Green, Eco Friendly Class A Monoblocks

My brother is an electrical engineer, and a damn fine carpenter. He's built the current house he's living in as well as the previous one. In both homes (Vermont where they loose power frequently in the winters) he's built a solar panel system that charges a huge bank of batteries. The system is basically large solar panels on the roof, with a wall-mounted unit that probably has the volume of an average fridge or a bit more(though much flatter) , that is mounted in the basement. If he loses power from the grid, the batteries kick in and will power the house with modest usage for about three days. Battery technology, and capacitor technology has been taking some significant steps over the past decade so everything seems to be getting more compact and efficient. My brother says there are now better ways to go, though is happy with that system in general. Ralphmasphere is a wealth of information on this subject and may be able to give you some advice if you ping him. There are certainly manufacturer's like Red Wine Audio, who are using battery technology to power their components as well. As you know, you need a whole lot of juice for high-current Class A monoblocks, especially if they've got the cojones to push those Magneplanars you have.

Besides lowering the power demand of your amps (e.g. Class D), you may want to look into the solar policies wrt the local power company. In some locations, the power company is required to buy back energy generated by solar, and a simpler solar (or wind) system can be installed that doesn't use battery storage but just pushes power back into the grid. This can sometimes be most cost effective and green. Honestly, if you are building a new house or planning major renovations, you can probably make a whole lot more green impact by going for other energy efficient designs for heating/cooling (e.g. heat pumps, passive solar, solar water heating, efficiency via insulation) than by focusing on your stereo. If you're not willing to do Class D amps, there's not much you can do to reduce the consumption. One advantage of a battery bank, if you're going to spend the money, is that you might be able to have your equipment modified to run directly from the battery banks (i.e. no AC noise). As Marco mentioned above, Ralph at Atmosphere would have some good ideas in that area.

Carl,
I was going to suggest both the battery and the ralphmasphere route. However, almost by definition, there is nothing which is going to make Class A amps efficient enough to be eco-friendly. Running Class A monoblocks to drive Magneplanars is equivalent to running a pair of large hairdryers (or electric clothes dryers) all the time - i.e. a SERIOUS power suck. The easiest way to be 'ecologically friendly' with Class A amps is to get super efficient speakers - probably horn-loaded in some way.

Solar's cost/kWh sweetspot (in terms of capacity or goals) changes all the time, and in the northeast (making an assumption here), solar is a tough way to live sometimes. I am convinced that if you are in the northeast and you want a decent-sized house, the ideal is to build with some active solar, a fair bit of passive solar, lots of insulation, and lots of geothermal; and if you are aggressive, count on being 'net zero' rather than 'completely off-grid.' Why more people don't use geothermal for heating/cooling is beyond me. It pays for itself very quickly (as do passive solar design, insulation, and argon-filled windows, etc), especially if building from scratch in a place where you can dig deep cheaply. thinking about it on an after-tax basis, it makes even more sense. If you live in an area where hotsprings can be drilled to without a huge cost, the whole equation changes because depending on temperature and flow, you can generate electricity from that more easily (though if you do tap hotsprings, I urge you to recycle the waste water back into the system - hotsprings do 'dry up' if not replenished).

T_bone - I've been studying ground source heat pumps lately. They are very efficient, and a form of geothermal. They require either buried shallow loops of tubing in the ground or wells.

You are wasting your time trying to be efficient with your stereo. The average system I've seen around here costs maybe $20 per month. Try to get the whole house off the grid and you will do some justice.

Solar thermal heating with massive concrete mass in the building is a good way to go, given a heavily insulated building. We have solar PV as well and have a five day battery backup, however it requires about 1 hour of maintenance per month, as do our composting toilets.

If you are of the mindset that you take care of yourself, a republican mindset, than the investment will fulfill your principles.

If you are concerned about the planet, the sun can be harvested better today than ever before. Go for it!

Email if you think I can help.

B