Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
Other Resources:
Good periodicals on renewable energy include Home Power Magazine and Solar Today. Many other good websites exist as well: See our list of web resources, and Solar Books for example.
Finally New Mexico Solar Businesses can be located on our Solar Professionals Directory.
Table of Contents
What are the social dangers of nonrenewable energy sources? What are the obstacles switching to renewable energy sources? The future of renewable energy storage The Even Bigger Picture: Recycling writ large
equivalent to that used by the entire United States! (Specifically, the sunlight falling on an area of roughly 60 miles x 60 miles is equivalent to the roughly 100 quads (a quad is 1015 btus) of energy used by the US each year. To see more about such calculations, see our solar curriculum project Explore the Solar Resource)
Other examples of renewable energy: Hydropower - Channeling falling water to drive turbines (generators) to generate electricity. This is renewable because the Earth's hydrological cycle, which is driven by the Sun, continuously replenishes lakes and rivers through rain. Hydropower is an indirect form of solar power. Biomass - Using the heat generated by burning plants, trees, and other organic waste. Biomass is renewable because new organic matter is always being created by photosynthesis. Biomass is also an indirect form of solar power. Wind Power - Using the wind to turn propellers connected to turbines. Wind power is considered renewable because the Sun and the Earth's rotation are always generating more winds. Wind power, like biomass and hydropower, is really another form of indirect solar power. The wind power resource of the United States, like its solar power resource, is huge. The dark blue areas in the map below show the areas where "class 6" winds exist. It is estimated that developing even a small fraction of these areas would power the US several times over, without creating adverse environmental or social impacts. Wind power is presently the fastest growing energy source in the world!
Fantastic opportunities for large scale wind power exist in New Mexico, and several projects now exist: A 200 MW facility by Public Service Company of New Mexico, and a smaller facility consisting of several 660 kw turbines by Southwestern Public Service Company of New Mexico. For more information on Wind Power and renewable energy policy in New Mexico in general (and links to the wind power world), see the website of the Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy (CCAE), http://www.cfcae.org (NMSEA is a CCAE member organization). Geothermal Power - Using the heat created by the decay of radioactive elements within the earth to heat buildings or generate steam to drive turbines (generators) to generate electricity. Geothermal power is considered renewable because there is enough radioactive elements in the Earth to keep it warm for billions of years to come. Landfill Gas - Using the methane (CH4) generated by the breakdown of garbage in land fills (really a form of biomass). Although this is not necessarily renewable for the long term, there is enough landfill gas to provide a significant source of energy in the United States. This should tell us something about how much waste our society generates! Different definitions of the phrase "renewable energy": Some people argue that nuclear power from earth based uranium should also be classified as renewable because the sun is nuclear powered and because they claim that there is lots of earth based uranium (NMSEA does not subscribe to this view). Others like the word "inexhaustible" instead of "renewable" for renewable energy sources, which better conveys the important point that renewable energy sources will never run out for the foreseeable future of humankind. Another useful term might be "non extracted", reflecting the fact that renewable energy sources do not require extraction of minerals from the ground.
For example, solar electricity (in the form of photovoltaics) is about 7 times the wholesale cost of utility scale wind power, but only about 2-3 times the cost of retail electricity. Utility Scale Renewables: Keeping in mind the average wholesale cost of electrical power from the grid, which is about 3.5 cents per kilowatt-hour for coal in New Mexico, wholesale renewable energy sources rank in cost as follows: Hydropower: 2 cents/kwh -cheapest of all, cheaper than coal Wind (utility scale): 4-6 cents/kwh - just above coal. Geothermal: 6-8 cents/kwh - twice the cost of coal. Solar Thermal Plants: 10-14 cents/kwh - 3-4 times the cost of coal. Home Scale Solar: Relative to an average retail cost of electrical grid power, which was around 10 cents per kilowatt-hour in the 1990s: Photovoltaics (home solar electricity): 19-25 cents/kwh - twice to three time the cost of grid power. For more on cost, see our solar curriculum project: Calculate the cost of Photovoltaic Systems (Home Solar Electricity), or the section further on in this primer: System Costs (for PV).
