Michel Jullian wrote:
Jed you made an excellent point here, as amazing as it may seem no additional generator capacity would be needed (if your maths are right which they seem to be).
Actually, several authors have pointed this out and they have done more sophisticated analyses. I just ran a quick "reality check" to confirm them.
Recharging electric automobiles with Internet connected "smart meters" would be an ideal application for intermittent wind generated electricity. As long as it gets done in less than 10 hours or so nobody cares whether it happens at 11 p.m. or 3 a.m. A regular 120 VAC connector is only supposed to carry 1.5 kW (although we had more powerful room heaters when I was a kid!), but you can use a heavy-duty 5 kW line such the ones for washing machines. Then you could charge the car in 3 hours when the wind blows and power is available, and cut the power when the wind stops. In Georgia we have no wind power but this would ensure that most of the electricity used to charge cars comes from nuclear power plants.
- Jed
