New Types of Hybrid Collectors Redefine Solar Energy

Let me start by saying that there has been no new energy science since the 1800’s.

Don't believe? 

Electric Heating (Heat-pumps) are on the market since the 1860’s when they were first used for drying rice. The Carnot cycle used in Heat Pumps to increase efficiency is now over 150 years old.

Solar Hot Water is on the market since the 1890’s when the California Lightbox company launched the first products and are a simple box with a glass sheet using the “greenhouse effect” to trap heat. The greenhouse effect only operates efficiently in sunshine hence the poor performance of solar hot water panels unless you have sunshine.

Solar PV was possible thanks to the the photovoltaic effect discovered by Edmond Becquerel in 1839, 6 years before the Irish famine. We also had no telephones, electricity, cars, bicycle, locks, pasteurization or even toilet paper at this time. The word “scientist” was only coined for the first time by William Whewell in 1834, five years earlier.

Just to highlight how long ago that was, the First and the Second Laws of Thermodynamics were first stated around 1850, and it was in the early 1900’s before the 2nd law of Thermodynamics was proven and accepted. The third law of Thermodynamics was developed between 1906 and 1912 by chemist Walther Nernst. The Zeroth law of thermodynamics is attributed to Ralph H Fowler around 1935, a British scientist. Bizarrely, this means that most of the laws of physics based on heat science are newer than all our existing renewable heating technologies (solar panels & heat pumps).

Nanotechnology only emerged in the 1980’s and is one of the world’s most powerful advances in science and engineering.

It is ironic that much of the basic Thermodynamic science laws and developments have occurred “since” these old renewable “products” have been in existence.

You may be surprised, even shocked at how long ago many of what you may think are brand new energy technologies were invented…

• 2000BC – Chinese first use coal for heating and cooking
• 200BC – Chinese use natural gas to dry salt
• 200BC – Europeans build the first wind mills
• 32AD – Chinese refine petroleum from oil seepages
• 1590 – Dutch developed large scale wind mills
• 1700 – Coal becomes dominant energy source
• 1712 – First steam engines
• 1800 – Discovery of the electrolysis process and an important step in the development of hydrogen energy
• 1812 – First natural gas well drilled in the US
• 1830 – Ethanol displaces whale oil as primary lamp fuel and is patented by S. Casey in 1834
• 1837 – First electric car built by Robert Davidson of Aberdeen
• 1838 – First Hydrogen Fuel Cell created to generate electricity by a Welsh Lawyer
• 1839 – First discovery of the solar photovoltaic effect in materials
• 1850 – Windmills dot the US landscape to pump water and are still in use today
• 1860 – First Solar powered parabolic collector developed to replace coal fueled steam power
• 1863 – Heat Pumps enter use and used to dry rice
• 1888 – First electric Wind Turbine in Ohio produces lighting for 350 lightbulbs and 3 motors with battery storage

• 1890 – Rudolf Diesel creates the biodiesel engine to run on peanut oil to replace steam engines
• 1891 – First solar Hot Water collectors launched
• 1905 – Ethanol goes to war with new petroleum fuels
• 1908 – Ford launch the Model T flexi-fuel vehicle that ran on 100% ethanol or 100% petrol
• 1920 – Modern oil and gas boilers developed

From 1908 to current day, nuclear power is the only new science created in energy innovation as petrochemical took off in 1906 and killed all energy science.

Finally, there are some real advancements in this area.

The HONE 501 TE (Thermal-Electric) 5th Generation Renewable Energy collector is based on a modern nanotechnology breakthrough. These units form a core part of a singular natural science heat engine (system) which uses daylight as the fuel source. The HONE 501 TE creates high temperature renewable heat and electricity all in one unit, the only system of this type in the world certified to achieve this. This advanced solar technology became possible only due to the new science developments in the last 20 years. Nanotechnology is used in many modern products such as Lithium-Ion Batteries, (the reason your mobile phone is so small and the Electric Vehicle is possible).

 

Another development is an example of engineering ingenuity. Naked Energy Virtu PVT is the world's first solar PVT vacuum tube, producing both electricity and heating. Virtu is a compact, high energy density, renewable energy solution. 

