SEER '92 by the Home Power Crew The Solar Energy Expo and Rally (SEER) has grown in the last three years. SEER started out as an experiment relegated by the city fathers to a sun baked parking lot. Now it's a full blown community activity supported by the local chamber of commerce. Here are the Home Power Crew's impressions of this nonstop energy extravaganza. Human Power George Hagerman from SeaSun Power Systems gets my vote for the best exhibit at SEER '92. Check out the cover of this issue. George has connected a bicycle to a small generator that directly powers a variety of loads like compact fluorescents and regular ole' lightbulbs. It is easy for anyone pedaling the generator to actually feel the difference between efficient and inefficient appliances. George's pedal power exhibit is easily the most fun and informative demonstration of energy efficiency and awareness that I have ever seen. The bike was a screaming success. George actually had children coming up to him and offering to pay to ride the energy education bike! After SEER closed on Sunday night, a group of us gathered around the bike to photograph this issue's cover. The award for energy production goes to Dave "Third of a Horse" Doty from Gig Harbor, Washington. Dave pedaled four 100 watt lightbulbs, the blue beacon light, and a fan into life. He pedaled so hard that he fractured a link in the heavy duty industrial chain coupling the bike to the generator. George Hagerman told us that the connecting pins in the chain had sheared off several times, but no one had ever before broken an chain link. We totaled up the wattage that Dave produced and found it to be over 1/3 horsepower! This led to an demented discussion of exactly which third of a horse Dave is.... George Hagerman is making this bike energy demonstrator as an educational kit for schools, complete with instruction manual, parts, and lesson plans. This energy demonstrator kit is made by George Hagerman, SeaSun Power Systems, 124 East Rosemont Ave., Alexandria, VA 22301 ù 703-549-8067. It will be available for sale this November from Susan Luster, North Carolina Alternative Energy Corp., POB 12699, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 ù 919-361-8000, ext. 8031. Ä Richard Perez Communications Renewable energy works. The big job before us is communicating what natural power can do. To this end, we set up a radiotelephone system at the Home Power Booth. Carlson Communications from Garberville, California (800-283-6006), graciously allowed us the use of one of their terrific OptaPhone+ units for SEER. We used this radiotelephone to access the Home Power Computer Bulletin Board at Redwood Alliance in Arcata, California. Michael Welch has done a bang-up job of establishing this bulletin board (BB) whose only purpose is energy issues. For example, you may download, from the BB at no charge, the text and art for Home Power's out-of-print issues. There are also message mailboxes on the BB where you can send me, and many other energy people messages. You can access the Home Power Bulletin Board at Redwood Alliance by having your modem call 707-822-8640. Michael is just about finished collecting the equipment necessary to place the bulletin board and the entire Redwood Alliance office on solar power. The OptaPhone+ was solar-powered at SEER and performed flawlessly with the computer's modem. The radiotelephone also came in handy for ordering pizza and other essential communications tasks. Ä Richard Perez People While I enjoy the displays, seminars, and electric cars, the best part of SEER for me was the people. Reading the mail and talking to people on the phone doesn't come close to meeting people face to face. SEER was a chance for some real dialogue, an exchange of opinions, and a great chance for us to get feedback on what we're doing and how we're doing it. We attempted to bring our home to SEER. We brought a computer and printer, radiotelephone, vacuumÄgreat for the carpets we had laid outÄ lights, couches, and music. Bob-O had a solar shower set up, and called for more people to take showers as the water got too hot. But it was the people that made it seem like home. Some brought cookies, homebrew beer, and banana bread. Others sat down and read or just rested. Groups gathered around in lively discussions of renewable energy systems or philosophy We heard all kinds of feedback. A couple of people had recommendations for the index. Kasha Sanderson suggested we compile of list of efficient appliances. One guy suggested we cover the home businesses that allow people to move to the country and off the utility grid. I talked with folks who were just learning about renewable energy and others who were long time users. I met people who have written for Home Power. I spoke with people coming from a walk's distance away to a few thousand miles away. A few readers wanted to know about my toaster oven (mentioned in the system article last issue). Yes, I admit it's not the most efficient appliance, but it only uses about 75 watt-hours (or an hour and a half of sun shining on a photovoltaic module!) I don't know the final attendance figure for SEER'92, but I do know there was a steady stream of people going by the booths both days. It made for some wonderful, diverse, educational conversation. Thanks! Ä Therese Peffer SEER/Nissan Electrathon SEER was strong on electric vehicles. The events: the Eco Car Challenge (various electric cars converged on Ukiah, on their own power where possible, then convoyed to Willits over the Ridgewood Summit), the Tour de Mendo (a mileage rally on the back roads around Willits), a number of drag races (including