New System of Wind Energy - The Wind Speeds Increased

Mass megawatts of wind energy, of Worcester, Massachusetts, says that the combination of its multiple axes Turbo (MAT) and flat MMW system will create a technology of wind energy for electricity generation cost at locations with low wind speeds, and thus increase production.

The augmentation system of wind that uses has a very simple and cheap approach with device to increase targeting the turbines by 70%, wind speeds what is said that it is triple the power generated by the turbines. Megawatts says that this could eliminate the need of towers of more than 80 meters in height for turbines in some areas, reducing both materials and facilities costs and allowing wind turbines that generate electricity in a cost-effective manner in areas where the wind speed is lower.

According to the company, the new augmentation system is nearing completion, and intends to establish a comparison with the previous and verify the data.

NREL Data Set Shows Clouds’ Effect on Solar Power System in 1-Second Intervals

Photo credit: Saving Oahu's Solar LLC

The US Dept. of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has produced and made publicly available a data set that shows in greater than ever detail the effect of clouds passing over a solar PV power installation. The data set captures second-by-second over the course of one year the effects of clouds passing over 17 measurement stations near Hawaii’s International Airport on Oahu.

The extremely granular nature of the data set can provide utilities, solar PV system operators and project developers, researchers, forecasters and others empirical data in heretofore unobtainable detail on the effects clouds have on the power output and overall performance of solar PV installations. This can in turn enable them to construct models that can help them forecast electrical power output based on varying cloud conditions and help manage fluctuations in the flow of electricity.

‘What happens when clouds pass between the sun and a large solar PV installation?’ and ‘How much is lost in the effort to convert the sun’s photons into electrons for electricity?’ were questions that remain largely unanswered until recently, NREL points out in a press release. The information in the NREL data set can be used to predict probable PV power outputs at 1-second intervals for medium- and large-scale installations.

Smoothing out fluctuations in voltage are critical to ensuring stable, grid-quality flows of electricity. Solar PV system operators can stabilize electricity flows by storing electricity or by using infrastructure and software packages, according to NREL.

“Clouds can cause pretty significant jumps or ramps over a very short period of time,” NREL senior scientist David Renne noted, adding that as solar power becomes a bigger part of the energy mix, such jumps can cause fluctuations in the grid, which can cause surges, fluctuations, and headaches for the utility operator if unmitigated.

Researchers from NREL’s Solar Radiation Research Laboratory designed the equipment so that a global positioning satellite system can be used to provide concurrent 1-second measurements for each of the 17 stations, a degree of precision necessary as solar PV systems respond quickly to shadows, Renne explained.

Funded by the DoE in support of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI), the measurement system and data set enabled the NREL team “to set up a solar-monitoring network that simulates exactly how clouds would impact a large photovoltaic system,” that can be used to model solar PV systems’ output for installations as large as 30 megawatts (MW), Renne said.

“The time-synch data are unique. All 17 stations make a 1-second measurement at exactly the same time. This allows the array to ‘see’ clouds moving through and simulates how a PV system might behave. Each of the 17 measurement stations measure the solar energy in the sun’s visible spectrum that reaches a horizontal surface at ground level.”

In addition, very large arrays of solar PV panels smooth out fluctuations caused by cloud shadows to a greater degree than is the case for single panels of small rooftop arrays, the research team found.

The data was collected for the Oahu Solar Energy Study, the partners of which include HCEI, General Electric, the Hawaiian Electric Company and the Hawaiian National Energy Institute.

View the original article here

Solar Energy Facts - Deciding on a Solar Energy System

Solar Energy Facts - Choosing the Right Sources of Renewable Electricity for Your Location

Here is an article from The Alternative Energy Store which discusses the process of choosing the proper renewable energy system for your home or business. This section will deal mostly with solar energy facts.

"Without taking into account financial incentives available by state and national governments, solar air heating, solar water heating and micro hydro electric systems have the best financial payback periods.

However, in part due to rebates and people's familiarity with solar electric and wind power systems, they are the most popular with homeowners and businesses.

Selecting what type of renewable energy to use to power your home or business is not always about what you would prefer to have but what is best available and economically most feasible.

Here we will discuss reviewing your site for its potential in generating electricity from solar power, wind power and hydro (water) power.

We won't be covering solar air heating and solar water heating systems in this article which are exceptionally cost effective for most home owners (please see our article on solar heating technologies). Ignoring for the moment any rebates or tax incentives offered by your local or national governments and assuming that you site had plenty of resources to provide solar, wind or hydro power, the most cost effective systems for generating electricity are (going from least to most expensive):

microhydro electric systems, wind electric systems and solar electric systems.Ironically, the types of systems that are most frequently used go in exactly the opposite order: many solar electric systems, some wind electric systems and few microhydro electric systems.

The reason for this reversal is due in part to the actual availability of these energy resources, rebates and incentives, zoning laws at particular a location among other things. Solar Energy Facts Regarding Location

Most locations can make use of solar power as long as where you would install the solar panels would have a clear shot of the sun for most of the day (e.g. 9AM through 3PM).

Most solar electric panels rapidly decrease in performance with just a little bit of shading. Literally the shadow of a twig upon a solar panel could cause it to decrease it's output by 30% or more.

The amount of energy you can get from solar electricity at your site, depends on your location in the world and the time of the year.

Obviously, sites closer to the equator will tend to receive more solar power throughout the year than one's far north or south of the equator.

Generally sites north of the equator receive more sunlight between the months of April through September, and sites south of the equator receive more during the opposite time of the year (October through March).

As you can imagine, sunlight is also affected by the weather. Sites that frequently have long lasting fog or are overcast during large parts of the year will have less available solar power

Solar Energy Facts on Insolation

The measurement for the strength of the sunlight striking the earth at your location is defined as solar insolation.

