ENRM 2002 Energy Resources 1

and Sustainability

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Lecture 4

RANDY RAMADHAR SINGH

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES
ST. AUGUSTINE
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Flows of energy
3

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 Which forms of
Renewable Energy are
covered here?
 Which are not, and
why?
Appreciate the variability of different RE supplies – major
4
periodic variations of renewable sources

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Average wind speeds –

5.0
Cro wn Point
Piarco monthly and
hourly – annual and daily

4.5
cycles

4.0
Wind speed (m/s)

3.5
3.0
2.5

Cro wn Point

6
Piarco

5
2.0

4
Wind speed (m/s)
Jan

Oct
Feb

Sep
Mar

Dec
Apr

July

Nov
Aug
May

June

3
Month

2
1
0
0 4 8 12 16 20 23

Hour of day (LST)

Consider methods and controls to 5

optimize the use of renewable energy.

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By end use:
1) Renewable energies in which mechanical energy is
converted to electricity generation – hydro, wind, eave,
and tidal
2) Renewable energy for heat supplies – solar water heaters
and biomass combustion.
3) Harnessing the sun’s photons for photosynthesis and
photovoltaic conversion to electricity.
Consider methods and controls to optimize 6
the use of renewable energy cont’d

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 End-user load profile varies throughout the day and with
season:
 Supplies of heat and fuels should be matched to electricity
supply and demand.
Solar power- world outlook 7

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Solar PV is moving UP! 8

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 The Barbados Story of SWH 9
 It started with the 1974 Fiscal Incentives Act, offering manufacturers a tax break on raw materials.
 Then the government established a policy that new public housing developments must include solar
water-heating systems.

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  
 By some estimates, Barbados’s SWHs save sixty-five to ninety-two million kilowatt-hours annually,
with a consumer value of BD$23–32 million (US$11.5–16 million) per year.
 Khalid Grant of Solar Barbados reports that roughly half of all households across the island now use
SWHs, ranking the country fifth in the world per capita in solar power.
 Over four hundred homes and businesses on the island now use SPVs to do just that. In 2001, the
installed capacity of SPVs on the island was just 37 kilowatts. By 2013, it had jumped by 4500 per
cent to 1700kW. In January 2015, it was over 8 megawatts.
 Recently, the Barbados government has introduced even more incentives:
 a reduction in equipment and installation costs,
 a vigorous public education campaign, s
 kills training,
 and guaranteed low-interest financing to homeowners, businesses, and suppliers — all aimed at
further stimulating the growth of the industry. The efforts have yielded significant fiscal benefits.
Solar power-Dominican Republic 10
THE MONTE PLATA PROJECT IS THE LARGEST OF ITS KIND IN THE
CARIBBEAN UPON ITS COMPLETION.,

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NAMED FOR THE CAPITAL CITY AND PROVINCE IN WHICH IT IS LOCATED, IS
THE 33.4 MEGAWATT (MW) SOLAR PV ARRAY  DESTINED TO CHURN OUT FIVE
TIMES AS MUCH CLEAN ENERGY AS THE NATION CURRENTLY GENERATES.
BY INCREASING RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION, THE ENERGY-SCARCE
ISLAND COUNTRY WILL BE ABLE TO GREATLY REDUCE ITS NEED FOR
IMPORTED FUEL AND TAKE A LEAP FORWARD TOWARD ECONOMIC
INDEPENDENCE.

This project alone will triple the number of solar panels in the Dominican Republic, adding 132,000 panels to produce
more than 50,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable and clean  each year, which will be fed into the nation’s grid.

The Monte Plata project also reportedly creates 1,300 jobs, with the majority being local – at or near the site.

The Dubai-based international solar developer PHANES GROUP , which has active projects in the Middle East and
Europe, designed the Monte Plata array and will carry out its installation.
Solar irradiance
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 The amount of solar power per unit area of the Earth’s surface.
 Solar irradiance depends on:

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(1) The angle of the sun relative to the plane of the surface on which
the incident power falls.
(2) Whether the radiation is diffuse (coming from all directions) as
it does on a cloudy day, or direct (straight from the sun).
(3) The angle the direct portion of the irradiance depends on the
angle that the sun’s rays make with the normal to the surface on
which they fall.
Components of radiation
 12
Solar radiation incident on the atmosphere from
the direction of the Sun is the solar extra-
terrestrial beam radiation. Beneath the

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atmosphere, at the Earth’s surface, the radiation
will be observable from the direction of the Sun’s
disc in the direct beam, and also from other
directions as diffuse radiation. Fig. 2.2 is a sketch
of how this happens.
 Note that even on a cloudless, clear day, there is
always at least 10% diffuse irradiance from
molecular scattering, etc.
 The ratio between the beam irradiance and the
total irradiance thus varies from about 0.9 on a
clear day to zero on a completely overcast day.
 The practical distinction between the two
components is that only the beam component can
be focused, so that systems that rely on
concentrating solar power work well only in
places with generally clear skies and a strong
beam component.
Solar radiation = electromagnetic radiation 13

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Sketch the solar spectrum at source and at 14
the Earth’s surface

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 Fig. 2.1 shows the spectral distribution of the solar irradiance
at the Earth mean distance, uninfluenced by any atmosphere.