will discuss later. Nuclear Power - Nuclear power is the generation of heat (say, to drive steam turbines to generate electricity) by the nuclear reactions involving radioactive substances such as uranium 235, an "isotope" of the element uranium. There are two kinds of nuclear power: Fission: In this process, radioactive elements split apart to release energy. There are currently about 1100 nuclear "reactors" that use fission. About 430 of these are used to generate electricity in nuclear power plants (the rest are for research or production of special radioactive materials used in medicine, food processing, and scientific research). Fusion: In this process, radioactive elements (usually hydrogen nuclei) are combined to release energy. This is the source of the Sun's energy. At this point in time, successful fusion reactors have not been achieved, but there is much research on them. Nuclear power is not classified as a renewable by many people in part because there is only a finite amount of uranium 235, and this cannot be renewed by nature for us. However, the amount of uranium may be quite large. Many are reluctant to classify Nuclear power as renewable because of its associated social and environmental problems (discussed further below). Many people consider fusion nuclear power to be fundamentally safer and cleaner than fission nuclear power, and hope that researchers will succeed soon in developing it as an energy source. The feedstock for the fuel for fusion is abundant on the Earth's surface - water!
emissions associated with fuel at all (solar, wind, hydropower), or the emissions from burning fuel are compensated by photosynthesis initially (biomass, landfill gas), so that the emissions are closed-cycle (at least to a large degree). Thus we avoid many of the environmental problems associated with nonrenewable energy (see below). Keep in mind that there may be emissions, or other pollution associated with manufacturing the collection devices. Some of these emissions (those associated with energy production at least) could be avoided in the future if new collection devices are manufactured in factories that actually use renewable energy in the first place. Careful attention will always be necessary, however, to minimize the impacts of pollutants associated with manufacturing.
associated with automobiles. A malfunctioning furnace can also produce carbon monoxide. Sulfur dioxide (SO4): SO4 is emitted mostly by the burning of coal, and is the principle cause of acid rain. Nitrous Oxide (NO2): NO2 , or "nox", is created when fossil fuels are combusted in the presence of air (which is 80% nitrogen). Nox is another greenhouse gas, and also an principle contributor to smog via automobiles. Particulates: Particles of ash are emitted from the smokestacks of coal fired power plants. These particulates are a serious threat to human respiratory health in many parts of the US. Mercury: Coal contains significant amounts of mercury, a highly toxic element, that is emitted when coal is burned. Mercury from coal plants is thought to be a major pollutant of land and water in the US. The Environmental Protection Agency is beginning to regulate mercury emissions more stringently. Radioactive Uranium: Both coal and nuclear power plants can emit uranium (coal deposits often contain significant amounts of uranium).
Water Pollution/Usage: Coal-fired power plants use large amounts of water to: Transport the coal (in some cases) Wash the coal Cool the coal (to prevent spontaneous combustion) To absorb and carry away heat in the form of steam to complete the thermodynamic cycle of power generation. Nuclear power plants use enormous amounts of water to: Refine uranium ore into nuclear fuel rods To absorb and carry away heat in the form of steam to complete the thermodynamic cycle of power generation.
