Getting off the grid

Credit: Cherry Affordable Homes

Disconnecting from the commercial electric grid is a popular idea — generate enough electricity to supply all domestic (& sometimes transportation), needs from private, renewable, sources. In a rural setting, energy independence is, in some cases, essential. In a suburban setting, not essential, but for some, desirable. What follows is a discussion of in-principle considerations for leaving the grid.

1.  Reduced grid is easy. A growing number of households are doing this — solar hot water + a few solar (photovoltaic — PV) panels on the roof feeding into the grid

2.  Getting off the grid 90% is fairly easy, but requires

a.  $$$

b.  lots of PV

c.  storage

3.  100% off the grid

a.  the hard way — requires:

i.   $$$

ii.  some combination of:

1.  PV over-capacity to generate useful amounts of power on overcast days

2.  storage

3.  some other generation capacity (internal combustion engine (ICE) genset, fusion reactor, etc.) for when a prolonged period of overcast days finally brings the renewables grinding to a halt — problem is, actually using the ICE genset would erode the environmental & financial benefits of the above, & the fusion reactor remains stubbornly 50 years in the future

b.  the other hard way:

i.   as for, “the hard way”, plus

ii.  geographic diversity — place some PVs in other physical locations so that if the Sun isn’t shining at your house, it will be shining at your other locations — a few hundred kilometres away would be good — make some of them at least a thousand kilometres — add some wind too

iii. 3.b.ii. “geographic diversity”, immediately above, will reduce or eliminate the need for 3.a.ii.3 “some other generation capacity”, in, “the hard way”¹

iv.  wires, poles, transformers etc. to connect your geographically diverse electricity facilities

c.  the other other hard way:

i.   as for “the other hard way”, but

ii.  achieve geographic diversity by entering into co-operative arrangements with like-minded people who own the means of generation in their area

iii. wires, poles, transformers etc. to connect geographically diverse electricity facilities & distribute power to/from members of the co-operative arrangements as necessary

iv.  accounting/billing system to allow for cash adjustments between parties to the co-operative arrangements depending on their production/consumption

v.  3.c.iv. above will, with little adjustment, allow inclusion of others who wish to receive electricity as a paid-for service

Umm …

Actually ... come to think of it ... the first two 100% off-the-grid systems sound too expensive &/or difficult &/or environmentally unsound, & the last, “3.c. the other other hard way”, sounds like what first world countries have already, with geographic diversity & other features provided by the existing grid.

Use of the existing grid in this way allows utilisation of grid scale storage, where available, such as pumped hydro storage in the Snowy Mountains, Australia², & Foyers Power Station, Loch Ness, Scotland³, for at least a part of the storage required.

Umm … & with unsubsidised renewables now cheaper than new coal^4,5,6,7, a sustainable grid seems inevitable, if our technological society can survive the problems it now faces (including old coal) until the sustainable grid arrives.

Best thing to do, in a typical first world domestic situation, to facilitate a renewable grid, is somewhere in the range 1. “Reduced grid”, & 2. “Getting off the grid 90%”.
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¹ "Renewable energy is ready to supply all of Australia's electricity" http://hhg2tech.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/renewable-energy-is-ready-to-supply-all.html

² "Ramping up hydro pumped storage schemes": http://ecogeneration.com.au/news/ramping_up_hydro_pumped_storage_schemes/075440/

³ Foyers Power Station, Loch Ness http://schulen.eduhi.at/kultfor/eee/energy/energy/foyersps.htm

⁴ Giles Parkinson: “Renewables now cheaper than coal & gas in australia”, 7 February 2013, http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/renewables-now-cheaper-than-coal-and-gas-in-australia-62268

⁵ Beyond Zero Emmissions: “In Australia, Wind Power Is Already Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels, & Solar Is Right Behind”, http://bze.org.au/media/newswire/australia-wind-power-already-cheaper-fossil-fuels-and-solar-right-behind-130211

⁶ Solar Market: “Renewable Energy Now Cheaper than Coal”, https://www.solarmarket.com.au/renewable-energy-now-cheaper-than-coal/

