Don't Let The Bad Economy Get You Down!
Sep 29, 2009 11:55 am US/Eastern
FSU "House Of The Future" Uses No Electricity
TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) ―
-
-
Homes are becoming more "nature friendly" all the time
CBS
The world's energy and climate change problems are focusing new attention on alternative power sources. One of those alternatives is solar power. It works great during the daytime, but when the sun sets, it usually means sucking up electricity from plants that use fossil or nuclear fuel.
Now, researchers at Florida State University may have found another solution: a solar powered house that has no connection to the electrical grid. Instead, some daytime solar energy is used to run a system that converts water into hydrogen, which then is used to generate power at night.
A $575-thousand house sits in the middle of FSU's campus. It looks like an out-of-place throwback, but has a futuristic purpose. Its mission is to test potential solutions to energy and climate change problems by combining old tricks with cutting-edge technology, including a unique solar-hydrogen experiment.
The house has no connection to an electrical grid as a backup power source. Instead, it uses solar energy to run a system that converts water into hydrogen, which generates power at night.
Besides a hydrogen fuel cell to generate electricity, the gas is burned in the kitchen range and other appliances may follow
"When it comes to heating appliances," project manager Justin Kramer explained, "what we've done is try to pioneer hydrogen retrofit technology which allows us to burn hydrogen in stoves, hot water heater, things of that nature, because it's more efficient to combust the hydrogen than it is to convert it to electricity and use it in resistive heating."
The problem is conventional appliances are designed for heavier natural gas and propane. They must be modified to safely burn hydrogen.
Hydrogen is a potential low-cost alternative to batteries because storage tanks are comparatively simple and cheap.
The problem, though, is that the cost of producing hydrogen is usually high. FSU scientists think they have a solution for that, too. They've developed a way to use relatively cheap and common metals to replace platinum, a critical but rare and high-priced element that makes hydrogen from water electrolysis devices expensive.
But don't get out the checkbook just yet; perfecting the technology is going to take more time and money. Hydrogen power may be the ultimate goal, but it could take decades to perfect. In the meantime, the house is being used to demonstrate other technologies that can be applied right now or in just a few years.
Simple light shelves under the upper windows reflect incoming sunshine and spread it evenly to avoid hot spots. Other energy-saving technologies include a reflective roof, dual-flush toilets and recycled material such as the wooden beams and trim, aluminum siding and ash in the concrete pilings.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Save On Groceries With Online Assistance
Click to enlarge
Kerrigan Family Rejects Homicide Report 28 mins ago
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments