When moving off grid the biggest challenge is where and how to find energy for modern living. We use energy are so many things from cell phones to lights to entertainment to . . .
Thanks to the big push to exploit the California
Because of how engineers are trained to think, we tend to get mega sized projects and maximized efficiencies. Unfortunately this also means lower efficiency projects and techniques get ignored by the new engineers hired by the companies trying to get a foot hold in the new marketplace.
Looking back over the past century we can find countless examples of lower tech ideas that somehow got bypassed or dropped in favor of newer more efficient technology.
Whenever I get into a discussion on power generation and storage and these older ideas get mentioned someone is sure to say “but that is not efficient enough”. During the first two decades of the last century a lot of smaller communities built local power dams to generate hydro-electric dams. After WW2 many of them were demolished in favor of bigger and better mega projects conceived in the name of greater efficiencies or economies of scale.
The fact is many of these older installations would still be viable. Have visited a couple of towns where the original built in 1906 vintage generators were still turning out I can say with certainty bigger is not always better just more expensive.
Thomas Edison developed a kind of battery using nickel and iron instead of lead and highly toxic sulphuric acid. I actually saw some of these in use back in the sixties yet today you will not see them in use because they were not as efficient as lead acid. However these batteries are nearly indestructible and do not wear out. Some of the original batteries now 75 years old are still working as well as when new. Given what we now know about toxic lead and sulphuric acid it would be worth a second look. At present time the new lithium ion technology batteries are ten times more expensive and lithium is an element with known toxic characteristics. By comparison iron simply rust and nickel is used in millions of coins without any noticeable toxic effects.
If you have a small water wheel on your property that can generate more than your daily power needs does it matter that this is not as efficient as the Grand Coulee Dam. If you store the extra power in a battery that is 10% less efficient than lead acid does it matter when that same battery will last your lifetime and possibly that of your children?
During WW2 the Germans developed techniques for getting wood gas from raw wood that could be used as fuel in vehicles that would be parked for lack of rationed gasoline.
Almost 200 years ago an engine was invented that uses waste heat from any external source. Except for specialized military and space exploration applications this technology is largely not in use. This engine is called a Stirling cycle engine. The principle is well known and understood. You can even buy a science kit to demonstrate how a cup of hot coffee will drive this engine. So why is it not being widely used. Also a century ago an effect called the Peltier effect was discovered. When you pass electric current through a junction of two dis similar metals you can create cold or heat. And when you subject this same junction to heat, it generates electricity. Back in the seventies one company attempted to exploit this effect as a power generator but market forces put this technology on a shelf. The main reason was lack of efficiency. Now the technology is being revived to recover energy from waste engine exhaust gases.
Except in North America the decomposition of biologic materials has been put to use generating a fuel gas that can be used to replace gasoline and diesel fuel. Other parts of the world have been making commercial use of this fuel for many decades. We have to ask why it has never caught on in North America . Government funding has led to university supervised pilot projects where results are documented and quantified. The results and data are available to the public. Despite this only a few brave souls are willing to attempt building a power generator based on this technology. The technical description is called a methane digester. Google it and you will get 245,000 results in about 0.16 seconds. The best news is any homestead with livestock can build this and generate their own power for less money than what a comparable solar installation would cost. You tube has numerous video clips of working installations.
The North American attitude seems to be if it isn’t expensive to make; it’s not worth considering. WHY?
Try and find a company that makes a Stirling engine. I did and was told they do not make household sized products for sale domestically they only do military projects.
A group of hobbyists have banded together to explore the viability of heating and lighting a home with an old style diesel motor that was originally designed back in 1930 era. The idea is the engine cooling jackets circulates hot water in pipes to heat a house while the engine driven generator charges a battery bank for electrical power in the home. The concept is called co-generation. Until recently this technique was only used on big scale projects like whole factories and paper or pulp mills. This is yet another example of engineering think where only mega projects have merit. Scale this down to house hold size and you have micro co generation. Right now it’s a hobby project concept that big business is not interested in. Again the question is why?
The list of old concepts that are viable yet being ignored is extremely long. Isn't it time for resurrecting these ideas for use in off-grid projects.
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