[V8] V8 Digest, Vol 70, Issue 6

[Roger Woodbury]

Message: 7
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 2009 11:07:03 EDT
From: Etdmail at cs.com
Subject: [V8] Electric and Hydrogen Power
To: v8 at audifans.com
Message-ID: <d09.45dd0490.37ac4b97 at cs.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"


Hi All ..

Roger, 

Sounds like you have an interesting journey ahead.

Depending on the specifics of the site you have in mind.
I would not over look solar (electric/heat and hot water),
geo-thermal, or even hydro if your lot, has a stream 
through it ?

There is an annual off-grid housing design contest sponsored
in part through the DOE and will take place on the Washington
Mall this coming October ...Links below should help you get
a little further down the road ...

Best,

~Ed
Cambridge

http://livecurio.us/
http://mit.edu/solardecathlon/
http://www.homepower.com/home/
http://www.solardecathlon.org/
http://www.doe.gov/

------
 Hi Ed:  Our house site is 120 feet above sea level, approximately 1/2 mile
from Eggemoggin Reach.  The lot has several exposed granite humps one of
which is about 2 1/2 acres and will give us a solar south orientation, which
is perfect for solar panels and for passive solar gain.  

Another granite hump is around 150 feet from the house site and it is on
this hump that we plan to erect a tower...probably a guyed monopole using
schedule 20 iron pipe with a gin pole set up and pivot.  This tower will be
around 100 feet tall, and the wind turbine will be on top of this with at
least 30 feet clear of any obstruction for miles in all directions.  So far
it would appear that we will generate power nearly every day, and perhaps a
lot of power in the winter when we will need it the most.

Because Passive House calls for so little electricity, I think we will need
a relatively small wind turbine to maintain bettery charge.  120 kwh per
square meter of area annually is a very small amount of electricity.

Once we have the house built and are in, I think I will try to build some
solar panels to augment the system.  Solar panels along the coast are
problematic:  in winter when we have quite a lot of very clear cold weather
which is perfect for solar panels, the days are very short.  In summer we
are very prone to periods of fog, so the longer days can yield relatively
little solar gain on the panels. This summer especially has been very dark,
and I am very glad that I don't have twenty five grand invested in a big
solar panel installation.  

I have no potential for hydro power on this site at all.

We have some interest in passive solar for hot water however, and while I
like the idea, there are two issues. The first issue is the need to "dump"
the excess of hot water created in the summer in particular, and secondly
the initial cost of a system may prove a stumbling block depending on how
expensive the HRV/ERV system proves to be.

Of course any form of conventional fuel burning hot water generator is
problematic because one major keys to Passive House is a completely sealed
envelope that has effectively produced an air tight house.

If you have time, look at this:  www.passivehouse.us

Roger