A home solar dish that activates a Stirling engine and moves a 10 kilowatt/hour power generator would make most electrical power generation and distribution grids obsolete. This small, apparently insignificant Solar Generator installed at each of the 124 million households in America would deliver the energy that is needed to power up homes for heating, lights, cooking, water heater, TV sets and all the electrical amenities required to provide modern human comfort, now and for years to come. A small equipment or appliance could solve a problem of gigantic proportions and would surely provide a more sustainable and new world order.
A series of articles along these topics will explore the solar power generation equipment, the centralized power generation and distribution system, demand for electricity and world growth, international energy agency position, sustainability of the electric industry and more related issues. These articles wish to make a modest contribution toward world sustainability and fairness in energy distribution. Finding investors that can contribute in developing the home solar power generator would be the largest plus for these articles.
Solar Equipment.- The Appliance
Homes in the US require an average of 25 to 35 kilowatts per day, or about one megawatt per month. Average homes need about 12 megawatts per year which may cost about 1,800 USD, every years. On the other hand, a home solar generator with an electrical storage system should cost less than $1,800 for the equipment and free sun power from then on. The solar generator receives about 10 hours of sun light per day, and can produce the temperature change needed to activate a Stirling engine. The Stirling engine in turn would drive a 10 KW hour power generator during sun light hours and deliver a direct current that is stored in a battery bank. Then the battery bank would provide on demand, 24 hour electricity to the home outlet.
Centralized Power Generation
Our current electrical power grids are the product of big business, big lobbyist and big government because they require large investments. An electrical power grid can be integrated with a Nuclear, Coal, Gas, hydro power, or thermal turbines, used to generate the steam which drives the power generator. The electrical energy is then sent though cables thousands of miles and delivered to homes, offices, and industrial buildings. Consumers need to be tied to electrical grids to have power. Having large number of consumers in a location maintains the electrical delivery systems within cost. This central power generation and distribution system, needs a large institutional infrastructure, including institutions such as the Department of Energy, a Nuclear Commission, an International Energy Agency, agencies to handle clean coal, liquid Natural gas to say the least. This complex power development model established in the past century and current today, increases entry cost to all societies and furthers development and underdevelopment of nations, in favor of countries that created the model and can afford the energy.
Power Plants require either carbon base fuels, uranium or thermal or hydo power as the energy source. Powerful special interests exists for the carbon based fuels, such as coal, natural gas and petroleum, to continue its usage and its proliferation. American foreign policy has been shaped to protects fuel supplies, and inhibit US participation in Green House Gas emission treaties. The centralized power generation model is so strong that it has elevated the initial investment for these plants, and position them at the Billion dollar marks. This situation has further contributed to the need for a World Bank, and an International Monetary Fund, who would fund those countries that need to buy Power Plants.
Freeing homes from electrical power grids implies that any home, anywhere, can power up if they have installed their $1,800 home solar generator, having the same human comfort that city dwellers now enjoy. . Governments or Power Companies would no longer need to invest 5 billion USD per Nuclear reactor to provide 1.5 Gigawatt capacity. Land used for the electrical transmission cable, would be recovered once the electrical power grids were dismantled.
