The price of conventional electricity doesn’t reflect its true cost. Some argue "you’re not paying for the fact that you have a sinus problem or your child has asthma."
Ken Wright, P.Ag.
GREEN POWER TRADE SHOW
October 28-29, 2002
Westin Harbour Castle Hotel
Toronto, Ontario
Come and visit us at our
display booth #5
combined with Great Lakes United (GLU)
Show Hours: 1:30 pm - 9 pm both days.
Admission is free!
"We will only know the worth of water when the well is dry."
Benjamin Franklin
SPOTLIGHT ON...GOVERNMENT POLICY ON ENERGY IN 1982
Province to promote mini-hydro projects
The provincial energy ministry will spend almost $1 million to encourage private citizens to start producing their own hydro electricity.
Energy Minister Bob Welch announced the $950,000 assistance program to "mini-hydro" developers at a Toronto conference yesterday.
The new provincial assistance, which includes a federal contribution, will allow several developers to install generators as small as 20 kilowatts - enough to supply three or four average houses - at existing dams without major construction or rebuilding.
Recently amended legislation allows anyone to develop small hydro sites.
From the Toronto Star, September 29, 1982
ELECTRICITY RATES SKYROCKETING?
Well, you can do something about it: All the moaning and groaning won’t help you, you might as well go into the generating business yourself!
Put off the purchase of a new car, as appealing as the 0% interest offers are. You still have to pay a stiff monthly payment and, of course, keep the gas tank filled with increasingly costly gasoline. And license and insurance fees add to the continuing expenses...
Go instead and take out a loan at still reasonable interest rates and install a solar water heating system on your southfacing roof. If you have an electric 40 gallon water heater it should knock down your hydro bill by about one third! How’s that for a secure pay-back on an approx. $3,000 investment!
A bit more expensive would be generating your own electricity with photo voltaic (PV) panels or solar shingles, but again a secure investment paying you back every time you flick a switch or plug in an appliance. Of course, don’t forget the energy conservation potential - it saves you money every time you switch off the light when you leave a room, turn off the TV and radio when nobody is listening. And those energy-efficient light bulbs might cost a bit more, but last 10 times longer, and use only about 1/3 the electricity of incandescents!!
Farmers could band together, pool their finances and form a co-operative, putting up 1 or 2 large wind turbines to power their electricity needs. They have done it in Denmark where the idea was first conceived about 15 years ago.
So don’t wait for Ernie Eves to give you rebates on your hydro bill like Alberta’s Ralph Klein did to get re-elected last year. Ontario does not have a $12 billion "Heritage Fund" our Premier could dip into to stop his ratepayers from revolting. Go into the generating business and experience that "powerful feeling"-renewable safe, nonpolluting energy - nature’s gift to humanity!
WIND POWER IN THE BRUCE PENINSULA
Skygeneration Inc., a private consortium, headed by Glen Estill, is erecting a 1.8 MW (1,800 kW) Vestas wind turbine near Lion’s Head in the breezy Bruce Peninsula!
We up here are really excited to welcome wind-powered electricity generation and highly commend Glen for his untiring efforts to overcome those many regulatory hassles to provide consumers with a choice for clean power.
The purchase of GREEN TAGS will help to make more of this Green Power available in the near future.
So, come and join us for the great
Inauguration Party
on Saturday, November 30
and admire the 78 meter tall, graceful structure east of Highway 6 near Ferndale!
Call Glen at 519-856-4275 or email him at glen@emj.ca
WHAT'S NEW...SOLAR CELL PROTOTYPE
German and British Scientists have developed a prototype of a solar cell that is not made from Silica but from a fluid crystal.
This process will bring the costs of manufacturing and also of recycling much lower. It is also best suited for curved surfaces and should be commercially available within a few years. Efficiency has also been increased appreciably!
Power from the Sun - free and clean!
FROM THE CO-ORDINATOR...
I am a survivor! Yes, it was hot up here in the Peninsula too - sweltering hot - but I survived without an air conditioner and even a fan.
