[GTALUG] mysterious restarts

[Alvin Starr]

On 06/22/2016 03:24 PM, Russell Reiter via talk wrote:
>
> > I also have heard of the power grid, being a microgrid designer and all.
> >
>
> Although it's not Linux specific, given the number of posts on this
> thread regarding power quality and continuity, perhaps microgrids and
> power walls might be an interesting meeting topic.
>
> I'd be interested in knowing what types of control systems are in use
> for linking and delinking? ie. how would you handle spinning up and
> linking a wind turbine to a hydrogen cell; bonus if there were
> discussions around Sandia SPIDERS and cybersecurity.
>
> Got some spare time?
>
I have been looking at this for quite a while.

The first problem is that you cannot easily feed power back onto the grid.
There was the Government program to feed solar power back onto the grid
at an outragous rate but there is not much else.
I was looking at a project to supply power to a data center and feed the
excess power back onto the grid.
We were told the small feed in rate was the same as paid to the folks
with multi MW sized generators.

One solution would be to get a powerwall and AC-DC-AC converter (they
are available for solar installations and in various sizes).
Then get a small natural gas generator to feed the system.
There are a few small gas and steam turbine providers trying to come
online but otherwise not much product.
Then you will want to take the excess heat generated and use it for
heating or cooling.

At that point you should be able to be more or less grid independent.

The cost of power will then fluctuate with the cost of gas but overall
the cost will be somwere between 1/2 and 2/3 of the peak rate your
paying to the local power company.
For just the power its not a great investment but for power and
heat/cooling it can be very worthwhile.

If anybody is curious feel free to contact me off list.
 

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