⁷ Mike Calise, Head of Electric Vehicle Solutions for North America at Schneider Electric, interviewed by Michael Kent on Charged EVs: "Unsubsidized solar is already cheaper than retail electricity prices in many markets around the world: Australia, Chile, Germany, Italy, India (according to Seba’s book, Clean Disruption)." http://chargedevs.com/features/evs-renewables-energy-storage-the-unstoppable-trio-of-energys-future/ / searchkeys /

Electric vehicles 1-2 at Pikes Peak 2015 (video)

Credit: gtspirit.com

Pikes Peak this year was won by an electric vehicle (EV) — Drive eO PP03 — driven by Rhys Millen in 9:07.222. Despite the fact that he won the event outright & set an EV record, Millen was less than happy with his time. Failure of the rear electric drive unit, early in the run, reduced the vehicle to front wheel drive, & restricted available power.



In second place, Race to the Clouds veteran, Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima in another EV, at 9:32.401.

http://www.themotorreport.com.au/61846/electric-car-breaks-through-for-first-pikes-peak-win-driven-by-rhys-millen

http://www.gtspirit.com/2015/06/29/rhys-millen-wins-pikes-peak-2015-in-all-electric-racer/

http://www.autoblog.com/2015/06/28/2015-pikes-peak-hill-climb-results/#image-32

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1067809_rhys-millen-takes-overall-2015-pikes-peak-victory-under-electric-power-video / This year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb won Rhys Millen all-electric racer Race to the Clouds first time electric car has taken the overall victory 9 minutes and 7.22 seconds significantly slower Sebastian Loeb’s record time fastest time electric car shift away from internal combustion engines Nobuhiro Monster Tajima second electric Rimac e-Runner Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb perfect conditions Rhys Millen first to win the race electric racer set a new record time battery-powered cars rise of electric machines Nobuhiro Monster Tajima drove Rimac engineered e-Runner America's Mountain electrics were fastest today new technology Drive eO principle Khristaps Dambis electric drivetrain power output superior power-to-weight ratio batteries too heavy nimbleness LiIon lithium-ion lithium ion charge recharge EV electric vehicle /

Solid state batteries already in production & powering electric cars

Credit: Bolloré/Wikepedia

Solid state batteries have a number of advantages over existing technology*, including:
● avoid electrolyte leakage into electrodes with resulting reduced performance
● thin-film solid-state occupy less space
● long-lived
● inherently safer — no flammable, liquid electrolyte

But they have always been seen as just another new battery technology that is all promise & no reality.

Except solid-state batteries are actually in production & installed in cars now: it’s the Bolloré BlueCar. On sale, & in use by the Bolloré car-sharing service in France. Bolloré car-sharing will begin operations in Indianapolis & London later this year.

Sakti3, Quantumscape, General Motors & Volkswagen are also working on solid-state batteries for electric cars.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098904_solid-state-batteries-already-powering-electric-cars-bluecars-in-fact

Volkswagen's solid-state battery project promised an electric car range of 700 km. A decision on a bigger investment was to be made, "by July". See: http://hhg2tech.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/vw-investigating-700-km-electric.html
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* "Solid-state Batteries" http://authors.library.caltech.edu/5456/1/hrst.mit.edu/hrs/materials/public/Solid-state_batteries_intro.html/ BlueIndy Indianapolis Indiana Paris France better battery chemistry EV electric vehicle electric cars more competitive internal combustion solid-state cells replace liquid electrolyte LiIon lithium-ion cells solid material numerous potential advantages emerging technology battery pack solid-state cells Indianapolis electric car sharing BlueIndy BlueCar France Bolloré BlueCar developed car-sharing service cities France Indianapolis London launch short-term rentals access electric cars Bolloré develop promote solid-state batteries BlueCars built Renault Bolloré manufactures lithium-metal-polymer batteries battery Bolloré BlueCar compete established lithium-ion cell manufacturers Panasonic LG Chem supplier carmakers Bolloré solid-state design safer doesn't use flammable liquid electrolyte eventually higher energy density electric-car projects Blue Solutions Bolloré division electric cars battery batteries long-term advantage solid-state cells Sakti3 Quantumscape working on developing solid-state batteries electric cars General Motors Volkswagen Group integrating batteries cars car-sharing service /

Longest day of the year

Credit: homes-kid.com

Forget the summer solstice, today, 30 June, is the longest day of the year — 1 second longer.

