Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Electric Cars

The reverse can be true Jon. At a boatyard in Tamworth I found my Sterling Combi (combined inverter and charger) would not accept mains. On checking incoming voltage it was found to be 261volts. The Combi had built-in protection to not accept above 258 volts! Apparently the issue was down to using an incorrect transformer tap following supply to new adjacent estate.

In 2003 the UK harmonised with Europe adopting a nominal 230 volts. This meant a drop from previous 240 volts, and maintained to - 6% to +10% of nominal. In Europe it was a rise from previous 220 volts.

Obviously heavy local loading will drag voltage down which may explain the need for EV charging power control on anything more than a 13 amp socket.

RESILIANCE is an oldfashioned term which in many industries was replaced by prioritisation of risk management utilised to cut costs..? Where once there were back-ups to the back-ups, you would be lucky to find any back-ups that were operational, even IF maintained.. Yeah woke up as a grumpy old man this morning..

Back in the 70's I had a friend that worked in the national grid control room, his job was switching supply around when demand outstripped demand.

Yes, it's always been done like this as there's not been really any practical way to store excess electricity on a minute-to-minute basis. When demand exceeds supply the load causes the generators to slow down, dropping the frequency and causing brown-outs, and when the supply exceeds demand the generators spin up and frequency (& voltage) increases.

For unexpected demand there's the pump storage schemes like Dinorwic that can ramp up within a few seconds, and gas-powered generators can be on-line in a minute or so. Of course, now with the increasing use of battery storage, the focus will switch more towards that

Fortunately these days there are loads of automated ways to help out with demand response, like getting supermarkets to turn off their freezers for a few minutes. Some of the bigger process factories than can stop their machines at short notice are able to benefit from extremely favourable supply contracts - they get their 'leccy extremely cheap.

And there is another way, that perhaps Joe Public hasn’t yet cottoned on to: Once we all have our super new smart meters, new tariffs could be introduced where at times of high demand, suppliers will have the facility to simply jack up the unit price for those odd half hours when they need to decrease demand! Easy peasy as smart meters are already sending back your consumption to the supplier, every 30 minutes.

sand/heat battery, those crazy smart Fins!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61996520

For those that cannot get into the BBC site

And of course the other way round. Some suppliers are starting to offer negative prices for some times in the day. Do your washing at 2:00AM and they'll pay you.

Awesome ... the Finns have reinvented the Storage Radiator! 🙂

K

How do they convert the heat in the sandbox to energy?

Air heat transfer to provide a heating source for a community heating scheme. Apparently it uses 100 tons of sand .. I've not done any numbers but even at 500°c I'm not sure the stored heat would do more than supplement winter heating for a community. Unfortunately these projects get filtered through our wonderful media who value 'feel-good' over fact at best and reflect the uniformed enthusiasms of the writer at worst.

Those running these 'proof of concept' projects must wince at them being publicly trumpeted as world-savers.

K