Renewable Globe

Microgrids: So Much More than Backup Energy

2012-10-04T11:36:00.000-04:00

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

NREL Newsroom

Microgrids: So Much More than Backup Energy

August 24, 2012

While very reliable today, the U.S. electricity grid is old and has gone at least five decades without a significant technological upgrade. There are two prongs to the microgrid work at NREL: innovative research and partnering with industry.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

Most Americans don't have to think much about energy reliability. We plug in a computer and it powers up; we flip a switch and the lights come on.

While very reliable today, the U.S. electricity grid is old and has gone at least five decades without a significant technological upgrade. The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is working with industry on one solution to help maintain a secure, reliable flow of energy: microgrids.

A microgrid is a smaller power grid that can operate either by itself or connected to a larger utility grid. Microgrids can serve areas as small as a few houses, all the way up to large military installations.

"If your home was part of a microgrid, you could continue to receive power even when the utility power goes out," NREL Electrical Engineer Mariko Shirazi said. "It gives you the ability to ride through any disturbances or outages by seamlessly switching over to locally generated power."

It's important to note that a backup power system — like a diesel generator — is not the same as a microgrid. Backup generators supply power to local loads in the event of an outage, but there is usually a delay or blip when you lose power and disconnect from the utility grid before the backup kicks in. In addition, a backup system is never meant to run continuously, nor to put power into the grid. However, the reverse is true — a microgrid can serve as a backup power supply.

A microgrid senses the quality of the power flowing through the grid. In the event of an outage, it can disconnect from the grid at a moment's notice. It can also leverage solar, wind, or stored energy to supplement a dip in the current power supply. If things are running smoothly with the regional grid, a microgrid generating electricity from renewable sources can export that clean energy to the grid for everyone's use.

Just Connect and Go?

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As part of its microgrid research, NREL recently worked with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District to test microgrid-ready natural-gas generators at the Distributed Energy Resources Test Facility.
Credit: Connie Komomua

The major components of a microgrid include a source of power generation, local loads, and electrical switching gear. It might also include inverters and energy storage — all of which sounds easy enough to just connect up to get started, right?

"These technologies are in different stages of maturity; the challenge is to get them all to operate together in a stable, concerted way to accomplish the goals of efficiency, security, and energy reliability — all of which are required from a microgrid," NREL Electrical Engineer Greg Martin said.

There are two prongs to the microgrid work at NREL: innovative research and partnering with industry.

NREL works with industry to test microgrid systems by providing the experts as well as the infrastructure to support microgrid testing. The U.S. Department of Defense is also working with NREL researchers to examine using microgrids to improve base reliability. Testing includes using grid simulators, load banks, and generators, all currently at theDistributed Energy Resources Test Facility at the National Wind Technology Center near Boulder, Colorado.

"We use equipment such as a grid simulator to create a virtual electric grid to test equipment that is planned to be connected to a utility," Martin said. "We create outages, or some other kind of electrical phenomenon, to make sure the equipment operates as expected. We basically try to make stuff work while making sure it works the way it's supposed to."

"Utilities need to be shown that this technology is safe to integrate into the system and won't affect the normal operations," NREL Energy Systems Integration Director Ben Kroposki said. "One of the goals at NREL is to provide that test bed for a variety of scenarios to be run so that utilities can see that the risk is being reduced."

An example: take a 200-kilowatt microgrid in a residential area with 100 kilowatts of photovoltaics (PV) installed on homes. When all the homes are grid-connected through a local utility, those 100 kilowatts of PV are no big deal. But once the homes are disconnected from the grid, that's a high ratio of PV. Researchers work with industry to figure out which resources have to be maintained to keep the power reliability needed for critical loads. Key questions include, should the homes start shedding loads if a cloud crosses the sun and the PV power drops? Or is energy storage needed, so when a cloud comes, the power supply stays consistent?

NREL is leading the way in understanding issues in energy systems integration and helping industry work through them. The lab's research tools will get a boost when the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) is completed later this year.

Taking Research to the Next Level

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"ESIF is going to be like our current lab on steroids, and will expand our testing scale to 1 megawatt," Martin said. "We'll be able to test large single components like large utility-scale inverters. We'll also be able to scale up the complexity of our testing. Using the Research Electrical Distribution Bus [REDB], and hardware-in-the loop, we'll be able to connect dozens of sources and loads and be able to test their interactions with each other. Now, we collect single data points. At ESIF, we'll be able to collect high-speed, time-synchronized data at numerous points throughout the REDB."

Using a high-performance computing data center, NREL will be able to simulate entire distribution systems. When testing a microgrid system, engineers can monitor its voltages and frequencies at the point where it joins the distribution system, enabling them to simulate the effect of a microgrid on the larger utility. This is important, because being physically connected to the grid is often not practical — plus, the utility doesn't have to worry about putting an unproven technology on their system.

"Utilities see this as a growth area, and they would like to understand it," Shirazi said. "Even if they aren't implementing a microgrid themselves, they may want to understand how it works for those customers who do want to install one on a section of their distribution system. Working with NREL helps them implement this type of system without impacting their customers."

NREL's grid simulators make this testing possible without hooking up the equipment to the regional utility grid — which would be prohibitively tricky. First, researchers would need the foresight to know when voltage anomalies were going to happen, and assuming they could catch them, there would be only one chance to test equipment. With grid simulators, researchers can create voltage and frequency anomalies and see how the system behaves.

"ESIF is going to give us more research power, both in the actual electrical power but also in the ability to collect data across all points in the system," Martin said. "It will also offer really awesome visualization that will enable us to look at data coming in from different places, to look at simulations and video feeds, in a really nice, easy, big way. We're sure this visualization capability will help ignite collaborations among NREL, industry, utilities, academia, and government agencies."

"ESIF is really going to move us forward to the next generation of power systems in this country," Kroposki said. "There is consensus that our utility grid is aging and that we can get benefit out of making it more intelligent, efficient, and capable of accepting more sources of energy."

Learn more about NREL's Energy Systems Integration testing facilities.

— Heather Lammers

Posted originally by NREL. Please follow us on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook!

Embrace of Renewables in Heartland Wows Execs

2012-10-02T08:35:00.000-04:00

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

NREL Newsroom

Embrace of Renewables in Heartland Wows Execs

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Executive Energy Leadership Program (Energy Execs) participant Mark Dow checks out the wind turbines at the John Deere dealership in Greensburg, Kansas.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

Seventeen executives traveled through middle America last month and came away amazed by the can-do spirit alive in the heartland, in awe of how those connected to the land overcame disaster and economic crisis to embrace renewable energy.

The 17 were members of the 2012 class of the Executive Energy Leadership Program (Energy Execs) run by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Each of them — representing private business, local, state, and federal government, and nonprofits — will use the program to bring back to their workplaces an idea to enhance sustainability or build renewable energy projects. The field trip complemented classwork done at the NREL campus on the practical outgrowth of research in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The Energy Execs traveled by bus from Denver to Lamar, in the southeast corner of Colorado, to meet with economic-development and community leaders and see one of the largest wind farms in the nation. They then rode on to Greensburg, Kansas, site of a devastating 2007 tornado — and now site of the most LEED Platinum energy-efficient buildings per capita of any town or city in the world.

"To see them embrace these technologies, to bring their care for the land and their conservation values to the newest technologies … that's pretty impressive," said Charles Allison, Jr., an associate professor in finance, energy policy, and sustainability management at the New School in New York City. "Understanding who they are goes a long way toward knowing how to integrate energy efficiency into their towns."

Old Windmills and New Wind Turbines

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Bob Emick, center, with back to camera, speaks to the Energy Execs at his ranch in Lamar, Colorado. The ranch hosts a wind farm with 98 1.5-megawatt wind turbines, powerful enough to provide electricity to tens of thousands of households. Bob's son Greg, at the right, wearing a cowboy hat, told the group that the turbines provide the family with a steady income.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

In Lamar, the Energy Execs visited the Emick family ranch, where 98 1.5-megawatt wind turbines rotate at speeds of up to 24 rotations a minute, bringing electricity to tens of thousands of homes — and where in the blazing sun, cows find shade in the turbines' shadows. It's part of a 150-turbine wind farm that spreads from Prowers County to Bent County to the east.

"NREL approached my dad and said they wanted to put up some meteorological towers to study the wind," rancher Greg Emick earlier told a gathering of the Energy Execs, the Prowers County Economic Development organization and other policymakers from Prowers and surrounding counties. "They spent five years studying the wind, and they found that we had a really good wind resource here."

Xcel Energy got interested, and in 2003, during a six-month span of busy construction, the Colorado Green Wind Power Project built 98 turbines on Emick's land, with another 10 on nearby property. In addition to the Colorado Green Project, Lamar Light & Power generates electricity from their own two turbines.

The wind farm gives the Emick family a steady income and adds $400,000 a year to Prowers County's coffers. That "may seem insignificant, but down here that is very significant," said County Commissioner Gene Millbrand. During construction, there were 250 jobs; now there are about 20 well-paying jobs. "I don't know how our county could have survived this recession had it not been for the stimulus and the revenue we get from this wind farm."

Emick and Millbrand said there was near-universal agreement among residents that wind energy would be a good thing. Why? Well, there are the jobs and the tax revenue, and besides, said Emick, "It beats ranching."

The tour of the Emick farm provided an unexpected historic perspective when family patriarch Bob Emick presented his barn containing dozens of antique but freshly painted windmills, each a work of art in itself, adorned with the finest in 19th-century script. Another 40 of Bob Emick's windmills are on display at the American Wind Power Center in Lubbock, Texas.

"I just can't get over the irony of Mr. Emick being into those windmills, collecting them for 30 years, and the serendipity of having 98 wind turbines put on his land," said David Warner of NREL. "His own hobby and interest played out for him and his family in a very big way."

Town Embraces Its Values to Rebuild

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Energy Execs visit the barn where Bob Emick keeps his collection of vintage windmills near Lamar, Colorado. Participants said it was a pleasing irony that a rancher who has one of the nation's best collections of ancient windmills now hosts 98 modern wind turbines on his acreage.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

Then it was on to Kansas.

Greensburg, Kansas, is about 100 miles west of Wichita, in Tornado Alley — no more so than the evening of May 4, 2007, when an EF-5 twister smashed into town, destroying 95% of the structures.

It was just one more slowly dying rural Kansas town until then, its chief attraction the Big Well, the largest hand-dug well in the nation, said Superintendent of Schools Darin Headrick.

The destruction was too much for some, who relocated, dropping Greensburg's population from about 1,400 to fewer than 1,000. But those who remained were steadfast.

At the first post-tornado town meeting a week later — attended by 500 people — a proposal to turn the town into a sustainable, tornado-safe paragon of clean energy caught fire.

As part of a DOE rebuilding team, NREL scientists, including Shanti Pless, came to town to advise on energy efficiency and the prospects for wind energy. Residents said yes to the grand vision, even though it meant months-long delays in getting back into permanent housing in the town.

At a meeting with town leaders and Energy Execs, Daniel Wallach, executive director of the nonprofit Greensburg GreenTown, said: "After this disaster, it would have been easy to say 'let's fold this whole town up.' But if we were going to survive and be a player and bring business here, we had to do this."

"Our ancestors were the original recyclers," Greensburg Mayor Bob Dixson said. "They farmed, they ranched, they didn't waste. It was so much in their nature, and it's so much common sense. Why import energy when we have abundant solar and wind resources?"

Today, Greensburg has nine LEED Platinum buildings, including the K-12 school, the city hall, the county hospital, and the biggest employer in town, the John Deere dealership. Each uses half or less of the energy of a standard building of its type. The Deere building employs skylights and natural daylight, captures and recycles water, uses geothermal heating, and draws power from its own wind turbine.

