Clark Gellings
and Kurt Yeager, in their article "Transforming the Electric
Infrastructure" (PHYSICS TODAY, December 2004,
page 45), propose "distributed energy resources" as part of
the solution to transforming and modernizing the electric power
infrastructure. They recommend "small generation and storage
devices distributed throughout" the system, but suggest only
"fuel cells and batteries" and offer no details of how the cells
and batteries could be created economically or how they would be
integrated. Much more appropriate devices already exist and are
currently proliferating—namely, hybrid gasoline–electric
vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius.
Although
nominally designed as transportation, hybrid vehicles normally
perform that function for only an hour or so per day. The rest
of the time they are small standby generator plants. With their
capacious batteries, they could supply tens of kilowatts of
instantaneous power to cover peak demands for electricity. The
continuous power output of hybrids is several kilowatts,
commensurate with the power required not just to drive down the
highway but also to run a house.
On the
power-receiving end, vehicle "docking stations" with DC-to-AC
inverters and transfer circuits could turn a house, a factory,
or even a community into a self-sufficient entity. Although such
facilities aren't free, their cost is much less than that of the
typical power station and, if mass produced, might come in under
$1000 plus professional installation. Given the many power
emergencies and inconveniences during this past hurricane
season, I can see at least one section of the country jumping at
the opportunity.
Consider what
could be accomplished as the hybrid fleet size increases and its
power is harnessed:
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Individual
homeowners could sign up for voluntary disconnection from
the grid. With continuous internet connections common, a
utility could almost instantaneously request that customers
go off-line and revert to their hybrid-vehicle power source
if part of the utility's generating or transmission capacity
fails.
-
Even
without notice from the utility, homeowners would have a
backup generator in the event of a power failure, and the
neighborhood would have sources of emergency power.
-
Much of the
time that the vehicle isn't at home, it is likely to be at
work. If tens or hundreds of employees' cars are available
to provide instantaneous emergency power, diffusion furnaces
won't even hiccup, and the wheels of industry will continue
to turn.
These benefits
can be provided economically, given that hybrid vehicles are
already being produced and purchased in record numbers.
Cooperation from vehicle manufacturers is what is needed,
primarily in including control software that will allow the
batteries to provide power and be recharged through external
instruction and power demand. That software, plus a power
connector, should be sufficient on the vehicle. Neither should
affect its cost noticeably.
We're all
accustomed to the necessity of installing an uninterruptible
power source for each computer. Maybe it's time to consider
installing a UPS for the house as well.
Eventide
Inc
Little
Ferry, New Jersey