"Wisdom begins in wonder" – Socrates
Tag: Electrical Engineering
Dispatchable Generation
11/14/18
“What is energy that can be sent off at any time?”
Energy can be generated by many different sources, but they will have different properties. Some energy sources can be turned on and off and adjusted to the utility operator’s whim. This is known as Dispatchable Generation and can be supplied by energy sources such as geothermal.
How Industrial IoT can Help Improve Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing
11/06/18
“How can connectivity help with efficiency in manufacturing?”
The digital revolution of the Internet of Things is transforming everything in its wake, and manufacturing is no exception. With increased connectivity, automation can be made much more efficiency, therefore reducing energy consumption used and greenhouse gas emissions generated. This is just a small example of How Industrial IoT can Help Improve Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing.
Image credit negromanosphere.com
Puerto Rico Might Go 100% Renewable
11/05/18
“Will Puerto Rico go 100% in on Renewable Energy?”
Puerto Rico has faced a tough time with its energy infrastructure recently. Hurricane Maria has knocked out the vast majority of its power generation capabilities and has left much of the island in the dark. But that doesn’t mean Puerto Rico is going down without a fight. Taking inspiration from the proven evidence that solar energy will provide it with resiliency and California’s recent audacious climate goals, Puerto Rico might go 100% renewable!!! If policymakers decide to act upon this, then not only will Puerto Rico be transformed but perhaps the entire region around it.
Photo: Power line workers in Puerto Rico. Credit: Lorie Shaull, Flickr Creative Commons
The Azraq Refugee Camp and Renewable Energy
11/03/18
“How does the world’s first renewable powered refugee camp work?”
The Azraq Refugee Camp is Jordan is not like any other. Built to accommodate 20,000 Syrian Refugees, the site is completely powered by a nearby solar energy farm. Currently at 2 MW of capacity, The farm provides enough energy for the residents to meet their daily needs and carry on their lives. The success of the Azraq refugee camp can serve as a template for other such sites around the world.
Image credit: http://www.unhcr.org
The Problem with Silicon Wiring in Solar PV Cells
10/29/18
“How does silicon wiring harm solar PV Cells?”
Silicon wiring is needed for the electrons produced in solar PV cells to move around. However, the wires on the front of the solar cells cover 5-10% of the surface and reflect incoming light, thereby lowering the efficiency. As a result, there are many Problems with Silicon Wiring in Solar PV Cells.
Image credit http://davebuemi.com
Why Brazil Should Develop Offshore Wind Energy Infrastructure in its South
10/28/18
“Why should Brazil develop off-shore wind energy in its southern states?”
The nation of Brazil is a behemoth. Taking up half of the land and population of South America, it needs a vast amount of energy. And to make it sustainable, it should seek to maximize all of the resources available to it. One promising technology is off-shore wind. Since the Southern states by Porto Alegre have some of the highest offshore wind speeds, it would only make sense for Brazil to Develop Offshore Wind Energy Infrastructure there.
Image credit http://latinamericanscience.org
Energy Disaggregation
10/26/18
“How can we filter out the energy consumption of each individual appliance in a building?”
Different appliances have different energy consumption patterns. And sometimes we would like to analyze them individually without turning off the other ones. So how can we accomplish this using our engineering mindset? Well, what if we were to simply apply signal processing to obtain their plots? This is known as Energy Disaggregation and can be used to see which appliances are taking up the most energy.
Image credit lids.mit.edu
Why The Grid Needs to be Repaired to Ensure Climate Change Resilience
10/23/18
“Why can’t we truly have a resilient grid until repairs are made?”
With the ascent of global temperature change, the grid will need to adapt to ensure proper resilience. However, to building against higher temperatures and more extreme weather events will require much more than putting more batteries on the main grid. The current components of the grid will also need to be repaired since much of it has already run its life cycle. As a result, The Grid Needs to be Repaired to Ensure Climate Change Resilience.
Image credit spectrum.ieee.org
How Extreme Weather Events Can Cause Energy Prices to Skyrocket
10/22/18
“How can extreme weather events cause energy prices to go out of whack?”
When the weather gets too hot or too cold, people will turn on HVAC systems to compensate. This will cause greater demand on the electricity system, which in turn will lead to more constraints and therefore higher costs for everyone. This is How Extreme Weather Events Can Cause Energy Prices to Skyrocket. The advent of climate change will only exacerbate this, as extreme weather events will become far more frequent. So in the end, it will pay in the long term to upgrade critical infrastructure systems to more resilient standards.
Image credit Bigerna, S. (2018). Estimating temperature effects on the Italian electricity market. Energy Policy, 118, 257-269.
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