"It takes a lot of courage, when you've lost everything you had, to not just want to get back to a sense of normalcy, but to wait and do it right," Greensburg City Administrator Ed Truelove said.

Energy Execs Inspired to Take Action, Collaborate, Innovate

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Wind turbines power the Best Western Hotel in Greensburg, Kansas. Greensburg rebuilt after a devastating 2007 tornado and now has nine LEED Platinum buildings, each using half or less of the energy of standard building of its type. The LEED Platinum buildings include the K-12 school, the city hall, the county hospital, and the biggest employer in town, the John Deere dealership.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

On the ride back to Denver, the Energy Execs reflected on what they had learned and how they can bring clean energy to their workplaces.

Raimone Roberts, an executive with a large construction company, wants to help rebuild inner-city Detroit, one energy-efficient block at a time. "I learned that simple systems can work very well, and that you need to be very clear about the vision, about showing how the project reflects community values," Roberts said. "They inspired me to not be afraid to ask questions, no matter how ludicrous, because if you ask enough questions you come up with innovations that can lead to great change."

Manisha Patel, deputy assistant director for regulatory policy at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said: "We no longer have to change the way people think about renewable energy. The mental change has happened. What isn't there is an infrastructure that will allow renewables to truly penetrate into our delivery system around the country."

"I was awestruck by the human ingenuity and the perseverance of the human spirit, how driven people can be," Patel said. "The things I've seen make me personally want to be a better person. I'm going back and sharing these stories. I'm energized, and I want to do things."

"When you hear about American spirit and innovation, it is often just rhetoric. This trip showed me that it isn't just rhetoric. It can be real."

Keith Hay of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission said visiting Greensburg convinced him to be more ambitious with his clean energy project. "How do we take energy efficiency from the status quo to deepening it, taking it to the next level? I want to help the commission figure out how we move to more integrated solutions."

Finding Sustainability Fans Everywhere

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Kiowa County Memorial Hospital administrator Mary Sweet, front, leads the Energy Execs on a tour of the LEED Platinum hospital in Greensburg, Kansas. Today, Greensburg is the world leader in LEED Platinum buildings per capita.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

Patrick Hamel of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will redouble his efforts to win approval for a rooftop solar project for the Argo Mine in Idaho Springs, which would cut energy use by 40%. "I saw a sign in the new school that stuck with me" when touring Greensburg's new K-12 school, Hamel said. "'Your beliefs don't make you a better person, but your actions do.'"

Carol Dollard, an energy engineer at Colorado State University (CSU) who wants to build a small wind farm at a CSU cattle research center on the Eastern Plains, was impressed by "the whole green building thing in Greensburg.

"Did I see anything I hadn't seen before? No. But they just got it. They weren't content with one LEED building that could be financed with government help. They have the mentality that you should do it right every time.

"The most remarkable thing for me was the human ingenuity," said Dollard, who lives in a neighborhood recently devastated by the High Park wildfire. "It started with individuals and spread. They wanted to do what was right for them, but also what was right for their community and for the future."

Karen Hancock joined the field trip after the theater shootings in her city, Aurora, Colorado. "I had to ask, 'Aren't you just traumatized by what happened to you?'"

Greensburg residents said they did experience trauma, and some are still feeling it, Hancock said. "But they said the rebuilding of the town was a kind of green therapy that took them away from their problems. They were able to make their community better and their personal lives better out of a tragic event."

Dick Hemmingsen, director of renewable energy initiatives at the University of Minnesota, said the can-do spirit of the people in Lamar and Greensburg — and their embrace of conservation — reminded him of his own great-grandparents, who built sod huts with green roofs, using the warmth of the earth to survive.

"It's just another way to get back to the future," Hemmingsen said. "It's an inspiration to see people rolling up their sleeves to get things done that have to be done."

Learn more about Greensburg's recovery.

— Bill Scanlon

Posted originally by NREL. Please follow us on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook!

NREL: 35 Years of Clean Energy Leadership

2012-09-27T16:34:00.000-04:00

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

NREL Newsroom

NREL: 35 Years of Clean Energy Leadership

Thirty-five years ago, when President Jimmy Carter opened the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) in Golden, Colorado, gasoline cost 62 cents a gallon, and solar power about $100 a watt.

Now, in the summer of 2012, the price of gasoline at the pump is $3.89 per gallon, the installed cost of solar power about $4 a watt.

That's a six-fold increase in the cost of gasoline, and a 95% reduction in the cost of solar. And with solar and wind energy growing by about 35% a year, and biofuels burgeoning, the laboratory in Golden is more vital than ever.

After 14 years as a solar institute, SERI achieved national lab status in 1991 under President George H. W. Bush. SERI became NREL, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

35 Years of Innovations, Breakthroughs, Discoveries

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NREL's 327-acre main campus got an infrastructure boost in 2006 and 2007 when projects in the pipeline were accelerated. On the right, beyond the solar panels, is the Research Support Facility, recently tagged as the top net-zero energy building in the world.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

What a 35 years it's been.

From its start on July 5, 1977, to today, NREL has pushed the boundaries of what's possible, leading the way to a clean energy future.

Wind turbines have grown from farmhouse curiosities to multi-megawatt behemoths.

NREL scientists inaugurated the era of the super-efficient multi-junction solar cell and combined those cells with lenses that concentrate the sun's rays by 500 times to multiply the power of photovoltaics.

The laboratory worked with industrial partners to lower the price of enzymes used to refine alternative biofuels by 97%.

And NREL scientists found ways to get two electrons from a photon of light; discovered a cost-effective way to virtually eliminate wasteful reflection off a solar cell; helped engineer an economic way to place transparent solar cells in window glass; engineered ways to get biofuels and hydrogen from algae; mapped renewable energy resources in dozens of countries; came up with new standards for aerodynamic wind turbines and concentrating solar power; and set the bar higher for sustainable buildings.

NREL researchers have won 52 R&D 100 awards — the "Oscars of Invention." That places NREL among the top national labs in R&D 100 awards per employee. Just this year, NREL won two: one for the highest-efficiency solar cell, and another for a revolutionary new type of air conditioning that uses 75% less energy than typical systems and can work in any climate.

From Rented Space to the Laboratory of the Future

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NREL's National Wind Technology Center hosts giant turbines, which manufacturers throughout the world bring to the site for testing and certification.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

From its origins in rented office space, NREL has expanded to a 327-acre campus that is a model for what a sustainable, green office park can look like.

"When I bring visitors on the site, I often tell them that when I came to SERI, this site was 300 acres of nothing but sage brush and rattlesnakes," said Stan Bull, NREL's former associate director for Science and Technology. "But look at it now."

Today, the NREL campus is a living model of sustainability, hosting hundreds of architects, planners, and lawmakers each year, along with a multitude of scientists from around the world.

It wasn't always so.

"The people who joined SERI early, who suffered through the great swings of support and inattention in the 1980s, were like monks in a monastery keeping the candle of hope and dedication burning while nobody else cared," said Art Nozik, an NREL senior research fellow emeritus whose breakthroughs on singlet fission opened the door to greater solar cell efficiency. "Today, when the awareness and importance of our mission is understood and appreciated by a large fraction of the world's population, we can be confident that we can move forward at an accelerated rate to help our society and planet to survive and flourish."

Ron Judkoff arrived in 1978, as the organization's first building energy efficiency scientist. "Back then, we were all in rented space, and when NREL built its first major building on campus, the Field Test Laboratory Building, no one thought to invite our small group of building energy efficiency scientists and engineers into the process," recalled Judkoff, who is now NREL's principal program manager for building energy research. "In fact, most of the staff and management probably thought the term 'building science' was an oxymoron."

Last month, Construction Digital, a monthly online magazine, named NREL's Research Support Facility (RSF) — a 326,000-square-foot building housing 1,300 employees — the top net-zero energy building in the world. "Net zero" means the building uses no more fossil-fuel-based energy in a year than it makes up for in on-site renewable energy. In all, the RSF has received more than 30 awards for sustainable design and construction.

Now, with several buildings that have achieved lofty LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) status, the technologies developed by NREL and its industrial partners are found on the campus and in the world market. The "SolarWall" transpired collector, light louvers, electrochromic and thermochromic windows, thermal storage walls, and NREL's Open Studio software tools that simplify optimal energy design, are getting friendly receptions in the marketplace.

"I expect the awards to keep coming, and our campus to serve as a shining example of energy efficiency throughout the world for many years to come," Judkoff said.

Origins Traced to 1970s Oil Embargo

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The sun hits the commemorative medallion on the floor of NREL's Science and Technology Facility (S&TF) at solar noon on July 5, 2012. The medallion was placed in the S&TF in 2006 to commemorate the anniversary of the lab in 1977, and the day in 1991 when President George H.W. Bush elevated the institute to National Lab Status.
Photo by Dennis Schroeder / NREL

SERI was approved by Congress and championed by President Carter in large part because of the oil embargo that pushed the price of gasoline from about 36 cents a gallon in 1972 to 62 cents in 1977.

From a focus on solar energy, NREL has grown to also include cutting-edge breakthrough research in wind, biofuels, energy efficiency, transportation, and geothermal energy.

Walt Musial was hired in 1988 as a testing engineer at a time when many of the U.S. wind power companies were going bankrupt because of canceled tax credits.

"The industry was moving to Europe, and NREL's National Wind Technology Center [NWTC] was one of the last safe havens where good-quality research was being done to explore big problems still facing the technology," Musial recalled.

NREL's wind center became the go-to site for companies, both foreign and domestic, to test their turbines and blades in the wind blowing down from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and in the NWTC's dynamometer.

Not Just a Research Lab, but a Factor in the Marketplace

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Two scientists work on a project to enhance the efficiency of thin-film solar cells at NREL's Process Development and Integration Laboratory, which helps private companies boost the performance of their cells and modules.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

In its early years, SERI/NREL was a research lab that didn't involve itself in the realities of the marketplace. That changed in the early 1990s as NREL reached out to industry to help turn science into technology, working with the private sector to ramp up and bring renewable energy and energy efficiency to market.

Many of today's top solar companies percolated their ideas in the DOE Incubator program run at NREL.

NREL has been issued 262 patents and has agreements with 305 industry partners, 64 universities, and 33 not-for-profit organizations. It currently has 116 Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) with industry.

An International Reach; a Helping Hand in Disasters

NREL's reach spreads across five continents — from wind and solar studies in Indonesia to biofuel-powered vehicles in Antarctica.

NREL's Roger Taylor and Dick DeBlasio recall that in the wake of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, they implemented the first stage of what later became a Brazilian national program to deploy solar and small wind power systems in communities without electricity in rural Brazil. "Luz para Todus" (Light for All) became a multi-year rural electrification program after the installation of more than 100 lighting, water pumping, and health clinic systems. "Our work in Brazil was very rewarding and fun," said DeBlasio, a chief engineer. "I started here in May of 1978, but it seems like yesterday."

NREL scientists and engineers have helped rebuild communities devastated by hurricanes, floods and tornadoes — showing how to bring sustainable energy and architecture to cities and towns, from tornado-ravaged Greensburg, Kansas, to New Orleans, flooded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Renewable Energy's Growth Has Exploded

In the 35 years that NREL has led the way to a clean energy future, renewable energy has exploded:

Installed renewable energy tripled between 2000 and 2009 in the United States and globally.
While renewable energy comprised 2% of all new electrical capacity installations in the United States in 2002, by 2009 renewable energy comprised 55% of all new installations.
Installed wind energy capacity increased by a factor of 14 between 2000 and 2009 in the United States.
The weighted average price of wind power in the United States fell to 4.4 cents per kilowatt hour, making it cost competitive with fossil fuels.
The United States leads the world in wind energy capacity at more than 35 gigawatts.

