admin answers:

Hydroelectric power, or hydroelectricity, is generated by the force of falling water. (Hydro comes from the Greek word for water.) It’s one of the cleanest sources of energy, and it’s also the most reliable and costs the least.

Water is needed to run a hydroelectric power-generating unit. The water is held behind a dam, forming an artificial lake, or reservoir. The force of the water being released from the reservoir through the dam spins the blades of a giant turbine. The turbine is connected to the generator that makes electricity as it spins. After passing through the turbine, the water flows back into the river on the other side of the dam.

Electricity is produced by spinning electromagnets within a generator’s wire coil that creates a flow of electrons. To keep the electromagnets spinning, hydroelectric stations use falling water. Hydroelectric power plants convert the kinetic energy contained in falling water into electricity. The energy in flowing water is ultimately derived from the sun, and is therefore constantly being renewed. Energy contained in sunlight evaporates water from the oceans and deposits it on land in the form of rain. Differences in land elevation result in rainfall runoff, allowing some of the original solar energy to be captured as hydroelectric power. Most hydroelectric stations use either the natural drop of the river or build a dam across the river to raise the water level and provide the drop needed to create a driving force. Water at the higher level (the forebay,) goes through the intake into a pipe, called a penstock, which carries it down to the turbine. The turbine is a type of water wheel that converts the water’s energy into mechanical power. The turbine is connected to a generator, and (4) when the turbine is set in motion it causes the generator to rotate, producing electricity. The falling water, having served its purpose, exits the generating station through the draft tube and the tailrace where it rejoins the river.

At Ontario Power Generation (OPG), hydroelectric generation is their lowest-cost power source, producing approximately 34 terawatt-hours in 2002. OPG operates 36 hydroelectric stations, as well as 29 small hydroelectric plants and 240 dams on 26 river systems. The smallest station has a generating

capacity of just 1 megawatt; the largest more than 1,300 megawatts.

admin answers:

Cost prohibitive,

But why not extract from high ozone cities, and load them on long distance jets and dump them at 37,000 and higher altitude? Again I believe it is cost prohibitive.

This is my help and ideas from Washington, D.C. USA.

admin answers:

Day- People relying on ventilators and other electrical equipment would die. Cars suddenly stopped work while people were driving, more deaths. Riots would start, mobs would gather and cause more death and destruction. Violence would be everywhere, people do not react well to such massive change. World economy falters and slows within a matter of less then a day

Week- More violence an death. Gangs would roam committing crimes the police could not stop. Martial lwa would have taken hold. People would be shot in the street.Since the world economy has come to a sharp halt, no goods come or go. People are starving. Since there are no power plants cold food has rotted. Water treatment plants do not work. Any generators running have most likely stopped unless the have been supplied with gas. Gas is a very hot commodity. Thefts of this and non perishable food would be high. If you live near nuclear power plant I would get away fast. People who needed life saving meds will start to die

Month-More of the same, violence and death. Most already sick people would have died. Others will still be dying. People who maneged to hide out may be all right as long as they have a major stock pile of food and weapons. Injuries and sickness that would have been non life threating could end up in death.

Year- People would be coming to terms with the situation. Of course the nuclear power plants would have melted down and anyone within several miles would be dead, and the death and distruction would be carried even further by the winds. So you better be far away from that. People would have figured how to grow food and barter and trade just like they used to for most of human history. Money would be usless as there would be no bank to back it up.Life wuld not be easy it would be like people who lived 2 centuries ago only without the knowledge those people had to live there life. Infrastructure would start to fail somewhat, roads would crack and weeds would grow. Pipes would burst and buildings would flood. Whole towns would floods from dams bursting, eventually.There would be darkness and despair, violence and more death. The strong would live and the weak would perish just like in nature.

5 years- Things may have gotten better, there may have been a attempt to establish more law. People would learn to communicate as was once done by letters and maybe a telegraph. People would still be dying of things that could have once been saved but I would thin that there may be a attempt at “country medicine” like might have been done centuries ago. I Buildings and man made objects would start to decay w/o human hands to fix them, though for many it would be longer before the fell down. Cars would rust, etc. I would think that people would be tring to make electricity again of couse.Maybe using wind or solar power, if that for whatever reason was impossible life would go on if however limited

Despite having lived without electricity for most of human history people would loose it and not know how to function, at least in the beganning. Some people would figure it out though. Humans are like cockroaches, there always will be some who survive. I would hope the survivers would make a better world but I doubt it. Humans forget history and are far to greedy with the “me, me, me” mentality. There would be less pollution though, and wild animals would be better off

admin answers:

