Next Gen Notables: The Single-Family Power Plant

Ramirez envisions a low-cost, renewable energy production and delivery system that could turn homes and businesses into self-sustaining energy producers. Here are a few key excerpts from his proposal:

What makes it important?
The SFPP [Single-Family Power Plant] will end the use of fossil fuels as a primary fuel for electrical generation. The benefits of this are generally noted as a reduction on foreign-oil dependence and the reduction of greenhouse gases, both of which have huge impacts on maintaining our society as a sustainable part of our ecosystem and economy. The SFPP can be transplanted worldwide to all seven continents. It is of low cost and easy to install. The SFPP turns consumers into producers. Surpluses can be generated and sold back to the grid. Eventually consumers will no longer need the grid and every house will be able to broadcast electricity to whomever wants to buy it. This decentralization results in greater system efficiency, quality, and fewer power outages. … The SFPP will provide sun-shading for homes, pavement, and other thermal masses. This will work to reduce the heat-island effect. The system is installed on top of existing structures. It does not blanket thousands of acres of native desert, creating a new environmental threat to fragile ecosystems, as many of the large solar thermal plants propose. Additionally the system will be powered by steam generated from the heat of the sun. This in essence will be a revival of an antiquated form of power of which the only waste products are heat and water.

What is your business plan for realizing your proposal?
The Sol Fire Energy Company will design, fabricate, and install Single Family Power Plants to new or existing homes or businesses. Heat from the sun is concentrated on a collector plate which boils a fluid, creating steam. The steam is used to turn a turbine engine which rotates a 12kw alternator for a daily output of 84kwh. Key to the success of this business is the cost of install at $12,000 per 12 kw system. … The SFPP will consist of a Solar Boiler, Turbine Engine, Generator, Transfer Switch, and Net Metering Meter. Optional installations include a battery back-up system and an absorption chiller. Permitting will be by hired consultant to begin with. Keys to success include constructing a working prototype from UL-listed components currently estimated at $25,000 with a development period of two years. A break-even analysis demonstrates profitability at 100 units installed in year two of operation. The income projections over five years assume a 100-percent-plus growth rate with $538,000 in net profits in year five.

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