Just in the past decade, solar energy generation quadrupled in the United States. The annual growth rate of installed solar photovoltaic electricity capacity was 39%, while wind energy capacity grew by 34% a year.

Bull recalls the early days as "a mixture of wild-eyed hopes and utter disappointment," as the lab at first grew rapidly, then "declined precipitously overnight" when half the staff was laid off. Now, more than 2,000 people are employed at NREL.

"SERI/NREL has been and I think always will be a special place because the staffers have such a deep-seated dedication and commitment to the vision and mission," Bull said. "Just the name NREL is an incredible 'door opener' both nationally and internationally. It's almost frightening at times the impact the name alone has on acceptance in the world of energy."

Learn more about NREL's 35 years of innovation.

— Bill Scanlon

Posted originally by NREL. Please follow us on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook!

Thermal Scout Finds Trouble at Solar Plants

2012-09-25T10:31:00.000-04:00

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

NREL Newsroom

Thermal Scout Finds Trouble at Solar Plants

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At SkyFuel Inc.'s testing facility in Arvada, Colorado, NREL Engineer Allison Gray drives a pickup truck equipped with Thermal Scout, a device that teams a GPS unit on the roof with an infrared camera in the pickup bed. NREL colleague Benjamin Ihas checks the readings on a laptop to the right of the driver's seat.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

At a 20-megawatt concentrating solar power (CSP) plant, some 10,000 mirrors reflect sunlight onto 10,000 receiver tubes, each of which must operate efficiently to get the maximum impact from the sun.

Yet, operators don't have a good sense for which among the 10,000 tubes may have an air leak, or a hydrogen leak, or have been shattered by a flung rock. The best they can do is look at the entire output and roughly guess that if the plant seems to be operating, say, 4% under capacity, it may have about 400 bad tubes.

The only alternative is to laboriously check each tube by hand, an odyssey that can take months.

Now, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has available for license a device called Thermal Scout that can identify and analyze bad receiver tubes as fast as a car or truck can rumble down the rows of mirrors at a CSP plant.

Thermal Scout combines a global positioning system (GPS) on the roof of a car, an infrared camera in the back seat, and some sophisticated software that tracks and analyzes in real time. All the driver has to do is push a couple of buttons, then drive in a very straight line down the rows while Thermal Scout does all the rest of the work.

For the 40 multi-megawatt CSP plants in the world today — and the 28 new ones slated to be built by 2014 —Thermal Scout could mean turning a months-long task into a two-day sprint.

Need for Rapid Detection Device Spurred Invention

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The infrared camera used in Thermal Scout can identify and analyze bad receiver tubes at the speed at which a truck can rumble down the rows of mirrors at a CSP plant.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

NREL Senior Engineer Tim Wendelin started working on the concept a decade ago when leaders in the parabolic trough industry explained to him the importance of being able to characterize the performance of their receivers in the field.

Wendelin combined an infrared camera with a precise GPS unit and software to produce a device that provided shortcuts to the old, labor-intensive method of checking each tube manually. But it was still cumbersome.

He credits his NREL colleagues Allison Gray and Benjamin Ihas with bringing real-time analytics and user-friendliness to the device, which they dubbed "Thermal Scout" in 2011.

"They brought it into the 21st century," Wendelin said. "Now, it is so smooth and easy to use."

At a CSP plant, the sun strikes mirrors that heat up a fluid that turns water into steam to turn turbines that generate electricity for homes and buildings. The heating fluid is enclosed in a black-coated stainless-steel tube — the receiver. The receiver is surrounded by a glass tube and a vacuum that minimizes thermal loss. The infrared camera in Thermal Scout focuses on that glass tube.

The GPS device ensures that even with slowdowns or potholes, the camera captures the image of that glass tube as the vehicle wheels down the row of receivers.

The tube-shaped receivers are typically about 4 meters — or 13 feet — long and about 70 millimeters — or 3 inches — wide. In a typical CSP plant, there might be 100 receivers in a row, and some 100 or 200 rows.

"The beauty of Thermal Scout is that it's used in a consistent geometry," Wendelin said. "The receivers are all in rows, and it can snap a shot of each one of them."

Receivers are designed to last for decades, but something as simple as a rock sent flying by a passing vehicle can compromise the tubes and let in outside air. Or, the thermal fluid that passes through the tube can degrade over time, causing a buildup of hydrogen between the steel tube and the glass. Earlier generations of receivers weren't built quite as well and may have shorter lifetimes compared to today's receivers.

Thermal Scout is User-Friendly

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NREL Senior Engineer Tim Wendelin, right, started working on the concept of Thermal Scout a decade ago to try to characterize the performance of the receivers in a CSP plant. NREL engineers Benjamin Ihas, left, and Allison Gray, center, enhanced the concept and made it user friendly.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

Thermal Scout users start with NREL-developed software that asks them to define the row geometry and specify the number of rows, something they only need to do once. Users also need to input the temperature of the fluid as it enters a row of receivers and its (higher) temperature when it reaches the end of the row.

Armed with that information, the infrared camera — with the help of the GPS — knows when to snap to capture thermal images of each receiver.

The GPS device is on top of the car, the infrared camera mounted on a tripod in the back seat.

The driver clicks "Start Test," the software fine-tunes the camera to get the right focus, and the driver starts moving.

Thermal Scout can operate well at 25 mph, but most plants have a 10-mph speed limit to keep road dust from landing on the mirrors or receivers.

If a passenger is interested, he or she can watch a video on the left side of the screen and still images on the right. At the bottom is a real-time plot of the average of the peak temperatures.

"The software will find the highest peak temperature, which in our case is always the receiver tube," Ihas said. "It can take 100 slices and run a statistical analysis to make sure there are no strange artifacts giving a false reading."

For example, if the camera captures a metal joint or the sun's reflection on the bottom of the tube, eliciting a temperature way above the norm, that anomaly is filtered out of the equation.

Later, when plant operators analyze the data, they can see, for example, that receiver 35 in row 12 showed some higher temperatures. They can retrieve the images from that specific receiver and verify — or not — that the tube is indeed malfunctioning or running a little warmer.

Device Helps Operators Determine When to Replace Receivers

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Thermal Scout's data acquisition interface. The left screen is a video image with the mirrors in blue and the tube in lighter blue. On the right is a still shot with the tube in orange. Below, a series of dots shows which tubes are at an elevated temperature. Data can be read in real time or saved to be analyzed later.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

The latest enhancement of Thermal Scout is built-in data analysis, which has been streamlined and made intuitive for users.

Click for a row report in Thermal Scout, and a Web page is generated that can be shared with anyone at the plant. Click to "acquire one image," and that image can be examined in detail, now or later.

Another click, and a complete data analysis for a row, a series of rows, or the entire plant appears on the screen.

"Thermal Scout can very quickly identify a hot receiver, including the row, the number, the glass temperature, and where to find it," Ihas said.

Every line of pixels is a line of data, Gray, an NREL engineer, noted. And NREL can help troubleshoot problems remotely.

Of course, it's up to plant operators to decide when to replace the problematic receivers — when a few are bad, or when dozens or hundreds are bad. A row of receivers can be shut down overnight, and a few replaced by the time the sun rises the next morning. Still, it's a laborious job, so the plant uses its own discretion on what failure rate warrants replacement of receivers.

A recent test of a five-year-old plant found that about 5% of the receivers were performing poorly or starting to waver, Ihas said.

"Thermal Scout would likely be used every two years or so at a large CSP plant, unless something happened to the output that warranted more frequent checks," Gray said.

"There's probably a threshold where they would say, 'We need to address this; we need to replace some receivers,'" Wendelin added.

Florida Power and Light, which installed early-generation CSP receivers, used an early version of Thermal Scout several years ago to quickly assess their tubes and determined that it made the most fiscal sense to replace them all. "They never would have been able to make that determination without Thermal Scout," Wendelin said.

Learn more about NREL's concentrating solar power research.

—Bill Scanlon

Posted originally by NREL. Please follow us on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook!

NREL Helps PV Industry Make Panels Last

2012-09-20T14:30:00.000-04:00

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

NREL Newsroom

NREL Helps PV Industry Make Panels Last

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Working in his lab at the NREL Outdoor Test Facility, NREL scientist Michael Kempe measures the "creep" of the top and bottom glass of a solar module, testing the encapsulant and demonstrating how enough stress can produce a spectacular failure.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

During 30 years on a rooftop, a solar panel gets bombarded by UV rays, soaked by rain, buffeted by wind, pounded by hail.

How well it stands up to that beating is a crucial factor in setting the warranties of solar modules — and in convincing the public that solar energy can be counted on like the sun rising in the east.

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) plays a crucial role in improving the reliability of the photovoltaic (PV) panels that are being installed on rooftops in record numbers.

NREL helps set standards for reliability and serves as a neutral third party in tests of manufacturers' new solders, edge seals, and glues. At its Golden, Colorado, campus, NREL subjects solar panels to heat, humidity, and mechanical stress to simulate conditions in Denver, Phoenix, the Philippines, and elsewhere.

In March, leading scientists and engineers in the industry gathered at NREL for the PV Module Reliability Workshop. The workshop encouraged a frank discussion of reliability problems that can plague solar power companies.

What standards are needed for the glue in the edges that seal a panel's top and bottom? How does weather affect cracking? What can be done to prevent one glass panel from creeping away from the other?

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NREL scientist Michael Kempe holds PV samples he is exposing to a saturated salt solution to control humidity. The samples are being tested for possible failures.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

NREL Stresses Edge Seals to Predict Failure

Solar modules must be sealed to keep out moisture — and that's why edge seals are so crucial.

NREL scientist Michael Kempe exposes edge seals to different configurations and environments using Atlas Weather-Ometers.

On what looks like a whirling see-through geodesic dome — albeit just two feet in diameter — NREL scientists attach matchbook-sized samples that simulate the construction of PV modules to determine at what combination of UV radiation, high temperature, high humidity, and mechanical stress those samples can fail.

It's important that manufacturers not just check for single stresses. By demonstrating that a combination of two or three factors can cause a failure, NREL is helping manufacturers prepare for the worst.

"We help manufacturers to know what kind of stress to put on their samples to determine if Sample A is better than Sample B," Kempe said. "Every tiny detail, every aspect of these things has to be examined."

A typical 12-millimeter-wide edge seal should keep out moisture anywhere in the world — from Salt Lake City to Bangkok — if it maintains a good adhesion, Kempe said. And the cost is between $1 and $2 a module, whether it is a tape-style edge seal or a hot-melt extrusion.

For humidity tests, NREL uses a vacuum oven to expose samples to controlled relative humidity using saturated salt solutions: lithium chloride for low humidity; magnesium chloride for 25% to 31% humidity; sodium nitrates for higher humidity.

Testing Leads to Good News on Panel Creep

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NREL scientist Michael Kempe holds PV samples he is testing for edge seals in an Atlas CI 4000 Xenon Weather-Ometer. The machine is used to give mechanical, light, heat, and humidity stress to PV samples.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

NREL has been able to share good news with the industry.

In the case of "creep," NREL's sophisticated tests showed that the problem isn't as big as was feared.

In a solar module, two pieces of glass are adhered together with a plastic encapsulant that may be solid at one temperature but flow — or "creep" — at another temperature. If it flows during the expected lifetime of a solar module, solar panel components can be displaced, and that can cause a short, break electrical connections, or even cause fires.

The stakes are high: a one-centimeter creep can expose live wires to the elements, and that can cause arcing or other serious safety problems.