Outdoor works light power source,

so for example you are out on a farm, in the middle of field,
putting up a christmas tree, with no power for lights,

use low wattage lights that only require battery power, LED diodes are used and can light up fairly well,
http://www.brite-lite.com/Products/LEDchristmas.htm

then for power supply you could use automotive battery, the power could hold enough power for all night and then some,
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/3/Batteries.jsp?locale=en

you can look at what they would use on boats at sea for electric power as well,
http://www.canadiantire.ca/search/search_results.jsp?bmForm=form_endeca_search&bmFormID=1293046597301&bmUID=1293046597301&bmIsForm=true&bmPrevTemplate=%2FAST%2Fbrowse%2F4%2FAuto%2F3%2FBatteries.jsp&bmHidden=OMNITURE_FROM&OMNITURE_FROM=Search&bmHidden=event26&event26=true&bmText=quick_search_term&quick_search_term=boat+battery&bmSubmit=quick_search&quick_search=Search&bmHidden=PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441897583&bmHidden=FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474396672400

there are portable backup booster battery for helping to start cars in the cold, those may be useful
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/3/BatteryAccessories/BatteryBoosting/PRD~0111558P/Motomaster%252B500A%252BBooster%252BPack.jsp?locale=en

if you use automotive emergency worklights those do not require 110 volt /amps the same as houshold bulbs,
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/BulbsSwitchesRelays/AuxiliaryAutoLighting/PRD~0379405P/Cordless%252BAC%25252BDC%252BLamp.jsp?locale=en
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/BulbsSwitchesRelays/AuxiliaryAutoLighting.jsp

Flashlights are portable , for extended amount of time you would want quality batteries, and possibly larger six volt type, or rechargeable’s,
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/3/HouseHome/SafetySecurity/Flashlights/PRD~0653004P/Garrity%252B6%252Bvolt%252BFloating%252BLantern/CROSSSELL~0542948%20Jobmate%2B18V%2BFlashlight.jsp?locale=en
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/5/SportsRec/Camping/Flashlights/PRD~0542948P/Jobmate%252B18V%252BFlashlight.jsp?locale=en

other idea is to use solar power cells as source of power, much like garden or lights, so they are charged all day, and turn on at sun down , some have batteries, with solar power the source is daily, but may run down over time in cloudy or snowy weather,
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/2/OutdoorLiving/GardenLighting/SolarGardenLights/PRD~0524014P/Westinghouse%252BSolar%252B3X%252BHigh-Output%252BLED%252BSpot%252BLights%25252C%252B2-Pk.jsp?locale=en
http://www.canadiantire.ca/search/search_results.jsp?quick_search_term=Solar+Garden+Lights&searchRefinementEvent=event21&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442204391&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474396672827&bmUID=1293046105686
..

admin answers:

Actually, check out some of the links on http://www.builditsolar.com

If you are going to do much of the work yourself, you will be sadly disappointed by what is available in print:

Homepower magazine http://www.homepower.com for example, it most often reads like a sales brochure, because “hands on” to a number of people usually means buying most of the system ready made in a kit. Hands on for me is breaking out the soldering iron and doing point to point wiring on components to construct the regulators (often called charge controlelrs.) Too much chaff for a hands on person to find useful. Some of the ads are useful.

Nuts and Volts http://www.nutsvolts.com/ is a bit better, but their topical coverage is far ranging so you do not always get as much as you would like. Spendy, might be better to sheck it out at the bookstores and buy it off the newstand when a decent article appears.

Mother Earth news http://www.motherearthnews.com is pretty good, but the best bang for the buck there is to buy their archives on CD rom, which is 3 disks, broke down by decade. There is a fair amount of substance, sometimes you encounter an article that sought to convert one item over to another, only it would have been much less work and cost for them to have started out from ground level and construct (with used parts) the same thing, which they sought to construct in the first place, a solar charged electric tractor is one specific item I have come to mind as one the author of the article could have done better. You might find the book they published “The Mother Earth News Handbook of Homemade Power,” which is not real good for specifics in some areas, but is good for some ideas if you are good at working from thumbnail sketches, you can fill in the blanks where there are gaps in detail. The book was written more as a “primer” than a complete compillation.

For your wind systems, there is a lot to be found at http://www.lindsaybks.com Hugh Piggott has written a few good books on the home construction of windmills. The LeJay Manual is a good reprint that has a lot of good info for home constructing- down to the wooden propeller profiles. As well as the book “Generator Secrets.”

