PowerSwitch

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/autom ... POWER.html

New York Times - 02/09/07

WHEN Hurricane Frances ripped through Gainesville, Fla., in 2004, Christopher Swinney, an anesthesiologist, was without electricity for a week. A few weeks ago, Dr. Swinney lost power again, but this time he was ready.

He plugged his Toyota Prius into the backup uninterruptible power supply unit in his house and soon the refrigerator was humming and the lights were back on. ?It was running everything in the house except the central air-conditioning,? Dr. Swinney said.

(continued)

One must buy a Prius.

as a complete non engineer, i was wondering if one could adapt a car and use it as a diesel generator in an emergency?

SILVERHARP2 wrote:as a complete non engineer, i was wondering if one could adapt a car and use it as a diesel generator in an emergency?

Not easily, though it certainly can be done.

In order to produce 230/240 volts AC the standarard vehicle alternator is replaced with a special alternator and control box in order to produce mains voltage.
Two different types exist. one consists of a standard induction alternator as used in portable generators. With this equipment; the vehicle engine must be run at the correct speed in order to produce 50 cycles, this normaly requires also fitting a special governer/throttle.
The other design consists of a variable speed/voltage/frequency alternator, the output from which is converted into mains voltage and frequency by means of an inverter.
Both types are widely used in mobile worshops and emergency vehicles and can sometimes be found in breakers yards and second hand vehicle suppliers.

A simpler approach is to connect an inverter to the vehicle battery, this however limits the power to that which can be produced by the vehicle alternator, which is typicaly only about 1 kilowatt continuos