NREL's tests found that most encapsulants used today or proposed for future use do a very good job of preventing creep. But showing that failure is possible keeps manufacturers from becoming complacent.

Last summer, Kempe and his colleagues used eight different encapsulants from six manufacturers to assemble several mock and actual solar modules. The scientists then evaluated them side by side in an objective manner, and in a way that uncovered strengths and weaknesses of the various encapsulants without pointing fingers at individual companies. The industry's trust in NREL made the tests possible. "They were able to participate without the fear of being singled out," Kempe said.

The researchers put insulating materials on the test modules and deployed them in Arizona so they would reach the highest temperatures (104°C) that are likely in the field.

The only material that crept significantly in the outdoor experiments was one that was intentionally formulated improperly so that it would still melt at moderate temperatures.

"All the other plastic materials that people in the industry were considering for encapsulation were essentially OK outdoors," Kempe said. "It would only be under very extreme circumstances that you might have a problem. The standards community realized that this stumbling block was not nearly as big an issue as was suspected."

Stress, Temperature Tests Help Prevent Cell Overheating

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Shown here is a close-up of the inside of an Atlas CI 4000 Xenon Weather-Ometer used to test small samples of solar panels. NREL scientists apply temperature, humidity, and mechanical stress to the samples to show industry how they can fail.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

NREL also works on the problem of concentrating PV cells overheating in a module. Concentrating PV uses lenses to focus more sunlight on a solar cell. The solder or epoxy that adheres the panel's glass and edges will fatigue with time because of temperature changes that happen with the weather, NREL scientist Nick Bosco said. When the attachment goes bad, heat can't escape, and the cell overheats.

NREL uses high-frequency weather data to model the changes in cell temperature for Houston, Los Angeles, Albuquerque … wherever a company wants a climate test. The data are publicly available.

The most damaging locales are those with high temperatures and partly cloudy skies. The frequent temperature changes when clouds pass by can cause extra stress. "In Golden, Colorado [site of NREL's main campus], where we get hot mornings and then clouds roll in every afternoon, that can be more damaging than in Phoenix where you don't have many clouds," Bosco said. "We're early in the process, but we're seeing easily a 20% to 40% difference between certain locations."

To test the effect of temperature cycles on the modules, NREL uses various solders and epoxies to attach pieces of the panels, and then exposes them to different temperatures at varying intervals. Researchers test thermal cycling in indoor chambers and expose modules to outside conditions, comparing the results.

"We're interested in how cracks grow in the solder as the module goes through cycles," Bosco said. "Our instruments can image the cracks on a computer, analyze them, and measure their size. We'll do that periodically, then put the module back in the chamber, do more cycles, then measure the growth rate of the cracks as a function of the number of cycles."

Bosco is working on models and experiments to determine the amount of damage the attachment will accumulate. The goal is for the indoor test chamber to accurately reflect outdoor conditions.

"The amount of damage the attachment accumulates is different for every city, and we're hoping to model that," Bosco said. "We're hoping to be able to make real-life predictions based on location." So many cycles in the chamber is equal to so many years outside. "So, a company might expect similar crack growth after so many years."

The challenge for industry is to design solar modules that are very durable and reliable, yet not overly expensive. NREL scientists and their industry counterparts agree they can meet that challenge.

"They're looking for a route to a less expensive design and architecture of a cell assembly," Bosco said. NREL is able to figure out why a solution works, not just that it does work. It can report that a change in design or materials has this or that consequence in reliability. And NREL shares that knowledge with the industry to help the technology move forward.

NREL scientists and their industry partners have learned that an accelerated test will mean different things in different locations — and that the material and architecture of the design can influence reliability dramatically. "You can certainly have an expensive bad design," Bosco said. And, of course, a good product that is incorrectly installed can fail.

As tempting as it is to accelerate the testing so that new, presumably better products can get to market sooner, testing experts know that validating a product for 20 or 30 years of useful life is complicated without comparisons to real-life durability.

So, NREL and the industry keep a poultry analogy in mind. "When you're trying to hatch an egg, you give it 25 days at about 40°C, and you get a chicken," Kempe said. "If you try to accelerate the time by accelerating the temperature, you get a boiled egg."

The results of NREL's testing will provide the technical basis for changes to reliability standards.

Today, the standards aren't robust enough to predict the overall longevity of solar panels. NREL, the PV industry, and the attendees of the PV Reliability Workshop are working toward the day when tests and standards can determine the lifetime reliability of a module.

"What can come out of this is a graded test sequence," Bosco said. "If you pass, say, Level A, it means the module is good for a lifetime in these certain locations. A stricter Level B certification will provide a similar lifetime warranty in more damaging locations."

Learn more about NREL's PV performance and reliability testing.

—Bill Scanlon

Posted originally by NREL. Please follow us on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook!

Sci-Fi No Longer, NREL Engineers Smart Homes

2012-09-18T09:28:00.000-04:00

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

NREL Newsroom

Sci-Fi No Longer, NREL Engineers Smart Homes

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NREL engineers Dane Christensen and Bethany Sparn test advanced power strips at NREL's Automated Home Energy Management Laboratory. The lab enables researchers to study the complex interactions of appliances and other devices in connection to the energy grid.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

Thanks to TV shows such as The Jetsons and Star Trek, many Americans grew up dreaming that homes of the future would be equipped with fantastic high-tech features. From automatic food dispensers to sliding doors, to Rosie the Robot doing the household chores, the imagined homes of the future seemed to be driven by an unlimited supply of energy.

Research engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have a different vision for the home of the future. The team is working on a "smart" home that will communicate with the electricity grid to know when power is cheap, tell appliances when to turn on or off, and even know when renewable energy resources are available to offset peak demand.

NREL is leveraging two laboratories to make its dream home a reality — the soon-to-be-built Smart Power Laboratory, which is part of the new Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF), and the Automated Home Energy Management Laboratory.

Smart Power for the Next Generation

NREL's 5,300-square-foot Smart Power Laboratory will focus on two key areas: the development and testing of power electronics systems and controls, and the implementation of newer control approaches for smart energy management devices and systems. The lab will feature three power electronics test bays with sound abatement walls and a 96-square-foot walk-in fume hood for testing early prototype systems that have a higher risk of failure. There will also be four smart grid test bays capable of testing a variety of household appliances and systems.

"A part of our research in the Smart Power Laboratory will focus on the integration of distributed energy resources using power electronics; we want to develop a new generation of power electronics systems that will provide advanced functionalities to consumers and utilities, and lead to more efficient integration of renewable energy into the smarter electric grid," NREL Senior Research Engineer Sudipta Chakraborty said. "The present work being done at NREL is on a smaller scale because we are constrained by the size and infrastructure of our current lab. The lab in ESIF will greatly enhance our ability to develop and test bigger power electronics systems."

The Smart Power Laboratory will allow NREL to perform equipment testing for industry. For example, if a manufacturer builds a new inverter, it can be tested and validated at NREL before the manufacturer takes the system for certification. This will greatly reduce the risk of failure for the manufacturer during the certification testing.

"We've found that a large number of manufacturers don't have all of the necessary equipment to do the required testing — like having a grid simulator to see how their inverter behaves if there is a disturbance in the grid frequency," Chakraborty said. "ESIF will have equipment that can test this type of power electronics system, and thanks to our large grid simulators, load banks, and DC sources, connected through the Research Electrical Distribution Bus (REDB), we can be a test bed for even bigger inverters — which is the current trend in the market."

In addition to the power electronics research, the Smart Power Laboratory's smart grid test bays will be used to develop newer grid-monitoring equipment and to test smart appliances and home automation, energy management, and heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. The hardware-in-the-loop system and the capability of real-time control of the megawatt-scale power equipment will enable NREL to simulate integrated system responses such as household loads and generation as seen by the utility, and will ultimately lead to the development of better energy management algorithms.

"People are really looking at the whole integration of these energy systems," Chakraborty said. "At the residential level, you'll have your house with a photovoltaic system on the roof, with smart appliances inside, and we'll look at the data to see how those systems work together. The utility companies are interested in seeing how they can control those appliances to offset loads and make the peak power demands more stable. To do that, all of these pieces have to work together, which they don't do today."

The Home of the Future

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NREL engineers Sudipta Chakraborty and Bill Kramer examine the design of the power block at an NREL lab. Along with an industrial partner, NREL engineers have developed the power block for renewable and distributed energy applications.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

To help figure out how those pieces must work together inside a home, NREL has built the Automated Home Energy Management (AHEM) Laboratory as part of NREL's advanced residential buildings research.

We are very cognizant of the fact that every home is part of a larger energy system," NREL Senior Engineer Dane Christensen said. "We've modeled the AHEM Lab around a real home, with the same plugs, panels, and appliances. The idea is that eventually our appliances and homes are going to be able to 'talk' to the grid. We are trying to figure out how demands from the grid and the dynamics of residential energy can be coordinated."

NREL researchers have found that power is viewed differently from either side of the grid. The homeowner sees that power is always available, at a uniform cost, so there is little motivation to save power during high-demand times and then use power later when it is less constrained. Currently, it doesn't matter to homeowners if they use a clothes dryer while they bake a cake, watch TV, and have all the lights turned on in their house. But, for the grid, that kind of behavior has a huge impact, especially during summer months when air-conditioning is added to the demand mix. Today, utilities have no way to mitigate that power consumption; they simply have to generate and deliver more power.

"There has to be something in the home to receive communications about energy availability and use built-in intelligence to act on it — especially when people aren't home to do it," Christensen said. "Just like in cars, you have systems that will automatically brake for you, or protect you. In the home, the only thing automated right now is probably your thermostat."

According to Christensen, the goal is to have communications coming into the home from the utility that include pricing, requests to conserve energy, and rebates to homeowners who can act quickly to reduce power when needed. Conversely, the power company could also send a signal letting homes know that it is OK to go ahead and do laundry while cooking dinner, because there is more power available.

"We're working on building systems for homes that can take the information from the utility, along with input from the homeowner, and manage the home's energy to satisfy both the homeowner and the utility," Christensen added. "The homeowner will still be in control, with built-in overrides and the ability to change settings. But we also want to help the utility meet its needs and keep costs down, while maintaining comfort."

Making it Work for the Long Term

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The Automated Home Energy Management Laboratory, housed in the Thermal Test Facility on NREL's main campus, incorporates all major and minor residential energy loads into a robust test bed that supports the evaluation of any type of residential automation, sensor, or energy management product in a realistic context.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

Home energy management is a critical area for the DOE Building America program to reach its long-term goals of at least 50 percent energy savings for new construction and 40 percent savings over the minimum code for building retrofits.

Building America is the flagship program for residential research within the Building Technologies Program at DOE. The goal is to make energy efficiency cost effective for residential buildings; NREL is the technology lead and manager for the program.

"Work we did seven years ago is now being adopted into the current energy codes," Christensen said. "We are ahead of industry because it takes time for results of our research to make their way to the consumer. From where we sit right now, it looks like there is a big challenge in getting beyond the 50 percent energy savings for new home construction and 40 to 50 percent savings in retrofits, without home energy management technology in place.

"The technology created and tested at NREL's Smart Power Lab or Automated Home Energy Management Lab will enable those home-energy puzzle pieces to fall into place — helping people turn the lights off when nobody is at home, helping people adjust their thermostat when they are not at home, helping people understand that energy is expensive at a particular time of day so they can avoid running an energy-intensive appliance until power is less expensive — all of that helps save energy and costs across the board."

Learn more about the Energy Systems Integration Facility and NREL's Residential Buildings Research.

—Heather Lammers

Posted originally by NREL. Please follow us on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook!

