Technology

An innovative and simple solar panel efficiency device has just gone open source in order to get renewable energy to those who need it most.

When you picture solar power, you might tend to think of the enormous Ivanpah solar power plant in California, the largest in the world, or large tracts of land in other sun-drenched parts of the world.

But not everyone has access to such enormous grids and, in particular remote villages in developing nations, there is only a need for a single or small group of solar panels that could maintain maximum efficiency to sustain a family or village.

This is exactly what inspired Inspirefest 2018 speaker and software/mechanical engineer Eden Full Goh to develop her SunSaluter device that she announced on stage as being open source for anyone to build.

Her original idea aimed to tackle one of solar energy’s biggest problems: having a solar panel pointing directly at the sun at all times, otherwise known as solar tracking.

As the Earth rotates, the sun’s position in the sky above changes meaning that while at one point the panel will be pointed directly at it around midday, in the morning and evening it is out of direct sunlight and leaving those who need it receiving limited power.

But unlike the solar panels you might find at Ivanpah, Full Goh wanted to make a moveable solar panel that could be easily put together.

A device for all

After a trip to east Africa to test the prototype SunSaluter, she quickly learned that the challenge at hand was greater than she first thought, with those in one village saying the parts were not readily available there and that it could be dangerous to local children playing nearby.

“I decided to spend the rest of my trip learning about them,” she said on stage. “If these complicated metal parts weren’t available to them, what would be?”

So then a brainwave hit the Chinese-Canadian inventor: what if she could hit two birds with one stone and create both a device that could harness more solar energy but also create potable drinking water?

What resulted was the final SunSaluter device that is now capable of giving energy and safe water to those who need it the most, and she announced on stage that while it was originally patented, it will now be made open source for anyone to build.

“We’ve impacted 17,000 people so far,” she said, “but I’d really like us to expand our reach.”

A new hybrid energy-harvesting device may one day replace the need for batteries in certain low-power electronics devices. The new device collects ambient wasted energy from both mechanical vibrations and magnetic fields to generate sustainable electricity, which could potentially provide enough power to run wireless sensors, cardio pacemakers, and other applications.

The researchers, led by Fulei Chu at Tsinghua University in Beijing, have published a paper on the new hybrid energy harvesting device in a recent issue of Applied Physics Letters.

Over the past several years, energy harvesting has become an increasingly attractive option for replacing the batteries that are used in low-power devices. Whereas batteries have a limited lifetime and must be replaced or recharged on a regular basis, energy-harvesting devices can ideally operate autonomously for much longer periods of time.

One of the greatest challenges facing energy harvesters is generating enough power for practical applications. One way to increase the output power is to harvest more than one type of energy. For example, although there are a variety of devices that harvest either mechanical energy or magnetic energy, very few devices can harvest both, despite the fact that ambient mechanical and magnetic energy often appear together in industrial settings, such as near rotating electrical machines.

In the new study, the researchers showed that mechanical and magnetic energy are “interactive,” so that, when combined, they increase the optimal output power above the level that is possible using each type of energy alone. They demonstrated the improvements both theoretically and experimentally using a cantilever beam made of a magnetostrictive/pieozoelectric laminate material, which moves in response to both magnetic fields and vibrations.

“We have proposed the idea of taking advantage of two different energy harvester approaches and showing their interactions,” Chu told Phys.org. “As we know, energy harvesters have been investigated for decades and many methods are involved. However, each approach has its shortcomings. It is difficult and interesting to break through the single energy harvester limitations. Moreover, revealing the interactive relationship is important for the work as a whole.”

Among their results, the researchers found that the power output depends on whether the mechanical and magnetic excitations have the same or different frequencies. If the frequencies are the same, then their phase difference (how much one wave is shifted with respect to the other) directly affects the output voltage. On the other hand, if the frequencies are different, then the phase difference has little effect on the output voltage, and in fact the hybrid output voltage is no longer a simple sine wave.

With these insights, the researchers demonstrated improvements in the energy capacity, reliability, and optimal output power of the hybrid energy-harvesting device. Overall, they believe that the device performance suggests that the hybrid approach offers a promising alternative for powering low-power electronics in the future.

“We plan to conduct deeper research in the energy harvester field in the future,” Chu said. “Wind energy, wave energy, and more smart material applications in energy systems will be the focus of our research besides the further investigations of this paper.”