Sure, work went a little slower, but evenings are longer and make up for it. No, with all the water around us here, I didn’t even take the time for a cooling dip.
It was a busy summer again. I attended the "Managing Shared Waters" conference in Hamilton for 3 days at the end of June. Organized by Pollution Probe, it brought together citizens from many countries concerned about the effects of pollution from other jurisdictions on their health. I also staffed a CFRE display at the Newmarket Green Energy Fair and a week later at the Walkerton Green Step event.
While I was taking part in the Ontario Sustainable Energy Association retreat on Toronto Island, Chris Elvers, our member from Wallaceburg represented CFRE on Pelee Island at an event sponsored by the Point Pelee Heritage Foundation. As a result of his great work we were able to add the Citizen’s Environmental Alliance from Windsor to our subscribers’ list.
The following weekend (July 20-21) another retreat took place in Kingston. I attended as the Canadian co-chair of the Nuclear-free/Green Energy Task force of Great Lakes United.
While retreats have a ring of relaxation and fun to them, I can tell you that a lot of hard work - strategizing and brainstorming - is a large part of them!
August brought our 3rd Annual Demonstration Site Tour sponsored by the great people at Solwind Enerco in Goderich. Over 30 participants enjoyed checking out five sites and then a small hydro-electric installation near Clinton. You’ll find a report on this tour in our newsletter written by board member, Andrea Chappell. Also, Peter Shannon from Memorytree
Productions accompanied us and shot a video of 4 of the 5 sites. Hopefully copies will be available to interested members who could not attend. Thanks so much, Peter, for donating your time and expertise!
A lot of my time went into research on nuclear energy matters to be able to write a submission regarding the large Bruce Nuclear Waste Site, which I presented before the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) in Ottawa in September. I was joined by 2 U.S. citizens from Michigan, who presented their organization’s concerns regarding pollution and terrorist threats of the world’s greatest accumulation of nuclear waste on the shore of Lake Huron.
A press conference held at the Parliamentary Press Gallery on September 13 was widely reported by the media including the Kitchener-Waterloo Record and the London Free Press.
Another upcoming presentation on the Environmental Assessment of the re-start of the 25 year old Bruce ‘A’ reactors will be held on December 12 in Ottawa. The text of the submissions in copied form is available to any CFRE member sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Other events where the Co-ordinator promoted CFRE in September were the marvellous Feast of Fields near Orangeville with the help of Abby and Paul and Karen and Marie, the Grand River Water Forum in Cambridge with Gary Bastin’s great help and the Extended Producer Responsibility Workshop in Toronto.
Again, thanks so much for all your help, CFRE volunteers! Looking forward to some help at the Green Power Trade Show, October 28 and 29.
Enjoy the golden season of Autumn!
"If each building could act as its own electrical producer, it would help eliminate the need to build centralized power plants."
It makes sense, absolute sense!
From Space to Earth, by John Perkin
$20 WELL SPENT: THE GODERICH SOLWIND/CFRE TOUR
by Andrea Chappell
Like many of you I've attended shows, demos, and talks about wind and solar power. I accumulated a good store of facts. But for me the Goderich wind and solar tour turned the facts into sound and light and motion. Standing at the base of a turbine you hear the quiet flip-flip as it spins in the winds. Putting your hand on the tower you feel the vibration. You see the sun glint off the solar panels. Then walk into the control rooms and see the instrument needles bending, registering the invisible power that's generated. The tour turns raw information into a real relationship between the wind and sun, and the components built to cleanly harness them. I highly recommend it.
With perfect cooperation from the wind and sun, our excellent Solwind guides, Bruce McCreath, Al Ball, and Jake Middlekamp, had ample opportunity to demonstrate the elements at work at the host sites. At each location Bruce gave detailed explanations and answered questions to any level of expertise. I jotted down notes as we went and Bruce has kindly reviewed them for this article. I hope you find them useful.
We learned that costs vary dramatically, especially for turbine installations which depend on the difficulty of the erection of towers. If costs are given, they are guidelines only. So, off we go.