Fast Cars and Science Thrill Colorado Students - NREL

2012-09-13T15:26:00.000-04:00

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

NREL Newsroom

Fast Cars and Science Thrill Colorado Students

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Yasmine Lamé, Naia Tenerowicz, and Grace Simpson of Woodlands Academy in Castle Rock celebrate winning first place in design for hydrogen fuel cell cars at NREL's Junior Solar Sprint, Hydrogen Fuel Cell, and Lithium Ion Battery car competitions, held at Dakota Ridge High School in Littleton, Colorado, on May 12, 2012.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

The buzz inside Dakota Ridge High School's gym on Saturday was palpable, the conversations ranging from whispers to shrieks.

Indy-500-style checkered flags, high-tech neoprene rubber tracks, and, of course, sponsor decals graced the site of the Junior Solar Sprint, Hydrogen Fuel Cell, and Lithium Ion Battery car competitions for Colorado middle schoolers.

Forty-five seconds before start time, seventh-grade boys raced to the repair table to solder metal parts together. Minutes after a time trial, eighth-grade girls had tweaked their designs and were ready for another heat, determined to shave a few seconds off their best time.

Parents smiled on the outside, butterflies churning on the inside. Coaches rounded up their teams; team members scattered to plot strategy or climb the wooden bleachers.

This wasn't your grandfather's mini-car race.

This was the 22nd annual electric car competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the DOE Office of Science, Rocky Mountain Bottled Water, the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, Jefferson County Schools, Dakota Ridge High School, and the DOE Golden Field Office.

And to win, place, or just see solid improvement meant the world to participants in 104 teams from 23 Colorado schools.

Long Hours, Tangible Rewards

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Austin Parks, left with hat, and Zach Schwarz, second from right, of Estes Park Middle School race in the hydrogen fuel cell division.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

Cradling her hydrogen-powered model car like it was a baby chick, Naia Tenerowicz, 13, beamed in delight Saturday afternoon.

Her team's car, "Tommy the Tesla," had just finished first in a time trial, and its shape, engineering, and overall cuteness made it a favorite for the design award.

"It's made out of floral foam, the stuff you stick fake flowers into," Naia, a student at Woodlands Academy in Castle Rock, said. "It's really powdery, and you can squish it into shape easily. We spray it with sealant and then with white and green spray paint. And by then it's elastic and rubbery and a lot tougher."

The hydrogen fuel cell cars must use the standard cell sold by Numeridian, as well as a provided motor, electrolyzer, and battery pack. The rest of the design — chassis, wheels, shape, etc. — is up to the teammates, but the finished car can't be more than 20 centimeters wide or 40 centimeters in length. And to win a speed trophy, it had better get down the 10-meter track in about five seconds.

The solar-powered cars must use one of two designated solar panels, must be less than a foot wide and two feet long, and must be ready to switch to AA batteries on a cloudy day — like Saturday. The cars race 20 meters down the neoprene track, hooked via eyelet to a taut guide wire to stay in a straight line.

Lithium-Ion Makes its Debut

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Todd Bramblett of Fitzsimmons Middle School in Bailey prepares his team's lithium-ion car "The Rage" during the final eliminations of the lithium-ion battery division of the competitions. Todd's team won first place.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

This was the first year for a third design — the lithium-ion battery. Competitors used batteries, motors, connectors, and chargers provided by Horizon Hobby. Their races were won or lost by how well a team designed the rest of the car and how ingeniously they designed the compartment to carry extra payload — a 20-ounce water bottle placed on the chassis to provide stabilizing weight.

The winners of the inaugural lithium-ion race were from Fitzsimmons Middle School in Bailey, with a car named "Rage," which blazed to the finish line in just a beat over five seconds.

"We don't really have a captain, but Todd is the bossiest," Fitzsimmons team member Jeffrey Brown said.

Todd Bramblett cheerfully agreed. "Last year we went for a straight triangle, but this year we had a contest for the design that was the fastest, and we went with this one," which looks like a Gothic knife handle, Todd said. "I guess it worked fine."

The team credits a decision to put wide rubber bands on the rear wheels for the extra traction that gave them the victory by a few hundredths of a second.

Todd ranks the win as his second-greatest life thrill, right behind the motocross time trials he won when he was younger.

Todd, Jeffrey, Brian Wismar, and Justin Boline said they're interested in football, baseball, and other sports, but that in the long run they can see future careers in engineering or physics. They worked three hours a week for several weeks on the car, which will soon find a permanent place in their school's trophy case.

Woodlands Academy had a day to remember. It finished one-two in the race for the fastest solar-powered car with "Speedy Mercury" and "Perry the Platypus."

Its "Bobby the Bottle Rocket" won a first-place trophy for design in the lithium ion category, based on technology, craftsmanship, and innovation. And "Tommy the Tesla," the car Naia Tenerowicz cradled like a baby chick, came in first in design for the hydrogen fuel cell cars.

Students Have Stars and Science in Their Eyes

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Grace Simpson and Yasmine Lamé of Woodlands Academy and Anahi Portillo and Isabella Ulibarri of Estes Park Middle School react during elimination races in the hydrogen fuel cell division.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

Naia, Grace Simpson, and Yasmine Lamé said they probably put in 100 hours on "Tommy."

Asked if this was their only interest, the trio laughed and said in unison, "We do everything."

"Legos, robotics, and all three of us were in theater," Yasmine said.

If they had to choose between an Academy Award for Best Actress and a Nobel Prize in Physics?

"Nobel Prize in Physics," Yasmine and Grace said without hesitation.

"Best Actress, I'm not going to lie," Naia said, laughing.

Wait 'Til Next Year

After the races and the awards, teams gathered their cars and their parts. Parents put arms on shoulders and said, "You'll do better next year," and "Are you kidding? You did great."

With the tracks rolled up and stored for the 2013 competitions, race starter David Ginley, a world-renowned scientist from NREL, took time to reflect.

"It was great. I think we're changing lives," Ginley, who has won five R&D 100 Awards for scientific innovation, said. "High school is sometimes too late; elementary school is too early. But right now, when they're in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, something like this can really provide a spark.

"I've been doing this long enough that I've seen kids who've participated in these races, gone on to get internships at NREL during college, then come back as post-docs, making a career of it," he said. "It's very gratifying."

Learn more about NREL's education programs.

— Bill Scanlon

Posted originally by NREL. Please follow us on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook!

NREL Narrows Energy Tech Emissions Estimates

2012-09-11T11:23:00.000-04:00

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

NREL Newsroom

NREL Narrows Energy Tech Emissions Estimates

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NREL Senior Scientist Garvin Heath works on data from the life cycle greenhouse-gas emissions study conducted by NREL's Strategic Energy Analysis Center.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

The question of which energy technologies generate the most greenhouse-gas emissions — cradle to grave — now has a more precise answer, thanks to a meta-analysis of life cycle assessment (LCA) studies done by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

The new, robust analysis weighed the emissions estimates per kilowatt-hour from raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, operation, and decommissioning to get the best apples-to-apples comparisons. Sure, during operation solar panels release virtually no emissions, versus the tons of greenhouse gas produced by a large coal plant. But what about the emissions generated from the manufacture of solar panels versus, say, the turbines required for coal- and wind-based energy?

NREL's LCA Harmonization Project gives decision-makers and investors more exact estimates of greenhouse-gas emissions for renewable and conventional generation, clarifying inconsistent and conflicting estimates in the published literature and reducing uncertainty.

The analysis found that from cradle to grave, coal-fired energy releases about 20 times as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere per kilowatt-hour as solar energy. Wind and nuclear energy are on relative par with solar energy. Natural gas generation wasn't included in the final analysis but is generally assumed to emit about half as much greenhouse gas per kilowatt-hour as coal.

What's more, the "study of studies" narrowed the huge ranges of estimates sometimes as much as 90 percent, presenting a more reliable look at the likely greenhouse-gas emissions from different technologies.

Decision-Makers Need Environmental Costs Before Giving Go-Ahead

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A multi-megawatt wind turbine and 1-megawatt PV field work together to produce energy at NREL's National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). The turbine can produce energy at night and on cloudy days, and the PV field can produce energy during days with no wind.
Credit: Dennis Schroeder

Lifetime greenhouse-gas emissions are an increasing concern for lawmakers and investors who must weigh the merits of a new coal-fired plant versus, say, a wind farm, and need to know not just the relative dollar costs but also the potential harm or benefits to the environment.

Until recently, emissions estimates ranged wildly, sometimes because vested interests had a stake in demonstrating that a certain technology's emissions were high or low. For instance, if decommissioning costs aren't included in a total-emissions estimate for nuclear energy or natural gas, those studies give artificially low figures.

NREL was seeing surprisingly high emissions numbers for concentrating solar power (CSP) plants, but deeper digging found that many studies combined the numbers from both CSP and natural gas when a utility used combustion of natural gas to supplement solar-energy generation. When the harmonization process allowed CSP emissions to stand on their own, the numbers plunged.

NREL looked at more than 2,000 studies across many generation technologies, applied quality controls, and greatly narrowed the range of estimates to reach reliable medians for greenhouse-gas emissions.

"This methodology allows you to arrive at a better precision, so you can say with more certainty that this is the benefit you get from using this technology rather than that technology," said NREL Senior Scientist Garvin Heath, who led the project. "Anyone who wants a true comparison of the greenhouse-gas costs should benefit from this."

Heath noted that today's decisions on new plants will still have ramifications decades from now. Owners and investors will need to know about greenhouse-gas emissions and their possible effect on the bottom line, while policy-makers need to know the long-term implications of greenhouse gas on climate.

Investors "need to be very forward looking," Heath said. A power plant is long lived, and its attributes and shortcomings are locked in for decades. That's why investors push for estimates of greenhouse-gas emissions before they invest.

President Obama's clean-energy standards require these estimates for each technology as a way to assign credits or discounts for building new plants. Credits, discounts, and the possible future price of carbon all figure heavily into decisions on which technology to choose.

"Analysts and decision-makers want a more robust sense or a narrower range of uncertainty to make the best decisions," Heath said. Until now, no one has tried to differentiate between low- and high-quality estimates in a comprehensive way.

Narrowing Estimates to a More Reliable Median

Heath, Technology Systems and Sustainability Analysis Group Manager Margaret Mann, and their colleagues at NREL's Strategic Energy Analysis Center discovered that there is no shortage of reports and studies estimating the greenhouse-gas emissions of various energy technologies — in fact, there are hundreds for each — but they vary greatly in quality, consistency, and validity.

Narrowing these ranges of estimates is like hooking together a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, or solving a devilish crossword.

Heath and his colleagues narrowed down the various studies to those meeting minimum thresholds for quality, relevance, and transparency. They looked upstream, making sure to include the materials that go into building a solar, wind, or coal plant. They examined in detail the emissions that occur when the plant is in operation. And they looked downstream: when a plant ceases to operate, what are the environmental costs of decommissioning it?

After harmonizing 397 LCA studies of greenhouse-gas emissions from photovoltaic (PV) projects, the study found a median of 45 grams of carbon dioxide emitted per kilowatt-hour of electricity generated. Just as important, the middle 50 percent of the range (75th minus 25th percentile) of differences narrowed — from 44–73 grams before the harmonization to 39–49 grams after the harmonization.

The 45-gram median for PV contrasts with a 1,001-gram median for coal.

Nuclear energy was found to have a large range even after harmonization reduced the published range by 50 percent, to 4–110 grams. The median harmonized estimate for nuclear is 12 grams, very similar to that of many renewable technologies.

Concentrated solar power's medians were 26 grams for parabolic trough plants and 38 grams for power towers. Thanks to harmonization, the variability in estimates for CSP was reduced by 91 percent.