This week, two of the biggest economies in Europe set new records for clean energy.

The UK’s electrical grid has not burned any coal for about 1,000 hours so far this year. Though it’s just a symbolic achievement, the pace at which the UK is reaching such figures shows the pace of the energy transition. In 2016 and 2017, the comparable figures for the full year stood at 210 hours and 624 hours, respectively.

There are two reasons for the shift: a carbon tax on coal has made cleaner natural gas more attractive, and subsidies for solar and wind power have ensured wider deployment of new clean-energy technologies.

Germany’s case has been slightly different. Though it began pushing for renewable energy much earlier than the UK, its gains have been slower. The coal lobby in Germany is a lot stronger than in the UK.

But as the costs of renewable energy have come down, change is finally showing. In 2018 so far, coal generated about 35.1% of the country’s electricity. In comparison, renewable sources, such as solar, wind, and biomass, generated about 36.5%. At the half-year mark, it’s the first time in Germany’s history that renewables sources have generated more electricity than coal.

The pace of change is expected to accelerate. The European Union is tightening its emissions-trading scheme (paywall), which is raising the price of carbon. Large producers of carbon dioxide are being incentivized to move away from fossil fuels. As well, the cost of energy storage is coming down, allowing countries to add more intermittent solar and wind power.

Such records and falling renewable costs have made it easier for the EU to set more ambitious clean-energy goals. Last month, the bloc’s member nations agreed that each country must get 32% of all its energy from renewable sources by 2030.

The rapid rise of renewable energy is exposing the shortcomings in India’s current power transmission infrastructure.

As they increasingly produce and distribute this new kind of power, government agencies and companies—and their infrastructure—are grappling with the technical difficulties this transition ensues. These include frequent switching between conventional and renewable energy and forecasting demand and supply.

So a clutch of cleantech startups is tackling these problems using artificial intelligence, machine learning, and analytics. They’re either providing these services themselves or creating and selling software that firms and utilities can customise.

Turning tech-savvy

The share of renewable energy in India’s overall power capacity has shot up from around 13% in 2015 to around 20% this year. In fact, last year, the country added more renewable capacity than conventional power.

While this works well for India’s broader climate goals and financials—renewable energy is now cheaper than thermal power—this is a challenge for the country’s power-transmission infrastructure for multiple reasons.

For one, wind and solar power generation can often be erratic and limited in supply, given that they depend entirely on the weather and solar cycle. So transmission firms must find a balance between these and thermal power to ensure uninterrupted supply.

“Demand forecast, as well as procurement forecast, is very critical for the power sector both from a financial point of view and from a technical standpoint,” Umakant Panwar, a former power department secretary in the state of Uttarakhand, told Quartz. Utilities are penalised if they underprocure electricity and don’t meet the demand; if they overprocure, they lose money.

“With the ever-increasing mix of renewable energy into the grid, it is becoming less and less predictable,” Panwar said

Earlier, utilities would use simple computing techniques or do it manually. Now they’re adopting technology as it enables the utility to anticipate the power supply load for the day, he added.

“Even though rules on scheduling and forecasting got initiated in 2010, the real pace has started coming in the last couple of years,” said Vishal Pandya, director of REConnect Energy, a company that provides such forecasting and scheduling services to power producers and utilities. The company uses technology to help power producers forecast wind-power generation, and works with different state power utilities to schedule their power flows.

Utilities in Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh are all working on such pilot projects with startups. “On the government utility side, there is much more seriousness and receptiveness to try out new things,” said Nitin Tanwar, CEO of Climate Connect Technologies, an Amsterdam-based startup that makes machine learning-based software that power producers and utilities can use to study their data. While some outsource the forecasting work to startups such as REConnect, power producers, and utilities are now beginning to subscribe to software from companies like Climate Connect.

Electricity producers, too, are keen since they’re now required to provide generation data to power utilities, failing which they could be penalised as per regulations being drawn up by several state authorities. States like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka already have such rules. Others such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu are working on policies around this.

Beyond the basics

In any case, these cleantech startups are not just about forecasting.

