The technical name is called ‘power factor’. It happens with inductive loads like motors when the voltage and amperage get out of phase with each other. the difference is known as ‘kvar’.
They make ‘power factor correction’ devices. That are both passive (like capacitors) and active (microcontrollers).
For home users they are typically considered a scam, because they reduce the reactive load (lag or amp draw), and not the overall energy use (kw), and most people get billed by the kw, therefore they don’t save money. You are NOT normal.
And because this is fairly well written without a bunch of math, what they are saying is fairly accurate, and well referenced. It just isn’t a scam in your case.
IF you are doing this for say work, or in more of an industrial setting, you probably should go through the math, but that is more then my cup of coffee allows at this point in the day.
Grid and home energy storage… the kind that doesn’t physically move… is destined to move away from chemistries and designs that EV batteries use. Fixed storage will go with something cheaper but less dense by volume and weight. A cheap but heavy battery is fine tucked away in your basement or spread out across twenty shipping containers by a sub-station.
Ambri is a company with one such “new chemistry” for fixed storage. Widespread EV adoption will lean hard on Lithium chemistries and force the issue. For EVs it is tough to see Lithium replaced at any scale in the near-term. It is proven and good enough.
I think plug-in hybrid cars with 50-80 miles of pure electric range make sense for a wide range of drivers (but maybe not you all!). Backed up by a small but efficient IC engine you’d get long range when needed but lots of pure electric miles as well. The battery pack would be much cheaper and lighter, even accounting for the IC engine and fuel tank. And we’d have a lot more vehicles on the road with low to no CO2 coming out of the tail-pipe with the same amount of lithium.
Nothing beats Lithium as a cathode charge carrier in terms of simple chemistry so I think we are stuck with it when performance matters. Best to get on with improved production methods. At least lithium iron phosphate batteries dodge the other expensive materials: cobalt and nickel. And LFP is good enough for EV. Its immediate power output is lower than nickel-cobalt containing batteries but most people don’t need “Ludacris mode” acceleration. It’s a little heavier but much cheaper in terms of $ per kwhr. Again - good enough.
Regarding Lithium… in a pinch it can be extracted from sea water. That method might pair well with desalination which is likely to get another look given all the droughts. Desalinization would also be a good grid stabilizer when renewable production is otherwise too high - just run the RO pumps.
All I know is that high prices tend to create new supply, maybe not in the short term… but in the long term? Always… Substitution and new supply has always been the solution to high prices when the market is allowed to function.
You can do it with special batteries, I wasn’t trying to answer for Dave/Brian. I was more trying to point out what the problem is actually called, and the fact they actually sell ‘power factor correction’ devices (that is why I quoted it.) They are basically capacitors in a box. Getting them sized right for the application is another issue. And CERTAINLY, you can do caps prior to the inverter provided the inverter can ramp up that fast.
I still have the capacitors ,but i use them as an when needed for larger loads they work great to stop heavy surge on the inverter and batteries .
I also now have Hybrid cranking batteries that i have installed in my trucks and forklifts , they are amazing the weight of them is unreal 1 finger carry , i guess around 4 KG’s and spin my 4 litre truck over like a buzz saw on steroids , the battery has a 25AH lifepo4 cell and built in supercaps i think its 1900 cold cranking amps , would have to open truck up and have a look as its been in there just over a year now .
Dave
So I finally determined the size generator I would need and also how big my gasifier needs to be. Currently looking at a duel fuel generator that can run on fuel and propane, I like this option because I can switch incase of an emergence and never be with out power. Now the size I need to power the whole house and our well pump is a 13,000 watt peak / 10,000 watt main. My understanding of this generator and setup will be a 500cc engine with an estimated 60hp, from my research I will need a 6x30 inch tube to supply enough fuel to run the generator properly. I’ve also designed my own plans for a gasifier which I will definitely share with you all and I will make sure to share a detailed list of materials used/where I found them. I am hoping I can have great success with this as I am striving to become energy independent.
Interesting self-sufficiency project you are progressing on KennethZ.
On woodgas; internal combustion piston engines power make best at 2400-2800 RPM.
3000 RPM actually produces better power on woodgas that 3600 RPM.
3600 RPM on wood gas is really pushing the boundaries of woodgas compressed combution speeds.
So for your kW electrical goals better to think in much bigger at least 2000cc engines ran at 1800 RPM. Four cylinder engines. Or inline six cylinder engines. I only needing 4000 electric watts max. on woodgas I should be able to get away with a 459cc engine.
I cannot remember if you are base 60 cycles or 50 cycles.
Do not plan in the published rated engine horsepower or kW/mech. powers. These ratings are made at too high of woodgased, continuously useable RPM’s.
Get the make-power RPM engine graphs. Match to your 1500-3000 RPM intended running. Then power made derate farther another at least 30% for what you will actually need.
Ha! Leave to others their endless chases to make DIY woodgas Freedom Fuel “Just-Like” any other modern pump supplied fuel.
The only relevant comparison of using a solid wood fuel would be in steam engine systems.
That’s easy. Generated produced Woodgas in modern IC piston engines for personal scale usages is twice better in all factors.
Regards
Steve unruh
It is neat! Not a criticizing but while they can be expensive, I would probably look at adding batteries to the system to save fuel and keep runtime up. Then the generator doesn’t have to run all the time, and you are in a position to install solar down the road which cuts fuel costs more. I don’t see propane dropping in price anytime soon, and wood can be tedious on a homestead during peak busy seasons. I just want to see you be successful either way you choose.
Hi Kenneth,
That much power is going to eat a lot of fuel. I would recommend a wood gasifier. You’re going to need a wood chunker and fuel storage shed too.
I recommend you look at what @Tone has done. He has converted a diesel tractor, which should be fairly efficient. He has also come up with a gasifier, with an extra nozzle down low in the grate area, that I think should do well in a stationary setup. Tractor with gas? posts 568-984
Rindert
I’ve actually considered putting a few batteries in the power house to charge off the generator while its running, that way in the evening I don’t have to run the whole system. Fortunately enough I work for a Lumper yard where we have huge dumpsters filled daily with scrap wood already cut to small pieces, so I have an endless supply off dry wood I can use for free because our company pays someone to take it away, Two dumpsters would last me a whole year and these things get full daily, 10x20 is the size of the dumpsters. I appreciate everyone’s input, I’ll put more pictures up as I build the gasifier next.
I would design the ability to add the batteries later. Things change. That is all I was saying. Most of our scrap like that gets sent to a manufacturer for particle board.