Every other day, as we approach midnight, 23:59:59 is followed by 00:00:00. But not tonight — 23:59:59 will be followed by 23:59:60 — a leap second.

More: http://hhg2tech.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/does-this-year-seem-to-be-dragging.html / slightly longer Paris Observatory add adding leap second clocks midnight June 30 dials 11:59:60 one second clocks pause Earth's rotation atomic clock time Earth's rotation gradually slowing scientists officials International Earth Rotation Service France monitor planet's rotation tweak time time adjustment Software companies problems last leap second added 2012 software websites Mozilla Reddit Foursquare Yelp LinkedIn StumbleUpon reported crashes problems Linux operating system programs Java computing systems Network Time Protocol NTP keep sync atomic clock programmed unexpected extra second Google developed special technique leap smear adds milliseconds system clocks leap second Earth is slowing down a little bit Nick Stamatakos chief of Earth Orientation Parameters US Naval Observatory Atomic clocks keep very accurate time first leap second 1972 rotation of the Earth slowed 26 seconds time measured on atomic clocks disruptive precision systems navigation communication concept time rising setting rise set Sun Greenwich Mean Time Sun crosses the Greenwich Meridian never be restored /

Brando has USB Type-C adapters for all of your bleeding edge needs

Credit: Brando/The Gadgeteer

It's a USB Type-A connector (i.e. the current convention) to USB Type-C (i.e. new, smaller, reversible) adapter for the faster, higher power USB 3.1 standard.

If you don’t own either the new MacBook 12 inch or a Chromebook Pixel, you probably don’t have a need for one of these yet, but it is the new standard & will ultimately replace all of the existing USB standards. Somewhere down the track you will need one or more of these.

http://the-gadgeteer.com/2015/06/24/brando-has-usb-type-c-adapters-for-all-of-your-early-adoption-needs/?_m=3n%2e002i%2e861%2ebg0ao004ub%2e162t

This item on the manufacturer’s web site:
http://usb.brando.com/usb-3-1-type-c-male-to-usb-3-0-a-female-otg-short-cable_p12378c0032d015.html

Other Type-C adapters & connectors from the same manufacturer:
http://usb.brando.com/usb-3-1_c1870d015/

More about USB 3.1 & Type-C connectors:
http://hhg2tech.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/reversible-usb-type-c-finally-on-its.html
http://hhg2tech.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/tiny-reversible-usb-type-c-connector.html / USB Type-C adapter brand new hard to find normal the norm standard new cable type invented Apple latest MacBook new USB standard offer significant advantages current Type-A connector smaller reversible faster data speeds more power USB Type-C change cables adapters USB Type-C hubs card readers adapters convert other cables micro USB Lightning USB Type-C Brando /

Solar Impulse 2 leaves Nagoya, Japan, for Hawaii

Credit: Solar Impulse

The story so far:

09 March 2015 — left Abu Dhabi on the first solar-powered round-the-world flight
http://hhg2tech.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/solar-powered-round-world-flight.html

21 April 2015 — a series of relatively short flights lead to a landing in Nanjing, China

30 May 2015 — after waiting in Nanjing for suitable weather, took off for Hawaii — expected flight time, at least 120 hours (5 days & nights), non-stop. A change in the weather forced a landing in Nagoya, Japan

