Solar electricity

[Retropin]

Are there such things as perpetual motion devices such as electromagnetic generators which can produce free enegy at home? A while back, I saw an article where Australian scientists had a device which generated 25kW per day which is ample for an average household. These guys probably got shut up by the big power conpanies and the government.

Ive seen quite a few of the "free" energy devices.. for some reason people I know keep sending them to me! LOL.
It was an IDEA by Tesla which quickly got crushed once his workshop with all his notes burnt down, since then, many have tried to do what he did and take it a step further. Im always dubious though as I see these machines that require an initial power input to start up and then they take a feed off the output and loop it back to the start and claim free energy of say 100W. What they don't tell you until you dig much further is that the 100W is not say 240V @ 0.4A or so which can be very handy... its more like 6000V @ 16mA which unless you are powering some neon tubing or zapping warts is pretty useless to you

[DSB]

No such thing as free power in my book. Its simple physics. The best outcome can only be to find the most efficient ways to convert energy from on form to another.

[Toads]

No such thing as free power in my book. Its simple physics. The best outcome can only be to find the most efficient ways to convert energy from on form to another.

Exactly, it defies science. There is always a loss of some sort.

[Freiherr]

No such thing as free power in my book. Its simple physics. The best outcome can only be to find the most efficient ways to convert energy from on form to another.

Exactly, it defies science. There is always a loss of some sort.

When refering to free, I meant free from governments or corporate regulators. I know that everything carries a cost but if we can be self sufficient as much as possible, we would not be financing the greedy companies.

[DSB]

When refering to free, I meant free from governments or corporate regulators.

Yes that would be good. 

[Retropin]

Just been onto the Gov site listed on the letter I received.. it states that the decrease in contribution payments are so that electricity prices don't have to rise again..WTF???! Weve just been told of another 13% price rise!

.. so... ive come up with a plan. Obviously, the solar array im still paying for isn't going to pay for itself and my generated electricity is now being taken off me, distributed and then sold back at a hefty cost.
My thoughts are to have a split system house.. have the cooker ( soon the be gas anyway).. fridge, freezer and pool run off the grid but have my solar electricity fed to a bank of deep cycle batteries which will feed the TV, computers, fans, lights etc.
So im still effectively on the grid but my solar electricity that I pay the infrastructure for and have on my land actually becomes mine 100%.
Years back when I had solar water, I had a split system.. if it was cloudy for a few days and the water was cooling down too much I could flick the switch and heat from the grid.. hence where I get the idea from.
So long as I have an electrical contractor to ensure safety, I see no problems?

[goodolddays]

Just been onto the Gov site listed on the letter I received.. it states that the decrease in contribution payments are so that electricity prices don't have to rise again..WTF???! Weve just been told of another 13% price rise!

.. so... ive come up with a plan. Obviously, the solar array im still paying for isn't going to pay for itself and my generated electricity is now being taken off me, distributed and then sold back at a hefty cost.
My thoughts are to have a split system house.. have the cooker ( soon the be gas anyway).. fridge, freezer and pool run off the grid but have my solar electricity fed to a bank of deep cycle batteries which will feed the TV, computers, fans, lights etc.
So im still effectively on the grid but my solar electricity that I pay the infrastructure for and have on my land actually becomes mine 100%.
Years back when I had solar water, I had a split system.. if it was cloudy for a few days and the water was cooling down too much I could flick the switch and heat from the grid.. hence where I get the idea from.
So long as I have an electrical contractor to ensure safety, I see no problems?

I can see why you want to do this Gav but surely your Solar system is going to produce way in excess of your consumption if you reconnect it that way , so I don't really get it .
My thinking is that the ideal way is to try and use all of what your Solar system produces to minmise the pay back period .

[DSB]

My thinking is that the ideal way is to try and use all of what your Solar system produces to minmise the pay back period .

+1
This is the best way to use solar when you are not receiving a good pay back on your sold power.
Installing batteries etc. would lead to an off grid system which requires a whole new licence. A straight out electrical contractor or on grid solar installer can not sign off on an off grid system. You need to find an off grid solar installer. Sounds stupid but that's my take on the rules.

Of course you could go to Jaycar, buy a solar panel to charge a car battery and then run low voltage cable direct to your LED lights. Who's to stop people do that. That's what higher electricity prices will do.  

[Homepin]

I have always thought that schemes like these ("we will pay you MORE for power than we can make it for") were a complete con - seems like I was right - at least partly.

I would only ever have solar if it was off-grid and I could control and use the power generated. That way you learn to become far more frugal to sart with and when there is a power outage you are not as affected.

[Retropin]

Just been onto the Gov site listed on the letter I received.. it states that the decrease in contribution payments are so that electricity prices don't have to rise again..WTF???! Weve just been told of another 13% price rise!

.. so... ive come up with a plan. Obviously, the solar array im still paying for isn't going to pay for itself and my generated electricity is now being taken off me, distributed and then sold back at a hefty cost.
My thoughts are to have a split system house.. have the cooker ( soon the be gas anyway).. fridge, freezer and pool run off the grid but have my solar electricity fed to a bank of deep cycle batteries which will feed the TV, computers, fans, lights etc.
So im still effectively on the grid but my solar electricity that I pay the infrastructure for and have on my land actually becomes mine 100%.
Years back when I had solar water, I had a split system.. if it was cloudy for a few days and the water was cooling down too much I could flick the switch and heat from the grid.. hence where I get the idea from.
So long as I have an electrical contractor to ensure safety, I see no problems?

I can see why you want to do this Gav but surely your Solar system is going to produce way in excess of your consumption if you reconnect it that way , so I don't really get it .
My thinking is that the ideal way is to try and use all of what your Solar system produces to minmise the pay back period .

Depends.. on a cloudy day we generate around 12KWH.. on a sunny day between 25 and 30KWH. If we use the oven then we use on average 20kwh per day.
Almost all appliances are run during the day so we draw from the solar, but the problem is that its instant, so if we have the washing machine on and the kettle and a cloud comes over we draw some from the grid.. cloud goes and we are covered again. Most electricity use is at night when the sun is down and that's when the electricity companies have got you by the curlys.
I understand that the power companies don't store my power.. it gets distributed as its made. In Australia, we are still 100% reliant on a turbine to produce power for that instant moment and until something like salt nitrate towers are introduced that actually store energy and then power turbines via steam etc, we are going to be wasting what we can produce during the daylight hours. Governments have no desire whatsoever to change the way electricity is produced... its not in their interests, they go by their future financial business forecasts which state that a company should expand its profits by around 15% per year.. when they don't, they put the price up to cover the loss of PROJECTED profits.. still making a huge profit, but not what they had expected. When they make OVER 15% they say they've done really well that financial and then add a further 15% to a bumper year for next years profit forecast. Doesn't take a genius to know that this type of business model just isn't viable... eventually, it all comes crashing down. Welcome to the capitalistic system!
Me?? im just trying to run my home as a business... if you cant control your own expenses then you go backwards. Im not prepared to do that.