by Amy S.
Blackouts are nothing new, but major storms over the past two years have hammered home the importance of electrical power. When the electrical power goes out during a major storm or utility company outage, many of us realize just how reliant we are on electricity. Electricity, after all, provides light and powers just about every appliance and technology device in our homes. As a result, without electrical power, our homes become little more than shelter. We sit in the dark, imagining our frozen foods thawing and praying for longer cell phone and laptop battery life .
I am going to be discussing this subject with broad generalizations. The home generator market has changed rapidly during the past few years, but a number of possible pitfalls and important considerations for buying a standby generator have remained the same. Recommending one particular brand or fuel source would be futile because models change so often, and the importance choice of a fuel supply (as discussed below) is very specific to your particular situation and location.
It is important here to once again stress the differences between nuclear EMP and the disturbances caused by solar storms.
It is difficult to fully protect a typical whole-house generator from nuclear EMP, although much can be done. A solar storm is another matter entirely. Solar storms affect mostly the electric power grids, with the most severe solar storms damaging the larger transformers in the power grid.
The main danger to residential electric power during a severe solar storm is very-long-term loss of electricity from the power grid. This means that having any kind of a standby generator at all provides a large amount of protection from severe solar storms as long as you have a long-term fuel supply.
Any conventional standby generator will be limited by the duration of the availability of fuel supply in a disaster situation. Shielded solar panels along with shielded and transient protected auxiliary solar equipment is the only alternative that does not require ongoing fuel and frequent maintenance.
The one possible source of damage to electrical powered items during a severe solar storm comes from the possibility of AC from the power grid having an extremely distorted waveform before the electric grid finally collapses. There have been severe solar storms affecting power grids in high-latitude regions.
Small solar storms often happen with great frequency (especially in the years near the peak of the sunspot cycle), and only affect small electric grids near the polar regions where the power grid operators are prepared for all but the most severe of such events. So don’t start up your generator with every report of an X-class solar flare. If a once-in-a-century electromagnetic storm is on its way to the Earth, however, it would be prudent to start and transfer your generator before the grid collapses in order to supply only undistorted power to your house.
The potential issues surrounding the use of fossil fuels, particularly in terms of climate change, were considered earlier than you may think. It was a Swedish scientist named Svante Arrhenius who was the first to state that the use of fossil fuel could contribute to global warming, way back in 1896.
The issue has become a hot-button topic over the course of the last few decades. Today, there is a general shift towards environmental awareness and the sources of our energy are coming under closer scrutiny.
This has led to the rise of a number of alternative energy sources. While the viability of each can be argued, they all contribute something positive when compared to fossil fuels.
Lower emissions, lower fuel prices and the reduction of pollution are all advantages that the use of alternative fuels can often provide.
Here we examine eleven of the most prominent alternative fuel sources and look at the benefits they offer and potential for increased uptake in the coming years.
Do you want to create a power generator to reduce every month electricity bills? Have you ever tried to build a device, or do you think that you will understand the simple rules of feeding the whole house appliances with power? If you are one of those who has lost access to the source of electricity, you can take advantage of this option by choosing this system “Backyard Revolution”. It’s probably the best solar collector you can ask for. You can even use the balcony and garden at the back to connect this device for convenience.