Zap car on youtube
These things are legal in Kentucky with some restrictions. I think they are kind of neat. I'm a burn coal and use electricity kind of guy.
But after doing the math I'll have to skip buying one.

No thank yewww!

I like his comment "If everybody drove these things we wouldn't have these problems." Which is true, instead of "these problems" we'd have a crashing electric grid and clamor to build more power plants, which would have the greenies going apoplectic.

I'm on vacation this week, and I'm driving a Prius. It's getting 54mpg, at times. All in all I'm impressed with it. I'll be test driving a Chrysler Mini-Van Hybrid when they come out. This Prius has exceeded my expectations for a rental. Only problem was in a mountain pass when a semi cut us off and I had to slam on the brakes. It was hard to recover the speed again till we got over the top of the pass. Other than that... it's been a surprisingly good vehicle and is changing my mind on hybrids.

Drove several hybrids, And I like them!
Have a friend with a 'Plug In' conversion hybrid, and he can go the first 100 miles on about 5¢ worth of electricity...

He goes about 100 miles before the gas engine cuts in,
and that's giving him about 107 miles to the gallon right now with his rather LONG commute (Long for around here).

My sister has a Prius Hybrid with 'Plug In' conversion, and she charges hers off of a carport roof covered with solar cells,
Cost NOTHING to charge her vehicle!

I've been looking at trading in my Cad Eldorado for a Honda Insight,
Better mileage, better warranty and about $2,500 less than the Prius around here.

Honda did this with the Civic years ago, and built a LOYAL following that continues to this day!
Start them out in entry level vehicles that work great and live a long time,
Then move them up to more 'Affluent' cars as they become adults...

Good idea if you ask me!
I REALLY want a plug in version instead of the gas burner, but the 'Plug In' kits are coming down in price all the time, so I may just get one!

It may have cost her nothing from the grid, but I'd be willing to bet those photovoltaic panels weren't "free"! Between the purchase, installation & maintenance, it's likely costing MORE per KW (for solar) than connecting those same loads to the grid. That's fine & dandy, as it reduces the the load on the local grid (oil & coal dependency)... but it definitely isn't "FREE"!

Yeah, statements like that are a frequent irritation to me. Like wind power. Wind power is free, but generators, towers and turbines are mighty expensive to build, erect and maintain.

We've had this discussion before,

BUT THE FACTS REMAIN!...

The 4 solar cells on the roof of my house are hooked to grid intertie, and they have a small battery bank for backup power when the grid goes down...

So I can run get the computers shut down, ect. before the batteries run down.

My electric bill is usually "AMOUNT DUE $0.00",
On average, I make just about what I use, and since the next upgrade to the house is going to be tankless water heater, the gas bill should take a big nose dive...
(around 40% of my gas usage is for hot water heating.)

Now you all can take a crap on 'Alternative Energy' if you want to,
But when I installed solar panels on my house, it was for charging back up batteries for the computers, freezer, ect.
I quickly got a grid intertie inverter to sell the excess power back to the utility grid.

When I purchased my system, the cost would have been offset by electricity prices in 22 years...
22 years to payoff at electricity prices in 1998.

Well, with 4 rate hikes, service fee hikes, and added taxes to the bill, my system PAID FOR IT'S SELF IN 9 YEARS!

Now you can tell me this or that,
But you home doesn't pay you anything...
People say they 'Appreciate' over time,
First you start with purchase price, then mortgage interest,

But if you figure in all the maintinance, yard mowing, new roofs, siding, painting, cleaning gutters, taxes, ect.
You haven't made ANYTHING, and the home is a NET LOSS over the years unless you are one of the very lucky few that have land where some huge company wants to buy...

SO!
Over the years,
I'm quietly paying for, then making money from my solar array.
I figured a 22 year payoff, and since everything in my system has a 20 to 50 year warranty, replacment costs weren't an issue...
And since I paid cash for it, and installed/wired most of it myslef, the costs there were out of pocket and not financed
(Actual costs vs. 'Financed' costs)

With rate hikes, (Especially in the past 8 years) my system paid for it's self in 9 years,
SO...
For the last 2 years it's been up there slowly making my electric bill disappear!

Personal cars, homes, ect. are all dead weight on your financial back.
They make you NOTHING,
And new cars loose (deprecate) between 1/4 & 1/3 at the instant you sing the paperwork...
On a $20,000 car, that's a $5,000 loss before you even set your butt in the seat for the first time!

Then there is the constant upkeep on a personal vehicle,
Gas, Insurance, Interest on the loan, taxes, plates, tires, maintinance, ect.

Same with homes! From the instant you sign the contract,
You PAY to keep that home...

With solar (or any of the at home alternatives) they quietly pay for themselves then pay YOU for existing!

Around here, everything is coal fired, or some occasional natural gas fired plants...
So I'm keeping several tons of Mercury, Cadmium, Lead, Arsenic, Sulfur, ect. out of my breathing air and off my land, and out of our children,
(and coal fired pants are the #1 contributor to Mercury & Lead content in the children from this area)

And I'm keeping several tons of CO2 out of the air every year by making most of my electricity and providing electric transportation...

That's all good, but the bottom line is the bottom line,
And for my bottom line, Solar is good!
Kills virtually all my electric bill, and soon will make a major dent in my gas bill!

Jim, my little 'Wind Project' cost me about $160.
Made from a Delco SI alternator, old brake drum and spindle, and perched on top of an old TV tower the home owners paid ME to take away!

Doesn't put out a bunch, (we don't have favorable winds over here in so.west In.),
But what it did produce was PERFECT for topping off my battery banks!
Small charge that was remarkably consistent, and most of it came at night when the solar wasn't producing anything!

Just PERFECT for 'Topping Off' or 'Finish Charging' battery banks!

The permanent magnet rotor is a good thing!
They can be expensive for the really good ones, but most of mine are 'Home Made' so they don't produce as much as the high powered 'Store Bought' ones...

I've tried DC generators (you are old enough to remember commutator DC generators and Generator/Starters!)
And I've tried Delco, Ford & Chrysler alternators,
But the easiest one to work with so far is a Delco CS series alternator...

If you know where to get the drive motors from the old reel to reel computer tape machines, those are diamonds waiting to be polished!
Permanent magnet, high powered, sealed with GREAT bearings!
They make GREAT micro hydro or wind project generators with nothing more than fresh seals and a pat on the butt!

As much as you like to 'Tinker' with things,
I'm surprised you haven't tried some of this stuff!

People have got somewhat used to seeing a wind generator strapped to the top of my vehicle or in the bed of my truck when I'm trying to figure out what current I'm going to get at what wind speed!
(Great conversation starters!)

Anyway, I'm all for my 'House/Home' paying ME something to exist...
So my home has always been a 'Home Business' of some sort,
Either I do engineering work from home, or we run mail order businesses from home, Ect.

Home should be a dead financial load on your back!

My house is covered by big oaks that block most of the sun and wind, so it's not practical here. My price comments were directed at the big commercial wind turbines that apparently are financially feasible only with government subsidies.

Maybe it's not a problem. I was thinking the same thing when I remembered some pictures TR posted.





It also seems like a pretty small house to have enough roof to generate so much power. Maybe this is just not at the house he is talking about.