Alternative energy

Revision as of 14:17, 31 January 2014

This section is included because energy autonomy is important for community run communication networks.

• appropedia wiki for sustainablity and 'appropriate' technology
• 12volthandbook.pdf a text focusing on 12v systems for boats

wind

• scoraigwind hugh pigotts website
• pdf hugh pigott scoraig wind electric

pedal generators

car alternators often used but they are not ideal, they give no voltage at low speeds and so needs gearing, can use belt from tractors. UK supplier for the tractor belts

tims pedal generator using dc motor and cycle training stant dc motors ideal and can be bought new but are expensive car windscreen wiper motors could be used. as they are also dc motors. need to regulate the voltage.

stepper motors. from printers etc will give power at very low speeds. interesting to play with leds and turning the motor by hand. they have multiple sets of coils.

hub dynamos

Hub dynamos are small generators in the centre of a bike wheel, used to create power whilst cycling, which traditionally was done by a DC dynamo in direct contact with the tyre. They often produce AC and are usually used for powering lights, but can be used for other things too.

• Hub dynamo wikipedia article
• Voltage regulated 5v bicycle dynamo light USB - plans for a circuit to give 5v DC output from the dynamo hub.
• Usb as a power source is a good text about powering various things using 5v USB. It is worth also mentioning that its possible to buy circuits for stepping up 3.7v lithium ion batteries (commonly found in mobile phones) to 5v.

Solar panels

Solar panels are a simple and robust power solution but their production is energy-intensive and polluting. They can be stolen quite easily but there are roumours that some contain hidden chips which can be used to track their position.

Maximum power point tracking (mppt) regulators are the more efficient but expensive. Normal regulators will allow the battery state to determine voltage which may not be the most efficient for the panel. MPPT regulators use a control circuit to 'search' for the voltage allowing the highest power output.

Note that with the right regulator it is also possible to charge 12v battery from 24v panel (eg: morningstar sunsaver mppt) or a 24v battery from 12v panel (eg: emponi sol1).

Of course when using solar panels it is better to use electrical appliances during the day when more power is available. The cheaper regulators will even cut out and stop charging the battery when the voltage goes too high (when its very sunny), so its good to have something connected if this is the case.

soldering without mains electricity

for situations where you do not have enough power to use an electric soldering iron, a butane gas powered soldering can be used (eg:'Power probe'), which can be refilled just like a butane cigarette lighter. a simpler, but maybe less effective solution could be just to heat nails in a fire and use pliers to hold them for soldering.

batteries

Often batteries can be improved simply by adding distilled water. Batteries which appear sealed can often be opened by forcing open a plastic panel to reveal little lids to the individual cells.

Old batteries which will no longer hold a charge can be often rejuvinated by pulse charging them, provided they have not shorted out as a result of a buildup of lead deposits in the bottom of the battery.

As a last resort, it is possible to use old car batteries which no longer will charge to 12v (which you often find discarded) as 9v batteries, which can power, for example, 3 led bike lights soldered together in series (2xAAA batteries=3v) to get the last bit of power from them.

large 180ah truck-style batteries can often be found in tempory traffic lights used for roadworks. However there are roumours that these sometimes contain chips so that their location can be tracked if stolen.

Electric wheelchairs usually use very good sealed batteries. It could be a good idea to try asking at shops and companies who sell or service electric wheelchairs for old batteries.

Security and fire alarms also often have batteries as backup power, these can often be found in abandoned buildings or try asking manufacturers for old ones. They will power LED lighting for a long time but are small enough to carry in a rucksack to charge elsewhere, so perfect for when you have several people sharing one solar panel.

• bedini ssg battery restorer - an explanation of the idea
• bedini ssg battery restorer plans
• 12 volt gel cell charger plans
• Joule thief
• Alum batteries
• youtube video making alum battery

lighting

LEDs can be cheaper when bought in strips, for example 5630 SMD white LEDS can be bought in rolls of 5 or 10m, for 12v systems use multiples of 3 LEDs.

When using headtorches, remember when replacing the batteries that they discharge irregularly, the light will go dim when just one of the batteries is low, so test them with a volt meter and usually you will only replace one of them.

Thermoelectrical generators

Small heat powered electrical generators that can be attached for example to a wood burner. They dont produce a lot of power but could be useful for powering electronics stuff.

• thermoelectrical generator wikipedia article
• thermalforce.de site selling them
• video of TEG

wood

• capturing heat 1
• capturing heat 2
• capturing heat 3

biofuels

• Algae fuel on appropedia

water pumps

• Hand pump design on appropedia
• bison pumps commercial manufacturers of hand pumps

Hydrualic ram pumps can be used where there is flowing water to use the water pressure to pump a comparitively low amount of water upwards.

• Hydraulic ram wikipedia article
• ram pump design

Other stuff

• sci.electronics.rapair repairfaq.org how to repair many things.

• car amplifier repair basics much information on this site

• leeds alternative energy wiki has a lot of stove plans and other stuff
• Power over ethernet would be usefull for data radio projects