Re: electric car grid overloads

On Sep 2, 11:45 am, Doug Houseman <d...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
In article
<14b674c2-49c1-4294-890a-89d42732d...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,

 "misterf...@xxxxxxxxx" <misterf...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
glad to hear that plugging-in millions of electric cars into the grid
during the day and night won't contribute to grid overloads and power
outages!

I have heard a number of people speak and none of the people I respect
in the Utility industry have made this kind of a sweeping statement.
Some have said that the Generation available can handle cars at night.
None have promised that the grid is ready for millions - rather they
have all said the gradual introduction of PHEV and Electric vehicles
should not have an impact on the grid at night. One emerging issue is
that oil filled (no PCB's) transformers on hot days heat up almost to
their limit when they are heavily loaded and use the lower loads
overnight to cool off again. As they get hotter - losses increase and
failure of the transformer is more likely. With heavy concentrations of
PHEV - there may be an increase in transformer failures - and outages -
since transformers may not be able to cool off at night - if the load
increases significantly.

A second issue that no one is talking about is some of the proposed
chargers for PHEV may mean that new wiring has to be run in the home to
the garage to deal with the load the charger will place on the system.
For older homes (e.g. homes built before electric service moved to 100
or 200 AMPS) may require new services to be run from the transformer to
the house, and upgraded breaker panels to be installed in the home. This
could run to a few hundred dollars for some people.

Neither issue is a show stopper, but they both point to the need to
think about your personal situation before you go shopping for a PHEV
and potentially to check with your electric utility.



glad to hear that there is an endless supply of cheap coal and natural
gas for the power companies!

Coal is less cheap than it was 2 years ago (eia.doe.gov) and natural gas
is too expensive to use to generate much power - most natural gas plants
are no longer used as base load and are out of service a much as the
ability to buy power from cheaper sources will allow. Baseload fuels are
now considered to be coal and nuclear - both types of plants are run as
many hours as possible.



glad to hear that electric rates will always stay about the same as
they are now!

Electric rates will rise, with or without PHEV - the cost of people,
fuel, and materials are all rising and even non-profit co-ops are having
to raise their rates. The projections from eia.doe.gov show a 20% or
higher increase in power prices.



With all that in mind, I guess buying your own PV system to charge
your car's batteries is a waste of money.

In most of the US - a PV system to charge cars only is a waste of money,
unless you work a night shift - most days you have your car away from
home when the sun is shining - if you work a normal job. (-:

WRONG!

The cars need to have an easily REMOVABLE BATTERY PACK (with a wheeled
dolly, if necessary) At present, none of them do! That way, the owner
can charge one pack during sunlight, while driving the car. When
returnining home, the owner simply switches battery packs.

In other words; there is enough sunlight (and/or enough wind for a
wind-elec.-generator)in just about every place in the world to charge
an extra battery pack in 1 to 3 days.

There is enough energy gathering surface area on the average home's
roof to charge a battery pack- and it can be done in a short time. The
cost of pv panels and wind electric generators, no where matches the
cost of any vehicle. Prices are coming down (not the same for electric
rates). Pv efficiencies are going up!


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: 30 kV 10 mA power supply
    ... What is the duty cycle of charge and discharge? ... Though a standard TV flyback transformer is unlikely to do the job for ... The power level you're talking about is a bit more than, ... what's the peak current in the capacitor when it's ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: electric car grid overloads
    ... during the day and night won't contribute to grid overloads and power ... PHEV - there may be an increase in transformer failures - and outages - ... In most of the US - a PV system to charge cars only is a waste of money, ...
    (sci.energy)
  • Re: Why are SSR so slow?
    ... How 'bout a keyed 555, driving a small 1:1 pulse transformer, ... The limit on speed will always be the energy available to charge and ... pullup/pulldown switch to drive the gate from that. ... All of which takes continuous power, ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: Cig lighter to USB for iPhone 3G?
    ... iPhone charging devices using FireWire power to charge iphone 3g ... The cable both charge when connected to other USB ... So the 'emergency' battery pack that I have that works is giving a clean ...
    (uk.comp.sys.mac)
  • Re: How do I prevent the fade out beep(s) when the power is cut?
    ... I have a 12V DC transformer directly wired to a 3-20V DC beeping siren. ... Is there a simple way to get the siren to silence as soon as the power is ... incandescent light bulb in parallel with the beeper to drain the charge when ... than switching power to the primary of the transformer. ...
    (sci.electronics.repair)