Tangential Thoughts, was [at-l] Wind Farm Proposed at DeHart Dam

[Bror8588 at aol.com (Bror8588@aol.com)]

In a message dated 1/19/2006 11:57:14 AM Eastern Standard Time,  
sloetoe@yahoo.com writes:

The  problem here is timing: the best winds blow at
night and into morning, but  our usage pattern is
minimal at night, growing to a maximum at the  quietest
time of local winds. Good storage would help, but
there is no  *good* way to store electricity and still
have it's output be decently  regulated (read: be
accessed and usable at some constant stream,  as
opposed to a big lightning strike in your house). Fuel
cells can be  driven via as-available wind, charging a
chemical "stack" (like an  electrical battery except
storing hydrogen potential rather  than
electro-chemical potential), but the economics do not
support it  yet. But in our lifetimes, this will be the
way to go. And this doesn't  even count the economics
of photovoltaic panels, which have decreased in  output
cost (or increased in output efficiencies) by 3-4
times in the  last 30 years.

econogreentoe  
_______________________________________________



I wonder -- Sailboats and other such type vehicles use Photosensitive  panels 
and store the electricity in batteries. When I visited Cooper Island in  the 
British Virgin Islands the whole complex went of Battery Power at night when  
there was no Sun (and a low usage).  Why wouldn't individual "wind power"  
devices be effective to build a battery's capacity?  Would the price of the  
batteries be prohibitive in terms of investment ratio?  Is there a problem  with 
length of service for a large capacity battery?  
 
Living in a big city there is no need for this but if one lived in a rural  
area in a small house it might be a way to cut down on electricity costs.
 
Jack
Skylander