energy blog

THE POWER OF INDEPENDENCE

A building project to repair my rotting abode in the outer suburbs of Auckland over 20 years ago was the moment that initiated my move to alternative power. The project required the power cable to be removed, supposedly temporarily, but as the cable was being disconnected by the electric company and left coiled on the post across the street, I realised my view of the sea had improved immeasurably, no longer being sliced by the black line that I had unconciously hated but never-the-less accepted as necessary. Burying electric cables was not an option there due to the massive system of tree roots that held the steep land in place. I was gazing at the view and suddenly thought of a dear friend, a hardworking hippie who had built his own large and beautiful home, grown his own food and lived in the country on alternative power since the eighties. I looked at the power pole and muttered to myself, "I don't need your power, I have my own power." Well, I didn't have any power at the time, not electrical power anyway, so I embarked on an electricity-free lifestyle which gave me long, quiet evenings by the fire to ponder life. I came up with what seemed at the time some fairly radical ideas. "You don"t have to live like this." a voice in my head said. "Look at other possibilities and cultures. You can live your own way and make it up to suit yourself as you go along." The thoughts continued along these lines and I found myself enjoying them and feeling excited at the possibilities... I didn't mean this article to be a philosophical rave, but it seems to have become one anyway. This is partly due to my feeling a need to justify the initial, and in my case ongoing effort and expense of setting up such a system for the long term benefits and the increased security of more self reliance and spreading the risk over more resources. The power generated directly from nature, even with global warming, will maybe become more reliable than that of the large monopolistic corporations that we currently depend on. If we become too dependent on someone else we feel scared, weak and vulnerable, especially if we feel they don't really care. To feel strong or secure we need to feel able to provide as much for ourselves as possible. So what will happen if a system we are totally reliant on for our survival fails. We all go down with the ship. Electricity is the lifeblood of modern society. We totally rely on it for everything: heating, cooking, washing, lighting and communicating across distance, in other words, life support, not to mention all our other activities. The less we rely on a few large institutions to provide everything, the more options we will have in times of trouble or breakdown. We are already totally dependent on each other, sometimes indirectly, for all our basic needs, tools and machinery. We are highly social animals. But the survival of a species relies on individual variation as an insurance against mass extinction. To be a survivor is to be able to adapt to change, find new resources and provide for yourself and possibly others. This is the thinking behind alternative power, apart from all the ecological reasons. My home is where I live and work and it is good to have it largely self-powered so it still functions, sustaining life regardless of any single individual system failure and the probability of future economic hardship. All you really need is a bit of high-school physics and faith in human inventiveness, sociability and of course, nature. It is really another way of spreading the risk. And if you have access to larger amounts of money the whole setup can be planned to suit individual conditions and executed in one hit, rather than piecemeal like mine. The reality is not always that straight-forward. Most of the present technology requires a practical mind with a can-do attitude. Maybe houses don't come standard with solar powered lighting etc partly because the system needs batteries that currently require monitoring and maintenance. But it's just another chore, less work than putting out the rubbish. As for toxicity, batteries are largely recycled and reused, more so than most electronic equipment. The batteries last 10 years or more if they are not neglected or abused and solar panels up to 30 years, a lot longer than most of our modern appliances which unfortunately have a short life purposely built into them, a crime in my opinion. Solar waterheating units are pretty much free from maintenance. I have just bought one and this is the most expensive item of all, but it makes life a lot easier. Even on the grid, that would probably save more than half your average power bill, or looking at it another way, you could still keep clean and wash dishes etc even if the power supply was cut off. That is, of course, providing you had water, which brings me to the point of why don't more houses have emergency water supplies from rainwater collected from roofs and stored in tanks? In some places you would practically have a year-round water supply. All of this stuff together would cost less than buying a cheap new car.

