[lfcevans]

I`ve  been watching a programme on "Discovery" called "Planet Mechanics".

Basically, one of the blokes from scrapyard challenge(with the big moustache), and another bloke go to different places to help set up free energy devices for people. On this one episode, they had to come up with an idea for powering a boat that was able to carry 6 paying passengers for a hotelier in Venice and they decided to go with solar power. It had about 6 4X2 panels as a canopy which charged some batteries and they in turn powered an electric outboard motor. The motor was bought from a supplier, it wasnt the fastest, but it did a very good job, but they had to continuously alter the angle of the canopy to get the best angle to catch the sun to make sure the batteries kept a good charge.
They then built an electric speed boat for the hotelier, granted it was small, but it worked very well and went quite fast. They used a different motor than the one on the other boat, they converted an electric Go-kart motor into an old outboard shell to work better. But I dont think the batteries were solar powered though.

[poultrygeist]

I presume the moustached bloke was Dick 'The Walrus' Strawbridge  

Were the solar panels economical, ie would they pay for themselves through fuel savings or was it just an exercise in eco-transport ? (or did they choose to ignore the cost?)

It irks me that a lot of these resources are good if you have plenty of dosh to throw at them but for us poorer folk we're stuck with the dirty, smelly cheap alternatives.

If there were subsidies, we could all be eco-warriors  

Rob

[lfcevans]

I`m not sure on the price of the solar panels, so cant say about the savings, because it was more about polution prevention rather than being cost effective. The programme was based on the idea that the polution from the engines was damaging the city ie:- the fumes coroded the buildings, and the motors (which seemed to be all 2 stroke) poluted the water.
They showed that the motor polutes the water by putting a 2 stroke outboard
into a barrel of clean water and running it for 5 mins..... there was oil all over the side of the barrel and floating in the water.  
I know they could have used a leaky old motor to emphasize their point but there will be engines like that running about.
The idea was to be self sustaining, and not to use mains electric to charge the batteries, because of the polution thing again
I would imagine that the panels they bought would cost a few bob, as would the electric motors.....they never scrimp on these shows do they, they always buy the most expensive.

[poultrygeist]

As you say, a lot, if not most of engines will be clapped out and hard working. The idea behind it is sound but it is still very much a rich man's prerogative.
Similarly, when they brough tin the emissions test with the MOT, it was the older cars owned by less well off drivers which failed, while the people who could afford to replace their cars frequently sailed through.
It would be nice if the poorer folk could take part in reducing emissions and using cleaner options but sadly they are stuck with the old technology.

Such is life I guess.

Rob

[lfcevans]

I watched a new (to me) episode of planet mechanics today, they used the force of the sea to create power for a surfers caravan.
Hmmmm....now there I was, thinking it was educating me as to the possibilities of Joe public harnessing free energy in one way or another, but now I`ve changed my mind. It seems its educating me in to believing that its not a feesable thing to do in reality.
They spent days and days building and erecting this thing and got very little power out of it...enough to light some fairy lights around the  door of the caravan. There was no explanation of AC and DC types of electric, no cost comparison, no thought of using other types of power (wind would have been a good one for where they were).

Now "Rough Science", I`ve learned a thing or two from that....like kate humble looks nice in a rubber wetsuit  

[p00rstudent]

i got given a mini fridge for a birthday a while back, and currently has been gathering dust in the attic for the past and a bit due to having no where to use it. however having just taken on an allotment near to work and will hopefully get to put a shed up soon, i was wondering if it is possible to out a solar panel on the roof (south facing) and then wire it up to power the fridge. and then i can can enjoy a cold beer after many hours digging.

cheers for any help

paul

[lfcevans]

From what i`ve been told, (and I`m sure someone will put me right if its wrong)
You cant store AC electric, which is what your fridge will run on, like any household units. You can only store DC electric, and to do this you need to store it to a battery, but this in itself will not run your fridge, I think you need to get something to convert the DC into AC, but not sure of what to get or how to set it up.
It can be done, but may be quite costly to do so, may be best to buy a specific fridge to run off DC power and do it that way...even though that wont be cheap either.

[poultrygeist]

I think some of the mini fridges do run off DC. We had a camping one that ran off calor gas too.

But would a reasonably priced solar panel give out enough oomph (technical term) to power a fridge, bearing in mind it's probably going to be running at least 30% of the time (total guess) ?

can you find the wattage conxumption on the back of your fridge paul ?

I'll leave to the bods to tell you if it's possible.

Rob