Land/habitat impacts of mining, drilling, and spilling: Coal mining and oil and gas drilling disrupt and pollute hundreds of square miles of land per year. Moreover, many of our largest fossil fuel resources are located in environmentally and socially sensitive regions, such as the Four Corners Area, the Cumberland (Appalachian Mountains) region, and the Artic National Wildlife Refuge, to name a few. Mining underground can lead to poisoning of streams because water seeps into the coal mines and becomes acidic from the sulfur associated with coal seams. Coal seams are on average only a meter thick, so vast areas must be either tunneled or strip mined to obtain the coal. Coal companies nowadays sometimes demolish entire mountains (called "mountaintop
removal") to get at the coal underneath. Oil spills from grounded tankers regularly contaminate vast areas of the ocean, killing enormous numbers of sea animals and birds. A good report on energy-related pollution issues and renewable energy in New Mexico can be found at http://www.nmpirg.org/reports/renew_energy/index.html
impacts of some kind, such as land use, material use, etc. Although the impacts of renewable energy generation is small compared to traditional sources in our opinion, some feel it will be too significant. Hydropower is in fact already widely opposed by many environmentalists nowadays, who feel that the impact of large dams on fish and other wildlife is too great a price to pay. Lack of Inexpensive Energy Storage: Unlike fossil and nuclear fuels, renewable energy, especially solar and wind, is intermittent by nature and does not come in the form of easily storable fuels. Therefore, the development of practical storage processes is an important long-term research goal. However, in the meantime, it has been estimated that, despite its intermittency, between 15% to 45% of the electricity provided by the electrical grid could come from solar and wind without compromising the reliability of the grid. Therefore there is ample room to begin adding these renewable energy resources now. Some solar and wind plants, however, can also take advantage of existing hydropower storage - that is, they can be used to pump water back into reservoirs, so that water can be used later to generate electricity in a hydropower dam.
The intrinsic advantage of renewable energy over nonrenewable sources is the fundamental difference that they allow an energy economy with no net emissions of pollutants from the combustion of fuels, i.e, a true closed-cycle economy. This should remain true even if synthetic fuels are eventually introduced to store renewable energy for example, if production of say, methanol, from atmospheric carbon dioxide and water using renewable electricity as an energy source becomes available. This is because such a fuel, while carbon-based, can be neutral with respect to emissions of greenhouse gasses: the carbon dioxide used to manufacture them could be absorbed from the air (via a collector of via natural biomass growth processes), and then simply released back into the air at the point of use (and similarly with the water used to generate the hydrogen). Thus, what we are really talking about is recycling writ large: new processes which could eventually lead to closing all of our material cycles. Moving towards a truly closed-cycle economy will require a fundamental shift in our approach to both energy and manufacturing in general. We therefore urge you to take recycling and renewable energy very seriously: Recycling is not just a nice thing to do for the environment - its really the whole baliwag!
There are several primary solar energy technologies, most of which are discussed further below, including Photovoltaics (solar electricity),
Passive Solar Design (solar heating, natural cooling, and can incorporate hot water systems very nicely) Active solar thermal (Solar Hot Water/Air collectors) Solar thermal electricity (large and small scale electricity generation from solar heat) Solar cooking Solar distillation Solar water pumping
A passive solar system is a solar water-heating or space-heating system that captures and moves sun-heated air or water just by the configuration of the building, without using explicit collectors, pumps or fans. An active solar system, on the other hand, is a system that uses collectors of various sorts and moves sun-heated air or water using pumps or fans. Many homes incorporate several aspects, such as passive solar design and photovoltaics, and sometimes other renewable energy forms such as wind systems. Many off-grid homes are totally energy and water sufficient and are not connected to or dependent upon utility power lines, and city water supplies and sewers.
Our solar curriculum has both solar thermal and solar electric projects.
This 10 megawatt (ten million watt) experimental solar plant, the largest of its kind, used molten salt as a working fluid, which it stored for several hours in order to contour output to demand (including extending power generation well past sunset). This plant could supply power for approximately 10,000 homes from morning until well into evening, at a production cost of 10-14 cents per kilowatt hour (about three to four times the wholesale production cost of coal-fired electricity). Over the period of several decades, this plant uses less land area, and uses it less destructively, than a coal-fired power plant that produces the same power (assuming we including the land area that needs to be mined for the coal). Sandia National Laboratories, located in Albuquerque New Mexico, built an earlier prototype of Solar II (the Sandia "Power Tower"), and conducted much of the fundamental research embodied by Solar II. See http://www.sandia.gov/Renewable_Energy/ for more information on their solar thermal program.
For more info on these see the Solstice pages on solar dishes.