Gas is another wasted resource. Most is squandered by generating electricity which is then transported all over the place via ugly pylons and wires when it would be a lot more efficient to use gas directly for heating, cooking and even refrigeration. Unfortunately this is another system let-down. Gas is very expensive for household use even though there is an abundant supply. A monopoly supplier doesn't help. I have been using gas for cooking and refrigeration for twenty years and the price keeps going up even though there are major new finds. I have yet to find a practical or affordable methane digester suitable for home use although I am sure I produce enough waste from sewerage, kitchen and garden to do most of my cooking, if only I could catch and use the methane that it produces. My present house had no power connected when I bought it, but had three 60 watt solar panels mounted on a pole and wired to a battery compartment and basic power board which operated a 12 volt lighting system. So I decided it would be much cheaper to develop that system than to go on the grid which I didn't want to do anyway and it would have cost more than I had at the time. I have never liked the idea of being in debt so I wanted to be able to buy only what I could afford on a well-below-average income. A local electrician with a helpful attitude and an interest in alternative energy systems made things a lot easier. My first purchase was a couple of deep cycle batteries and various 12 volt incandescent light bulbs. Although these use more electricity than fluorescent bulbs they are cheaper and more robust when voltages fluctuate. Mine are all still going strong several years on and will probably last for many more. The kitchen light is an oddly shaped square fluorescent light which was here when I arrived, very good quality and expensive to replace (over $100) I found out later, but it still goes well. I did buy one $40 12 volt fluorescent bulb, but it was dead within a year, apparently unable to cope with the occasional low voltages of my imperfect system. My next major purchase after that was a pelton wheel and four more batteries. I am lucky enough to have a small stream running down from the hills, which although a mere trickle in summer supplies water for three houses and can also be used all winter to generate power for my own home. It took a bit of help and effort to set it up, laying pipes, burying cables etc and $NZ a couple of thousand for all the materials, but the rain is now a welcome visitor as it brings more than enough power to keep the electronics (TV, dvd, video, stereo, radio, 2 computers, lights, kitchen whizz and various other gadgets) all humming. It's just as well we don't all live jammed up together out here, otherwise my newfound machine fetish might drive the neighbours nuts, as I used to be when I lived in the suburbs. The pelton wheel itself is capable of producing enough power to run a much larger system than mine, but it is limited by the amount of water flowing in the stream. There is no point in my having a wind generator here because I am sheltered from prevailing winds by the surrounding hills. It does get windy at times, but not enough to justify buying one. A friend near the coast where it's usually windy has the full complement of appliances (fridge, freezer, washing machine etc) all powered by sun and wind. The computer needs mains voltage so I bought a cheap 500 watt sinewave inverter that changes 12 volts to 230 volts. This also enabled me to install power points to run a kitchen blender to make fruit smoothies etc, a better sound system and various lamps with low wattage bulbs that use less than half the power of the main lights. Unfortunately the inverter did not last long and I couldn't get it repaired or even contact the manufacturer. I have learned over the years to buy only good quality brands. Although they may seem more expensive at the time of purchase they are definitely more reliable and much cheaper in the long term. Also, they can usually be repaired so don't become landfill, which is the curse of modern consumerism, for a much longer time. The better-quality replacement has larger ventilation holes, so had to be encased in a plastic box to keep out mason bees.

I am now middle aged and have not owned a washing machine or vacuum cleaner etc for more than twenty years. Crazy! I hear you say. Not having children to look after meant it was easier to experiment with my own life. Living off the grid has involved more time doing physical work, but I none-the-less enjoy it much more than a gym workout. However, spending time on the computer has provided sedentary work which is most welcome as a rest from physical activity.
As I get older I plan to spend less time on housework so a few labour saving devices would be good. A washing machine, vaccuum cleaner and even a dishwasher would give me hours a week to spend on other activities. These machines require so much power that my current system is too small, so I'll need a generator to run them. Generators are very useful in emergency blackouts, as you can run everything on them. I am looking forward to using power tools for a bit of building rather than my dad's old handtools, although I do like the old tools so I'll still be using them too. I would probably only need to use the generator for a few hours a week so fuel would not be a problem, less than a litre.
Last year I bought a large solar panel because the one I had was not enough to keep everything going in summer when the pelton wheel was turned off. I hope to get to the point soon when my system is big enough for my needs and I'll look forward to a life of decadent luxury and indolence. Not likely! I still have to chainsaw up and stack several trees under the house for firewood in the winter to feed the woodstove that provides warmth, hot water and a cooking oven. Keeps me fit though. I reckon most people in our modern society get sick and die early from lack of fresh air and physical activity, apart from bad food.

Anyway, I'm not sure whether this article on my own lifestyle is a good advertisement for the average couple with kids to unplug, unless of course they can afford to splash out and set themselves up properly in a shorter time or if they are happy to live like hippies. My partner comes from a plug and play background and has been not-so-patiently waiting for a man-sized fridge with freezer for a few years. It finally happened recently and he's done trying to bend his 6ft 2in frame down to peer into my 3ft high gas fridge which sat on the concrete floor for safety and never quite got raised up to suit tall people.
But the good news is: I haven't had a power bill for all those years! And I'm still going strong. The technology for self-powered homes has been around for a while now but is still in its infancy in my opinion, although lately growing demand is speeding up its development. I expect it to be standard issue on new houses in the forseeable future, maybe for all household functions and certainly for most of them. Power cuts that cause helplessness and can endanger the survival of whole communities will probably be seen as an unacceptable folly. I hope so.

THE COMEDY OF ERRORS SECTION

Talking of folly, here's some mistakes and near disasters to avoid. A recent "100 year" flood nearly swept my pelton wheel away. I learned later that I shouldn't have put it over the stream, but over a ditch above the floodline with a drain dug under it back to the stream. Like Duh! I got stranded on the wrong side of the stream taking these photos and had to climb halfway up the mountain to cross back over so I could get home.

Another thing, don't plant trees in front of solar panels as they grow quicker than you think. I have to move my solar panels soon as a giant phoenix palm and a smaller nikau palm (neither planted by me) are starting to partially shade the panels in winter which greatly reduces their effectiveness. The trees are too beautiful and valuable to me to cut down as they give welcome shade in summer from the unbearably intense sun.
  I have not included all the technical blah in this post, as I thought it might make it more readable for those who are not familiar with the concepts behind power generation and use. My own grasp on these is rather rudimentary anyway but that has not stopped me. I have learned on a need to know basis and applied my meagre knowledge to good effect without too much effort. If you wish to know the technical details of my system, leave a question or comment.