Thin-film solar cell technology demonstrated very low greenhouse-gas emissions: a median of 20 grams for amorphous silicon; 14 for cadmium-telluride; and 26 for copper indium gallium diselenide, with overall ranges reduced from 19–95 grams to 18–52 grams equivalent carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour.

For wind, the harmonization study was able to narrow down the wide range of published estimates — 1.7–81 grams — to a harmonized range of 3–45 grams (a 47 percent reduction) and a more reliable median of 11 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour.

The Fine Art of Comparing Apples to Apples

Enlarge image

Greenhouse-gas emissions from coal-fired power plants, such as the Cherokee plant in Denver, Colorado, were compared to emissions from renewable generation in NREL's LCA Harmonization Project.
Credit: Warren Gretz

"We did a systematic review of the literature — not just peer-reviewed journals, but government reports, theses, reports from non-government organizations and private companies," Heath said. "We had to verify them all."

The team brought in experts from different disciplines, including technology experts, literature search experts, and experts in LCA.

"We screened for quality and for transparency, and we screened out the studies that were of older technologies that probably won't be going forward."

If a study didn't use sound methods, it was out. But if a good study lacked a particular variable — such as not considering decommissioning — the team used formulas to add in greenhouse-gas emissions from those activities so the otherwise-satisfactory study could be included.

"After our quantitative adjustments, each study included in the final analysis was consistent in the broad sense, if not in every detail," Heath said.

Harmonization studies help guide policy locally, statewide, and nationally. Lobbyists, lawmakers, and the cost-analysis community can all use the harmonization estimates as building blocks to make their own estimates for specific projects or to guide policy.

"They can get numbers to plug into their own models; they can use our literature to assess the climate impacts of transitioning to new forms of energy," Heath said.

Findings Appear in Special Edition of Journal of Industrial Ecology

The NREL method is being heralded as an important step forward in LCA studies that paints a clearer picture of the environmental penalties and benefits of different technologies.

NREL's findings appear in six articles and an editorial in the April special supplemental issue of the Journal of Industrial Ecology on Meta-Analysis of Life Cycle Assessments.

Also contributing to the findings were subcontractors and researchers from DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory.

"This is great work," said Reid Lifset, editor of the Journal of Industrial Ecology. "Garvin and his crew have done something very important."

A Crucial Tool for Future Decision Making

"As a society, we need to better understand what the effects of our energy choices are," Heath said. "Greenhouse gases and climate change are a part of the discussion. As we try to envision what our future energy system will look like, we need an accurate picture of what that transition will mean."

"The scope of these syntheses is staggering and provides real insight into what can be done with the burgeoning research literature in industrial ecology," Lifset said.

Peter Crane, Yale University's dean of Forestry and Environmental Studies, agreed: "The application of meta-analysis to life cycle assessment is an important advance. Decision-makers seeking to make greener choices need a way to make sense of the information that is coming at them so quickly now. This can help."

Heath added: "If we care about stabilizing our climate, we need to look at greenhouse gases. This study assembled the best available and most robust evidence. It helps us see the state of our planet, and it can help us make better decisions going forward."

Learn more about NREL's LCA Harmonization Project and download and visualize the numerical results and bibliographies on OpenEI.org.

—Bill Scanlon

Posted originally by NREL. Please follow us on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook!

Renewable Globe Solar and Wind Company Directory

2012-09-06T12:57:00.000-04:00

Today marks the officially launch of both the solar and wind company Renewable Globe company database. After pushing through thousands of companies, two lists have been formed giving access to an international list of solar and wind companies. In order to access these lists please visit: Solar Companies and Wind Companies.

The lists are organized in alphabetical order as shown in the image below:

By clicking on each of the different letters, you will find yourself searching for the first letter of the first word in each company name. You will also find stock symbols and the countries each company is located in. We hope this will act as another resource for everyone as we fight to spread the word about renewable energies.

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Energy Department Investments to Develop Lighter, Stronger Materials for Greater Vehicle Fuel Economy

2012-09-04T16:11:00.000-04:00

WASHINGTON – As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to reduce the United States’ reliance on foreign oil and save drivers money at the pump, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today seven new projects to accelerate the development and deployment of stronger and lighter materials for the next generation of American-made cars and trucks. These projects include the development and validation of modeling tools to deliver higher performing carbon fiber composites and advanced steels, as well as research into new lightweight, high-strength alloys for energy-efficient vehicle and truck engines.

“With strong, lightweight materials we have an opportunity to dramatically increase vehicle fuel economy, while helping America maintain its competitive edge in automotive design and manufacturing,” said Secretary Chu. “Today’s investment in new lightweight materials builds on the Obama Administration’s historic fuel economy standards that are already helping drivers save money at the pump.”

The Obama Administration has taken unprecedented steps to improve the fuel efficiency of American vehicles, reaching historic agreements to improve fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light-duty trucks through Model Year 2025. These standards are expected to save consumers $1.7 trillion at the pump, or about $8,200 in costs over the lifetime of each vehicle. In fact, the initial set of standards for Model Years 2011 to 2016 is already having an impact for American families and businesses. The Energy Information Administration estimates model year 2011 cars achieved record average fuel economy at 34.4 miles per gallon, representing a 2 percent increase over 2010 model year cars.

Achieving the goals of this historic agreement will rely on innovative technologies and manufacturing that will spur economic growth and create high-quality domestic jobs in cutting edge industries across America. The projects announced today will help provide additional technologies and innovations that will enable manufacturers to continue to improve vehicle fuel efficiency beyond the regulated levels. Advanced materials are essential for boosting the fuel economy of cars and trucks while maintaining and improving safety and performance. Replacing cast iron and traditional steel components with lightweight materials – including advanced high-strength steel, magnesium, aluminum, and carbon fiber composites – allows vehicle manufacturers to include additional safety devices, integrated electronic systems and emissions control equipment on vehicles without increasing their weight. Using lighter materials also reduces a vehicle’s fuel consumption. Reducing a vehicle’s weight by just 10 percent can improve the fuel economy by 6 to 8 percent.

The new investments announced today support materials innovation in two critical areas:

Improving Carbon Fiber Composites and Advanced Steel through Computational Design

The Energy Department will award two projects to validate existing modeling tools to optimize the performance and cost-effectiveness of carbon fiber and other specialized composite materials for vehicle body, chassis and interior uses. For example, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, based in Richland, Washington, is receiving a $1 million investment to validate carbon fiber composite models.

Additionally, the Department is investing $6 million to develop new modeling tools to advance third-generation high-strength steels. Through this project, Detroit-based United States Automotive Materials Partnership will leverage an additional $2.5 million in private investment to help create modeling tools for deploying high-strength steels for lighter passenger vehicles.

Advanced Alloy Development for Automotive and Heavy-Duty Engines

Today’s investment also includes four project that will develop lightweight, high-strength alloys for automotive and heavy duty engine blocks and cylinder heads. For instance, Caterpillar Inc, based near Peoria, Illinois, is leveraging a $3.4 million Energy Department award, as well as $1.5 million in private investment, to develop high-strength iron-based alloys to allow for higher cylinder pressures and increased engine efficiency.

Read the full list of awards HERE.

The Energy Department will provide $8 million this year for these awards, and has requested an additional $13.75 million next year, subject to congressional appropriations, to support the completion of these projects over the next two to four years. The Department’s investments are leveraging an additional $11 million from the private sector. These projects support the Materials Genome Initiative, an ambitious effort announced by President Obama to double the speed and cut the cost of discovering, developing, and deploying new high-tech materials in the United States.

From developing stronger, safer and lighter materials for today’s automobiles, to lowering the costs of electric vehicle batteries and better combustion engines, the Energy Department has supported a range of technological advances in vehicle efficiency that has helped maintain America’s competitive edge in this global industry. More information on these investments is available HERE.

Posted originally by the Department of Energy. Please follow us on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook!

Luther College and Decorah, Iowa, Partner to Help Create a Clean Energy Future

2012-08-30T09:04:00.000-04:00

The Energy Department is excited to announce a new video series, "Energy in Our Community," which will feature small communities throughout the country that are striving to become more sustainable, are investing in the green economy, and are bringing the benefits of clean energy to local residents and workers. The Department kicked off the series with a video from Luther College that highlights how Decorah, Iowa, is benefiting from the projects undertaken by the college to reduce its energy waste and deploy clean, renewable energy projects campus-wide.

"'Clean Energy in Our Community’ will highlight small communities around the country working to promote clean renewable energy initiatives and how our colleges and universities in particular play a critical role in shaping our communities and driving America’s clean energy economy," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. "Luther College and Decorah, Iowa, are great examples of how our local communities can help lead the way in making sure that America wins the global clean energy race."

Luther College installed a 1.6 megawatt wind turbine last fall. This summer Luther established the largest zero-emission facility in Iowa by using a 280 KW solar field to power a 100 plus student residential housing complex that uses geothermal energy to heat and cool the facility. Luther has also created an Office of Sustainability, which is helping the college reach its goal of cutting its carbon footprint in half by 2015 and becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

Along with these commitments, Luther helped others in Decorah, Iowa, establish the Winneshiek Energy District, which has helped the residents of Winneshiek County invest more than $1 million dollars in energy efficiency programs over the past two years.

Decorah and Luther College are not the only communities that are working every day to invest in the clean energy economy. Small communities across the country are continuously building partnerships to become more sustainable, relying on clean energy resources to meet their energy needs. These partnerships often include schools, nonprofits, and local governments.

The Energy Department is committed to supporting communities like Decorah as they invest in clean renewable energy that reduces carbon pollution, creates local jobs, and helps to drive local economies. This series will help connect and feature our small communities nationwide that are investing in clean energy and playing a role in making sure the United States leads the world in the global race for the green jobs of the future.

Stay tuned as Energy.gov continues to highlight communities committed to creating sustainability projects, increasing investments in the clean energy economy, and helping America win the global race for a clean energy future.

Posted originally by the Department of Energy. Please follow us on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook!

Biofuels 101

2012-08-28T15:00:00.000-04:00

To reduce our dependence on imported oil we need an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy to develop every available source of American energy. This includes investments in clean, renewable biofuels.

So what exactly is biofuel? It’s clean, renewable fuel produced from biomass -- organic material such as plants, residue from agriculture, and even algae.

At the Energy Department, we are taking a number of steps to develop the next generation of biofuels – including our joint announcement today with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) of a $41 million investment in projects to accelerate innovation across America’s growing biofuels industry.

Efforts like these that support the development of the next generation of biofuels will not only help reduce our dependence on imported oil but also create jobs, accelerate community development, and protect our air and water.

Learn about biofuels technology by watching the video above, and for more energy basics, check out our Energy 101 YouTube playlist.

Posted originally by the Department of Energy. Please follow us on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook!

Powering Curiosity: Lab Tech Goes to Mars: (DOE)

2012-08-23T10:45:00.000-04:00

This morning at 1:31 EDT the Mars rover Curiosity touched down on the Red Planet after a daredevil descent to begin its mission exploring a vast crater thought to be formed by water.

Curiosity’s primary mission will be to gather geological and environmental data from the Martian surface to determine whether the planet supports life now or has in the past -- and collect data for a manned mission.

It will do this by travelling around a particularly promising site called Gale Crater, which has three miles of exposed geological strata, or rock layers like we have in the Grand Canyon. By drilling into these rocks and sampling them, scientists can tell quite a bit about global processes that formed the planet -- including the role of water in its creation and the possibility of microbial life.

To do this, Curiosity is outfitted with a jackhammer at the end of a six-foot robotic arm to drill into rocks, and scoop the sample into its onboard spectrometer, which figures out its exact make up. For a quicker, hands-free approach, Curiosity can also fire its laser at a rock, vaporizing it in a visible flash of light. A sensitive device called the ChemCam, developed at Los Alamos National Lab, then reads the colors in the flash to determine its exact composition.

