FORTUNE â With Jay Leno hosting, more than 600 friendsâAl Gore, former U.S. Senators Sam Nunn and Tim Wirth, Spanx founder Sara Blakely, and his date, Colorado environmentalist Sally Ranney, among themâhelped Ted Turner celebrate his 75th birthday on Saturday night in Atlanta.
Diesel fuel is the most power dense, relatively portable and reliable. Diesel fuel is also the most expensive, non-renewable and produces greenhouse gasses. A best-case diesel power scenario would be an initial generator cost of $20,000 plus $1,000,000 in fuel costs. Shipping, operation and maintenance expenses would also need to be added. Depending on load factor (BSFC) and cost of fuel, a diesel generator will make power in the range of $1 to $40 per kWhr. Maximum power is limited to 15 kW. A solar system's capacity factor is about 12%; therefore, a 100 kW system must be purchased to produce an average of 12 kW.
A conventional generator is nothing more than an engine connected to an alternator and run at a speed that produces the desired AC frequency, regardless of the load on it (as the load increases the engine throttles up to keep the engine speed the same).