Tag: Solar energy

All New Homes in California Now Require Solar

All New Homes in California Now Require Solar

All New Homes in California Now Require Solar

05/09/18

“What’s the whole new thing about California, solar panels, and homes?”

 

Something historic just happened. In a daring first for the U.S, the California Energy Commission has just reached a ruling requiring all new homes and low-rise apartment buildings built in California to have solar panels installed. This is all done in part to lower the state’s greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. Although hailed by many in the renewable energy industry, skeptics like to point out that this could be poised to raise the cost of construction even more so, exacerbating the state’s already out of control housing crisis even further. However, the reduced electricity bills from these solar panels have been shown to actually recuperate their cost and even payback money over a 30 year lifetime. However this plays out, it will have drastic effects on the state’s electricity portfolio and could cause other areas to follow suit.

How Climate Change Will Affect Renewable Energy Adoption in the Caribbean

How Climate Change Will Affect Renewable Energy Adoption in the Caribbean

How Climate Change Will Affect Renewable Energy Adoption in the Caribbean

04/26/18

“How will the Caribbean renewable energy adopters react to climate change?”

 

Climate change is affecting the world everywhere, but the Caribbean might be one of the most impacted. Their scattered geography makes them reliant on oil imports for energy, only further exacerbated by their aged grid systems in drastic need of repair. Climate change threatens to destroy the livelihood of these nations with worsening rainstorms and hurricanes, as seen in Puerto Rico. Caribbean policymakers are taking proactive measures to prevent further catastrophes by installing distributed renewable energy to increase their nation’s climate resiliency.

Solar Ramp Rate Control

Solar Ramp Rate Control

Solar Ramp Rate Control

04/10/18

“How can people control the ramp rate of solar?”

 

Solar energy is growing at a rate that makes the adoption of computer technology look feeble. However, with this increased adoption comes increased instabilities, such as extreme variability in power generation. So how can we use our engineering mindset to solve this problem? Well, we know that if we were to add something to dampen the sudden influx of energy, we can smoothen out operations. So what if we were to add a form of Ramp Rate Control through techniques such as batteries and control strategies? Well, it turns out that this is the exact idea behind many modern grid control strategies.

 

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.

Solar Water Disinfection

Solar Water Disinfection

Solar Water Disinfection

03/22/18

“How can we use solar energy to purify water?”

 

Water is one of the most vital parts of human life. Whether it be for quenching our thirst, cooking our food, or running our industrial processes, water is somewhere to be found. However, in many communities around the world, not only safe drinking water difficult to come by but also access to electricity. So how can we use our engineering mindset to solve both of these problems in a sustainable manner? Well, what if we were to use a solar panel to power an electrolysis device? This way, we can purify water anywhere we are at a low cost. This process is known as Solar Water Disinfection and is a smart method to help solve access to clean water.

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.

Grid Defection

Grid Defection

Grid Defection

02/28/18

“Can Solar Plus Storage make the grid obsolete?”

 

In the 20th century, back when we were reliant on massive power plants to produce energy, if you wanted to have electricity in your home then you had to sign up an electrical utility. But with the advent of Solar Plus Storage Systems, this might become a thing of the past. Now that people can not only generate but store their own electricity at their home, there is no longer a need to be attached to the grid. In some cases, it’s actually cheaper to become off-grid! As a result, many people are undergoing grid defection and turning to generate their own electricity.

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.

Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems

Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems

Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems

02/09/18

“How can we create a central management system for distributed energy resources?”

 

Without a doubt, distributed energy resources are the way of the future. With their ability to efficiently generated clean and renewable energy in optimal locations, they can make a truly sustainable civilization possible. However, if left unregulated, they can wreak havoc on the grid, and destroy an efficiency associated with them. So how can we use our engineering mindsets to solve this problem? Well, what if we were to create a centralized control system that could monitor and actuate upon these systems? Well, this is the main idea behind Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems, and are a very hot topic for the future of energy research!