The one-ton, six-wheeled rover is twice as long and five times heavier than any other rolling science laboratory NASA has dropped onto the Martian soil so far. Previous rover missions to Mars had at most five experiments. Curiosity has 10 experiments, including the aforementioned rock-vaporizing laser. It also has a longer range than its predecessors. Another thing sets this rover apart from its predecessors -- Curiosity lacks solar panels.

Instead, a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) powers Curiosity. The device used in this mission was assembled and tested by researchers at Idaho National Labwith components from Los Alamos National Lab and Oak Ridge National Lab. Sandia National Laboratories performed the nuclear safety assessment. The device uses the same radioisotope technology that powers deep space probes like Pioneer, Galileo, Cassini, and other instruments intended to operate in the coldest, darkest reach of space outside our Solar System. The Energy Department's Office of Nuclear Energy and its predecessors have maintained the national capability to develop, manufacture and safely deliver radioisotope power systems for space exploration missions for more than five decades.

It was the technology of choice for Curiosity because as plutonium dioxide decays it gives off heat, which solves two problems of operating on the very cold, volatile surface of Mars. First, it heats the precise scientific instruments. With temperatures in the Gale Crater ranging from freezing (0 degrees Celsius) in the height of Martian summer and dropping well into negative double-digits at other times of the year, heat is important to keep the instruments within their operating temperatures.

Second, the MMRTG will provide a reliable 110 watts of power. The power system has a design life of 14 years, but all RTGs have exceeded their design life in the past. The MMRTG is not affected by Martian dust which was a problem with previous Mars rovers. During two potentially mission-shattering events during the Spirit and Opportunity missions, operators woke up the rovers to find their solar panels covered in dust. Running at reduced power, researchers could still perform their experiments, but it was slow going until wind swept their panels clean.

Nuclear-powered and decked out with a rock laser, courtesy of the Energy Department and its National Labs, Curiosity is by far the most sophisticated instrument we’ve loaded onto a rocket and launched into space. Today marks the beginning of its two-year mission on the Martian surface to determine the history of -- and our future with -- our neighboring Red Planet.

Posted originally by the Department of Energy. Please follow us on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook!

Atlantic City, NJ Wind Farm (ACUA)

2012-08-21T14:37:00.000-04:00

Wind farm developer: Community Energy, Inc. & Jersey-Atlantic Wind, LLC
Location: ACUA Wastewater Treatment Plant, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Project includes five, 380 foot high turbines. Each turbine is capable of producing 1.5 megawatts for a total of 7.5 megawatts, enough energy to power approximately 2,500 homes. It is estimated that the energy produced by the wind farm will save the energy equivalent of 23,613 barrels of crude oil.
When operating at design wind conditions, the energy is used to operate the ACUA wastewater treatment plant, with any excess energy provided to the main power grid.
Estimated cost of the project is $12 million. Community Energy has received a $1.7 million grant from the NJ Board of Public Utilities, and had applied for a $1.92 million customer supply grant through Conectiv. The remaining costs are being funded by equity investments or debt financing.
Wind Farm has been operational since December 2005.
Wind turbines manufactured by General Electric

Check out this live webcam of the turbines below!

Not working? Go to: ACUA Wind Turbine

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Making Carbon Capture and Storage Efficient and Cost Competitive: DOE

2012-08-16T13:47:00.000-04:00

Today, at The Ohio State University, the Energy Department announced the selection of eight projects to advance the development of transformational oxy-combustion technologies capable of high-efficiency, low-cost carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from coal-fired power plants.

The Energy Department is strategically focusing on the economic “utilization” of captured carbon dioxide for commercial purposes – evolving from CCS to Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage or CCUS.

The Department’s focused research in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies is essential in helping to reduce the carbon pollution that comes from burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. By adding Utilization of the captured carbon dioxide, a business case can be made for companies looking to pursue the environmental benefits of CCS.

Today approximately five percent of domestic oil production comes from a process that uses carbon pollution to access otherwise unreachable oil reserves. More widespread use of carbon dioxide to recover these hard-to-reach resources could yield a significant boost to the U.S. economy, including increased economic activity, improved balance of trade, job creation, and reduced oil imports. Most importantly, CCUS would benefit the environment by helping reduce atmospheric man-made carbon dioxide emissions.

Today’s announcement marks Phase 1 of a two-phase effort to evaluate and develop advanced oxy-combustion projects that yield cost-competitive options for CCUS. Each project will evaluate a promising near-term technology called oxy-fuel combustion, focusing on engineering and economic analysis of the technology.

The basic concept of oxy-combustion is to replace the combustion air with a mixture of oxygen and recycled flue gas and/or water for temperature control. The remainder of the flue gas, that is not recirculated, is rich in carbon dioxide and water vapor, and is easily separated, producing a stream of CO2 ready for utilization or sequestration.

The Phase 1 projects – each lasting 12 months – with help from the Department’s $7 million investment will also focus on efficiency improvements and cost reductions of capturing carbon. Partnered with the Department’s cutting-edge research, these projects will help industry make fossil energy use cleaner, safer and more sustainable.

The selected projects will be managed by the Energy Department’s National Energy Technology Laboratory.

Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group (Barberton, Ohio)
University of Kentucky Research Foundation (Lexington, Ky.)
Alstom Power (Windsor, Conn.)
Gas Technology Institute (Des Plaines, Ill.)
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (Canoga Park, Calif.)
Southwest Research Institute (San Antonio, Texas)
Unity Power Alliance (Worcester, Mass.)
Washington University (St. Louis, Mo.)

Posted originally by the Department of Energy. Please follow us on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook!

RenewableGlobe.com is now LIVE!

2012-08-15T11:00:00.000-04:00

RenewableGlobe.com has officially been launched and is currently live. After a number of months of putting together this website as well as the blog that goes with it, the main portions of the site have been completed. An image of the website is seen below:

On top of completing the website, the Renewable Globe Facebook Page has grown to over 1,000 views in less than a week of launching it. A Twitter account has also been created for Renewable Globe.

Although the entire website is not complete at this time, our web and research teams are working hard to get the job done. The individual and specific pages will be complete with time detailing each type of renewable energy that we have chosen to cover at this time. Company lists will also be provided with ticker symbols and more. We appreciate everyone's support so far and will keep you posted as we will continue to grow.

Questions, comments, and/or suggestions? Please visit our Contact Us page. Thank you!

The Open PV Project: NREL

2012-08-14T11:45:00.000-04:00

Stumbled across this amazing PV project by NREL a few days ago. Herre is a little bit about it and how it can help you! Check it out.

The Project

The Open PV Project is a collaborative effort between government, industry, and the public that is compiling a comprehensive database of photovoltaic (PV) installation data for the United States. Data for the project are voluntarily contributed from a variety of sources including utilities, installers, and the general public. The data collected is actively maintained by the contributors and are always changing to provide an evolving, up-to-date snapshot of the US solar power market.

Data Collection

The Open PV Project is collecting data from any willing contributor of available information. NREL has "seeded" the Open PV database by requesting data from most state run incentive programs, large utilities, and other organizations. This initial data collection has provided a solid base of data for the project to launch from and it is our hope that the database will continue to grow through contributions from the PV community and anyone interested in understanding PV market dynamics in the US.

Data Quality

Determining the quality of incoming data is dependent upon who is submitting the data to the project. This means that data coming from users associated with a particular organization may be "trusted" more than data from other unknown users. Each registered user is assigned a default "score" based on their organizational affiliation. This score is highest for Government users (State, Federal, etc.) because such users are often involved with incentive programs that have a defined data collection process in place. Second are utility and PV installers (and others in the PV industry), and so on. All users who contribute data to the project have the ability to gain a "project reputation" that can impact the score of the data they contribute.

Validation

Data validation occurs on each record in the database on a regular basis. The database is continually analyzed for corrupt records, bad or invalid data, and outliers such as an abnormal cost to watt ratio. Records found to contain questionable data are flagged and are dealt with on a case by case basis by a member of the Open PV Team.

Duplication

Understanding duplication is one of the ways that individual records are validated. In a publicly contributed database, it is imperative to anticipate the submission of duplicate records. When duplicate records are detected, they are added to an install specific list of duplicates and the data provided are aggregated into "summary records" of their respective installs. Identifying duplicate records helps validate PV installs in the database. The more a PV installation is duplicated in the database, the more trust the project places on the data for that installation.

Data Fields

Required Fields

The Open PV Project is designed to be able to store nearly any type of information pertaining to PV installations. In order to provide the primary statistics from the database we have identified 4 data fields that are required of each PV install added to the project. These four fields are:

Date Installed (Completion date or interconnection date)
Size/Capacity of the PV Installation (in kW DC)
Location (Zipcode or Street Address)
Total Installed Cost (in USD, before incentives)

Additional Fields

The four required fields listed above provide the Open PV Project with the base information needed to derive several key statistics on the US PV market, including historical trends and regional comparisons. However, the design of the Open PV database is capable of storing nearly any type of data associated with PV installation, so the Open PV Team would like to encourage you to contribute any additional information you are comfortable sharing. This extra information can be extremely valuable, for example, data that contains information about who installed the PV installation can help to answer very useful questions about where certain installers are working. Information on module or inverter types can be useful in mapping efficiency and detailed financing information can be a key factor in understanding trends in overall installation cost. The Open PV Team strongly encourages you to contribute any data you feel comfortable providing, especially data you would like to see visualized in our gallery someday.

Here is a screenshot of what the homepage looks like. It is truly an amazing tool!

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Dubai Takes Solar Energy to a Whole New Level

2012-08-10T17:00:00.000-04:00

Dubai Municipality plans to use solar technology to reduce its consumption of traditionally produced electricity and water by 20 per cent over the next five years.

"[The municipality has] taken a number of initiatives in terms of energy efficiency and conservation," Nejib Zaafrani, the chief executive of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE) said yesterday.

Solar energy plays a part in the efforts to go green and lighting in parks and public places will in future be powered by solar panels.fit buildings with systems designed to save energy. As part of its overall energy strategy, the DSCE has identified a number of "quick wins" - measures that can easily be implemented to conserve energy and water.

Other Dubai Government entities will join the Municipality with similar efforts.

"We're moving to a wider space in energy savings by implementing energy conservation measures," said Mr Zaafrani. Dubai has managed to curb the rising costs of utility provision by drawing up a programme to moderate the consumption of electricity and water.

Deterred mainly by the resultant hefty increases in utility bills, Dubai residents have reduced their use of both.

This has enabled the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) to postpone the construction of a large-scale power plant, the 1,500 megawatt Hassyan project.

Dubai relies entirely on imports to meet its requirements for natural gas - the primary fuel for power plants in the region.

The emirate is forced to import expensive liquefied natural gas to meet spiralling demand during the summer and is passing on the additional cost to consumers in the form of a fuel surcharge.

To reduce the dependence on fossil fuels, the DSCE in January announced plans for the 1,000MW Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

This renewable energy facility is due to be completed by 2030.

This article was originally published by The National. Please follow us on Twitter and "like" us on Facebook!

DOE: Commercial, grid-connected, tidal energy project

2012-08-09T08:24:00.002-04:00

On June 24th, 2012, Energy Secretary Steven Chu recognized the nation’s first commercial, grid-connected tidal energy project off the coast of Eastport, Maine. Leveraging a $10 million investment from the Energy Department, Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) will deploy its first commercial tidal energy device into Cobscook Bay this summer. The project, which injected $14 million into the local economy and has supported more than 100 local and supply chain jobs, represents the first tidal energy project in the United States with long-term contracts to sell electricity – helping to drive American leadership in this innovative clean energy technology and diversify the nation’s energy mix.

