MAR 10

The real value of these is not to charge up batteries and discharge, but to act as the peaking plant, if you will, for multi-generator systems. The military has the same issues as the grid where they have to account for the maximum spike in power usage. This means they have banks of generators running to allow for handling intermittent peak loads.

The problem is that this means all the generators are operating well below their most efficient load profile, which in turn produces two major issues: a) they don't run as efficiently thus wasting fuel and almost more important b) a diesel generator that is run inefficiently "wet stacks" which causes a huge increase in the amount of maintenance it requires. Huge.

The system shown here could, if/when hooked up properly, use the batteries as the rapid response peaking generator, thus taking an entire normal generator off line.

I wonder how feasible it would be to take this one step further using biodiesel. Although then there's the sourcing issue...

@steve: did you miss the last sentence, or are you just trolling?? "The systems are expected to pay for themselves in fuel savings within a year."

These are sure great news.

Cutting the US Army dependence to oil is most important as peak is either nearing fast or behind us.

Now, the USA as a country - and other nations as well - should slash their oil consumption too...

That's exactly the kind of system that could be scaled for home use. Make the generator optional, draw from the grid at non peak times.

Currently a custom install of 10kw solar with 40kwh of lithium backup and no generator will cost a homeowner well over $100k. If the military can do a system that size (and with a windmill? See photo) we ought to be able to produce a system a third the size for a third the cost for the average house.

I had not considered the idea of providing a higher peak load but it really is just another reason to go with a hybrid unit. I can imagine that it will also lower the load on logistics for highly mobile units. Also it seems like with the solar panel a mechanical generator failure would not create a 100% outage... small but critical operations could still be powered.

Aaron that type of sarcasm doesn't really help anyone. If you want to blame someone for the civilian deaths depending on your outlook you can either blame our politicians for ordering our troops to war based on lies or the terrorists who attacked us. While our troops shouldn't be randomly killing civilians any fool knows that ordering our troops to invade another country is going to kill civilians.

This seems like it would confer a very useful military advantage to the armed forces simply by reducing the number of times scouts have to go out and gather large quantities of highly flammable diesel fuel and bring it back to place, putting them at a reduced risk of being targeted by terrorist groups while making a fuel run, being followed to a military base, or simply being involved a in an extremely dangerous accident while operating in hostile terrain in general given the nature of the cargo and gives the military some positive PR for once. All and all, this seems like a very good idea and with proper military development could lead to the creation of advanced energy saving systems for public use in the next few decades if not sooner.

Power? Military? Foreign fuels? Just imagine with me for a moment. Had the $650+ Billions of dollars spent beating Iraq back to the 11th century, been invested instead, in America? On conventional Solar/Thermal electric power plants, across the South Western U.S.A. America, today would have full employment and enough clean,domestic based, reliable, radiation free, renewable,or perpetual, if you prefer, electric power, to compete on a level footing with the currently nuclear/electric powered Asian giants.
Sadly, I report to you, we trounced Iraq, on promise that our sacrifice would bring cheaper, and more readily available gasoline at the pumps in America. Guess who got screwed up the ass, who still owes on the national debt for this fiasco? Who will pay and his children will pay for this favor by George Bush to his Saudi friends? Still think this Corpocracy that stole our Democracy is set up for the American folks benefit? Still think that Capitalist is a nice word? Still think Corporatists have your good health in mind? Tell me now, why do South Koreans revolt, and refuse to eat American meats, cheeses, milk products? Why do Canadians refuse cheaper American cheese at their borders, advertise their own products as hormone, antibiotic free?
It is all well and good to laud the American Military for developing fuel saving generators, but the assumption implied, the propaganda here is the notion that they did this for 'green' reasons, and not for strategic reasons, and this type of Bull Shiite is intolerable, and has misled Americans into a plethora of falsehoods and left them mindless and numb souled. Please, do not tell me how to think. I will draw my own conclusions, arrive at my own notions. Tacit understandings, inferences, all part of the propagandists tools!

"We trounced Iraq, on promise that our sacrifice would bring cheaper, and more readily available gasoline at the pumps in America."

Reference? Didn't think so...

What a great idea. I love it. It costs the tax payer so much money for fuel to be trucked back and forth throughout the country. This little generator is awesome. We have a lot of FOB's that operate solely off of generator power. Fuel trucks are an easy and expensive target.
Our tents and wooden B-huts are not very well insulated. When it gets over 120 degrees outside we run the A/C as much as possible. It's great to use the sun for something other than draining our energy.

I have several patents on self regenerating power systems one being a hybrid generator system. I started designing and testing prototypes of new energy systems in 2006 and 2007. One of my prototypes is a generator producing high loads of energy and storing energy for low loads to be used after service from the generator. The generator produces AC and DC power to be used while the generator is running or not running this results in fuel reduction of 50% or more. This generator consist of a fuel engine driving a generator producing AC power and alternator producing DC power for storage in a power cell or battery. And an inverter to convert the DC power to AC power for low loads. The system is capable of automatically starting the engine and at predetermined time's turn off the engine. This will provide more on interrupted power for a longer time set. The system will work with solar panels to store more power in your power cells or batteries during the day. See the system at (self-regenerating power systems) under new hybrid generator. The alternator on the system will produce DC power at low or high RPMs whether the generator is running high loads are running at half power.
Thanks
Tracy Blackman