28 June 2015, 18:03 UTC — Solar Impulse 2 took off from Nagoya. Next stop Hawaii.

29 June 2015, 03:17 UTC — passed the point of no return

http://www.euronews.com/2015/06/29/heading-for-hawaii-solar-impulse-ii-takes-off-for-the-most-risky-leg-of-its/ / Swiss pilot pilots first ever attempt fly around the world propelled the Sun André Borschberg compatriot Bertrand Piccard take turns piloting single seater seat Solar Impulse 2 21,747 miles 35,000 km kilometre 12 legs including gruelling five- to six-day stints across the Atlantic Pacific oceans entire journey will take five months Borschberg took the controls takeoff take off take-off Al-Bateen executive airport Abu Dhabi early on Monday first destination Muscat in Oman pilots roughly 250 hours each inside narrow cockpit no oxygen temperature control temperatures outside range between -40 degrees C to 40°C degrees Celsius falling asleep flight need constant attention Piccard Borschberg survive 20-minute naps every two to four hours pilots will practise yoga stave off the physical discomfort remaining confined seat for days at a time Borschberg biggest challenge maintaining concentration Piccard psychiatrist team 1999 first circumnavigated globe non-stop balloon taught techniques of self-hypnosis meditation maintain concentration time duration in the present moment the only way is to be present almost a spiritual experience entire journey circumnavigating Earth in a family car aircraft weighs the same as a Volvo sedan comparable speeds SI2 top speed 87m/h 140km/h pilots conserve battery power limiting plane half cockpit only slightly larger average car contain life support systems food oxygen supplies reclining pilot’s seat triples bed chair toilet fly both day and night no fuel powered by 17,000 solar panels set on its wings wider Boeing 747’s fuselage 633kg bank of lithium batteries quarter weight store energy run motors overnight journey early days intercontinental flight enormous speed range jet engines Qantas fly Kangaroo Route Sydney to London hopping Darwin Singapore Kolkata Karachi Cairo Tripoli en route Borschberg success Solar Impulse project first solar-powered plane fly through the night first to fly between two continents primitive step toward zero-carbon jumbo combustion fossil fuels dominated powered flight 19th century dirigible aviation burns the most carbon per passenger per kilometre of any mode of mass-transport and, despite efforts to limit emissions, remains the fastest growing anthropogenic source of greenhouse gases sector climate change toughest major emissions source to decarbonise solar flight seeks remains decades away Wright Brothers Charles Lindbergh deputy editor Aerospace magazine Bill Read solar flight commercial flights solar cells generate power fly Solar Impulse fly using solar power constructed very light weight light-weight lightweight huge wingspan solar cell technology power source aircraft advances project real-world uses today fly Sun day and night build an aircraft extremely energy efficient technologies energy efficiency used in your home your car appliances four motors power aircraft generate heat energy efficiency single cheapest way reduce carbon emissions across the world technologies challenge energy environment pollution natural resources /

Lexus hoverboard — No, we’re not selling this, but can we interest you in a car?

Lexus hoverboard — hint: that's condensation, not smoke — liquid nitrogen inside (-321 degrees Farenheit, -196 Celcius)
Credit: Lexus/Wired

Scepticism expressed in my previous post about the Lexus hoverboard has received some support:
http://www.wired.com/2015/06/lexus-hoverboard-slide/?mbid=nl_062615

Still no evidence that it can support more than its own weight.

More about how it works


Quantum levitation race track
/ Lexus short teaser video Slide hoverboard Back to the Future II dreams science fiction how it works hoverboard hype skepticism bamboo carbon fiber skateboard, emitting wisps condensation smoke levitates concrete surface foot approaches mount ride cut away convincing hoverboard hoax Funny or Die promotion BTTFII Lexus device magnetic levitation lift-off levitating tease floating on top of concrete Mike Norman Director Materials Science Division Argonne National Lab surface trickery magnets iron steel mixed in just underneath concrete Lexus hoverboard how it works magnets physics Lexus hoverboard superconductors magnets repel the force of gravity fancy skateboard rider above the ground Hendo hoverboard Kickstarter project physics Lexus superconductor magnetic field superconductor oscillating magnetic field Eric Palm Deputy Laboratory Director FSU’s National High Magnetic Field Laboratory Meissner effect magnetic field near superconductor induces electric current superconductor creates image magnetic field other side superconductor create current superconductor currents don’t die away don’t need oscillating magnetic fields magnet levitates above superconductor superconductor levitates above a magnet technical maglev train similar principles achieve speeds Shanghai’s Transrapid over 300mph superconductor locked in a magnetic field wisps of smoke condensation Lexus board liquid nitrogen cooling the superconductors below transition temperature becomes superconducting cold -321 degrees Farenheit very cold liquid nitrogen byproduct of the steel industry pretty inexpensive liquid nitrogen runs out superconductors warm up interaction between superconductor magnet repels the force of gravity allows levitate levitation concrete video something magnetic human-bearing board really is like you’re floating ridden the Lexus hoverboard Back to the Future Lexus spokesperson Maurice Durand mass produce a hoverboard SLIDE part marketing campaign unannounced car surprise viral sensation Lexus hoverboard scientific breakthroughs not-quite-concrete maglev hoverboard paved with magnets levitation hovering /