Connecting An Emergency Generator

There are two basic methods of connecting your devices to an emergency power generators:

• Via a pre-wired transfer switch;
• Via extension cords.

The transfer switch method can be used for both stationary and portable generators. Portable generators are connected via a manual transfer switch. The stationary standby home systems usually use an automatic transfer switch. It automatically isolates your home from the grid and starts up the generator when it detects a power outage.
A transfer switch installation and wiring requires a licensed electrician and obviously takes time. If you are caught off-guard by a blackout, you’ve got to use a portable genset with extension cords. This is the case today, when more than 3 million people in mid-Atlatic are still without power after a sudden storm. Unlike hurricanes that give you about a week of warning, this storm gave all the impact of a hurricane without any warning. Unfortunately, the extension cords can be used only for cord-and-plug appliances. Connecting lights and hard-wired appliances to a portable generator will not be simple. There are some emergency methods of connecting hard-wired devices, but they may require a professional help. In any case, here are the main two things you need to remember:

• Whenever you run a generator, it must be isolated from the utility lines;
• A generator can be run only outdoors with exhaust pipe located away from house.

New Proposed Efficiency Standards for Battery Chargers and External Power Supplies

U.S. Department of Energy recently issued Battery Chargers and External Power Supply (BCEPS) Notice of Proposed Rule. DOE proposes amended efficiency standards for Class A external power supplies (EPSs) and new standards for non-Class A EPSs and battery chargers. The proposed standards set the minimum average efficiency in active mode and the maximum power consumption in no-load mode as a function of the nameplate output power. The greatest challenge for SMPS power supply designers in my view will be the proposed limit of maximum power in no-load mode. For EPS below 50 watt it will be <0.1 watt. Since a power supply has to be able to “wake up” when connected to a load, it needs to keep active certain control circuit. Keeping a consumption of an off-line bias supply below 0.1 W will be a real challenge.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will hold a public meeting on May 2, 2012 to discuss the analyses presented and issues identified in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Technical Support Document. These proposed standards, if adopted, would apply to all applicable external power supplies manufactured in, or imported into, the United States on or after July 1, 2013.

At abote the same time, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking about Consumer Products and Industrial Equipment Non compliant with applicable Energy Conservation or Labeling Standards. CBP will refuse admission into the customs territory of the United States to consumer products and industrial equipment deemed non compliant with the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA).

I feel our government is just one step short of stopping anyone at the border for carrying a cell phone with non-efficiency-compliant charger.

Global Warming: No Need to Panic

Recently, Nobel Prize winner physicist Ivar Giaever publicly resigned from the American Physical Society (APS) with a letter that begins: "I did not renew because I cannot live with the [APS policy] statement: 'The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the Earth's physical and ecological systems, social systems, security and human health are likely to occur. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beginning now.' In the APS it is OK to discuss whether the mass of the proton changes over time and how a multi-universe behaves, but the evidence of global warming is incontrovertible?"

A statement signed by 16 scientists such as William Kininmonth, former head of climate research at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology; Rodney Nichols, former president and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences; William Happer, professor of physics, Princeton and others says: "...Speaking for many scientists and engineers who have looked carefully and independently at the science of climate, we have a message to any candidate for public office: There is no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to "decarbonize" the world's economy. Even if one accepts the inflated climate forecasts of the IPCC, aggressive greenhouse-gas control policies are not justified economically..."

In a subsequent letter, these scientists noted: "A premature global-scale transition from hydrocarbon fuels would require massive government intervention to support the deployment of more expensive energy technology. If there were economic advantages to investing in technology that depends on taxpayer support, companies like Beacon Power, Evergreen Solar, Solar Millenium, SpectraWatt, Solyndra, Ener1 and the Renewable Energy Development Corporation would be prospering instead of filing for bankruptcy in only the past few months.
The European experience with green technologies has also been discouraging. A study found that every new "green job" in Spain destroyed more than two existing jobs and diverted capital that would have created new jobs elsewhere in the economy. More recently, European governments have been cutting subsidies for expensive CO2-emissionless energy technologies, not what one would expect if such subsidies were stimulating otherwise languid economies. And as we pointed out in our op-ed, it is unlikely that there will be any environmental benefit from the reduced CO2 emissions associated with green technologies, which are based on the demonization of CO2."