WhisperGen: Heat and Power Production Combined
by TreeHugger on 03.25.05
Is convergence still a buzzword? Or is that soooo 1990s? Either way, this thing that looks like a dishwasher won’t wash your dishes, but it will make heat and power for your home—this is the on-grid version, but there’s one built for off-grids uses, too. Testing, which is nearly finished, indicates that an AC WhisperGen will save a household £150 per year on energy (with a boiler that costs only £500 more than a conventional unit). Plus, decentralizing energy production results in a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions per household. The AC (on-grid) version runs on gas, and the off-grid DC WhisperGen uses diesel (though with potential for biodiesel).
With the DC’s Stirling engine, though, almost any source of heat could be a potential fuel source. The DC is also a quiet way to produce power on a boat, if you like your off-grid to be off-land. It’s projected that 13 million units operating could produce as much power as all of Britain’s nuclear power stations (with no radioactive muck to bury). That is, however, the total number of houses in the UK suitable for the system—a bit ambitious, but it doesn’t hurt to aim high. Thanks again to tipster Jess Macfarlane! ::Whisper Tech [by KK]
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This is small scale "combined heat and power" or "CHP"; just the thing to supplement wind power in a lull or solar power at night.
What we need to know now is the number of operating hours that it can normally go before it has to be taken apart for repair or maintenance. Also: how many they have run as long this "design life" and what was cost of repair/overhaul? I'd not buy one until I had firm stats on this that were verified by a third party with no investment ties to the firm or its principal investors.
hmm, i wonder if you could set up a giant fresnel lens to run the sterling engine by solar power. i have no idea if it would work, but apparently those things focus the solar energy enough to scorch nearly anything. it would be very cheap but i guess tracking might be complicated.
Check out this post at Ergosphere for some more thinking about home cogeneration, with numbers.
http://ergosphere.blogspot.com/2005/03/cogenerationhome.html