Water Power Peer Review

Modular Wave Energy Transfer (WET)

1 | Program Name or Ancillary Text

Jane Vvedensky
Shift Power Solutions JaneVvedensky@ShiftPowerSolutions.com November 2011

eere.energy.gov

Purpose, Objectives, & Integration

The Challenge:
A renewable energy source that is persistent and consistent, with low operating cost, low environmental impact and rapid commercialization.

This promotes the Program by:

Producing continuous power from wave energy Providing a model product demonstrating a successful renewable Developing methods for rapidly commercializing new power technology Having a cost-effective system to replace or augment legacy systems

Our Objective: develop & validate a generation system that

Harvests energy from shoreline waves especially if they are destructive Can be brought to market quickly Can be integrated with grids, legacy systems, renewable sources and storage facilities or used in isolation Works in variety of conditions & has a low energy cost when mass produced
2 | Wind and Water Power Program eere.energy.gov

Technical Approach & Issues

Our solution: a modular approach
Many small repeating modules = lower manufacturing costs Not just one unit = mitigated points of failure Can be arranged in configurable sets and arrays = customize to site conditions Plug and play components = rapid changeover for maintenance, expansion or upgrade Maintenance by module swap-out = shutdown of entire system not required Designed for near-shore installations or man-made structures  Potential installation siting and permitting obstacles reduced  Can be used to reduce wave impact on structures  Lower costs of installation, operation and maintenance since not in deep open water Solar Panel analogy: direct feed to local loads or combined for utilities

Issues:
Survivability How to reduce Cost of Energy Improve manufacturing techniques, materials and processes
3 | Wind and Water Power Program eere.energy.gov

Unique Features & Accomplishments

Unique because:
Fast to market - first prototype at full scale Wide market - applicable to both small and large installations Organic-growth business model - steady, secure growth of experience & finance

Accomplishments
Invented a new generator design
Dramatic cost reduction to current design Potentially more effective in converting energy to electricity

Amended the initial design:

Harvest both heave & surge More robust and survivable for marine environments

Built and tested three generator iterations

Improved initial design to quadruple output Lab tests extrapolated to known water conditions: 200-400 watts

Redesigned manufacturing process

Exploring significant cost-savings

On budget on target
eere.energy.gov

4 | Wind and Water Power Program

Plan, Schedule & Budget

Schedule
Milestone
Engineering system framework complete Design prototype Build prototype Test design to understand tradeoffs Risk analysis Design improvement

Deliverables
Feasibility study, design requirements Analysis results, engineering drawings Completion of panel, frame & generator Generator output, wet-test results Revised risk analysis and mitigation plans Revised design, manufacture & install plans

Completion date
Dec 14, 2011 Apr 26, 2011 Aug 26, 2011 Nov 15, 2011 Nov 30, 2011 Dec 15, 2011

Budget:
Variance: Scripps wave channel smaller, less expensive Savings to be used for additional testing Expenditure: $337,383. 86% of overall budget.
Budget History
FY2009 DOE Cost-share DOE FY2010 Cost-share DOE FY2011 Cost-share

$240.0K

$151.3K
eere.energy.gov

5 | Wind and Water Power Program