Jim Baughn
Sources of Power - Preview
 Human and Animal Power
 Fire
 Introduction to electricity
 Mechanical Generators
 Wind Power
 Water Power
 Solar Power
 Fuel Cells
 Nuclear Power
 Types of Fuel
 Safety
 Questions
Source of Power
 If you have enough people, enough time and enough
personal power, You could build a pyramid.
Source of Power
 Horses, Mules, Oxen and other draught animals supply
power to pull wagons, plows, grinding wheels and
carry people.
Sources of Power - Fire
 Fuel
 Wood
 Coal
 Gasoline
 Natural Gas
 Syngas
 Power Generation
 Heat boiler
Steam
 Turbine, Wheels, Propeller
 Thermocouple
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A Quick Introduction to Electricity
 Two Types
 Thomas Edison’s Direct Current
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Flashlight
Great amount of loss when being transmitted over wire
 Nikola Tesla’s and Westinghouse’s Alternating Current
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Used in household appliances
 However internally many appliances use DC
Can be sent for many miles will little loss
A Quick Introduction to Electricity
 Electricity’s Route
 From a Source – Must supply enough power for the load
 To a Load – Must be the same type of current as the
Source
Power Formula
P(power) =I (Current) * E (Voltage)
Most homes consume Kilowatts (thousands of watts) of
power
Fuel Driven Generators
 Fuel can be gasoline, propane or gasified biomass
 They can be manually started (pull rope)
 Electrically started
 Auto started
AC Generators
Ground System
Solar Power Expansion
Generator Problems
 Finite source of fuel
 If electric start, you must maintain the battery and
terminals
 Run the generator at a minimum of once per month or
mix “Stablize” with the fuel
 If it is a pull start generator, it is much easier to start
when warm, keep it in a warm location, wheel it out to
use (CO2 is a bad thing.)
Sources of Power - Wind
 Wind Power Kit – About $800
 Coleman sells a wind turbine
kit
 600 watt wind turbine
 Multiple Function Charge
Controller
 Will need batteries and
 An expensive tower
Indiana Wind Power
Sources of Power - Water
 Micro Hydro
 10 feet of fall with 20
gallons/minute 40 Watts
 100 Feet of fall with 100
gallons/minute 1100 Watts
 If you plan to dam a stream, even on
your own land, be prepared for lots
of red tape.
 Mechanically you will be cleaning
out debris from the screens
 As long as the water runs, electricity
will be generated 24/7
Solar Power – Heat Source
 Sun heated systems that turn a steam
turbine
 Mechanically complex
 Devices to heat water
 One used to see such devices on roofs
 Not so much anymore
 Solar Cooker
Solar Power - Photoelectric
 Solar Panels convert photons from the sun into
electricity
 The Electricity is sent to a charge controller if using
batteries to store the power for when the sun doesn’t
shine
 Batteries store the power
 An inverter is used to convert the DC to AC for most
household appliances
Coleman 55 Watt Solar Generator Kit
 Three solar panels
 Cables
 Mounting Frame
 7 Amp Charge Controller
 200 Watt Inverter
 No Batteries
 In the range of $350
 I am using two combined with 2 Trojan T-105 Batteries to
operate my communications equipment and computers
 Trojans cost $150 each
Solar – Grid Tie System
 Lease a whole house solar system
 Energy you don’t use is sent into the commercial power
system.
 During those times, your meter runs backward
 Saves most of the commercial electric cost
 However, there is not provision to save the power
 When the Commercial system goes down, at night you
will have no power.
Sources of Power - Nuclear
 Try to obtain Plutonium
 Red Tape
 Plant would not fit on your
land, unless you are a Texan
 Dad expected atomic
batteries to be developed
Sources of Power – Fuel Cells
 Alkali fuel cells operate on
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compressed hydrogen and oxygen.
They generally use a solution of
potassium hydroxide (chemically,
KOH) in water as their electrolyte.
Hydrogen and Oxygen are the
fuel
DC electricity and heat are
produced
This is an example of one of about
six types of fuel cells.
There are kits available for a few
hundred dollars
Types of Fuels - Gasoline
 Fill containers to about 95%
 Cap containers tightly
 Only use gasoline containers
 Store out of direct sunlight at about 80 Degrees
 Do not store near an ignition source (gas furnace
or water heater for example.)
 Use a stabilizer or use gasoline regularly (once a
month test of the generator for example.)
 Don’t have all containers empty when the power
goes out!
Type of Fuel - Diesel
 Ensure that the fuel is not in contact with any surfaces containing zinc
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or copper or compounds containing those metals (eg. Brass).
Establish a regular fuel maintenance program to ensure that water and
dirt is removed from storage tanks. This will also remove any chance for
fungus to grow.
Water should be drained from the storage tanks weekly. The frequency
can be extended if the tank shows no tendency to collect water but
should be done at least monthly.
Tanks should be kept full to reduce the space for water to condense.
Regularly turn the fuel over. If possible, plan the fuel usage so that it
will all be used within 1-5 years and replaced with fresh fuel.
Types of Fuel - Propane
 Store in a well ventilated area
 Store way from any ignition source
 Store so the relief valve is in direct contact with the
vapor. Standard propane tanks should be stored
vertically.
Syngas using Gasification
 A method of converting wood to
gas much like propane.
 A fire is build
 A tank, with a ‘nozzle’,
containing wood scrap is
placed in the fire
 The wood goes thorough a
process producing syngas.
 The resulting vapor can then
piped to an engine set up to
run gas vapor.
FEMA’s Simplified Gasifier
Safety
 Batteries under charge emit hydrogen (remember the
Hindenburg?)
 Do not place arc producing items above the batteries
 Fuse the batteries close to the terminals with DC fuses
 Use the proper size cables
 Tiewrap cables together
 Keep AC away from DC in separate breaker boxes
 Use AC breakers for AC only
 Use DC breakers and fuses for DC only
Questions?