Active systems such as this involve pumps (for water) or fans (for air) and collect sunlight with flat plate collectors (as pictured in the photo above). The flat plate collector is essentially an insulated box that allows sunlight in on one side through a glass covered window and absorb it with dark colored metallic surfaces. The collected (and trapped) heat is then transferred by conduction into a working fluid (typically water with or without antifreeze, or air), which is continuously pumped through pipes in contact with the collecting surfaces. The working fluid is then routed either to a storage medium, such as a hot water tank, rock bed, or radiant floor, or transferred directly into the air.
Active hot water systems themselves come in several basic types: one type uses antifreeze to keep the water in the collector from freezing on cold winter nights. The other, so-called "drain-back" systems, let the water drain out of the collector at night, so that antifreeze is not needed. The latter can be an "open system", that is the water that flows through the collector can be used directly. A disadvantage of active solar thermal systems is that they typically need more maintenance than passive systems, and have a higher upfront cost ($3000 to $5000 - passive systems are usually around $2000). One form of solar water heating that tends to require less maintenance and upfront cost, and which might be characterized as the passive form of active solar thermal is called batch solar water heating. In this approach, the collecting surface is the darkly covered surface of a water tank itself (see picture below). The tank is usually insulated and covered with glass just as is the case with a flat plate collector. Pumps are not generally necessary in this kind of system. Instead, the tank-collector is simply used to pre-heat the water before it goes into a supplemental hot water heater. That way, if the sun has heated the water, the hot water heater need not. Otherwise, the hot water heater kicks in. Another variation on this approach is to have a hot water tank located at the top of, or underneath a flat plate collector. In this approach, cold water naturally flows downwards into the collector, and hot water flows back upwards into the tank, in a convection driven process called thermosiphoning. These systems are called "integral" systems. Batch systems may be conveniently located underneath skylights or clerestories, with or without insulation on the sides and back sides, giving great flexibility to how they are integrated into a home. For example, here are photos of a batch hot water tank mounted in a clerestory (photos courtesy of Karlis Viceps):
Here is what the tank's insulated mounting box looks like from below:
Finally, some hot water systems are integrated directly into sunspace or clerestories, as hot water pipes running just underneath the glazing and attached to metallic collectors. Here is a picture of one such system, made by Zomeworks, located in a sunspace:
The long white strips across the slanted ceiling are the bottoms of the metallic collectors (manufactured by Zomeworks). The hot water pipes can be seen emanating from the right hand ends of these strips.
Here is a rooftop system in California, which is part of the Sacramento Utility District's pioneering program (see http://www.smud.org/pv/) where homeowners volunteer to pay a small premium on the electric bill to host a PV system:
PV cells, as we know them now, were first developed in 1954 by Bell Telephone researchers and first applied to power satellites in space. Our solar curriculum has several projects related to solar electricity, including: dc electricity, solar cell demonstration project, exploring the history, science, and components of PV systems, calculating the cost of photovoltaic systems. Good educational materials on PV can also be found at http://www.eren.doe.gov/pv/. Photovoltaics System Components The basic components of a complete home PV system are: PV panels: These produce the electricity from sunlight. There are typically 10 to 20 of these. Batteries: Used to store the energy. A typical (off-grid) installation uses 10-20 deepcycle lead acid batteries. Charge controller: To regulate the charging of the batteries Inverter (pictured below): Converts the low voltage DC (direct current) power from the batteries into 110 volt AC (alternating current) for use by appliances .