a drag race between an electric vehicle and a police car), and an Electrathon race. "Electric Alley" buzzed with activity Ä more than forty cars were displayed and participated in SEER activities. The day before SEER opened to the public, my cousin, Wiggs Greacen, and I skipped out on setting up to go videotape the SEER/Nissan Electrathon race thirty miles away in Ukiah. The electrathon challenge: travel as far as you can in an hour in a vehicle powered by 62 pounds of lead-acid batteries. A dozen entrants came to race. These folks see electrathon racing providing a structure for the development of lightweight electric vehicles which will be applicable to small commuter vehicles. The entrants ranged from Clark Beaseley, the Australian who brought the sport to America in 1990 and won the event last year, to teenager Andy Crice driving a car built by the Willits high school tech-ed class. Dan Parks had a particularly clean and simple vehicle with a leaning suspension and a monocoque chassis. Loy Cloud and her brother-in-law Willy Cloud, fresh from a victory in Bellevue, Washington, entered planning to win in their identical long- nosed, home-made looking cars. The race was held at the Ukiah speedway. From the start, Loy and Willy Cloud battled it out with Clark Beaseley for the lead. It was neck and neck, as the cars experimented with tight and loose banking to preserve as much momentum as possible in the sloping curves. Before halfway though the race, disaster struck for Willy Cloud in the form of a flat front tire. Loy Cloud, however, lengthened her lead on Clark Beaseley, at one point leading by a full lap. It looked like she might beat Clark but the hot pavement and tight curves struck the same weak point in the car. She too suffered a flat front tire. Clark Beaseley went on to victory, and a new world record, completing 32.5 miles in the allotted hour. This Electrathon stuff is vivacious and contagious. My cousin, a racing auto mechanic, had never heard of electrathons before. He left that afternoon with plans to spend the next six months building an electrathon vehicle to compete in the Phoenix race in April 1993. Ä Chris Greacen Hot Hardware The hottest new RE hardware at SEER '92 was sine wave inverters. Both Exeltech and Dynamote were displaying their pure sine wave models. See the "Things that Work!" article in this issue for details. We ran the Home Power booth on a 500 Watt Exeltech, powering lights, music equipment, computers, printers, a modem, and other stuff, while remaining totally quiet in the radiotelephone. The day of pure, RFI quiet power for RE systems has definitely arrived.Ä Richard Perez Hydrogen The all-day Hydrogen Conference at SEER brought us together to discuss the important role that hydrogen will play in our future. Hydrogen makes possible clean, safe storage of energy produced from nonpolluting, renewable energy sources. It is easily and efficiently transported to where it is needed. Large scale hydrogen options, and problems in their implementation were discussed. Each speaker reiterated that large scale hydrogen could be economical. One of the main challenges facing hydrogen use is economical production from renewable energy sources. Roy McAllister of the American Hydrogen Association spoke about converting the organic portion of sewage and garbage into hydrogen and carbon. Professor Peter Lehman, of the Schatz Hydrogen project at Humboldt State University, described electrolyzing water using PV panels and later recombining the hydrogen and oxygen in a fuel cell to produce electricity (see HP #22). Hydrogen could be produced in the sunbelt areas of the U.S., piped to areas that need electricity, and combined with oxygen in a fuel cell (or conventional combustion turbines) to create electricity. Though this system sounds prohibitively expensive, Professor Lehman likened its implementation to first putting in our federal highway system Ä once the infrastructure is in place the benefits will far exceed the cost. Another challenge facing hydrogen use the fuel cell. Fuel cells exist today, and are three times more efficient than combustion. Currently, however, they are expensive and failure prone. Roger Billings spoke about his work on hydrogen powered cars. His current project is the LaserCell, a hydrogen fuel-cell powered car. He hopes to make the fuel cell available for mass production in time to meet California's zero emission standards of 1998. To put the current state of fuel cells into perspective, Roger Billings asked the welders in the crowd to imagine the cost of making a combustion engine if all the parts weren't readily available. The interest in hydrogen at SEER was overwhelming. Each presentation was overcrowded and hydrogen was being discussed everywhere in small circles throughout the weekend. Almost all of the research presented was privately funded. Perhaps all this interest will aid research efforts in overcoming the inefficiencies in electrolyzers and the high cost of fuel cells. Ä Amanda Potter Solar Cooker Competition Finding a sunny place in the park seemed difficult at first. We were supposed to set up the contest at the horseshoe pit, but there wasn't enough sun there. We moved the competition to the park proper. As the judges tasted the food from each cooker, a small crowd gathered. Not content to just stand by, several onlookers participated in the tasting and commented on the cookers. The crowd looked at the finalists and suggested improvements. I enjoyed the inter-crowd communication Ä it enriched the contest. See the complete solar cooker contest report on page 38 of this issue. Ä Kathleen Jarschke-Schultze