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Answer by doane_nut
Impractical, they would have to much too large.

Answer by sd3r
the San Diego Trolley (independently powered traction trucks) requires 500kW to accelerate, 130kW to maintain speed. typical solar panels output ~120 watts per sq meter. do the math.

Answer by billrussell42
You would need more panels then you could fit on the roof. Even if you used the roofs of all of the freight cars.

Typical power is 3000 HP or 2.2 MW.
Solar panels are about 10 watts/square foot, so to get 2 MW, that is
area = 2 MW / 10W/sq foot = 200,000 square feet.

Area of the top of the locomotive is about 6×70 or 420 square feet.

so we are short by a factor of 200,000/400 = 500

And, trains cannot operate only when the sun is out, so they would need lots of heavy batteries to store energy for when the sun is not out, and that means the area would be 5 to 10 times more massive than listed, so the factor changes from 500 to 5000.

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Answer by Rudydoo
Hey Henry, good question. Actually, there has been quite a bit of work done in this area. Wind turbines this day are basically around 33% efficient. There are variations of course, the more blades a turbine has, the less its efficiency. Turbines with multiple blades are generally built for high winds, such as an arctic weather station, or on an offshore oil platform. The theoretical maximum efficiency for any wind turbine is 59%, it’s called the, “Betz,” limit, named after an engineer that did work in the field years ago.

If you want to learn more, you can go to the source. The American Wind Energy Association is a non profit group whos sole mission is the advancement of wind energy. There are some other places to look for information on the subject, I will list some other groups below. The easiest way to get right to the math work is to google, “Wind Turbine Efficiency,” and look for a link to an AWEA website. They have all the formulas and examples spelled out for you right there. There are a couple guys considered the gurus of wind energy, Mick Sagrillo and Paul Gipe. They have each written books and articles on the subject and instruct courses regularly as well. You might find some of their work on the web or at the library.

We have a wind turbine at our home in the Northern Great Lakes. It’s our third, the other two did not work out as well as we hoped. To be honest, this one is a good unit, but it’s had it’s issues as well. Wind turbines are not for everyone, but if someone has some acreage, good winds, and doesn’t mind fussing with the machine from time to time, it can be an interesting pastime, much like growing your own tomatoes instead of buying them at the grocery. Hope this helps. Good luck, and take care.

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but how does the generator turn the rotational energy into electricity?

please include a reference if you can.
thanks

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Answer by mike1942f
A magnetic field is generated in either the stator or the rotor and the wires in the other one are passing through a rotating magnetic field. It is also, on a small scale, possible to use a permanent magnet for the field. You should be able to find this in any beginning electricity book.
This has too much about huge ones, but look further down for basics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_generator

Answer by oeman50
The rotor (attached to the hub) has a magnetic field that sweeps through windings in the stationary part (the stator) inducing current in those windings. This is how all generators work, no matter what the source is that turns the rotor.

Answer by gatorbait
See the following website for a neat working model generator::

http://www.wvic.com/how-gen-works.htm

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Answer by iuliuromanul
Unless you are ON the equator, no. The reason for this is that during winter, the sun’s rays hit the Earth at a much more acute angle than during the summer, when they hit the Earth at an angle closer to perpendicular. The further North/South you are, the lower the sun’s highest (solar noon) altitude will be. This affects the intensity of sunlight reaching the surface of the Earth, as the light passes through more atmosphere because it is traveling at less of an angle to it, and is thus more easily deflected. regardless of the solar panel’s position, during the winter there would be less intense sunlight hitting it for a shorter duration of time.

Answer by long_john_silicon
Yes it will. The reason is that the panel, being pointed directly at the sun, will have the same surface area regardless of the season.

The earth on the other hand is tilted at about 23 degrees, so during the winter the sunlight is spread over a greater area than in the summer, so it does not warm the air as much and hence, colder weather.

By maintaining an angle perpendicular to the sun at all times, the sunlight is never spread out. Even though you will have to adjust it throughout the year to maintain that angle, as the earth will ’tilt’ beneath it.

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Answer by EJ
Windmills have 3 blades connected to a rotor and a generator. The blades start to turn when wind speeds reach 4 meters/second, due to low pressure beneath them. This pulls the blade toward it, activating the rotor, the generator, and transporting the electricity through a transformer, into the main electricity grid.

The power flow for this is something like below:
Wind >> Windmill blades >> Rotor >> Generator >> Transformer >> Utility Grid >> Home Electricity

In the US, about 300 windmills can supply the electricity needs of more than 100,000 homes. On a smaller scale, homeowners install windmills to power the energy needs of their own homes.

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Answer by billrussell42
I do not think there is anything left from your list, so not possible.

But maybe fish power?

