VectorONE

Batteries disguised as bricks.... How cool is that! Getting closer to the ideal home power generation day-by-day. Sadly, I fear that this too will disappear into the aether, like all other good inventions.

Found this: WARNING: adult language and concepts

Yep! I used to be like that, -going by the philosophy "he who dies with the most toys wins". But two kids and two ex wives later, I can barely afford to run this computer. It does require a quantum shift in one's thinking to truly go off-grid. Kudos to those who can. Neighbourly battery (or resource) load-sharing may be a future option, but I can't see it in my lifetime.

Should have jumped on here earlier. Buildings are assigned phases depending on appliance consumption specifications with respect to grid availability in the particular area. Extreme end examples: Remote farms usually have only one phase available ( if still on an old infrastructure area) If 3 phases are needed, a generator will have to be procured. Some old homes that were built within an industrial area will have available access to all three phases should you wish to run a machine shed in the back yard.

Yes, it is a "thing".. Slightly worse if the system is off-grid. Much worse if operating an electric vehicle. (From experience: a= battery cell failure causing reduced travel range, b= electronic circuit failure)

IXXI is correct. Shame really. Had a read of the bladeless. That's a weird one. The description of how the vibrations exactly couple to the generator and produce electricity is very vague. Looks like a very big Moving Coil cartridge. (Hmm... wind generated music?) The vertical fan concept itself has merit though. Again, councils frown upon Savonious/Darreous rotors in one's backyard (but ok if mounted on top of a council building). I'm surprised that more research has not been done on them. -One, to minimise the inherent mechanical drawbacks, and the other to minimise its footprint. I can't see why a stack of centrifugal fans can't be mounted on a common shaft (for increased surface area), and onto a F&P motor. Please excuse my sarcasm/cynism. Lockdown having strange effects on my psyche.

Haven't been to one of these since the Nineties! I'll pencil it in my calendar. I can offer to drive a bus If there is enough interest from Melbourne members here,

Typical! No surprise though. Historically, anything the government sticks their nose into usually turns sour sometime down the track. If I'm not mistaken, there was once hypothetical figures put out (pre grid-connect) showing the total output, should every square metre of rooftop in Australia be covered with PV's. -Guess what? No need for power stations! Call me cynical, but I'm speculating that these power companies are losing market share a little too quickly and are lobbying the government to 'legally' allow them a little wiggle-room to commence some "loss recovery" from the very clients that are doing the right thing by the planet. Left unchecked, the natural order will be to make off-grid systems illegal. Having said that, this could be a moot point anyway, as apparently most of our utilities are owned by foreign interests. Can someone butt in here and tell me this isn't so.... PS: Just a reminder that the inventor of AC generation and distribution, Nickola Tesla, believed that electricity should be free to everyone. He worked tirelessly to get this to happen at Wardenclyffe. He took to the grave with him the reason why.

Not sure what type of power meter you have, but see if you can monitor after each circuit-breaker/fuse/RCD. If your power meter is not capable, see if your local electrician can do it for you. Then compare with what is going in. If the power equation doesn't balance (ie. power in = power out = power displayed on 'smart'' meter), then you have a serious fault with the smart meter. There was a recent case on one of the current affairs shows that told of a household with a wildly inaccurate smart meter. Compensation? Well that's where the problems began.....

OK! Now I get you. My orientation is the other way. For example, I prefer an Alfa 4C over a Ferrari,, a Muira/Urraco over a Countach, and also loved the curves of the ill-fated Jag XJ13. At the end of the day you are correct. Electric utility, SUV, etc, vehicles do need to commence having presence on our roads. (the styling aspect will take care of itself). My biggest question is about roadside charging. Logistically, if at some time in the future you have EV's parked at an Electric service station, how many charging bays can be accommodated simultaneously (@ 240Vac/32A), and how long can each vehicle remain there to fully charge their batteries? In other words, what will the future electrical supply requirements look like? Grid or PV? etc.. Perhaps that question is better placed in another section of the forum. Feel free to do so.

I dunno Marc. No matter which angle I look at it from, it's just not doing it for me. I get it from the point of view of features, but it just needs to look a little better than my daily drive (below) My philosophy on releasing a new concept to the public, -make it sexy -even if the production model is not exactly the same. For example:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsX5kUCexjk (This was supposed to have been the next generation bikes from the company I used to work for) No offense intended, just my opinion.

You have obviously looked into it thoroughly. Why does the extra regulations not surprise me. Your assumption of hindered success is then well founded. Good to see that things have changed at F1. Might even get back into it. F1 going EV? -it's possible, and even that won't surprise me. Is it on/off topic? I would like to think that we are mature enough here to discuss EV regulations and their effects on development, whether on the racetrack or public roads. It is part of our future after all, no matter what form it takes. Personally I'm still hanging out for the hover-car I was promised when I was a kid.

I get what you mean. It's more like the short-lived A1GP formula. I've been shunning the F1 the last couple of decades because it was becoming more regulated, to the point where engineers' creativity has been strangled. They now only work in servitude to rules and regulations. In order for Formula E to succeed, they must allow engineers the freedom to make/take the technology to higher levels of efficiency.

Sorry to hear about your inverter issue Marc. Sadly, I am hearing the same type of stories a bit too often these days. Not sure what the answer is.

Hello all, Didn't really expect to sign up to yet another online forum, but I can see that this one has ' good bones' from the outset. I'll keep this intro short. I've been interested in off-grid solutions for many decades, but lost interest early on as no one else seemed that enthusiastic back then. Started many projects but the same lack of enthusiasm left me holding the majority of investments. (IE. All the r&d was financed by yours truly, and was forced to withold it once I found that there were no funds forthcoming from the "partners" for the rest of the ventures) So, I found it difficult to trust any prospective future investor. On the upside, I was the head technician for Vectrix Australia back in 2009 until it's fate was also sealed. Sad story really, but at least it it paved the way for the current state of electric vehicles. Sincerely hope this forum has the legs of it's sister Website SNA. All the best on this Marc. Cheers Sam (aka Auracle on SNA)