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Identify key processes in solar radiation absorption in the
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atmosphere, and how this implies the two spectral ‘windows’ in the
Earth’s atmosphere.

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 Measurement methods and 17
instrumentation for solar radiation

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 Selected meteorological stations have World
Meteorological Office (WMO) standardized pyranometers
with an absolute accuracy ~3%.
 The basic measurement is total irradiance on a
horizontal surface.
 Other measurements can be: (i) of diffuse radiation only,
with direct radiation prevented by an adjustable shade ring;
(ii) of beam radiation only that enters a collimating tube
continuously tracking the Sun’s path (a pyroheliometer).
 For field use (e.g. measuring irradiance on different
parts of a building) there are much cheaper
instruments, often called ‘solarimeters ‘ (although this
term is also used for pyranometers), which are usually
solar cells calibrated against a WMO-standardized
instrument. Their absolute accuracy is typically only
~15%.
Measuring sunshine hours 18

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http://piercecollegeweather.com/
instruments/sunlight-recorder/
http://www.arm.ac.uk/images/pan/pan1.html
Measuring sunshine hours 19

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 All major meteorological stations measure daily the ‘hours of bright sunshine’ n,
for which records should be available for many decades.
 Traditionally n is measured with a spherical Campbell-Stokes recorder which
incorporates a standard marked card positioned behind a magnifying glass.
 When the sunshine is ‘bright’, the focused direct beam burns an elongated hole in
the card. The observer obtains n from the total burnt length on each day’s card.
 Sunshine hours are also measured by electronic devices.
How does a solar photo-voltaic panel work?
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 Solar Photo-Voltaic(PV)
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A charge controller, or charge regulator is
basically a voltage and/or current regulator to

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keep batteries from overcharging. It regulates
the voltage and current coming from the solar
panels going to the battery.

An inverter converts the DC

current from the battery into
AC current
 Solar Water Heater(SWH)
How Solar Thermal works 22

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 Solar thermal applications 23

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(2) Crop driers
(3) Water desalination
(4) Solar concentrators
(5) Concentrated solar thermal power (CSTP) for electricity
generation
Feed In Tariffs or Net Metering 24

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Feed in tariff or Net metering? 26

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 The feed-in tariff (FiT) and net metering are both methods by which a utility company compensates a
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homeowner or other producer for the energy fed back into the grid. Simply put, net metering requires one
meter, FiT requires two.
 In net metering the meter simply “runs backwards” when a homeowner’s solar panels are producing more

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electricity than the property is using, sending the excess energy back through transmission lines to other
energy consumers. In contrast, implementing FiT requires two meters, one to measure consumption, the
other to measure generation, which generally commands a higher price than the grid energy.
 Net metering is simpler to implement: in most cases the existing meter can be used, but the price the
utility pays for power is inherently the same as it sells it for. A wealth of additional local rules exist:
utilities may cap the amount they will credit the homeowner, sometimes at zero. This is undesirable
because it encourages homeowners to only install small solar generation systems to avoid producing more
electricity than the property will use and thus “giving away” electricity. It also discourages energy
efficiency.
 Implementing a FiT is somewhat more complex, because a second meter and additional wiring is
required. However, this second meter allows different pricing for consumption and generation. The price
the utility pays for the excess electricity varies from place to place, but a typical scheme follows a 20-
year schedule that pays a pre-defined price that gradually reduces year-on-year, offering the homeowner
an attractive rate of return without significantly raising the overall cost of electricity.
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Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)
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he Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System opened on Thursday but environmental
groups say the nearly 350,000 gigantic mirrors are generating 1000 degree Fahrenheit
temperatures
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SWOT for Solar 34

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Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
• Abundant Energy Supply- low • Large Initial Cost
running cost • Trained Manpower required 35
• Widespread feasibility • Variability of Power Source
• Re use components at end of life • Not suitable for base load

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cycle Energy
• Zero emissions • Large no of Add ons required

• Scaleable • Historical experience with Inferior

• Growing use and applications of products
Mobile Technology • Storage technology for a
• Growing Popularity of Solar as a comprehensive system not fully
result of increasing energy prices mature
Remember the IPCC Quote? 36
 For a renewable energy resource to be sustainable, it must be inexhaustible and not

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damage the delivery of environmental goods and services including the climate system.
 For example, to be sustainable, biofuel production should not increase net CO 2
emissions, should not adversely affect food security, nor require excessive use of water
and chemicals, nor threaten biodiversity.
 To be sustainable, energy must also be economically affordable over the long term; it
must meet societal needs and be compatible with social norms now and in the future.
 Indeed, as use of RE technologies accelerates, a balance will have to be struck among the
several dimensions of sustainable development.
 It is important to assess the entire lifecycle of each energy source to ensure that all of the
dimensions of sustainability are met.
(IPCC 2011)
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Hydropower 38

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 (1) Appreciate the large extent of worldwide generation of
electricity from falling water.
 (2) Understand how the energy transformations occur and
the principle of operation
 (3) Perform fundamental calculations.
 (4) Estimate hydropower potential at a site.
 (5) Appreciate environmental aspects.
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Hydropower
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Principles of Operation 43

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Storage in Hydropower 45

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SWOT for Hydro Power 46

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Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
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W

T
O
S
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Questions