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Answer by Scorpio9
No choice, it’s impossible. Only solution is just wait for the rain to come and pray that it will not stop throughout your lifetime so you could get steady supply of water.

Answer by oeman50
You need some source of energy to get the water up the hill. The only source you have left is the potential energy of the water in the pond to the bottom of the hill. There is a device used since the days the Romans built aqueducts called a “hydraulic ram” or “hydraulic ram pump”. The energy from a massive amount of falling water is used to propel a smaller amount up a hill. There are many ways to build one, one link is below. You can do a search for those terms to find more ways to build one.

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I’d just like some ideas, but if I might ask try to keep it less general. (For example, please do not simply state “the sciences” unless you might be able to briefly explain a branch of science in particular!)

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Answer by Brian
environmental science

and good for you for staying away for trying something different

Answer by scott h
Many universities offer solar engineering classes for mechanical engineers. The design of hot water and wind power systems deal with the sciences that they have studied.

Photovoltaic systems lean more towards the electrical engineering side of engineering.

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So I was wondering does it cost more to use Wind-Power (Like Wind Farms) or electricity
So answer question 1 ( Which one would save more money)
&& Question 2 (which one would be superior for the environment. )
No I do not mean like that, I mean Would it be cheaper for me to use electricity or wind power in my house.
And which would be superior for the environment

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Answer by Ruth
electricity is much more expensive, wind power is pretty darn cheap

Answer by billrussell42
Wind power IS electricity unless you plan to build a setup like the old wind mills with mechanical coupling from the rotors down to you home where you pick off the mechanical power with various belts.

Answer by Jon
It would be far more economical for you to use electricity from the grid rather than wind energy. The turbines necessary to facilitate enough power for a standard home would be very expensive, not to mention inverters to convert the DC to AC. You will need a battery bank as well and that will also add several thousands of dollars to this expense. This is also assuming you have enough wind to charge stated batteries at a rate higher than what is consumed, something that is unreliable at ideal unless you live in a notoriously windy area. So no, it is not cheaper for you to use wind power in the short run, in the very long run it might but once you reach that point you probably would have needed to replace batteries or at the very least a broken turbine which would eliminate any cost saving measure. Solar would be more economical because at least then you have no moving parts that can break and silicon based solar cells last about 50 years now so you only need to worry about diodes breaking or replacing batteries. Turbines are not practical on a small scale.

EDIT:

Depends where you live and the source of your power, some areas utilize different methods of creating electricity. Wind turbines will of course be superior for the environment but not very economical or practical.

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Answer by jungleempress
yes, look on line

Answer by wazat
Fan.. maybe , but would not blow very hard.
Heater , no. They pull a lot of power . They are not very efficient either.
Proper solar systems require large panels , cooking and heating are the highest users power.
It’s not a sin to keep warm , and there are some heaters that perform superior than the rest.
I had an electric baseboard heater , that used heated oil the way radiators use water.I barely noticed the increase in my electric bill.

Answer by woodtick314
I found one here that can deliver 1.25 amps at 120V. This might just run a small fan, but you would need 10 of them to run a small space heater. I guess it would be your call……… Hope this helps.

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Answer by theres_blr
solar panel should be used directly, depending on heat voltage might slightly vary so always use battery along with solar panel
solar panel will always be charging the battery
with the battery support u can use a uninterrupted power
using home power with battery charger to charge battery at home.

Answer by classicsat
You have a battery basically. Probably a deep cycle marine or golf-cart type batter, maybe 100 to 150Ah.

The battery will have enough capacity to power your load for an sufficient time, to power the mobile radio, and charge the hand held radios. Depending, you might need an inverter to run the chargers, but good handhelds should have 12V charging options. The radios would take their power from the battery continuously, regardless of AC power, solar power, or lack of either.

The AC supply and solar panel will basically be paralleled.

The AC will be a supply suitable to charge your battery type and power a load. A 10A 13.8V regulated supply will do most likely.

Solar might be 40W of panels (more if needed), and a charge controller.

If it were me, I would add a circuit that would give preference to solar charging of the battery.

Answer by SoNu
The solar cells used by most calculators are also capable of powering LED bulbs up to 3 volts. While this might not sound like much power, 3-volt LED lights are bright enough to be used as a book light. Removing the solar cell from the calculator requires tiny more than a screwdriver and a pair of snips and can be done in less than 10 minutes.

Unscrew all of the visible screws on the calculator’s bottom panel (on its underside). You should be able to remove the external casing from the calculator after the screws are removed.

Cut the wires running from the solar panel to the main circuit board. You want to cut the wires close to the circuit board, leaving the longest lengths of wire possible. The longer the wires, the farther away from the LED you can place the solar cell. Strip about ½-inch of insulation from the cut end of the wires.

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