Renewable Energy and
Relevant Resources
Laura Richardson
Energy Answers Training
September 28, 2009
Renewable Energy Technologies
- Solar-electric
- Solar Thermal - Solar Hot Air
- Wind - Hydro
- Biomass
- Wood Pellets
- Wood Chips - Methane
- Geo-Exchange - CHP
- Tidal, Ocean
- Biodiesel
- Ethanol
- others…
Resources
- Websites and Publications
- Agencies and Non Profits
Photovoltaics - language
2.4kW residential scale - NH
Photovoltaics
– Poly Crystalline – Pole/Ground Mounted
Photovoltaics
– Poly Crystalline – Roof Mounted
Photo courtesy groSolar
Photovoltaics
– Amorphous – Building Integrated
Courtesy: NREL
Photovoltaics – Amorphous – Shingles
Many other techniques and materials under development and
coming to market
99 kW - Municipal-owned, offsets
energy from waste water
treatment plant, Marlborough, NJ
Photovoltaics
Photo courtesy RenewableEnergyWorld.com
Commercial roof-top leased system
Photovoltaics
Photo courtesy SunEdison
Photovoltaics
Too far north?
•7MW project in Quebec
•Germany is further north than NH and is the world
leader of PV generation and progressive policy
•GridSolar project proposed for ME instead of peak
generator and T+D upgrade, 800MW proposal
60kW commercial scale – Bradford, VT
Photovoltaics
Concentrating Solar Power
Courtesy: http://solareis.anl.gov
Trough systems use large, U-shaped
(parabolic) reflectors (focusing mirrors) that have oil-filled pipes running along their center, or focal point, as shown in Figure 1. The mirrored reflectors are tilted toward the sun, and focus sunlight on the pipes to heat the oil inside to as much as 750°F. The hot oil is then used to boil water, which makes steam to run conventional steam turbines and generators.
Concentrating Solar Power
Courtesy: http://solareis.anl.gov
Power tower systems also called central receivers, use many large, flat heliostats
(mirrors) to track the sun and focus its rays onto a receiver. As shown in Figure 3, the receiver sits on top of a tall tower in which concentrated sunlight heats a fluid, such as molten salt, as hot as 1,050°F. The hot fluid can be used immediately to make steam for electricity generation or stored for later use. Molten salt retains heat efficiently, so it can be stored for days before being converted into electricity. That means electricity can be produced during periods of peak need on cloudy days or even several hours after sunset
Concentrating Solar Power
Courtesy: http://solareis.anl.gov
Dish/engine systems use mirrored dishes (about 10 times larger than a backyard satellite dish) to focus
and concentrate sunlight onto a receiver. As shown in Figure 5, the receiver is mounted at the focal point of the dish. To capture the maximum amount of solar energy, the dish assembly tracks the sun across the sky. The receiver is integrated into a high-efficiency "external" combustion engine. The engine has thin tubes containing hydrogen or helium gas that run along the outside of the engine's four piston cylinders and open into the cylinders. As concentrated sunlight falls on the receiver, it heats the gas in the tubes to very high temperatures, which causes hot gas to expand inside the cylinders. The expanding gas drives the pistons. The pistons turn a crankshaft, which drives an electric generator. The receiver, engine, and generator comprise a single, integrated assembly mounted at the focus of the mirrored dish.
Concentrating Solar Thermal
Courtesy Wikipedia
Sun Æ Steam Æ Electricity
Solar Thermal - Flat Plate
Solar Thermal – Evacuated Tube
Courtesy Dawn Solar
Solar Thermal – Building Integrated
Commercial Scale, Plymouth NH
Solar Thermal – Commercial Scale
Solar Hot Air
Solar Hot Air Wall
Diagram courtesy of SolarWall
Utility Scale Wind
Lempster –
24MW – 12 wind turbines, 2MWCommunity Scale Wind
Hull, MA –
2 community-owned wind turbines 1 @ 660kW = 1500MWh/yr = $780,000 (4yr ROI) 1 @ 1.8MW = 4500MWh/yr = $3Million; contract with Harvard for RECs, $1.8M“Small” Scale Wind
“Small” Scale Wind
Wind velocity matters. Height matters. Turbulence matters. Know your resources.
Building Integrated Wind
Logan Airport
NJ State Aquarium
Photo courtesy AeroVironment, Inc.
Vertical Wind Turbines
Photo courtesy flicker file sharing
Hydro – Utility Scale
Photo courtesy ArizonaLeisure.com
Hoover Dam
Hydro – Community Scale
Boltonville, VT
Hydro – Residential Scale
An On-Demand Run of the
River system; Two 24-volt
submersible generator turbines
mounted on a cantilever pole
by Aquair. Photo courtesy
MontanaGreenPower.com
A High-Head Low-Flow Hydro-Electric
system; Dual-jet Hydro Turbine with
a14kW Generator
Methane – from livestock or landfills
Photo courtesy of CVPS
Combined Heat and Power
Propane makes up to 45,000 BTUs of heat and 1.7 - 4.7 kW of electricity
Photo courtesy of Clay MitchellWood to Electricity – Schiller Station
Photo courtesy of PSNHl
Central woodchip gasifier and boiler
Woodchips
Wood Pellets – Commercial Scale
Photos courtesy The Harris Center, Hancock, NH 23,000 lbs of pellets annually heat this 10,000 sf renovated building, annually saving the Harris Center thousands of dollars in heating costs.
Wood Pellets – residential scale
Photos courtesy BioHeat USA and Harmon
Cordwood – residential scale
Photos courtesy, BioHeatUSA and Harman
