Detroit, 7:09 PM
Fri Nov 27
3 posts in the last 24 hours
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Jalopnik 
10/31/08
10/30/08
10/30/08
10/30/08
10/30/08
Proxy governments: My way of saying that the governments of the western world are only a proxy to the FRC's (fat rich cunts) ie big business, who really run the world.
10/30/08
10/30/08
If they get it right, they could turn into a national utility.
10/30/08
But then why bother driving your car to your house? Why have the house and car as a separate entity?
Why don't we all just drive around in Hybrid RVs?
10/30/08
10/30/08
Share the royalties?
10/30/08
Hell, yes! Toss some photo voltaic cells on the roof and we can extract our own hydrogen from... er... water...?!?
Gee, did we just invent perpetual motion in a Winnebago...?
10/30/08
You pull up to your regualr parking place but, in a jiffy, this sinister looking pipe emerges from the parking meter and grabs your car like a lamprey, saws a hole in the door and starts filling the car with snot. While you are madly scrabbling for the passenger door handle, the lamprey pipe starts disgorging all these little feelers that grab your car's electrical system and take it over, chowin down on the power within and preventing your escape (due to that flash harry central locking that you really liked) and hunt your goo thrashing body into submission by locking on to various orifices and mindwarping you into believing that the rest of your days will be spent oversteering into the sunset in a Shelby Cobra with a margarita in the right hand and Angelina Jolie in the passenger seat.......whilst actually you are just floating in a goo filled econobox that the city now exploits as a power repository for its own benefit. And your mates walk by occasionally thanking the Lord God that they new bought the new Prius....
10/30/08
10/30/08
Gasoline engines are less efficient electrical generators that central plants, or other sources;
Batteries lose energy over time, and transfer and conversion of energy always loses significant amounts of power;
Peak electrical demand is usually on summer afternoons - right before cars are needed for evening commutes;
This all needs to be accounted for. Why should you give the electric company all the charge in your car for free? It cost you to put it there to begin with;
The point of hybrid cars is for them to operate on electrical power as much as possible. Draining their batteries is counterproductive.
Now, if your battery is being charged by a PV panel or wind generator, and your battery is full, then excess should flow into the grid and you should get a credit. Same thing when your car isn't being charged.
What is needed is a much more robust renewable electrical generating capacity, and commensurate electrical grid, all or which supports net metering and intelligent allocation.
The ideal will be for me to know how much charge I need in my car to get back home (or wherever), set the car to charge up to that point, and then to arbitrage between a full charge to my battery and sending excess electricity into the grid to be compensated at the utility's peak price.
10/30/08
I am actually looking at a few alternates that you reminded me of. Around here, it's really windy in the winter, and really sunny in the summer. For a couple thousand dollars, you can get wind turbines and residential-grade solar panels from Canadian Tire. Apparently with the new meters available for your house, if you actually generate more power than your house is using, it will go back to the grid, and move your power meter backwards.
If and when I find the place I'm going to live for the next ten years or so, I'm installing these, and putting my house "to sleep" when I'm not home, mostly just to see if I can power my house largely independantly.
10/30/08
I'd look for economic payback in about ten years or so, with hopes that the gen set could last more like twenty, with proper maintenance and upkeep - which isn't free.
Running the meter backwards is key. Batteries cost money, take up space, need maintenance, are full of acid and can explode when things don't work right. In contrast, a proper switch, inverter and the right meter is truly slick.
Solar power is generally the better way to go. Hot water panels have been cost efficient for the past ten years or so, and are very reliable. You probably would need the type filled with antifreeze, so you'll have an additional water tank and heat exchanger to heat potable water.
Photovoltaic panels should be getting cheaper in the next six months. Silicon prices are set to diminish substantially and the economy and falling energy prices are taking a lot of heat out of the industry right now. Again, look for the time to payback. PV panels can work well for upwards of twenty years with minimal care. But quality, workmanship and maintenance will assist.
Look for rebates, loans and incentive programs to take some of the sting out of purchase and installation costs. In the US a few years ago the rule of thumb was around $20,000 for a PV array large enough to power the average house, about $5,000 or so for a hot water system.
Efficiency, insulation, storm windows and reduction in energy consumption through less use and higher efficiency equipment continues to be the most cost effective investment, in almost every circumstance. Doing those things also will reduce the size of a renewable energy array, and lessen your time to payback.
Being tied into the grid also means that you can install what you can afford today, defraying a portion of your energy consumption, and add to it over time as finances permit. A bit of planning in advance, so you know where everything will go and fit together is also highly beneficial.
And all of this equipment continues to improve with new research and manufacturing. Better looking, more durable, higher conversion efficiencies, etc.
10/30/08
10/30/08
Bravo...! Just when we all thought a venerable Jalopnik meme had been overplayed and beaten like a dead horse to the point of inducing mild nausea upon reading, you find an ideal application.
Spot-on application...!
10/30/08
And, for those of us in the Great White North, your car stays toasty warm for you all the time!
10/30/08
Elect Obama!
10/30/08
Plus, I heard he was black!
10/30/08
10/30/08