HOST SITE: Al and Sylvia Ball
The Balls run wind and solar power, and also have a back-up generator. We first stopped at the tower located on a hill at the edge of their corn field. We then went to their home to see the solar panels and instrument room, noting also their lovely gardens. When the batteries are charged the extra power goes into a "dump load" to heat their family room. Not content to supply just his home with renewable energy means, Al also built an electric bike which he charges up from the wind power.
Wind: Whisper 4.5 KWatt (2 blade), 120 ft. tower, approx. $14,000 for the turbine, $3000 - $4000 for the tower and installation
Solar: 12 panels, totalling 900 Watt, on the roof of the house, panels paired to get 24V.
Power storage: 2000 Ampere-hour 24V battery system
HOST SITE: Alex and Polly Gulutzen
Not only did Alex and Polly have a turbine in their back yard, they had a grainstove (runs on corn and other grain products) burning away in the back of their van, ready to go off to a show. The Gulutzens have a grand location in the middle of tall mature trees. They used a balloon to determine at what height they would find the wind. Speaking of the wind, a conversation struck up amongst the turbine owners about the spectacular winds of April of this year. Alex didn't believe much in insurance but after April he decided to insure his tower and turbine. His unit held up fine, with just a bit of a wobble during the storm. Bruce says he's only shut his down once, when he got a wind that "scared me to death".
Wind: Bergey XL.1 1000 Watt, 104' tower, in 10 sections which are shippable via UPS. DC power is generated in the unit, so the battery needs to be close; generally lower cost this way. Turbine and tower cost about $6000 uninstalled, plus shipping and taxes.
HOST SITE: Martin Van Den Berg
Martin has an idealic farm setting, complete with grazing cattle, friendly dogs, and barn kittens. The three wind towers sit in the pasture and an electric fence keeps the cows back from the guy wires. Martin built one homemade turbine, and says there is a long learning curve. His design and efficiency improvements caused the windings to burn out because the turbine had too much power! Martin explained that the three turbines use three different methods to "dump" power when the batteries are charged. The brake drum goes into a freewheel, essentially cutting out electrically. One Bergey goes into a slow motion, triggered by a controller. The other Bergey dumps the extra power to a water heater.
Wind: 3 turbines @ 1 KWatt (1000 Watt) each, making 3 KWatt. 1 homemade brake drum type (a Hugh Piggot design), 2 Bergey XL.1
Solar: 2 KWatt (2000 Watt)
Power storage: Regular electrical panel for grid power, other for solar and wind can switch from one to another
HOST SITE: Bruce & Michelle McCreath
After marvelling at the number of wires and towers in the yard, the tour courageously passed the "Beware of Attack Iguana" sign and entered the house. Bruce is an enthusiast, not just of renewable energies but also of ham radio, computers, and other toys. Bruce's main impetus for installing renewable energy equipment was the independence he gained. Well, he was also tired of having to reboot his four home computers every time the power flickered! They run what they consider the essential services (sump pump, fridge, air circulator, and yes, those four computers) on a separate circuit, powered from the wind turbine and solar array. Bruce stressed that instrumentation is important to see the state and history of the batteries in order to see when problems arise. "You are your own power company!" The group was also treated to a manufactured lightning show, for no extra "charge". Bruce revved up his Tesla Coil, which uses a pole transformer and Nikola Tesla's "Resonance Transformer" to take in 240 Volts and output in the neighborhood of 500,000 Volts, and created some arcs in the dimness of the garage. Where else can you get this kind of entertainment bundled with so much information?
Wind: Bruce built and installed his own 44' tower, including in the assembly two stop sign posts. His 400 Watt turbine has been up for 3 years. He takes it down once a year to check it, taking about 15 minutes.
