andy314159pi's Journal: Solar Power Running a New Jersey Home

An engineer in New Jersey is running his home on nothing but solar power. He is able to keep his house running in the winter by using the summertime solar power excess to produce hydrogen gas, which is stored for winter use. It is also notable that he is not being frugal with energy consumption, running a hot tub and using a wide screen TV. Overall, solar energy might be a more viable energy option than some of us thought.

Yeah, but is it a CRT widescreen or LCD or Plasma?

[WillAffleckUW]

And, does he have a dryer?

Re:Yeah, but is it a CRT widescreen or LCD or Plas

[andy314159pi]

I bet he let's his clothes dry on a line. That'd be the most environmentally sound way to do it.

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[WillAffleckUW]

I bet he let's his clothes dry on a line. That'd be the most environmentally sound way to do it.

Possibly. Amory Lovins (sp?) does that. Me, I just pop them in the dryer for a few minutes and then hang them in the bathroom until I get home at night, pop them in the dryer for a few minutes to fluff, and they're ready to wear.

It rains too much here to hang them outside. Used to do that as a kid in the Canadian Rockies in BC - but there we got sunlight.

pretty interesting

[zogger]

I know it can be done now with enough panels and just batteries, but the hydrogen is a nice twist. Where we used to live as caretakers almost everything was solar powered, a 3 story mansion complete with elevator, full upscale appliances, etc. The cost then was 29 grand including labor (I asked, had to know), no tax credits for a very nice set of PV arrays (everything was dual for redundancies sake), battery banks, controllers, etc.. For backup they had a 12 KW diesel generator which we never had to use but

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[andy314159pi]

Yes that's a good point about firewood actually being okay as far as the carbon cycle goes. And insulation is also key, but I sometimes worry that too much insulation could cause asphixiation! I know that's sort of irrational but a drafty house gives you plenty of fresh air. Also I think that builders use too many materials for cold climates when they should be fitting houses to stay cooler instead of trying to soak up sun. I mean black or brown shingles only heat your house in the summer time anyhow.

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[zogger]

Tight superinsulated houses use forced and planned air in and out and is good for any climate really. You don't rely on leaks around the doors and breathing rodent dust and insulation fibers and such like, they treat the house like you were on another planet or something, and filter the air and use a heat exchanger to moderate the temps. It works *well* tell ya whut. It just isn't sexy and they can't spend billions on hydrogen schemes. These folks looking at a hundred grand hydrogen system could spend 5 to