Tag: Green energy

How Small-Scale Solar is Better Than Large-Scale

How Small-Scale Solar is Better Than Large-Scale

How Small-Scale Solar is Better Than Large Scale

03/30/18

“How is small-scale solar a cheaper alternative to large-scale grid distribution?”

 

Conventional wisdom holds that bigger is better. However, this turns out to not hold true in the arena of solar energy. A recent study has shown that when taking transmission and feedback into account, locally generated building-side distributed solar is more cost-effective than its grid-side alternative! Just goes to show the potential of renewable energy.

Offshore Wind and Energy Storage

Offshore Wind and Energy Storage

Offshore Wind and Energy Storage

03/28/18

“Why are offshore wind companies looking to expand into energy storage?”

 

The Wind Energy industry is making massive investments into energy storage, and the offshore sector is no exception. In Northern Europe and the Northeastern United States, where the brunt of the offshore market is located, winter time can bring incredibly low temperatures, which make people consume more energy by turning on heaters. By adding battery storage to the offshore wind, this increased demand can be readily satisfied and everyone will be able to stay warm in the winter!

Wind-Plus-Storage

Wind-Plus-Storage

Wind-Plus-Storage

03/26/18

“How can we tie wind energy to energy storage?”

 

Wind energy has long been one of the reigning champions of renewable energy. However, during peak generation, much of the new power made goes wasted. So how can we use our engineering mindsets to solve this problem? Well, if we take a page from the recent developments in Solar+Storage Systems, and attach battery systems to wind farms? This is known as Wind-Plus-Storage and is one of the hottest topics in renewable energy in 2018.

 

Platform Thinking in Energy

Platform Thinking in Energy

Platform Thinking in Energy

03/20/18

“What is the next paradigm shift in consumer utilities?”

 

The world of consumer utilities is changing very rapidly. The days of centralized, controlled distribution are dying to make way for the new peer-to-peer sharing networks. Consumer utilities are starting to take note, and a new type of business governed by platform thinking is starting to take hold. Platform thinking is where businesses start thinking about making platforms instead of products. Take twitter for example. Twitter does not make any actual content but instead allows others to make it for no charge. The same type of thinking can be applied to energy, instead of focusing on making the actual electricity, utilities can instead focus on helping consumers distribute it to each other.

Transactive Energy

Transactive Energy

Transactive Energy

03/04/18

“How will people trade energy in the future?”

 

With the developing distributed energy world, energy transmission will now take place bidirectionally. One consequence of this is that people will be able to buy and sell energy from one another instead of the utility in a form known as transactive energy. Like online retail for consumer products, transactive energy will enable homeowners to barter and profit from self-generated renewable energy.

Fault Detection and Diagnostics for Solar Plus Storage Systems

Fault Detection and Diagnostics for Solar Plus Storage Systems

Fault Detection and Diagnostics for Solar Plus Storage Systems

02/27/18

“Can we use fault detection and diagnosis on solar plus storage systems?”

 

In the past, Fault Detection and Diagnostics was typically used in conventional energy power plants. However, with the advent of distributed energy resources, we must take into account how they might fail. As such, Fault Detection and Diagnostics for Solar Plus Storage Systems is becoming an up and coming research topic.

Solar Plus Storage Systems

Solar Plus Storage Systems

Solar Plus Storage Systems

02/26/18

“What is the next phase of standalone solar systems?”

 

Until recently, solar energy was thought to be a simple, stand-alone product. However, with the global proliferation of PV, the frontier of sustainability has been expanded. With the advent of distributed energy resources, it is no longer sufficient to simply generate electricity from renewables but also storage. Here, a very interesting technology called Solar Plus Storage Systems comes into play. Solar Plus Storage Systems are the combination of solar panels and battery storage systems communicating with one another to allow for optimal use of energy generation, whether it be in demand-side response, microgrids, or energy back up.

Energy Storage as a Service

Energy Storage as a Service

Energy Storage as a Service

02/22/18

“How can we turn energy storage into a business?”

 

Traditionally, facilities had only two options for receiving electricity, generating their own or purchasing from a utility. But with the advent of renewable energy and advanced energy storage, this picture is starting to change. Facilities can now enter contracts with organizations to receive energy from energy storage systems. This venture known as Energy Storage as a Service has the potential to generate revenue, create savings, and improve electricity resiliency by providing clean energy at affordable rates

Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting

Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting

Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting

02/16/18

“Can we make energy by just walking on floor tiles?”

 

The ground floor of a building is typically thought of being statics and unuseful. But can we use our engineering mindset to change this? Well, energy generation often requires some sort of change of state in a system to happen. And in buildings, one change that is always happening is people’s movement. Specifically, people seem to be stepping everywhere to get somewhere. With this motion, pressure is exerted on the ground of a building. And if we take a note from our knowledge of circuits, then we know that we can create an electric current through this pressure with piezoelectricity. Therefore, if we implement piezoelectric tiles in a building, we can create a Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting framework. Researchers at San Jose State University are studying this field, and are hoping to implement a working piezoelectric tile by the end of Spring 2019.