complete tinfoil - mars

[benevolance]

I agree completely that it is not the job of government to bail out the banks and the mortgage lenders when the market crashes... They were making record profits of us the consumers for the last decade or so...Nobody to bail us out when we run out of money...

you have a house in the city and a cabin in the woods...I am combining the 2... if the cabin in the woods is precious I figure why not spend the rest of my life there or the bulk of it anyways? This way I can walk outside and have fun fishing in the creek or exploring the woods or whatever I might think is fun.

I like Capitalism just fine...But I resent the rich using it to enslave the poor...Which is what is happening in America to the middle and lower class and it is what the wealthy of the world have done to everyone else. A free market is good and all but they set up the market and they have all the money (99.9% of it) The wealthy cannot lose because it is their game and they have deeper pockets than you... those that are more efficient or smarter then them usually just get bought out or taken over and they remain on top of the food chain.

I do not want to play in that game at all.

Capitalism is evil when our government is clearly influenced and run by lobbyist groups..Our government itself was not meant to function in this manner...When it does it makes a mockery of Capitalism and it allows for corruption that leads to enslavement of the weak poor and innocent in the name of profit.

glenn and many others I know think that change is coming. some believe that good times are ahead...I do not think so. I cannot foresee an end to their run at the top of the food chain any time soon. I do not see those who control everything letting go without a huge fight. I agree with many that if change comes it will take a serious  action to bring about change maybe even anarchy....to that end I am getting out of the race now and putting all my affairs in order asap... and I will be ready for whatever comes in the meantime...and in the meantime my wife and I will get peace of mind... peace and quiet and a lifestyle that we both can enjoy. We will reduce our spending... we will save a modest amount and we will be self sufficient so that no matter what happens we can deal with it and survive

It may not be a perfect plan... but it was the best I could come up with...I will send you some homemade soap and beeswax candles from the farm Don and maybe then you will see the light

[glenn kangiser]

I don't figure the being off grid will pay for itself but the satisfaction of not being under the thumb of big brother and his assistant the power company has more than paid for it already.

The idea of not getting suckered into their little taxation assistance - rebate scheme -- letting them stick it where the sun doesn't shine is good too --- The county servant woman who told me if I didn't take care of myself the state of
CA would take care of me by forcing me to tie to the grid if available can eat my shorts too.  It's on my property and I'm not tied to it - so neener neener neener---  

If I was grid tied - net metered like they wanted with no battery backup -- I'd have lost everything too.  Who needs big brother - not me -- that's what makes it all worthwhile --- not the dollars and cents.

[benevolance]

Glenn

I am not going after solar panels..I think I will wait a few years on those... Currently in Maine 1000 watts of solar panels will generate 1300 KWh/ year in Maine on average if placed facing the south I think the best is 186 degrees I could be wrong on that? What encourages me most is that solar panels are getting smaller...In a couple of years the same space it takes for 1000 watts of panels will be used for 2-4000 watts of electrical generation...This is where it can get really profitable. Consumers can buy 1/4 of the panels and generate the same amount of electricity.

I know cutting the panels required does not reduce the cost of invertors or wiring or battery banks...But it is a huge start to making solar power more affordable, and or feasible for people.

what is the total wattage of your solar panels and how much electricity do they produce out there in California?

[glenn kangiser]

Just talking about that today.

About 3000 watts making about 18 kwh in 6 hours  plus about 2 to 3 kwh from the wind generator - so rough guess around 20 kwh per day.  That would probably be our highest days.

[benevolance]

how much of the energy are you using a day on average...How hard is Welding on power do you find?

[glenn kangiser]

We use about what we make - and if for some reason we don't the regulators cut the charging back so as not to destroy the batteries.  Wind generators cannot be turned off so we need to burn that much off.  I have it set up to pump water when overcharging.

Welding is not a problem - I use a Miller 135 wire welder most of the time - It would do stick also -- if using too much I kick on the generator for extra or just use the portable welder.  I made all of Elden's fence gates - 7 of them using total solar power.

[benevolance]

I thought for sure I saw some such device that when using a wind generator it would stop the feed so as not to overcharge your batteries... there has to be some way to prevent overcharging that does not involve pumping water glenn

[glenn kangiser]

It's my choice to use the power for water.  The other choice is to burn  it up and waste it with a heater..

The wind generator would scream and maybe fly apart if free wheeling under no load.

[glenn kangiser]

Many solar controllers today can be used either for cutting back - shutting off is fine for solar panels - their voltage just goes up and nothing happens -- or... for operating a dump or diversion load ie:  wasting it.

[MountainDon]

I believe one of the more common uses for the "dump" power is heating water or air. Resistive elements are fairly cheap.

[benevolance]

It seems like such a waste to well waste extra energy

[glenn kangiser]

I like to do something constructive with it - so pump water.  Wasted is gone but if the batts are charged then overcharging will damage them.

[desdawg]

It seems like such a waste to well waste extra energy

Storage is the key, I firmly believe that. When the US becomes powered by wind farms or solar there will be more energy than can be used when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining. As I have stated eslewhere I think we will see some technological breakthroughs in terms of storage very soon. I believe it has to happen.

[benevolance]

I would like to think that storage is going to get better also... We have seen massive improvements in Battery Tech in appliances like cell phones and lap tops... we have yet to see those advances out in our solar powered homes. Ultra capacitors interest me I was reading up on them for the Zen automobile...I hope that we see more electric cars or hybrid cars and that Battery tech really takes off... We as consumers win when these batteries start to become mainstream and there is a improvement curve on the product...They keep getting better and cheaper at a continual rate.

For example...When I was in University I had a economics professor calculate the improvement of computers and the price decline in a mathematical equation...Something like  every  6 months a computer was 33% more powerful and existing tech became 33% cheaper...Anything close to that kind of advancement in battery tech would benefit us greaty as a society...

Heck even if it was 10% a year more storage and 10% a year more affordable...Would not be long and we would have massive storage options that were faster charging and more affordable

[desimulacra]

Saw a blurp where a scientist has invented a nano technology that will increase batteries capacity something like 10X! Here is an article I found.
http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2008/1/10/superBatteryInWorks

Still blue sky now BUT maybe soon!

Here is a comment on the article that I hope doesn't come true

"Keeping in mind that I'm as sick of conspiracy theories as everyone else, my following comment doesn't discount the possibility that conspiracies still occur. Thus, as long as our government doesn't outlaw such new battery technology in their effort to preserve their hidden allegiance to oil & auto companies, this technology might gain a foothold in the U.S.A. Hopefully, the inventors will realize this, and take the necessary steps to get the word out before they and their technology disappear."