Michael Ross via EV wrote:
A sail is impractical, unmanageable, a very good way to tip over with out
a keel or daggerboard.
Pedaling adds almost nothing as most of us have a hard time producing
100Watts continuously.
So called small wind energy is a money pit with no real payback
Geothermal is costly because you can't drill a deep hole just anywhere and
it costs a lot
All true. But, there are special cases. Just to play devil's advocate:
If you *are* getting power for a boat, then PV on the sail *does* make
some sense. You have an enormous amount of area on those sails. I've
seen small PV arrays on sailboats, but haven't seen a "Yankee Clipper"
solar-powered racing sailboat yet. Possible?
Pedaling certainly works if the vehicle is very small. Joel Davidson
commuted regularly on a 3-wheel recumbent trike with a 2' x 4' PV panel
for a "roof".
Small wind power works just fine for locations where you just don't have
the room for PV, or have problems with things like snow. It can also be
very cheap if done right (we have this modern propensity to vastly
over-complicate everything). Remember that millions of of farmers
successfully used windmills for decades before rural electrification.
Geothermal is easy if you happen to be next to a river or lake. Or, I
went to school in Michigan's Keewanaw peninsula. There are hundreds of
abandoned mines left over from the copper mining boom times. So there
are buildings that get their heating and cooling simply by ducting in
the air from some old mine shaft or air vent. It's 68 deg.F year round!
Also, on PV for vehicles. I've wondered why they haven't built a
commuter train with PV panels on the roof. Rail has such low rolling
resistance and such a huge amount of roof area that I'll bet you could
make a considerable amount of your power with PV. If I wanted to set a
land speed record for a purely solar powered vehicle, I'd build a solar
car that ran on rails!
Don't take these as serious suggestions for widespread use. But they
*are* examples of special case solutions that might be useful in certain
circumstances. :-)
--
Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit
them quickly and get on with improving your other innovations.
(Steve Jobs)
--
Lee Hart, 814 8th Ave N, Sartell MN 56377, www.sunrise-ev.com
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