Re: It's time to drill for oil....NOW!!!
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2008 5:35 am
U26, I should thwap you. I am talking about PV for homes. However I'm not talking about 'Solar Panels' since the cheapest I can find them are for $3.00/Watt of power they can provide. The cells that can be painted on could be applied to almost any surface (not sure if the paint is available in different colors besides grey), and you could get electricity from a grey picket fence as much as you could from the siding on your house.
As for other mechanisms, (this is a mostly an idear paragraph...) most of what could be done in the home would be very minor. Imagine using your toilet to generate hydro power (installing a small set of turbines between the tank of the toilet and the bowl). Air displacement from opening and closing doors could be captured by very, very sensitive windmills. Foot falls on carpet could capture energy simply by having one magnetic 'sheet' opposing another magnetic 'sheet' one at the top of the insulating pad beneath carpet, one at the bottom. When weight causes the sheets to get closer together, I'm still at a loss for how that magnetic friction could be transferred into electricity. Similar concept to tidal generators.
On another note, it finally makes sense: Big Oil Companies could be treehuggers. The way that they're forcing society to change their habits is by making the cost of oil too high to afford otherwise. With that random thought, I'm off!
As for other mechanisms, (this is a mostly an idear paragraph...) most of what could be done in the home would be very minor. Imagine using your toilet to generate hydro power (installing a small set of turbines between the tank of the toilet and the bowl). Air displacement from opening and closing doors could be captured by very, very sensitive windmills. Foot falls on carpet could capture energy simply by having one magnetic 'sheet' opposing another magnetic 'sheet' one at the top of the insulating pad beneath carpet, one at the bottom. When weight causes the sheets to get closer together, I'm still at a loss for how that magnetic friction could be transferred into electricity. Similar concept to tidal generators.
On another note, it finally makes sense: Big Oil Companies could be treehuggers. The way that they're forcing society to change their habits is by making the cost of oil too high to afford otherwise. With that random thought, I'm off!