Solar: 450 Watt
Power storage system: Six 2 Volt batteries (~1/2 ton from BNPD) courtesy of Alex Gulutzen. Inverter is a Trace PS-2500 pure sine wave synchronous
Total cost: about $10,000
CONCLUSIONS
After the wind and solar visits most of the tour group was able to continue on to the ancestral home of Bill Trick. I don't know that I am up to the task of describing the lovely setting, but I'll try. Imagine a long tree-lined lane leading to a garden of tall flowers and assorted vegetables, an inviting wood home, and lots of shady trees and lawns that say it's OK to walk here. Beyond the house, around a corner of trees is a long pond, dammed at one end, and various out-buildings and barns dispersed over the property. The building of particular interest houses a hydro system, there since about 1855. Bill keeps the old system running to power his home, and showed it in action as he "put on a load" in his sawmill and cut a board. I hope that Bill can write us an article someday about the whole system. Being there to hear the roar of the old but finely working machinery was a real treat. Bill let us scramble around in the upper rooms too, where light piercing through holes in the walls illuminated all sorts of old farm implements. We had fun guessing their use. Next we were offered drinks and homemade treats, and reluctantly, we admitted the day
was at an end.
In ending this article, I again encourage you to go on the tour next year. I went into the day expecting to gather facts, but in addition I gained an appreciation for the people who have already ventured forth. In truth, they are as valuable resources as the sun and wind, and by sharing with those of us less experienced, they are even "renewing". The tour provides an excellent opportunity to meet others, overhear great tidbits, and see in action the renewable energies in which we all share some common interest.
Thanks so much, from all of us, to our guides for their knowledge, patience, and time. Thanks also to our hosts for their generosity, and for making us all feel very welcome as they shared the results of their efforts with pride.
Q&A WITH SOME FUN TRIVIA
Q: What does the term "Phantom load" mean?
A: "Phantom load" refers to the power used in your appliances even when they aren't "on". Most TVs, VCRs, microwaves and appliances draw power to give you the instant-on feature. One tour member claims hearing that the phantom load of all of the households in the US accounts for the power used from 2 nuclear plants! While I couldn't confirm that, I did find information that the phantom load in TVs alone could use as much energy as it takes to run 84,000 homes of 1500 square feet each. Here's the source if you want to read more: http://www.wapa.gov/media/pdf/aug4p2.pdf
Q: Why does the Ball Whisper 4.5 KWatt turbine have 2 blades instead of 3?
A: The Whisper whirling in the Ball cornfield is a 2-blade turbine. It used to be a 3-blade but it was too powerful for the system and there were resulting problems in this model. The modification means that the turbine governs earlier now, preventing it from spinning too fast. The story was told that this problem contributed to the bankruptcy of World Power. Whisper is now sold by SouthWest Windpower.
Q: How much more sunlight is there in July than January? About the same? Twice as much? 10x as much?
A: 10x the solar in July as in January.
Q: Why do some of the host sites have thermometers in their power storage areas?
A: Lead-acid batteries work best at room temperature so they try to keep the temperature around this level.
Q: If the systems can create more than 24V, why do most sites run at most 24V?
A: It is the "defacto standard" of the RE industry. It balances safety with efficiency. The inverter takes care of changing this low voltage DC into the higher voltage AC that all homes are wired for.
Q: What is the name of Bruce's Iguana? Where does the name come from?
A: Drax. Bruce had a dog named Oddjob. The names come from James Bond villains.
NOTABLES...EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
The November 21, 2001 edition of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald carried a Special Feature section on "Emerging Technologies". The full-page article "Living life off the Grid" by Howard Lawrence featured CFRE’s former and first board members Hans Albarda and Catherine Stanley, who with their two daughters moved to Wolfville, Nova Scotia, and built a similar off-grid house powered by 8 x 85 Watt PV panels which supply all the electricity their household needs in a 12V DC system. Hans still acts as our expert advisor and has agreed to represent CFRE at the Canadian Wind Energy Association’s (CanWEA) Halifax conference at the end of October.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR...AGM AND WORKSHOP
We have already reserved that
great YMCA Paradise Lake
Environmental Learning Centre,
near Waterloo,
for the
7th ANNUAL CFRE
GENERAL MEETING
and WORKSHOP
for
Sunday, May 25, 2003
Go to next newsletter
Go to previous newsletter
Return to Newsletter list
Return to main page
From the Community Press, Eastern Edition,