First, the Sun shines on the pv modules to produce electrical power. That power is routed through a charge controller to the batteries. The charge controller regulates the charging of the batteries: The voltage on the batteries needs to be increased slowly, because charging them too fast or routinely overcharging the batteries quickly degrades them. Charge controllers must also control the voltage that the pv modules output power at to operate at them at their maximum power output (this is called "power point tracking"). Next, the inverter converts the dc (direct current) electrical power from the batteries (or directly from the modules in a grid-tied system) into ac (alternating current) electrical power at 110 volts. This can then be fed to household appliances via a wall socket. System Costs The costs of typical PV system range from anywhere between a few thousand for a vacation cabin size system, to about ten thousand for a small home, and upwards of $35,000 for a large home (for more details on home PV system costs, see our curriculum project "Calculate the cost of Photovoltaic Systems"). Component costs break down roughly as follows:
About $4-6 per watt for the panels, so for a typical 2 kilowatt system the panels cost about $8,000-12,000. Several hundred dollars for the charge controller. About $1 per watt for the inverter: a typical 2 kilowatt system typically uses a 2400 watt to 5000 watt inverter: therefore the inverter cost will be $2400 to $5000. About $100 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of energy storage: a typical 2 kilowatt system might require 20 kWh of storage (only 10 kWh in active use to extend battery life) and therefore about $2000 worth of batteries. Today's crystalline PV panels have a very long lifetime, at least 25 years, and possibly much longer. Today's batteries typically last 3-10 years before they need to be replaced. Fortunately, US law requires that the batteries be recycled, and over 99% are. Many solar enthusiasts are hopeful that energy storage systems using hydrogen fuel cells will become available in coming decades to replace the need for short-lived batteries. A commonly repeated myth is that PV panels take more energy to manufacture than they produce. In fact, PV panels typically pay back their energy in 2 to 3 years in a sunny climate, as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (www.nrel.gov) has documented. New Mexico has many small businesses that specialize in PV installation and maintenance (see our Professional's Directory). Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque (see http://www.sandia.gov/pv/), and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden Colorado (http://www.nrel.gov/photovoltaics.html), both have active photovoltaic research and development programs. There are also several PV cell manufacturers in Albuquerque: Matrix Inc, Emcore Corp., and Advent Solar.
Insulation: Having good insulation (and low air leakage) to keep the heat in during the winter, and heat out during the summer. The key to getting solar gain at the right time (winter), and not at the wrong time (summer) is to take advantage of the fact that the path taken by the winter sun is much lower in the southern sky than the path taken by the summer sun (which passes nearly overhead at high noon:
The way to take advantage of these differing paths is to place most of the windows on the south side of the home, and add overhangs over these south-facing windows for additional summer shade. Here are some pictures of passive solar homes in New Mexico, showing the south-facing side:
Both of these homes were designed by NMSEA member and past president Karlis Viceps of Taos, New Mexico. Both have rainwater harvesting, cisterns, trombe walls (a masonry wall with glazing that stores solar energy for night time use), direct gain (many southern windows), and passive "batch" solar hot water. Passive Solar Design History: Passive solar design has a fascinating history, stretching at least back to the Greeks, who planned entire cities to take advantage of the Sun's energy. A great book on the history of solar energy is "A Golden Thread - 2500 years of solar
A great book on the history of solar energy is "A Golden Thread - 2500 years of solar architecture and technology", by Ken Butti and John Perlin, Cheshire Books, CA, ISBN 0 917352 08 4. Native American tribes of the southwest, as well, have long applied these techniques. Their cliff dwellings, for example, those at Mesa Verde, faced south, so that they take advantage of the low winter sun during winter, but were shaded by the overhanging rock during summer. Likewise, the thick rock and adobe walls of these dwellings served as thermal mass to store the Sun's energy and keep the buildings warm at night:
The term "passive solar" was coined in New Mexico during the 1970's by passive solar pioneer Benjamin "Buck" Rogers. Passive solar design techniques were experimented with and widely implemented in New Mexico in the period 1970-1985, by people such as Peter Van Dresser, Bill Yanda, Ed Mazria, Wayne Nichols, Doug Balcomb, Bill Lumpkins, Mark Chalom, Keith Haggard and Michael Reynolds. Several of these people also founded the New Mexico Solar Energy Association, the oldest solar association of its kind in the US. Several books by some of those listed appear in our book list. Passive solar design was placed on a firm scientific footing at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the 1970s by Doug Balcomb and others. Doug has made his vast experience available to passive solar designers by developing a passive solar design software called Energy-10: See http://www.nrel.gov/buildings/energy10/. From the enormous experience acquired by passive solar builders and researchers over the years, many good rules of thumb have been developed. Unfortunately, few architects nowadays apply them, or even know them. Moreover, some buildings that are claimed to be passive solar are not designed carefully. To give you a flavor, here are some of the more important ideas (See our Passive Solar Guidelines for a complete presentation). Right Placement and Sizing of Windows: Windows on the non-south sides should be sharply limited in their surface area to prevent heat loss. Windows on the south side, on the other hand, should have quite large surface area, but not too large: Recommended Net Glazing (Window) Areas for northern New Mexico:
Orientation
East North West South
Right Sizing of Overhangs: Overhangs are strongly encouraged for south-facing windows and trombe walls in Northern New Mexico. The following overhang angles were suggested by Doug Balcomb. These angles are not the angles one would get from most books corresponding to the winter and summer solstices. Rather, they have been adjusted by five degrees or so for the climate of New Mexico, such that they provide eight weeks of full solar gain on either side of the winter solstice (as opposed to just on the winter solstice), and a full eight weeks of shade on either side of the summer solstice (as opposed to just on the summer solstice).
