[rescue] Introduction + Cray Solaris questions

[James Lockwood]

On Wed, 8 May 2002 sambo at avoidant.org wrote:

> I've also ben giving it thought. The best solution I came up with (and
> have begun implementing) is a bank of submarine batteries and a pair
> of windmills to keep them charged.

Get accurate figures on how much power you can realistically get from the
wind.  Windmill efficiency drops off sharply below 20 knots and few places
have sustained wind above that level.

> Eventually I plan to get off the grid altogether. I was planning a
> natural-gas powered generator, but I'd still be paying the utility co
> for the gas (which I will anyway, for heating) to run it, which may
> not be any cheaper than just paying for the electricity. A friend

If you just factor in the cost of fuel, you may be able to beat the
utilities in some areas.  PG&E land on the west coast is a good example.

If you factor in total operating cost including installation and
maintenance, the utilities almost invariably come out on top.  With very
few exceptions, small generators have a service life measured in hundreds
of hours rather than tens of thousands.  Most of the exceptions are
designed for diesel fuel, which is usually cheaper to run a generator off
of than gasoline or CNG/LPG.  It gets cheaper still if you can run on
offroad dyed diesel ($0.77/gal delivered here in qty. currently).

The chief advantage to CNG and LPG is, of course, storage life.  Gasoline
and diesel get grumpy after sitting for a few months.

-James [former off-gridder back in my childhood]