. They were looking to be very wealthy until the feds stepped in.

I remember my Dad telling me this story, a couple years ago.

I did a little research on solar cells. My results are based upon 2005 dollar amounts (as these were the latest available) and an average usage of 750 KWh per month (remember that I live in a 950 sq. ft. apartment, so my energy usage will be fairly low).

Over all, living in an area of higher solar radiation (the South) I could with the latest technology expect to save $. 01 per KWh, that would result in a savings of $7.50 a mounth. Over the course of a year my savings would be $90.00, and for the warranted life of the solar cells (generally 25 years) I would save $2,250.00. That is assuming that I could set up an array of solar cells large enough to supply my demands.

When applying this to a private home remember that you will only save about 1 cent per KWh, although with the increase in the price of fossil fuels this number will become somewhat higher.


TW

if I could run across a web article I'd post it

this was very much real

my buddy saw the Delorean, inspected it for an engine and a fuel tank and there were none. The Delorean could even spin the tires in 2nd gear. There was an electric motor in the back but no batteries.

There has to be something on the web about it especially since they set records at the Nashville Super Speedway.

Poimen wrote:4. Can I find alternators (or similar devices) that produce and output AC instead of DC?

You'll need a big inverter to get AC instead of DC, but you can tie that inverter to ANY DC source and it'll work. (For changing power sources in the future, it's a great idea. You only have to change one end of the system.)

As to the other questions, you've already gotten some great responses. You might also look into the wheels that power villages in several "third world" countries. They work on a basic gas/density formula. I could draw it for you, but I can't for the life of me remember exactly what it's called right now.

My original idea was a self contained hydro-power system. I would create a tank that recycles water via a pump and uses water fall/ pressure to turn an internal water wheel. The water wheel would turn the alternator(s) and viola! Power.


Calculating the water fall and how to increase the pressure sufficiently has been more challenging than I would have liked.

So I got to looking into electric motors as a quick start towards a home based power supplement. If I can't generate enough to sell back oh well. But if I can generate a substantial amount I could dramatically decrease my power bill (which has been as high as 370.00 a month this year).

Of course I have also looked (some) into buying a standard commercial/industrial on site diesel generator and/or back-up system. I'm just not sure how much cheaper it would be, if any, to buy the fuel to power it as opposed to paying the power company.



I understand mechanical loss would play a part. But do you guys really think I would lose more than I would gain from the supplement system?

For instance if I could run three large alternators (with regulators) off a single industrial grade electric engine via a pulley & belt system. Power the electric engine from the standard utility power. Use batteries for storage. I don't understand why I could not generate most of of the amount of power normally used and run it from a second breaker box that taps the home based system. It would seem that my commercial power use would be significantly minimized, thus drastically dropping the billable amount used.

Of course in the event of defect or failure of the home based system I could just kill the switch and bypass the system utilizing utility provided power instead.

I haven't crunched the numbers, but I have a hard time believing it would not work. Are you guys sure I could not use this to generate a large percentage of the power used at my home (at least most of my 110 stuff) and save money in the long run?

why is your bill almost $400 a month?