Re: A gravitational wave rocket

2022-01-22 Thread Russell Standish 
On Sat, Jan 22, 2022 at 07:08:29AM -0500, John Clark wrote:
> On Sat, Jan 22, 2022 at 3:07 AM Russell Standish  
> wrote:
> 
> 
> >> even with your frugal ways solar cells aren't enough to make you
> energ independent, you still have to hook up with the power company.  
> 
> 
> 
> > Of course. We'd need a battery as well. But that's not the point.
> 
>  
> I think it is the point because it illustrates one of the 2 most important
> shortcomings of solar energy, it's unreliable.

It is not the point, because the aim is not energy
self-sufficiency. The aims are to produce the energy needed at the
most economical cost, and also to do so in a carbon neutral
fashion. Rooftop solar is a massive low-hanging fruit in that
regard. Batteries, not quite so much, but they're getting there. Some
of our friends have invested in batteries, perhaps because they value
carbon-neutrality higher than we do.


> The other is that it takes up
> too much area because it's too dilute;  even Dyson spheres have that problem,
> they produce a huge amount of power but they need a gargantuan area to do so.
> 
> 
>  > You have warm mild bits too, like Florida, or southern California.
> 
> 
> I know from personal experience that if it wasn't for Willis Carrier's
> invention of the air conditioner there is no way Florida would be the third
> most populous of the 50 states, even in mid winter it's not unusual for the
> temperature to be in the upper 80s (fahrenheit) with very high humidity. 
> Everybody has air conditioners, the state should be renamed "Carrier". As for
> Southern California, it's not unusual for the temperature to get into the
> triple digits.

By triple digits, I think you mean over 36 degrees. It's not unusual
for it to be that here too. But only for a few days in the warmest
month of the year. I have visited SoCal and NoCal many times - the
temperature range is pretty similar to here actually. We're lucky that
we live by the see: close the doors and blinds during the day when it
is hot, open them in the evening when there is a cool sea breeze.

Yes - in the western parts of our city, aircons are more
essential. but again, only for a few days a years.

And without Carrier I don't think Texas would be the second most
> populous state, and Arizona wouldn't be the fastest growing.

Perhaps so - but running the aircons when solar generation is at its
peak, and temperature are at their peak works well. Solar makes a lot
of sense for those states.

> 
> John K Clark    See what's on my new list at  Extropolis
> wca
> 
> eex
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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Dr Russell StandishPhone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Principal, High Performance Coders hpco...@hpcoders.com.au
  http://www.hpcoders.com.au


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Re: A gravitational wave rocket

2022-01-22 Thread Brent Meeker 



On 1/22/2022 4:08 AM, John Clark wrote:
I know from personal experience that if it wasn't for Willis Carrier's 
invention of the air conditioner there is no way Florida would be the 
third most populous of the 50 states, even in mid winter it's not 
unusual for the temperature to be in the upper 80s (fahrenheit) with 
very high humidity.


When I used to visit my brother in Sarasota, we would get in his car and 
when he started the engine the AC would come on, but he would drive 
around with the windows still wide open for another several minutes 
until the AC got really cold.  THEN he'd roll up the windows.


Brent

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Re: A gravitational wave rocket

2022-01-22 Thread John Clark 
On Sat, Jan 22, 2022 at 3:07 AM Russell Standish 
wrote:

>> even with your frugal ways solar cells aren't enough to make you energ
>> independent, you still have to hook up with the power company.
>
>
> *> Of course. We'd need a battery as well. But that's not the point.*


I think it is the point because it illustrates one of the 2 most important
shortcomings of solar energy, it's unreliable. The other is that it takes
up too much area because it's too dilute;  even Dyson spheres have that
problem, they produce a huge amount of power but they need a gargantuan
area to do so.

 > *You have warm mild bits too, like Florida, or southern California.*


I know from personal experience that if it wasn't for Willis Carrier's
invention of the air conditioner there is no way Florida would be the third
most populous of the 50 states, even in mid winter it's not unusual for the
temperature to be in the upper 80s (fahrenheit) with very high humidity.
Everybody has air conditioners, the state should be renamed "Carrier". As
for Southern California, it's not unusual for the temperature to get into
the triple digits. And without Carrier I don't think Texas would be the
second most populous state, and Arizona wouldn't be the fastest growing.

John K ClarkSee what's on my new list at  Extropolis

wca

eex




>

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Re: A gravitational wave rocket

2022-01-22 Thread Russell Standish 
On Fri, Jan 21, 2022 at 07:29:55AM -0500, John Clark wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 21, 2022 at 4:26 AM Russell Standish  
> wrote:
> 
> 
> > We have solar panels on half our roof (the difficult half, because of
> aesthetics, we didn't want to cover the western half that faces the
> street). So about 16kW of installed capacity. Average production year 
> round
> is about 1kW.
> 
> 
>   Average production is only 1/16 of installed capacity? That's even worse 
> than
> I thought.


Sorry my mistake - we have 16 panels, each of which have peak output
330W = 5.28 kW.

> 
> 
> > Our usage is about half that,
> 
> 
> Wow only 500 watts, you must live frugally.

Not especially - we do turn out lights when not in use, of course.

> I take it you have a gas stove or
> do most of your cooking with a microwave.

Gas stove, and use the microwave a lot, but the electric oven only
sometimes (there is a distinct bump of about 200W average in
consumption at 6pm).

Our biggest consumption is a spa (or jacuzzi as they say in the
US). This consumes about 2.5kW, but is only on for 2 hours in the day,
and we turn it off over the winter season (too bloody cold getting out
of the spa midwinter).

Then come fridges. When we got "smart meters", we did end up turning
off one of the fridges, and just not buying quite as much frozen
goods. Smart meters make a huge difference by making it clear just how
much power each device uses.

The come computers and internet. Recent upgrades have dropped
typical desktop computer consumption from 100W to around 25W (eg Intel
NUC), and computers do get turned off when not in use,

After that - not much else of significance.

> I also assume if you have an electric
> car you don't charge it up at home. 

Yeah - no electric car. Australia has such backward policies on
electric cars that I expect we'll be the dumping ground of petrol
guzzling CO2 belchers for some years.

> 
> 
> > so we end up selling quite a bit of electricity to the grid (at about a
> third of the cost to buy it). Its
> a 4 bedroom house, but just the two of us live here now.
> 
> 
> But even with your frugal ways solar cells aren't enough to make you energy
> independent, you still have to hook up with the power company.  
>

Of course. We'd need a battery as well. But that's not the point.

> 
> > We're lucky, we don't need air conditioning, and rarely even use a
> heater.
> 
> 
> You are lucky, most people don't live in a climate that is as mild as yours. 
>

Sure. But 10kW 24x7 still seems very extreme for an average house,
even in the US. You have warm mild bits too, like Florida, or southern
California.

>  John K Clark    See what's on my new list at  Extropolis
> epr
> 
> 
>  
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Dr Russell StandishPhone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Principal, High Performance Coders hpco...@hpcoders.com.au
  http://www.hpcoders.com.au


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