One of the good sources for materials and tools supplies and systems is Northern Tool http://www.northerntool.com

One thing on propeller materials- never us ABS and never use PVC. As tempting as those can be they break. When they break, the blades will go for a great distance in modest winds. They can kill too.

admin answers:

Get a backup generator with enough fuel to last until power comes back. Keep the freezer door closed. That might mean you can’t sell ice cream to your customers until the power returns. Or you could take an armful of ice cream out of the freezer and have a blackout sale – “I must sell all this ice cream now”.

Solar is a good way to reduce the amount of power you draw from the utility, but it’s not steady enough to be a backup source.

Adding salt to ice reduces its freezing temperature and makes it melt faster. That’s a great way to chill something quickly (like when making ice cream) or melt ice from a road or sidewalk, but not so useful for maintaining cold temperature over time.

admin answers:

This is a question with several differant answers…..

Depending on consuption if its going on a consuming structure co-generating

or a stand alone generation station. The most cost effective would be a hybrid

thermal/photovoltaic

the thermal would heat a closed contained liquid and make steam to turn large turbine.

$150,000US will get u quite the little generator. $1,000,000US u have a major player

my general rule is $15us per sq ft of heating/cooling space.

I am presently puting together the single largest solar project of its kind. Entire subdivisions of low cost modular homes with the entire roof as the mini-generating station. So if u put up say 400 units. When this hole subdivision comes on line u have a major Generating Station.

Maitaining a plant with no moving parts to wear-out, well except to send some one to clean the panels off once every 6 months wound not be much up-keep……

The panels have 20 to 25yr warrenties and 30yr life

some put up in the late 60’s r still generating.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_does_it_cost_to_build_and_maintain_a_power_plant_for_generating_electricity_with_solar_energy#ixzz1eVJOFNPl

admin answers:

Hey Wm, a 250 watt Hi Energy Discharge light? Is that outdoors for security? You said 3 to 18 hours per day, so I guess you’re thinking indoors. You can make a lot better use of lighting indoors if you use task lighting instead of whole house. I’ve wired a number of barns and outbuildings for friends and myself with solar, but we never use such a large light bulb.

For discussion, let’s assume that HiD will be on 6 hours per day. 250 watts X 6 = 1.5 kwh per day. If you have average solar insolation of 4 hours per day, then in theory you would need 400 watts of solar. In reality, there are always some losses at the battery, and inverter, plus you need to have extra to recover from several days of clouds. Something closer to 600 watts would be more accurate. Next question is how many days without good sun will you need the light? Let’s say three for example, (This is called “Days of Autonomy,”) Your battery will need 4 days worth, or 6 kwh. You could pull this off with 6 golf cart batteries, just barely.

If you’re wondering about cost, 600 watts of solar will probably run $2,000 USD, the batteries another $600, and maybe $ 200 for parts and an inexpensive inverter. Kind of expensive for one light bulb. The barns I’ve wired use 4 golf cart batteries and one 120 watt panel. Since the panel has a maximum current of 7 amps and the batteries hold 440 amp hours, we don’t need a charge controller. The rule of thumb is nothing over 2% of the battery AH capacity, so 440 AH X 2% = 8.8 amps maximum solar current. You can read more about this in Richard Perez’s book, I’ll list it below. Then we use a 750 watt modified sine wave inverter to run a few circuits of 18 watt CF outdoor spot lamps in standard sockets. This makes the entire project easy to wire up, with parts that can be purchased inexpensively off the shelf. And since we have a couple long strings of spot lamps in 2 places, plus a couple work area lights, and maybe a trouble light on a long cord, we don’t need 1.5 kwh per day, it’s more like one third that amount. The panel, batteries, inverter and other wiring parts cost less than $1000 USD. Then, in the daytime, we also have the ability to run small hand tools with the same inverter, like a drill or hand saw. Also, at night, we can plug in several strings of LED Christmas lights for partys, or whatever. You just can’t run these things all night every night. Another advantage of using 12 volts as the battery bank voltage is if you run low, you can recharge with a vehicle and jumper cables for a spell, or a small generator. So you have more flexibility with less cost.

Another consideration is low voltage LED lights. Our home uses small 12 volt strips under the kitchen cabinets, and in the bedrooms. They use very small amounts of power, maybe 1 or 2 watts per string, never burn out, and don’t cost any more than 20 watt hockey puck lights with holagen bulbs. There are lots of possibilities, but I’d think twice about that behemoth of a light you’re planning on using. I’ll list some good sources below to check out. Take care Wm, Rudydoo