Silent AC Power Anywhere, AnytimeSM

165 Pages·2000·7.14 MB·English

Silent AC Power
Anywhere, Anytime
SM
And we mean anywhere. Heart Interface offers
an integrated system that includes an inverter/char-
ger delivering reliable and dependable back-up
power. Complete your electrical system with a
Heart Interface Remote Control or LINK Battery
Monitor that lets you know how much time you
have left in your batteries. Call today or visit our
website for a dealer near you.
Heart Interface / 21440 68th Ave. S. / Kent, WA 98032
®
Tel: [phone] / FAX:[phone]
www.heartinterface.com
photo courtesy of ceder creek bed & breakfast. www.cedarcreektreehouse.com
BP SOLAR
USA:
American Energy Technologies, Ltd.- Florida Effective Solar Products - Louisiana Intermountain Solar Technologies - Utah
Toll Free: 800-874-2190 Toll Free: 888-824-0090 Toll Free: 800-671-0169
Phone: [phone] Phone: [phone] Phone: [phone]
E-Mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: www.effectivesolar.com Internet: www.intermountainsolar.com
Dankoff Solar Products - New Mexico
Toll Free: 888-396-6611 Alternative Solar Products - California Talmage Solar Engineering - Maine
Phone: [phone] Toll Free: 800-229-7652 Toll Free: 888-967-5945
E-mail: [email protected] Phone: [phone] Phone: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: www.alternativesolar.com Internet: www.talmagesolar.com
CANADA:
Powersource Energy Systems - Powersource Energy Systems - Alberta Powersource Energy Systems - Ontario
British Columbia Toll Free: 888-544-2115 Toll Free: 888-544-2115
Toll Free: 888-544-2115 Phone: [phone] E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: [phone] E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.powersourceenergy.com
E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.powersourceenergy.com
Internet: www.powersourceenergy.com
Trans-Canada Energie - Quebec
Solar Solutions - Manitoba Toll Free: 800-661-3330
Toll Free: 800-285-7652 Phone: [phone]
Phone: [phone] E-mail: [email protected]
E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.worldbatteries.com
Internet: www.solarsolutions.ca
HOME POWER
THE HANDS-ON JOURNAL OF HOME-MADE POWER
Issue #76 April / May 2000
Features More Features
8 74
Pacific Coast Hydro Jungle Solar
What better place to utilize The Village of Tsendiap,
hydro power than coastal Papua New Guinea is so far
British Columbia? A youth out that the PV system had
camp installs a substantial to be flown in. This simple
system with 500 feet (216 system provides light and
psi) of head, 2,200 feet of educational A/V for Kerina
pipe, and a 10 inch Pelton Evangelist’s College.
runner.
26
When Water is Wanted GoPower
Windy Dankoff installs a PV
pumping and supplementary 104
Fuel Cell Cars
power system, with some
Will fuel cells ever get us to
creative equipment housing
the supermarket? Shari
techniques—at his own
Prange explores the future
home no less.
of this new technology in
36
Simple Solar Hot Water
vehicle applications.
Dr. Jagadeesh developed
110
Never the Twain Shall Meet
this simple solar batch water
heater for use in developing How your EV’s high voltage
countries. It’s easy to build traction battery integrates
from locally available with the vehicle’s 12 volt
materials, for cheap. accessory system.
52 African Wind 56 Vegetarian SlugBus
A PV/wind hybrid system at Jon Kenneke’s VW Vanagon
Cape Peninsula National gets a change in diet—to
Park, South Africa uses a biodiesel. He gives us the
new slow-speed turbine built inside scoop on converting
by African Windpower in fast food castoffs into fuel.
Zimbabwe.
64
Hydropower Workshop
Guerrilla Solar
Solar Energy International
travels to western
84
Washington state to teach a Guerrilla 0009
workshop and install a hydro The animals come out at...
system. An Energy Systems day, to see their arrays push
and Design turgo runner power back at the utility grid.
produces 100 watts from 30 They may not be good at
feet (13 psi) of head and 40+ following the rules, but they
gpm. do the right thing regardless.
