Hello there /diy/, I'm in need of your help.
Long story short, where I live, you can backfeed electric power into the local power grid to lower your power bill. Being a NEET and bicycle enthusiast as I am, I've been toying for a while the idea of building a bicycle-based power generator, then feed said generated energy into the grid.
Would this be feasible? Could I generate enough power for it to be worth it? What do you reckon would be the best way to go about this? I already got a beater bike and a shitton of spare parts, and have bicycle mechanical experience. Not so much electrical, but I can learn.
Any input is welcome.
>>972553
>Would this be feasible?
It can be done
>Could I generate enough power for it to be worth it?
most likely not, because of two reasons: the costs of the equipment involved, and the puny amounts of power a human is capable of generating. but anyway....
the first piece of equipment you'd need is called a grid-tie inverter-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid-tie_inverter
Outback Power Systems makes some of the smaller alternate-energy systems around. http://www.outbackpower.com/
The cheapest grid-tie inverter they sell retails for around $1500
>>972553
Fuck, that picture makes my fat leg skin hurt
>>972553
Pro athletes can sustain about 600 watts on extended climbs.
Untrained individuals will struggle to sustain 250w
Power is billed in kwh. 1kw of power useage over an hour. The US average is 13 cents per kwh. So if you were to cycle for 4hours at 250watts you would generate 1kwh of power.
Dont forget losses from the drivetrain, generator and converter which will all add up to at least 20%loss through heat.
More than 4 hours of work for about 20 cents of return.
>>972553
assuming a 100% feedin tariff, you can make maybe 1c an hour.
>>972553
Pretty much what >>972560 said. The only other way to backfeed the grid is paralleling, which is not possible on a bicycle and requires a computer controller on a generator.
To parallel, the frequencies of the grid and the generator have to be in sync, so the computer senses the mains freq, then adjusts the generator to match, once the generator is in sync the generator breaker is closed and then a load controller controls how many kW of power the generator is feeding the grid. There are companies that make money by selling generators to places like Wal-mart, Food lion, and Publix that are on an adjustable utility rate, and when the utility rate increases to the point where running the generator is profitable they remotely start the generators and take load off the grid during the peak. This is called "peak shaving" and a single engine can produce as much as $22,000 in a one run.
The businesses get the benefit of a whole store back up generator that starts automatically, and transfers back to the grid without dropping power.
OP here, thanks everyone for your posts, seems like backfeeding is out of the question.
What about recharging a car battery, or even one of those portable power banks? Would that be more realistic? Hell, I'd settle with charging my phone.
>>972659
>I'd settle with charging my phone.
That's semi realistic. You might be able to give a car battery a little bit of juice, but you'd have to be on that bike for several hours to charge it completely. Same goes for the phone, instead of plugging and walking away you'll have to be riding the whole time to charge it. Better plan would be something that could charge your phone while you were riding around so that if you listened to tunes, etc you could be charging while riding your bike since we all know NEETs can't afford gasoline.
>>972659
>charging my phone
There was a guy on /out/ doing this wile riding the world. He had a hub alternator with associated circuitry.
If you buy your food you will not make back the money it takes to eat those calories.
>>973005
I don't think he'd make it back growing all his food either.
>>972659
If mains power is available, use it. Human power is only beneficial when there isn't a more practical power source available (emergencies, camping, Africa, etc.). The food it would take to power your increased activity would cost far more than the electricity you'd forgo buying. That food would produce quite a bit more electricity if you burned it in a heat engine to turn a generator. You can certainly pedal to recharge batteries if you really want, but just be aware that it's costing you net money, not saving you anything.
>>972592
600w burst for trained athletes. 200w sustained for trained athletes. it was the logic behind gimping an entire industry of electric bikes to 200w. lel why would anyone need to go faster than an athlete on a bike?
>>972990
even the best hub alternators push 3.4w. I chuckled when I saw that. wanted to power my lights but fuck having a wheel made just to generate 3.4w
![wheel+generator[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/kfhG9oS.jpg "wheel+generator[1].jpg")
>>973163
You don't -have to- build a new wheel. Tire contact ones have been around forever.
>>973143
The power you output while riding your bike does not go to waste, it's used to propel you. You could harvest a tiny bit of it through regenerative braking, hub alternator or a dynamo. Be aware though that while going level or uphill, you'd have to output the usual amount of power + all the power requirements of those gadgets. I.e. it's only feasible while going downhill. Free energy, you know.
