Electricity generation

[Zephod]

I've been looking into electricity generation. Just out of interest.

Fuel cells... so far I've seen loads of sites that advertise them but they seem to be vaporware.

Stirling generators. These are supposed to work and exist but again, online they're vaporware.

Solar panels - chronically oversold. The sellers claim far more power generation than the real world will provide.

Wind generators - bulky, cumbersome, awkward, not very efficient and rather expensive.

Petrol/Diesel/propane generators - big, bulky fire hazards.

Have I missed anything realistic?


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[kyle4501]

A flux capacitor

Water wheel

Long extension cord plugged in to neighbors house

Power pot

nuclear reactor

HHO generator

[eagle19952]

turbine wheel and two pairs of gerbils...working 2 hrs. on 2 off.

[Brassman]

Yeah, me thinks you have but three choices. Engine driven generator, solar, or the power pole.

[Jeremy]

I'd recommend a steam-driven generator given the amount of hot air you produce 

Jeremy

[CrabbyMilton]

Don't worry about it since electricity just comes from the wall.
Nuclear power is as close to ideal as you can get but just say the word nuclear and people will run to the basement and scream.
No matter how you propose to generate electricity, people will find fault.
Sad.

[bevans6]

Bicycle with an alternator instead of a rear wheel? 

[birdarchitect26]

Stick with the tried and true. Diesel genny and some solar! You can expect to get about 50% at least with solar, if you size your componets right out get about 80% at the right angle. Generators say 12Kw, they make 12Kw. Just dont run your bus dry!

[windtrader]

Ditto on the public option. plug it into the pole. Cheapest and easiest of all, you forgot that one.

[Zephod]

I thought I'd throw it out there. What I have is solar for ventilation, phone/tablet charging and door lock. I have plug in for cooking, water heating, fridge or for boondocking, a portable gas cooker that also can be used to heat water and a cooler powered by ice.

I thought about generators etc but there are none small enough. If I was to use a microwave while boondocking, it wouldn't be a problem to have a tiny generator producing 250W for an hour or so while filling sufficient supercaps to power a microwave for 15 minutes (1200w or 300wh).




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[Utahclaimjumper]

 RVing has been going on since Henry Fords days,,many millions of folks over the years with improvements add nausium,,,,,and you still want to re-invent the wheel.>>>Dan

[Zephod]

RVing has been going on since Henry Fords days,,many millions of folks over the years with improvements add nausium,,,,,and you still want to re-invent the wheel.>>>Dan

Without oddballs like me asking the questions and investigating alternatives, wheels would still be square...



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[richard5933]

Out of curiosity, what's your end goal with the bus?

I understand minimizing cost and all, but when you start mentioning that you'd want a 250w generator I'm confused. Then you add the cost of supercaps and whatever is necessary to connect them, and you've spent more than I could get a used 2500w generator at a thrift store.

If you're doing this to prove you can, then kudos. Otherwise, seems like the tried and true approach is going to give the most bang for the buck. Literally and figuratively, that is.

Almost seems like you could build yourself a decent solar oven for only a couple of dollars of scavenged parts and be done with it rather than trying to run a microwave off supercaps.

Richard

[Zephod]

Well, a 250W generator would be ultra compact. That's worth having. Supercaps release loads of power quickly. Just what you need to power a microwave. There are loads of videos on YouTube of people replacing car batteries with supercaps and even one of somebody with such a device powered from a hand crank.

I really don't need massive amounts of power. A single 35Ah battery is sufficient for my ventilation etc.


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[belfert]

How is a diesel generator any more fire prone than the diesel engine that gets your bus down the road?  My diesel generator is in a compartment directly underneath some of the bunks in my bus.  We don't have any issues sleeping while the generator is purring away under our feet.  It is pretty quiet and is white noise that doesn't cause sleeping issues.