The Home Energy Thread

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Trump's Staff
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I'm no expert on hydro.

But I don't think multiple damns will get you what you want. Build one as high (in terms of altitude) as you can, divert the water and place the turbine as low(in terms of altitude) as possible.

The water drop (head) and the flow are what gives the water the "power" to move the turbines, which in turn generates electrical power.
 
Araysar

Loser Araysar

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Creek bed is half dry, and the stream is about as powerful as an 80 year old with prostate cancer peeing at a stadium urinal during half time.
 
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Gravel

Gravel

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I've done the math several times over the years and solar is still never worth it. The breakeven point is just always way, way too far out to be worthwhile. It's only somewhat feasible due to subsidies, but that still generally puts you at 10+ years. I guess batteries are finally at the point where you can store power, but that makes the cost astronomical. And you'd better hope your batteries don't just die randomly. I had a Renogy one die after about 2 years of light use. The problem with them is that they all have these onboard computer systems that are now the weak point.

And that's assuming you're buying them yourself. If you're leasing the panels it's even worse (honestly leasing them is basically a scam).
 
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Kiroy

Kiroy

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Araysar said:
I got a middling creek that runs behind my house. Its about 6 feet wide, 0.5-1 foot deep.

How much juice can I realistically get by building 2-3 micro dams and diverting the power to my house??
Click to expand...

dude I went down the rabbit hole a few months ago about small hydro dams. Assuming you have the rights to fuck with it, you can actually get a decent constant trickle since it's 24/7. Youtube it.
 
Araysar

Loser Araysar

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Kiroy said:
dude I went down the rabbit hole a few months ago about small hydro dams. Assuming you have the rights to fuck with it, you can actually get a decent constant trickle since it's 24/7. Youtube it.
Click to expand...

Technically its on my neighbor's land but I know him and he doesnt care what I do with it. He pretty much said as much when I went over to his house a few weeks ago to ask if I can bomb it for mosquitos. His house is also upstream from it, so it makes it even less worthwhile to him. Theres old tarps and trash there and toppled trees since I moved in a year ago, and they never been cleared or removed. I dont think he has even been to that part of the creek (the one right behind my house) in years.

But like I said, I just went to take a look and walked a few hundred feet of it. Half the creek bed is dry and the rest of the water is like 3 inches deep and barely moving.
 
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Araysar

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This might be an option in the future. Your car doubling as a home storage battery:

www.dailymail.co.uk

New Ford F150 Lightning's battery pack can power homes during blackout

The vehicle is the electric version of America's best-selling truck, the Ford-150. It features an $11,000 131 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion pack battery, nearly ten times more powerful than a Tesla Powerwall.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk

1656279317905.png
 
lurkingdirk

lurkingdirk

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Araysar said:
This might be an option in the future. Your car doubling as a home storage battery:

www.dailymail.co.uk

New Ford F150 Lightning's battery pack can power homes during blackout

The vehicle is the electric version of America's best-selling truck, the Ford-150. It features an $11,000 131 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion pack battery, nearly ten times more powerful than a Tesla Powerwall.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk

View attachment 419211
Click to expand...

That's probably my next new vehicle. But want to give it a few years for them to work out the kinks and make sure it really is as awesome as they say.
 
Vepil

Vepil

Gamja
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Araysar said:
Creek bed is half dry, and the stream is about as powerful as an 80 year old with prostate cancer peeing at a stadium urinal during half time.
Click to expand...
How much vertical relief from the top of the property to the lowest do you have? Head is what creates the energy to run a turbine.
 
Araysar

Loser Araysar

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Vepil said:
How much vertical relief from the top of the property to the lowest do you have? Head is what creates the energy to run a turbine.
Click to expand...

Not a lot, maybe 2 feet max
 
Vepil

Vepil

Gamja
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Araysar said:
Not a lot, maybe 2 feet max
Click to expand...
Ah you aren't going to generate much with that if any at all, would be more in stream turbine but with no flow as you said its SOL.

I have been watching some YouTube of how to do an on and off grid solar system. I'm thinking like you some power is better than none with the way things are going.
 
Daidraco

Daidraco

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I know the idea is to be completely off the grid - but a couple 300w panels and no battery would still take a huge chunk out of your electricity bill during the daytime. At least, thats what I have envisioned in the past.
 
Cad

Cad

scientia potentia est
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lurkingdirk said:
That's probably my next new vehicle. But want to give it a few years for them to work out the kinks and make sure it really is as awesome as they say.
Click to expand...
I'd definitely wait and see.. take a look at how Ford's other EV turned out, the Mach-E. There's definitely going to be some growing pains and the F-150's spec sheet is very aggressive.
 
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mkopec

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Toyotas new battery tech seems really promising too. We might be turning the corner on battery tech. All solid state, way more power storage potential in a vastly smaller package. Someone linked it here like a few weeks ago.
 
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Cad

scientia potentia est
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mkopec said:
Toyotas new battery tech seems really promising too. We might be turning the corner on battery tech. All solid state, way more power storage potential in a vastly smaller package. Someone linked it here like a few weeks ago.
Click to expand...
We've been hearing about solid state battery tech and "turning the corner" for 30 years.

I'll believe it when someone starts shipping products with them inside.
 
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Cad

scientia potentia est
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mkopec said:
Holy shit dude, they are putting them in hybrids forst for thorough testing.
Click to expand...
Will see when a product is delivered with them. I really hope you're right. Battery technology is really holding a ton of things back.

New battery tech is the nuclear fusion of the electric world. It's always a few years away.
 
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Araysar

Loser Araysar

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So how am I getting quotes of $20K for solar panels to offset 1000 kWh of monthly use, and everyone else is talking about $60K-80K installs?

Where do they hide the additional costs?
 
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