Virtu PVT provides heat and power in one modular product. Virtu saves up to 3x more carbon and generates up to 3x the savings when compared to traditional solar PV for the same given area. It can be easily installed on and can be invisible on a flat roof. Alternatively can be installed on a vertical wall for a highly visual architectural design.

Incidentally, both HONE 501 and Naked Energy Virtu are British products. It remains to be seen who will lead the race.

 

 

Tens of Thousands are without power - AMES Could Help

'Grand Bahama right now is dead'

Tens of thousands in Atlantic Canada still in the dark after Hurricane Dorian

As hurricane Dorian swept across the Bahamas, Florida and Nova Scotia I can't not to think that if there was an autonomous energy source in a container  - the source which would not depend on the grid nor on the fuel supply, people would have power and heat hours after the disaster instead of days and weeks, possibly even without losing it. This is Autonomous Mobile Energy Station (AMES), developed by Ascent Systems Technologies, British Columbia, Canada.

 

A self-contained module, using only sun and air to generate energy and store it in the built-in energy storage, would survive  the storm and be ready to deliver energy on demand. A number of modules deployed in advance in the areas prone to natural disasters, would help communities survive. Such a module could be also brought to any place in the case of emergency, rapidly deployed and supply heat and power for medical personnel providing aid to victims and provide relief to people.

Distributed Renewable Energy Industry Trends

Nothing will stand out in 2018 as more important for the long-term success of renewables than the advancement of a digital grid architecture.
Visibility at the grid edge; integration of sensors and data analytics for distributed generation; smart contracts for energy management; flexible demand; intelligent control systems — these are the buzzy technologies of today that will become standard operations for utilities, system operators, and power producers to maximize the global renewable energy fleet.
www.renewableenergyworld.com
 

Advances in distributed technologies at the frontiers of the energy system can provide power where the traditional grid is non-existent, inadequate, expensive or too distant for connection.

These technologies, and the innovative business models that deploy them, can deliver not just energy but also economic opportunities to the two billion people not reliably served by the energy industry today. But where exactly are the opportunities? Who are the leaders in the sector? Which markets are they likely to capture?

1. The largest solar deal in Africa last year was off the grid 

• Small-scale solar projects, including debt financing for distributed portfolios, accounted for five of the eleven largest solar deals in Africa between January and October 12, 2017.
• This is not necessarily because off-grid financing is a large market, but because many utility-scale projects in the pipeline struggle with permitting, land acquisition, securing a power purchasing agreement and financing. Off-grid solar companies may be able to move faster because they do not require regulated tariffs.

2. Distributed energy outside the OECD is a $40 billion industry

Diesel generators have long been the technology of choice in areas where reliable grid electricity is unavailable. In 2015, developing countries bought and installed about 600,000 units annually, totaling an estimated 29GW of capacity. About half of this is in units smaller than 0.3MW. There is a mature market and supply chain to sell, fuel and maintain this kit. Despite usually being competitive with diesel, solar currently has less than 3% of the market for distributed energy capacity in developing countries, but considerable potential.

  

Power capacity additions in developing countries in 2015

3. Solar and storage make sense for telecoms

Hybrid energy systems consisting of solar panels, a battery and a diesel generator are the cheapest way to run the world’s one million telecom towers that today have unreliable grid supplies. Telecoms and their suppliers spend around $3.8 billion on diesel for their towers today, but solar has a market share of only 3%. But the market is picking up. Orange is working with Engie on re-powering its towers in Senegal, Ivory Coast and Cameroon. Mitsui has invested $9 million in India’s OMC, a start-up focused on solar-power for telecoms.

Estimated cost of electricity to power an off-grid telecom tower in 2025

 

Source: Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Note: solar hybrid is PV, diesel generator and lithium-ion battery.

It is time for AMES - Clean Energy On Demand - to shine. One module can generate up to 90 kWh of energy a day which can serve 8-12 households. An array of 10 to 12 modules can provide uninterrupted source of energy for a village of 400 people.