Business venture

Thread Starter

strantor

Joined Oct 3, 2010
6,875
Ok guys, I've noticed a demand, and maybe a profitable business opportunity.

We should design an idiot-proof, all-in-one grid-tie UPS (with "sine wave" inverter) of entire-household proportions, with internal switchgear, as user friendly as possible so it can be installed DIY. Manufacture it in india & pakistan, sell it in india & pakistan, and in an ironic twist, host the tech support for it from America.

So who's game? So far, investment stands at 23.42$
 

Thread Starter

strantor

Joined Oct 3, 2010
6,875
Haven't noticed a steady stream of people in the UK trying to power their house with PC UPSs yet. Maybe when the rolling blackouts start.
 

Sparky49

Joined Jul 16, 2011
833
Exactly, 58'000'000 people without them.

If we make a profit of £10 on each unit... That'll be...

£580'000'000 profit!

Minted.
 

Thread Starter

strantor

Joined Oct 3, 2010
6,875
Alright Sparky, sounds like you're on board. Be the first contributor and I'll establish a call center in Cambridgeshire as well. Must contribute at least 23.42$ though.
 

debe

Joined Sep 21, 2010
1,419
Iv just in stalled a 1.5Kw solar Gridtie system, & they seem to have taken well here in Australia as there is a Govt subsidy. Fully installed $1799, then had to get an Import/Export meter.
 

maxpower097

Joined Feb 20, 2009
816
Haven't noticed a steady stream of people in the UK trying to power their house with PC UPSs yet. Maybe when the rolling blackouts start.
Won't work with rolling blackouts because they usually only black out the lower income neighborhoods. So even then you'd be targeting people who just put a fan in the window then run the AC in the summer.
 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,810
I don't know where that particular fact came from, but it is off. In Garland rolling blackouts affect every part of the city.
 

JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
Won't work with rolling blackouts because they usually only black out the lower income neighborhoods. So even then you'd be targeting people who just put a fan in the window then run the AC in the summer.
Really ... and your proof of such behavior would make the NAACP lawyers drool as well as get Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton plenty of face time on TV.
 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,810
Loosie, I'm afraid you got this one wrong. Transformers are pretty simple, if expedited I figure 3 days, tops, possibly in under half a day. The only real difference between a line transformer is size and it is a bucket of oil.

I've seen several shows where they were made, the secondary is either a wide strip of copper or aluminum, not wire.

The real problem is unrealistic expectations by people wanting to power their house off of batteries. They don't understand watts, and how to apply the concepts.
 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,810
I believe in science, so I have no problem with solar flares. I'm also a former amateur radio hobbiest, so I understand their effects on radio. For the most part what you hear is hype, with just enough reality to take it serious. We have some odd effects, and maybe someday we'll have the power grid knocked off by one, but it is been well over a century since the last major effects (as in telegraph lines). AS I understand it some stations burned to the ground because of the power boost.

When it comes to the grid I worry a lot more about weather and terrorists than solar flares, though technically a solar flare comes under the heading of weather.

Our power grid is very robust, overall. I suspect a solar flare of the magnitude you are describing would take the power grid down, but the damage you are talking about is way overstated. I would worry much more about the electronics on the grid, that is what would blow up.
 

Kermit2

Joined Feb 5, 2010
4,159
Loosie, I'm afraid you got this one wrong. Transformers are pretty simple, if expedited I figure 3 days, tops, possibly in under half a day. The only real difference between a line transformer is size and it is a bucket of oil.
I've seen the show you mention and those are not the transformers people are worried about.

Some very prominent scientists have urged congress to get something in the works to start building a small stock pile of these transformers(not the ones on the poles outside your house). BIG ones that make an automobile look small. And they don't build them in 3 days. Try 3 to 6 months. You really do need to research this topic much deeper Bill. Lots of information on it from a large number of respected names and industries.

 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,810
And yet, historically they have not failed as the press would have you believe. Breakers tripping do not mean they have blown. Actually the breakers are the safeties to protect them.

Trusting TV shows for information is not always the best path. I don't claim expertise, as reporters like to do.
 

Sparky49

Joined Jul 16, 2011
833
I believe that there is very little news on the tv today. Most of it is just opinion. I don't care if it's the opinion of the masses, I want only the facts so I can make up my own mind.

Seeing what passes for a 'news' program in other parts of the makes me laugh and cringe.

Saying that, I reckon the Germans have the best news.
 
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