Cover: A waterfall cascades off the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. At the base of the falls is the
intake for Malibu Club youth camp’s 12.6 KWp hydro system.
Homebrew More Columns Access and Info
42 118 Access Data
Ram Pump Practicality Power Politics
Home Power
They’re a miracle of Million Solar Roofs revisited.
PO Box 520
appropriate technology. You 122 Ashland, OR 97520 USA
IPP
too can build one simply and
Editorial and Advertising:
inexpensively from Scott Distributed Generation: pros, Phone: [phone]
Lee’s plans. cons, restrictions, and Fax: [phone]
opportunities.
88 Subscriptions and Back Issues:
Simple Stirling
128 800-707-6585 VISA / MC
Code Corner
This heat diferential engine 541-512-0201 Outside USA
can be built cheaply from Wire ratings and what they Internet Email:
common hardware store mean. [email protected]
materials. A good project for 134 Home & Heart World Wide Web:
understanding the theory www.homepower.com
Thermo-electric woodstove
behind this 184 year old Paper and Ink Data
fan tested—scientifically and
invention. Cover paper is 50% recycled
practically. (10% postconsumer / 40% preconsumer)
88
Data Logging Simplified 142 Recovery Gloss from S.D. Warren Paper
The Wizard Company.
You don’t need to dedicate a
Fuel cells. Interior paper is 50% recycled
full-time computer to data (50% postconsumer) RePrint Web, 60#
152 elemental chlorine free, from Stora Dalum,
log the performance of your Ozonal Notes
Odense, Denmark.
renewable energy system. The HP crew, exposed! Printed using low VOC vegetable based
Mark Patton introduces us to inks.
the Hobo data logger from Printed by
Onset. It logs along by St. Croix Press, Inc.,
Regulars New Richmond, Wisconsin
itself—you download the
Legal
data when full.
Home Power (ISSN 1050-2416) is
6
From Us to You published bi-monthly for $22.50 per year
at PO Box 520, Ashland, OR 97520.
International surface subscription for
Book Review
80 US$30. Periodicals postage paid at
HP’s Subscription Form
Ashland, OR, and at additional mailing
offices. POSTMASTER send address
136 The Death of Ben Linder 81 corrections to Home Power, PO Box 520,
Home Power’s Biz Page Ashland, OR 97520.
The goal of renewable Copyright ©2000 Home Power, Inc.
energy is peace, but the 138 All rights reserved. Contents may not be
Happenings—RE Events
reprinted or otherwise reproduced without
revolution is not always
written permission.
peaceful.
144 While Home Power magazine strives for
Letters to Home Power
clarity and accuracy, we assume no
responsibility or liability for the use of this
Columns 155 information.
Q&A
116 157
Word Power MicroAds
P-N Junction—Boundary
160
area in a semiconductor. Index to Advertisers Recycled Paper Recyclable Paper
People
Joy Anderson
Taking Renewable Energy
Mike Brown
Sam Coleman
On-Grid
Windy Dankoff
Chris Greacen
We have been publishing Home Power for over twelve years now. During Jo Hamilton
this time, we’ve seen home renewable energy (RE) use grow from a few
Stewart Hay
thousand early adopters to well over a quarter of a million folks worldwide.
Arne Jacobson
Almost all of these people are not connected to a utility grid.
Dr. A. Jagadeesh
Photovoltaics, wind generators, and microhydro turbines have become
the most reliable and least expensive way of providing electricity off-grid. Anita Jarmann
RE has fought the off-grid power battle with the engine generator, and RE Kathleen Jarschke-Schultze
has won.
Jon Kenneke
We are now turning our attention to grid-connected folks. After all, over Stan Krute
half the people on this planet are connected to a utility grid. If we are
Don Kulha
serious about spreading the environmental benefits of RE, then the grid is
Scott Lee
the next frontier.