“Developing America’s vast renewable energy resources is an important part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to create jobs and strengthen U.S. global competitiveness,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “The Eastport tidal energy project represents a critical investment to ensure America leads in this fast-growing global industry, helping to create new manufacturing, construction, and operation jobs across the country while diversifying our energy portfolio and reducing pollution.”

Tidal energy is a clean, renewable resource that can be harnessed wherever changing tides move a significant volume of water – including off the coasts of many U.S. cities where there is high electricity demand. Near Maine, the Bay of Fundy is one of the most robust tidal energy resources in the world. Each day, 100 billion tons of water flow in and out of the bay with the force of 8,000 locomotives and tidal ranges of up to 50 feet. Tides can also be forecast accurately, making tidal energy one of the most reliable and predictable renewable resources available.

“Maine is well positioned to lead the nation in tidal energy development. The Cobscook Bay Tidal Energy Project is one example of the type of actions we need on a national scale to stabilize energy, prevent energy shortages, and achieve national energy independence. Continued investment and innovation in clean energy technologies are integral to advancing these goals,” said U.S. Senator Susan Collins. “I have worked hard to secure federal funding to support marine and hydrokinetic technology designed to deliver clean, reliable electricity to Maine consumers, and I am thrilled that the first commercial, grid-connected ocean energy project in the United States is being installed here in Maine.”

Initially, ORPC’s Cobscook Bay pilot project will provide enough clean, renewable electricity to power between 75 and 100 homes. In addition to this Energy Department-supported pilot, ORPC plans expand its Maine project and install additional tidal energy devices to power more than 1,000 Maine homes and businesses.

In April, the Maine Public Utilities Commission approved primary contract terms for 20-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the project, marking the first long-term tidal energy PPAs in the United States. The Commission’s order directs the three Maine investor-owned utilities -- Central Maine Power Company, Bangor Hydro Electric and Maine Public Service Company -- to negotiate these agreements with ORPC, helping to attract additional private investment as the project matures.

Through the Energy Department’s early investment, ORPC has brought its tidal energy device from the laboratory to commercial deployment. The tidal energy devices, as well as many of the components, are being manufactured in the United States, strengthening American manufacturing competitiveness in this emerging global industry. Additionally, technical experts from the Department’s Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico and National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado collaborated with ORPC to conduct open water testing, refine designs and improve device performance.

Earlier this year, the Energy Department released a nationwide tidal energy resource assessment, identifying about 250 terawatt hours of annual electric generation potential from tidal currents. Tidal power represents a major opportunity for new water power development in the U.S., especially along the East Coast as well as in Alaska and Hawaii. This energy potential could significantly contribute to the United States’ total annual electricity production, further diversifying the nation's energy portfolio and providing clean, renewable energy to coastal cities and communities.

This is a press release from the Energy Department (DOE) from June 24th, 2012. For more information on tidal energy in the United States visit the Energy Department’s Water Power Program website.

Check out this video to see it all!

The Hoover Dam: A fine example of hydroelectric at its best

2012-08-08T09:45:00.001-04:00

The Hoover Dam lies in the U.S. on the border between Arizona and Nevada impounding the Colorado river. The dam was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the great depression. Now it has become an example of some of the best engineering in the history of the United States and remains a landmark for all. At the time, the dam cost just $49 million.

The Hoover Dam is the sixth largest in the world at 726.3ft tall and 1,244ft wide covering an area of 3.25 million cubic yards. It generates 4.2 BILLION kWh per year with the following generators: 13 x 130 MW, 2 x 127 MW, 1 x 68.5 MW, 1 x 61.5 MW Francis-type, and 2 x 2.4 MW Pelton-type. The following video gives you a small tour of the Hoover Dam and talks briefly of how the generators work. Now THAT is renewable energy at its best.

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HAWTS about VAWTS, Sandia Research on Off-Shore Wind Energy

2012-08-07T15:44:00.002-04:00

Though VAWTs have been around since the earliest days of wind energy research at Sandia and elsewhere, VAWT architecture could transform offshore wind technology.

The economics of offshore windpower are different from land-based turbines, due to installation and operational challenges. VAWTs offer three big advantages that could reduce the cost of wind energy: a lower turbine center of gravity; reduced machine complexity; and better scalability to very large sizes.

A lower center of gravity means improved stability afloat and lower gravitational fatigue loads.

Additionally, the drivetrain on a VAWT is at or near the surface, potentially making maintenance easier and less time-consuming. Fewer parts, lower fatigue loads and simpler maintenance all lead to reduced maintenance costs.

Elegant in their simplicity

Sandia is conducting the research under a 2011 Department of Energy (DOE) solicitation for advanced rotor technologies for U.S. offshore windpower generation. The five-year, $4.1 million project began in January of this year.

Wind Energy Technologies manager Dave Minster said Sandia's wind energy program is aimed at addressing the national energy challenge of increasing the use of low-carbon power generation.

"VAWTs are elegant in terms of their mechanical simplicity," said Josh Paquette, one of Sandia's two principal investigators on the project. "They have fewer parts because they don't need a control system to point them toward the blowing wind to generate power."

These characteristics fit the design constraints for offshore wind: the high cost of support structures; the need for simple, reliable designs; and economic scales that demand larger machines than current land-based designs.

Large offshore VAWT blades in excess of 300 meters will cost more to produce than blades for onshore wind turbines. But as the machines and their foundations get bigger -- closer to the 10-20 megawatt (MW) scale -- turbines and rotors become a much smaller percentage of the overall system cost for offshore turbines, so other benefits of the VAWT architecture could more than offset the increased rotor cost.

Challenges remain

However, challenges remain before VAWTs can be used for large-scale offshore power generation.

Curved VAWT blades are complex, making manufacture difficult. Producing very long VAWT blades demands innovative engineering solutions. Matt Barone, the project's other principal investigator, said partners Iowa State University and TPI Composites will explore new techniques to enable manufacture of geometrically complex VAWT blade shapes at an unprecedented scale, but at acceptable cost.

VAWT blades must also overcome problems with cyclic loading on the drivetrain. Unlike horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs), which maintain a steady torque if the wind remains steady, VAWTs have two "pulses" of torque and power for each blade, based on whether the blade is in the upwind or downwind position. This "torque ripple" results in unsteady loading, which can lead to drivetrain fatigue. The project will evaluate new rotor designs that smooth out the amplitude of these torque oscillations without significantly increasing rotor cost.

Because first-generation VAWT development ended decades ago, updated designs must incorporate decades of research and development already built into current HAWT designs. Reinvigorating VAWT research means figuring out the models that will help speed up turbine design work.

"Underpinning this research effort will be a tool development effort that will synthesize and enhance existing aerodynamic and structural dynamic codes to create a publicly available aeroelastic design tool for VAWTs," Barone said.

Needed: aerodynamic braking

Another challenge is brakes. Older VAWT designs didn't have an aerodynamic braking system, and relied solely on a mechanical braking system that is more difficult to maintain and less reliable than the aerodynamic brakes used on HAWTs.

HAWTS use pitchable blades, which stop the turbine within one or two rotations without damage to the turbine and are based on multiple redundant, fail-safe designs. Barone said new VAWT designs will need robust aerodynamic brakes that are reliable and cost-effective, with a secondary mechanical brake much like on modern-day HAWTs. Unlike HAWT brakes, new VAWT brakes won't have actively pitching blades, which have their own reliability and maintenance issues.

VAWT technology: A long history at Sandia

In the 1970s and 1980s, when wind energy research was in its infancy, VAWTs were actively developed as windpower generators. Although strange looking, they had a lot going for them: They were simpler than their horizontal-axis cousins so they tended to be more reliable. For a while, VAWTs held their own against HAWTs. But then wind turbines scaled up.

"HAWTs emerged as the predominant technology for land-based wind over the past 15 years primarily due to advantages in rotor costs at the 1 to 5 megawatt scale," Paquette said.

In the 1980s, research focused more heavily on HAWT turbines, and many VAWT manufacturers left the business, consigning VAWTs to an "also ran" in the wind energy museum.

But the winds of change have blown VAWTs' way once more.

Sandia is mining the richness of its wind energy history. Wind researchers who were among the original wind energy engineers are going through decades of Sandia research and compiling the lessons learned, as well as identifying some of the key unknowns described at the end of VAWT research at Sandia in the 1990s.

The first phase of the program will take place over two years and will involve creating several concept designs, running those designs through modern modeling software and narrowing those design options down to a single, most-workable design. During this phase, Paquette, Barone and their colleagues will look at all types of aeroelastic rotor designs, including HVAWTs and V-shaped VAWTs. But the early favorite rotor type is the Darrieus design.

In phase two researchers will build the chosen design over three years, eventually testing it against the extreme conditions that a turbine must endure in an offshore environment.

In addition to rotor designs, the project will consider different foundation designs: Early candidates are barge designs, tension-leg platforms and spar buoys.

The project partners will work on many elements.

Another partner, the University of Maine, will develop floating VAWT platform dynamics code and subscale prototype wind/wave basin testing. Iowa State University will develop manufacturing techniques for offshore VAWT blades and subscale wind tunnel testing. TPI Composites will design a proof-of-concept subscale blade and develop a commercialization plan. TU-Delft will work on aeroelastic design and optimization tool development and modeling. Texas A&M University will work on aeroelastic design tool development.

"Ultimately it's all about the cost of energy. All these decisions need to lead to a design that's efficient and economically viable," said Paquette.

Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin company, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. With main facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies and economic competitiveness. Read more...

Story Source: The above story is reprinted from Sandia Labs News Releases provided by DOE/Sandia National Laboratories.

Main Solar Web Page Construction Begins

2012-08-07T12:55:00.002-04:00

Today, RenewableGlobe.com began constructing the solar portion of their webpage. The above picture shows some of the types of solar energy that will be covered on the webpage. First, in the top left, passive solar, then to the right, active solar, and continuing on, solar thermal, photovoltaic solar, concentrating solar, and lastly, solar companies.

This main page for Renewable Globe Solar will cover the basics about solar energy as a whole with each of these individual types of solar energy being covered on their own landing pages in detail. As the website begins to grow, we will welcome content recommendations as well as requests for more content both on this blog and on the website. We thank you for watching us grow and waiting for the official launch of RenewableGlobe.com. Read more...

In the meantime, we want to mention that our official pages for Facebook and Twitter are now live and we hope you will take the chance to become our fan and follow us. Thank you!

Solar Stocks Rise High!

2012-08-06T15:08:00.006-04:00

Renewable energy stocks fly high after positive, industry information is released!

Digitimes, Taiwan's Photonics Industry & Technology Development Association stated that Germany first-quarter installs, the largest solar panel creation customer base, rose 283% to nearly 2.0 gigawatts. China having an additional 1 gigawatts of projects in process as well and U.S. first-quarter installations grew 85% to 50 megawatts.

After watching a majority of Solar stocks fall drastically to what looked like no bottom, they have been on fire the past few weeks with big news on earnings and new projects. These may be the stocks to watch as it seems their profits are holding strong through a dangerous economy. Read more...

Some of the big movers today include First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR), SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWR), Ascent Solar Technologies (Nasdaq: ASTI), Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE), and Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL).

Renewable Globe, Live on Blogspot!

2012-08-06T09:59:00.001-04:00

RenewableGlobe.com is a new website focused on providing continuous, up to date information on renewable energy around the world. The website that will provide this information is currently under construction. The website is linked with this blog as well as Facebook. As the website becomes developed and this blog begins providing relevant information we will be sure to keep you up to date on our status. We welcome both constructive criticism and compliments in any form. Thank you and please follow! Read more...