Right Surface Area and Thickness of Thermal Mass: The usual sheet-rock, studs, furniture, etc of a house represent a certain baseline amount of thermal mass: Without additional thermal mass, direct gain (south-facing windows) should not exceed 7% of floor area. A house that has 7% direct gain is sometimes called a "sun-tempered" house. Even if adequate additional thermal mass is added to the house, for example, by adding internal masonry walls or floors with masonry thicker than an inch, then direct gain (south-facing windows) can be up to but should not exceed 12% of the total floor area
(south-facing windows) can be up to but should not exceed 12% of the total floor area unless you are careful to avoid, or live with, a large degree of glare. If adequate additional thermal mass is added to the house, an additional indirect gain (e.g. Trombe walls) may also be added to with a glazing area up 8% of the total floor area in addition to the 12% direct gain without overheating the house during the day. Total solar gain area for a house with added thermal mass can therefore be up to but should never be more than 20% of total floor area. The simplest rule of thumb is that thermal mass area should have at least 6 times the (uncovered) surface area of the direct gain glass area. More detailed mass sizing info is contained in the guidelines. Thermal mass effectiveness increases proportionally to thickness up to about 4 inches. After that, effectiveness doesn't increase as significantly. So concentrate on getting the surface area and the first four inches of thickness, and not on excessive thickness and volume. Contrary to common belief, it is not important to have all the mass in the direct gain path - so don't worry about trying to arrange for this! Rather, strive to have thermal mass in line of sight of sunlit surfaces. Right Arrangement of Thermal Mass: Once light enters through the windows, reflection and thermal re-radiation can transmit energy from the sunlit surfaces to other thermal mass surfaces which are in line of sight of the sunlit surfaces. Non-sunlit floor area, for example, will not function well as thermal mass with respect to sunlit floor area because it is not in line of sight with sunlit floor areas. Contrary to common belief, it is not advisable to color all thermal mass surfaces darkly (with the exception of indirect gain surfaces such as Trombe walls and water walls, which need to be very dark). Walls lit by clerestories, for example, are better painted white, such that they reflect the light to other thermal mass surfaces, such as the floor. If the wall becomes too hot, a thermal-siphon airflow can be set up that effectively heats the air and overheating the space. In general, wall and ceiling thermal mass surfaces should be light-colored, while floors should be dark. Making the floor dark helps keep the floor warm and easier to clean, in addition to providing good adsorption of thermal radiation. Right Arrangement of Rooms: Room layout should take advantage of morning sunlight for the kitchen, and possibly a bedroom, winter sunlight for the living room, and make use of buffer spaces and garages as additional northern and western shielding, as the following diagram suggests:
A sunspace might be added with advantage in front of the living room. These rules of thumb should give you a good feeling for what is required. Nowadays, computer software, such as "Energy-10" exist to assist the architect with perfecting the thermal performance of a building. Every effort should be made to take advantage of these new tools, and of these design principles for energy efficient building.