Alternative Power sources - Community Power Corporation

Author

Community Power Corporation

ronwagn

2005-11-22, 10:21 am

Does anyone know about this company? www.gocpc.com. They seem to have
very sophisticated power generating based on biomass. Since I live in
corn country it would be a natural. They have a lot of information
online. I am no engineer or electrician, but am very excited about the
potential. They use Stirlling engines, and high tech gasification etc.
I haven't seen any prices, so that is the big unknown. They are pre
commercial , but are aiming at between $700 kW and $3,500 kW. I guess
depending on the scale of the unit. Is this highly competitive? What is
their competition?

I am a new member, and not yet technically savvy. Just got a corn
stove that meets about 80% of my heating needs. Am now looking for a
generator for my lighting and air conditioning. I am on two lots, not
acreage, so I don't think I could get any kind of wind tubine approved.
I don't know the payback time for solar in Central Illinois. Does PV
work as well in winter, as in summer? Aside from when covered with
frost or snow. I would want to consider a solar roof on the three
sunniest sides. I have a pyramidal roof. I am doing this for practical
reasons, so don't want to waste money on an impractical, unproven
system. It would replace an old roof.

I am also interested in a water cooled system. I have an old well near
the house.

Would appreciate any advice.

All the best,

Ron Wagner

Derek Broughton

2005-11-22, 11:21 am

ronwagn wrote:

> Does anyone know about this company? www.gocpc.com. They seem to have
> very sophisticated power generating based on biomass. Since I live in
> corn country it would be a natural. They have a lot of information
> online. I am no engineer or electrician, but am very excited about the
> potential. They use Stirlling engines, and high tech gasification etc.
> I haven't seen any prices, so that is the big unknown. They are pre
> commercial , but are aiming at between $700 kW and $3,500 kW.

Is that $700 / kW? I've got a little over 1kW of wind/solar which cost a
good bit more than $3500. Otoh, much of my cost is batteries - and unless
you're going to use it grid-tied, you'd still need those. For the actual
generation, even at the high end, that would compete with solar. At the
low end ($700/kW) it would compete very favorably with many alternative
systems.

> I guess
> depending on the scale of the unit. Is this highly competitive? What is
> their competition?

biodiesel could be cheaper - but that's because we haven't saturated the
sources of used fryer oil yet.

> Does PV work as well in winter, as in summer?

There's a few issues there. The actual PV _generation_ is more efficient in
cooler temperatures. I also find that at noon, because of reflection off
snow & ice, I get more peak power. Of course, there's longer days in
Summer, but since many of them are foggy out here on the coast, I generally
figure I get more power in winter. That's definitely not true for
everybody. Counter to that, if your batteries are not kept at room
temperature (and who wants to keep them in the house...) they're _less_
efficient and can't store as much - so they should be well insulated.
--
derek

Bob

2005-11-22, 11:21 pm

If you wish to learn about generators for longterm 24/7 use, go to
utterpower.com
For wind and solar try otherpower.com Good luck

Ashley Clarke

2005-11-24, 8:21 pm

"Derek Broughton" <news@pointerstop.ca> wrote in message
news:itnb53-4u8.ln1@news.pointerstop.ca...
> ronwagn wrote:
>
>
> Is that $700 / kW? I've got a little over 1kW of wind/solar which cost a
> good bit more than $3500. Otoh, much of my cost is batteries - and unless
> you're going to use it grid-tied, you'd still need those. For the actual
> generation, even at the high end, that would compete with solar. At the
> low end ($700/kW) it would compete very favorably with many alternative
> systems.
>
>
> biodiesel could be cheaper - but that's because we haven't saturated the
> sources of used fryer oil yet.
>
>
> There's a few issues there. The actual PV _generation_ is more efficient in
> cooler temperatures. I also find that at noon, because of reflection off
> snow & ice, I get more peak power. Of course, there's longer days in
> Summer, but since many of them are foggy out here on the coast, I generally
> figure I get more power in winter. That's definitely not true for
> everybody. Counter to that, if your batteries are not kept at room
> temperature (and who wants to keep them in the house...) they're _less_
> efficient and can't store as much - so they should be well insulated.
> --
> derek

What about storing the energy as weight?

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Ashley Clarke
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ronwagn

2005-11-25, 6:21 pm

Thanks for the info.

Ron Wagner

ronwagn

2005-11-25, 6:21 pm

Thanks for the tip.

Ron Wagner

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