Don Loweburg
On-grid, we have two basic ways to spread RE use. The first is to encourage
Harry Martin
utilities to produce their electric power using RE resources. But the utilities
are very slow to change—they remain locked into the centralized fossil fuel Glynn Morris
and nuclear mentalities. Besides, I personally find it silly to buy RE from a Mark Patton
utility when I can make it myself at home. Karen Perez
The second way to spread RE on-grid is for individuals to establish their Richard Perez
own RE systems, either stand-alone or utility intertied. Here are three Hugh Piggott
reasons why a grid-connected household might wish to establish its own
Shari Prange
RE system.
Benjamin Root
For the health of the planet and future generations
Mick Sagrillo
For the benefits of a reliable electric power source
Connie Said
For the benefits of a high-quality electric power source
Joe Schwartz
RE offers us relief from the pollution associated with utility-generated Peter Talbot
electricity. RE offers us electricity with no blackouts or brownouts. RE Joshua Tickell
offers us electricity that is of higher quality than the grid can deliver. All
Michael Welch
these reasons make RE as big a winner on-grid as off-grid.
John Wiles
One reason not to install RE on-grid is to save money on electric bills.
Dave Wilmeth
Currently, RE cannot compete financially with heavily-subsidized utility
Jay Wilson
power. It’s not that RE is really more expensive; it’s that the true cost of
utility power doesn’t show up on our monthly electricity bills. About half Myna Wilson
the cost of utility power is concealed in our taxes. Ian Woofenden
Our tax dollars subsidize utility operation, pay for much of the Louis Woofenden
environmental and health damage caused by fossil fuel burning and Rose Woofenden
nuclear waste, and pay for wars to secure our energy supplies. If the true
Solar Guerrilla 0009
cost of energy showed up on that monthly power bill, it would become
instantly apparent that RE is cheaper than utility-produced power. “Think about it…”
On-grid RE is now at about the same place as off-grid RE was twenty years
ago. It is limited to folks with a vision for the future and the courage to
make changes—even if these changes don’t instantly save them money. I Your philosophy
urge you to look ahead and take that courageous leap into a cleaner and
is not what you believe,
saner future.
it's how you live!
–Richard Perez for the Home Power crew
-J Rubin
6
Home Power #76 • April / May 2000
Home Power Mag. 3/7/00 6:00 PM Page 1
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Local
www.solarsense.com The Power of the Sun Within Reach
For 500 miles, the
remote and storm-
battered coast of
British Columbia,
Canada winds its
way north in a
torture of craggy
cliffs and isolated
fjords.
It is drenched by
the wettest climate
in North America,
and situated at the
foot of the ice-
covered Coast
Mountains.
Building This wild isolation
A Microhydro provides a perfect
System setting for tapping
into the endless
supply of energy
produced by
Peter Talbot
falling water.
©2000 Peter Talbot
8
Home Power #76 • April / May 2000
Hydro
Remote Camp The caretaker had been keeping an unofficial visual
Tucked among these mountainous wilds, 100 miles record for almost ten years and could compare the
(160 km) north of Vancouver lies the picturesque resort estimated flow on any given day with seasonal norms.
camp of Malibu Landing. Forty-five years ago, a This proved to be a great advantage when we installed
wealthy entrepreneur built the Malibu Club as a private an accurate measuring device at the falls, since we
resort for the stars of the California film industry. could then compare actual flows with past observations.
Boasting all the modern conveniences of the time, and
Measuring Head
situated in a beautiful location, the resort operated for a
The second key ingredient to a successful hydro project
few brief years before being abandoned due to
is the total available change in elevation over which the
unpredictable, cool Canadian summers and fierce
water can develop pressure in the pipeline. We first
winter storms. Following the closure, the camp was
measured this “head,” or elevation drop, by means of a
converted into a summer camp for teenagers, and has
sensitive altimeter, and then with a handheld clinometer
functioned in that capacity for over forty years.
level and a 15 foot (4.6 m) survey rod.
