battery or fuel cell powered homes: the time is now
battery-powered homes should be the norm. why? well, just look at the weeks without power millions experienced in the midwest this summer of 2012 under extreme heat after severe storms damaged parts of the deteriorating power grid. while there isn’t much public knowledge about battery-powered homes, there is interest and research. but, where is it today in 2012?
• panasonic aiming for battery-powered homes by 2011
• battery breakthrough technology could power homes for pennies per kilowatt hour
we talk about battery-powered cars. why not battery-powered homes? these super batteries could even be fuel cells. it’s time to take innovation from the car to the home. it’s time. but, utility companies and government seem to conspire on discouraging homes to be off the grid.
but, as the u.s. power grid is already challenged, why not encourage houses to have the option to go off the grid during certain times of overload, when the house can subsist off the batter or fuel cell instead?
and as appliances get smarter, use less power, this surely seems possible today or in the next few years. the fuel cell or super battery that powers the home could get charged from the grid initially and/or through a combination of solar, wind, water, geothermal, natural gas and/or more.
the time is now, as millions every year go through more and more power outages due to severe weather. and, power outages can be quite harsh and even deadly in extreme heat or cold. as we become a wireless communication society with fewer and fewer landlines, why not evolve homes to have wireless electricity?