Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

General Discussion

Showing Original Post only (View all)

solarhydrocan

(551 posts)
Sat Feb 15, 2014, 05:40 AM Feb 2014

ScientificAmerican: Inside the Solar-Hydrogen House: No More Power Bills--Ever [With Update] [View all]

Inside the Solar-Hydrogen House: No More Power Bills--Ever
A New Jersey resident generates and stores all the power he needs with solar panels and hydrogen
Jun 19, 2008 By David Biello ScientificAmerican.com
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hydrogen-house/



EAST AMWELL, N.J.—Mike Strizki has not paid an electric, oil or gas bill—nor has he spent a nickel to fill up his Mercury Sable—in nearly two years. Instead, the 51-year-old civil engineer makes all the fuel he needs using a system he built in the capacious garage of his home, which employs photovoltaic (PV) panels to turn sunlight into electricity that is harnessed in turn to extract hydrogen from tap water.

Although the device cost $500,000 to construct, and it is unlikely it will ever pay off financially (even with today's skyrocketing oil and gas prices), the civil engineer says it is priceless in terms of what it does buy: freedom from ever paying another heating or electric bill, not to mention keeping a lid on pollution, because water is its only by-product.

Slide Show: Photos show what makes this house work

"The ability to make your own fuel is priceless," says the man known as "Mr. Gadget" to his friends. He boasts a collection of hydrogen-powered and electric vehicles, including a hydrogen-run lawn mower and car (the Sable, which he redesigned and named the "Genesis&quot as well as an electric racing boat, and even an electric motorcycle. "All the technology is off-the-shelf. All I'm doing is putting them together."...

...The Strizki's personalized home-energy system consists of 56 solar panels on his garage roof, and housed inside is a small electrolyzer (a device, about the size of a washing machine, that uses electricity to break down water into its component hydrogen and oxygen). There are 100 batteries for nighttime power needs along the garage's inside wall; just outside are ten propane tanks (leftovers from the 1970s that are capable of storing 19,000 cubic feet, or 538 cubic meters, of hydrogen) as well as a Plug Power fuel cell stack (an electrochemical device that mixes hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity and water) and a hydrogen refueling kit for the car...

MORE: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hydrogen-house/


Storing Hydrogen in propane tanks


UPDATE (2013):
Watch this and know more about Hydrogen than almost everyone else alive today


Hydrogen House Strizki & Kids 4 Hydrogen
Published on Apr 18, 2013

Hydrogen House project

http://hydrogenhouseproject.org/index.html



Mike Strizki hydrogen powered electric hybrid car with hydrogen oxygen fuelcell
Uploaded on Oct 14, 2010

"I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that." -Thomas Edison
22 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
imagine where we'd be onethatcares Feb 2014 #1
You're absolutely right. Unfortunately... solarhydrocan Feb 2014 #2
Bread and circuses ... Bernardo de La Paz Feb 2014 #5
The device cost $500,000 to construct fasttense Feb 2014 #3
The first of anything is always pretty expensive eridani Feb 2014 #4
Kick And Recommend cantbeserious Feb 2014 #6
Thank you! DeSwiss Feb 2014 #7
I have long thought hydrogen fuel cells are the key to our energy future Martin Eden Feb 2014 #8
Toyota agrees. Next year they are introducing a Hydrogen Car solarhydrocan Feb 2014 #15
That is pretty damn cool. neverforget Feb 2014 #9
If this is the answer, then there is something seriously wrong with the question. hunter Feb 2014 #10
I like your post a lot; it contains a lot of common sense. MH1 Feb 2014 #13
If you watch the first video (or even the first 20 min or so) solarhydrocan Feb 2014 #14
I'm skeptical of any "hydrogen economy" and... hunter Feb 2014 #16
Everyone should be skeptical solarhydrocan Feb 2014 #17
Is the first picture the house? If so, the hydrogen tanks seem to occupy as much space as the house El_Johns Feb 2014 #11
That's a garage. Bluenorthwest Feb 2014 #12
Cool. greytdemocrat Feb 2014 #18
weekday kick for important info solarhydrocan Feb 2014 #19
Yah ... this dude rocks. 1000words Feb 2014 #20
And it cost half a million bucks? Yo_Mama Feb 2014 #21
And what did calculators cost in 1972? solarhydrocan Feb 2014 #22
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»ScientificAmerican: Insid...