Since its early beginnings, this isolated site has been
The route the pipeline would take was more or less
subject to the relentless roar of diesel-powered
obvious, so we followed this as we carefully took each
generators and the high cost of barged-in fuel. It is
reading off the rod. As we leapfrogged up the hill, the
surrounded by snow-covered mountains up to 8,500
exact elevation was marked on prominent landmarks as
feet (2,600 m) high, and blessed with steep, flowing
a permanent record. The use of the rod and level gave
creeks. The site was a natural for a microhydro power
considerable accuracy over the distance, which
plant, yet in all these years, one had never been
traverses some really rough terrain. Two elevation
developed.
surveys were made to check for error and the results
I had been visiting the area and volunteering at the tied within a foot—close enough considering the
camp for a number of years and saw the potential for a method used.
development that could reduce their dependence on
When all the surveyed elevation steps were added up,
diesel fuel. For most of the winter, a thin waterfall
the total to the base of the falls came to 639 feet (195
cascades over cliffs 1,000 feet (300 m) above the
m) above the proposed powerhouse floor. The altimeter
camp. Though dry for most of the summer, this was a
reading agreed within 10 feet (3 m), and provided a
potential source of hydro power for the winter months.
good check against any gross errors. This elevation is
Since the camp is closed in the
winter, the power requirement for The survey team at the base of the falls,ready to measure total head.
the year-round caretaker is small,
averaging under 10 KW, and might
just be handled by a small hydro
plant fed from this seasonal flow. A
decision was made to conduct a
rough survey of the terrain, and then
collect stream flow data over the
course of the following winter. If the
flow proved to be sufficient, we
would begin construction the
following summer.
The Survey
One of the first steps in the design
of a hydro plant is to determine if
there is sufficient flow available to
make the project worthwhile.
Fortunately, the wet winter season
corresponded with the demand that
would be placed on the system, and
long-term casual observations
suggested that there would be
adequate flow for most of the winter.
9
Home Power #76 • April / May 2000
This HDPE pipe is extruded in various thicknesses.
Often the pipe is rated by a series number, giving its
safe sustained working pressure. Another common
system rates the pipe by its dimension ratio (DR), which
compares the pipe’s wall thickness to its diameter.
We planned to use DR26 in the low pressure section,
which is the same as series 60, all the way up to DR9,
which is equivalent to series 200. Beyond that, the wall
thickness increased enough to significantly reduce the
inside diameter. This would cause the water flow
velocity to increase, resulting in greater friction and
hence losses, so a strong, thin-walled steel pipe
became a better choice, and cost less.
Determining the Required Flow
Since the survey was done in summer when there was
just a trickle of water flowing, we didn’t have the actual
flow data. As a result, we couldn’t calculate the exact
power output, efficiency, and payback time. However,
having a fixed budget to work with and knowing the
Building the intake basin,which was then covered with
large rocks for protection from falling debris.
The intake box is used for filtering and settling of debris.
The V-notch was used for determining flow during
system planning.
on the high side for the typical microhydro installation,
but it allowed us some margin for locating an open filter
box and starting the pressure penstock.
Increasing height raises the operating pressure, and
hence the power output. However, it also causes the
turbine to spin faster, increasing with the square root of
the height. This affects the turbine diameter used, the
desired output frequency, and the pressure rating of the
piping.
Sizing Pipe
To measure the overall distance, we used a 100 foot
survey tape, and again marked the distance along the
route. The total came to 2,200 feet (670 m), of which
about 2,000 feet (610 m) would form the pressure
penstock. Determining the distance was much easier
than measuring the exact head, but it too had to be
done carefully, since we planned to use pre-cut steel
pipe lengths in the lower section.
We planned to use high-density polyethylene pipe
(HDPE) for most of the pipeline. Since the static water
pressure would be increasing as the pipeline
descended the slope, we had to decide where we
would change to the next greater pressure-rated pipe.
We did this by dividing the slope into six pressure
zones, and selecting the appropriate pipe thickness for
each zone.
10
Home Power #76 • April / May 2000