Using this value, you can determine how much energy you can generate through out the year for your site. Solar insolation data for all over the world and at different times of the year has been investigated and recorded.

The peak, average and lowest annual solar insolation values for several different USA cities and countries across the world can be found in the reference area of the How To section If you live in the USA, choose the city closest to you in the table and that will give you a good estimate of the amount of solar insolation for your location.

To determine the average daily amount of energy you would produce at your location, you would multiply the average annual solar insolation value times the total wattage of your solar panel array.

As an example, let's say that you had a single 100 watt solar panel and you lived in Columbus, Ohio, which has an average annual solar insolation value of 4.15 sun-hours.

Solar Energy Facts on daily energy output.

To determine your average daily energy output out of that 100 watt panel you would multiply 100 watts times 4.15 sun-hours (100 x 4.15), which is 415 watt-hours (or 0.415 kilowatt-hours). This amount of energy would be about enough to power a color TV for a couple of hours every day.

View the original article here

Buildings energy efficiency | SPORTE2 system for stadia

Currently ongoing project at European level to improve energy efficiency in buildings with large amount of influx of persona:SPORTE2. This project is part of the European Union 7th framework programme for r + d and is by entering the testing phase in the tecnalia kubik building and a sports centre in Etxebarri, Bizkaia.

SPORTE2 is defined by its members as an intelligent management system to integrate and control the generation, consumption and the energy Exchange for buildings of sports and recreation in Europe ("Intelligent Management System to integrate and control energy generation, consumption and exchange for European Sport and Recreation Buildings"). The project is in charge of Tecnalia Research & Innovation and Emtesport (management of sports facilities). They joined technology centres, universities and specialized enterprises of Italy, Greece and Portugal.

This project's budget is 4,71 EUR million and will have a Community funding of 2.97 million. SPORTE2 development plan has a duration of 36 months, with an estimated date of completion in September 2013.

East intelligent system of management of buildings (BMS) will be modular and scalable. The functions carried out by SPORTE2 include monitoring, integrated control and optimization of energy in sports stadiums management and leisure centres. Throughout the European continent, estimated to be 1.5 million buildings, approximately 8% of the total number of buildings.

The system will develop SPORTE2, will be suitable to install both in equipment in operation, as in new construction. Via is expected to achieve an energy saving up to 30%, and consequently also a significant reduction of the emissions of CO2 and a significant economic benefit.

Much of the research and testing of this system will be carried out in Vizcaya. On the one hand used the experimental building "KUBIK by Tecnalia", located in the Technological park of Bizkaia. On the other hand, it will implement in the Polideportivo Municipal de etxebarri (bizkaia), managed by Emtesport. There will be a key instance of the project: the test in a public space where made in game functions include: regulation of heating, ventilation, hot water, air conditioning, management, monitoring and storage of energy, etc.

This energy management developed by SPORTE2 in Bizkaia model is a pioneer in Europe, and will be tested also in edificios-piloto of other European cities.

View the original article here

Solar Energy Basics - Sizing Up Your System

Electric System to Fit Your Needs

In regard to solar energy basics, the process for determining the size of your solar electric system is the opposite order of what we just went through in the previous example.

First, you determine how much energy you need on a daily basis in kilowatt-hours (kWh). This data can be found on your electric bill on a monthly basis if you have one for your location.

Otherwise you will need to go through the process of estimating your energy consumption. To estimate the energy usage on a daily basis, take your monthly estimate and divide by 30. You may use the load calculator located here to determine your needs. To estimate the energy usage on a daily basis, take your monthly estimate and divide by 30.

Second, regarding solar energy basics, you need to determine the solar insolation value for your site.

If you're going to be totally disconnected from the electric grid/utility company then you will need to use the minimum (worst case) solar insolation value for your location.

If you're going to be feeding your electricity into the electric grid then use the average solar insolation value.

Lastly, you need to divide your estimated daily energy usage (kilowatt-hours) by the solar insolation value and multiply by an system inefficiency factor:

Total Watts of Solar Electric Panels Neeeded = [(Daily Kilowatt-hours)/(solar insolation)] x Inefficiency Factor

The inefficiency factor for systems that are disconnected from the electric grid (off-grid) is 1.3.

For systems that are connected to the grid (also called on-grid, grid tied, grid intertied or grid connected) that value is usually assumed to be 1.2.

The reason that it is higher for off-grid systems is that these systems have to store the energy in battery banks which are not perfectly efficient.

Most on-grid systems either don't use batteries at all or use them in such a way that their inefficiencies are minimized.

Solar Energy Basics - Choosing the Solar Electric Panels Right for You

Now that you know the total wattage of the solar electric panel array you need, it's up to you select the specific solar panels that will make up this total wattage.

For example, if determined that for your home you needed a total of 2000 watts of solar panels and you decided you liked Kyocera 130 watt solar electric panel then you would need 16 of them (2000 watts divided by 130 watts = approximately 16 panels, rounding up to the next whole number).

People make selections of solar panels based upon many different factors. Some people prefer only larger solar panels (150 watts or above) because it means they have to do less wiring in interconnecting the panels.

Others choose moderate size panels (80 to 120 watts) because they're easier to lift and manuver.

Other people will choose panels based upon color, electric properties, whether or not the manufacturer is a petroleum company, which country the panels are manufactured in, whether the panels are immediately available and, of course, price per watt plays a big role for most people.

For educational material Check out the Alternative Energy Store, they have free educational information on renewable energy systems for your home and great prices on solar panels and wind turbines for your home.

To get more information on solar energy basics, click here.

Needing more information on solar energy and how to apply it in practical applications, visit

View the original article here