"Wisdom begins in wonder" – Socrates
Tag: Mechanical Engineering
Hybrid Electric Buildings
11/10/18
“How can we truly combine battery and grid power for buildings?”
With the advent of the new energy paradigm, building energy systems will become more integrated with solar+storage. Consequently, buildings must integrate that their energy with both the electric grid and storage mechanisms simultaneously. To serve as a model, Hybrid Electric Buildings are being created that can seamlessly integrate both sources in real time.
Distributed Gas Generation
11/07/18
“How can natural gas energy generation be distributed?”
The future of energy is becoming more and more distributed. And the natural gas industry is taking note. As a result, more and more distributed gas generation is coming online that may serve to contemplate renewable intermittency.
Image credit https://dqbasmyouzti2.cloudfront.net
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
The Kilogram is Being Redefined
11/04/18
“How is the Kilogram being redefined?”
A massive shift has just happened in the physics community. For over a century our measurement for the kilogram has been based off an official block sealed in vaults below Paris. However, after many decades of work and false starts, a committee has convened to redefine the kilogram based not on an artifact of nature but instead on Plank’s constant. As a result we now have a truly uniform system of fundamental units!
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
