Maybe microgrid is something exaggerated . Most device today are quite intelligent and a processor to manage my vision of microgrid cost <1$
A home microgrid for me is just : - a CHP which produce AC at a voltage which get lower when nearly overloaded (some do that naturally being dumb) - devices with a low cost processor which manage a dimmer (my fridge use a dimmer to control cooling power, my hoover too), and which detect when the generator is in panic mode, deciding to move to moderated consumption (there is something to do to avoid that oscillating, but that is not hard)... it will be easy for kettle, oven, iron, car charger, to react that way... in a way the smart grid I imagine use component not smarter than a NiMH charger, and no real communication except voltage (that is a smartgrid technology with a name , I've forgotten). Your argument that people will not bother to be smart is good... but maybe not because it is expensive anyway, even if only the turbine and the cooling elements... It think that like for hard disk people will pull the line as far as possible, and some smartness will be like using zipped disk... required when you exaggerated and are lazy to update... anyway maybe you are right that probably some company will sell LENr as a service at home, like cloud disk, but without the grid.. just like "rent-a new-car" service. Whether people will be smart or will waste a little is an interesting debate. I think like an EU engineer who "survived" 1974 crisis (there was huge anti waste campaign) , and this is not standard. 2015-12-18 16:21 GMT+01:00 Jed Rothwell <[email protected]>: > Alain Sepeda <[email protected]> wrote: > > >> home energy is not so hard to manage with the following configuration : >> >> - an LENR CHP/trigen that warm/cool the house, >> - a configuration that allows to waste heat if electricity is required >> - a nano/microgrid with simple smartgrid control (why not voltage >> controlled) cooperating with devices >> - smart consumer devices who communicate with the smartgrid to save >> energy, slow heating, stop/slow washing program, when peak power is reached >> > > That would be a reasonable approach with solar panels but it is too > complicated and too expensive for cold fusion. > > > >> today you pay mostly energy, but with LENr you will pay peak power >> capacity... This will change product engineering. >> > > Yes, but the increased cost for higher peak capacity is trivial compared > to the cost of implementing things like a nano/microgrid. I say this based > on incremental increase cost for additional standby power generation. Look > at the retail incremental costs for one manufacturer, Generac, with natural > gas (NG): > > 6 kW, $1700 > 16 kW, $3,400 > 22 kW, $4,300 > > > http://www.lowes.com/Electrical/Generators/Home-Standby-Generators/_/N-1z0x2n8/pl# > ! > > The high end is 3.7 times more powerful for only 1.6 times more money. The > actual cost difference is only $1,600. The equipment is not much larger: > > 6 kW, 36" x 27", 360 lb > 22 kW, 48" x 25", 476 lb > > There is no way you can justify the cost of implementing a nano/microgrid > or smart consumer devices when you can solve the problem completely by > spending an extra $1,600 on a generator that takes up 12 inches more space. > > Whatever a cold fusion generator ends up costing, the incremental cost in > percentage terms should be similar to the incremental costs for standby > generators, because the electric generator and the interface to the house > wiring is the same. For the 6 kW unit you need a cold fusion cell that > produces 24 kW raw heat, and for the 22 kW unit you need a cell that > produces 88 kW. That should not be much bigger or more expensive. Assuming > the device is an Ni-H reactor the additional material cost will be trivial, > and the actual incremental cost will be similar to today's standby > generators. > > Suppose you normally need 9 kW at most. You could buy a 16 kW unit and > have plenty of capacity to spare. But suppose you are thinking of taking up > welding steel garden statues as hobby. You might need an extra 9.6 kW, 19 > kW total. (Welding takes more electricity than any other home hobby I can > think of!) It would make sense to just buy 22 kW unit. Spend an extra $900, > and you never need to think about it again. > > Remember, you are saving $162 to $396 per month. Why worry about an extra > $900? Most people will end up buy much more capacity than they need. This > is similar to the way we buy computer equipment these days. Everyone buys a > 1 TB disc even if you only going to use 0.3 TB. I have a large APC battery > backup system that will last for 39 minutes in the event of a power > failure, even though the power seldom fails for more than a few minutes. It > costs $138. I could have gotten a smaller model for $100 to $129, but they > would only last ~10 minutes. Why bother? > > > (The APC unit tells you on the control panel how long it will last in a > power failure. Mine says "39 minutes" as of right now.) > > - Jed > >