Climate Connect, for instance, is set to launch a product that even helps in procurement. “The algorithm will tell them which power plant they should buy the power from because it is the cheapest and which area they should supply power to because they have the most revenue recovery from there. These decisions, which are now made by humans, may not be on a daily basis and may not be as efficient,” CEO Tanwar said.

Mumbai-based Quenext is looking to aggregate data on power plants and put it out for public use. Today, forecasting is done for mostly big plants. Quenext intends to it for even the smaller ones.

“We leverage satellites to identify solar panels, geotag it, overlay weather data on it, and start generating forecasts for every kilowatt. We are mapping each and every wind farm and each and every solar panel,” Awadhesh Kumar, CEO of Quenext, said.

Across South Florida, zoos, museums, airports and parks will be home to 24-foot-high “solar trees.”

Florida Power & Light is putting up the creatively designed solar panels to increase its harnessing of energy from the sun.

The Sun Sentinel reports that zoos, museums, airports and parks will be home to 24-foot-high “trees,” or curvy green tubes with solar panels on top. Other sites will get solar canopies, designed to resemble a contemporary aluminum roof.

Homeowners who are solar enthusiasts are helping foot the bill. There are about 8,000 families in Miami-Dade, 7,000 in Broward and 5,000 in Palm Beach County who are voluntarily paying an extra $9 a month to support the effort.

They don’t get a discount on their electric bills.

As the world’s largest natural gas and oil producer and exporter, Russia plays an important role in setting the global geopolitical agenda. The recent agreement with OPEC is evidence of Moscow’s ability to set prices. However, in another field of energy production Russia captures an even more dominant position: nuclear technology.

The Russian nuclear industry is one of the oldest and most mature in the world. After the end of the Second World War and the start of the Cold War, nuclear technology was not only essential for security purposes as a deterrent towards the competing power bloc, but also as a sign of prestige. The first nuclear power plant connected to the grid was opened in 1954 in the USSR. Global nuclear power plant construction in later years was dominated by three countries: France, the U.S., and the Soviet Union.

The demise of communism and the end of the Cold War significantly reduced the development of nuclear technology by the Soviet Union’s successor: the Russian Federation. In 2007 President Putin signed a decree in which a government owned holding company was created to solidify the domestic civil nuclear technology sector. The downward spiral steadily reclined and has turned out to be a resounding success.

The order book of Russia’s state owned Rosatom has steadily increased to $300 billion dollars in recent years. Currently, 34 reactors in 12 countries are under construction while several other states have shown interest. The order book adds up to a global market share of 60% of all nuclear power plants planned or under construction.

China also hosts an ambitious civil nuclear power sector where the largest number of reactors in a single country is under construction. Beijing’s export-oriented nuclear power technology development, renders risks for Rosatom in the long term. However, despite significant progress made by Chinese developers, Russian reactors remain popular in the Asian country – as illustrated by the recent approval of another four reactors during a state ceremony in Beijing.

Russian civil nuclear technology appeals to a host of customers due to attractive agreements. To many, the power plants will be the first in their history while several locations are in the developing world. In most cases, Russia’s nuclear packages are attractive as Rosatom provides both financing and day-to-day management of the power plants as well as actual construction and the shipping of nuclear fuel. Furthermore, Rosatom offers far greater discounts than its competitors.

Previously, the civil nuclear power sector was dominated by western firms: Areva and Westinghouse (part of Toshiba). The major success of Rosatom abroad coupled with a declining demand for civil nuclear technology in the West, has reduced the flow of revenues for these companies. Westinghouse even filed for bankruptcy, but has been able to reach a deal with its creditors to resolves some of the financial issues.

However, Rosatom – and therefore Moscow – also faces risks. If all plans are executed according to plan, the Russian company will be facing a mountain of nuclear waste, which (in some cases) it is contractually obliged to take care of. Furthermore, the hazardous waste also needs to be protected against theft, with a real threat of terrorists or criminals getting their hands on it.

Moscow’s strong support for national champions in various sectors such as oil and gas (Rosneft and Gazprom), defence (Rosoboronexport), and nuclear energy (Rosatom) is not solely based on financial reward. High profile deals in these crucial sectors also provide the Kremlin diplomatic clout in the countries concerned.

Furthermore, the civil nuclear energy sector is highly sensitive to public perception. Changes in attitude can quickly halt or rollback developments. The multiple methods of electricity production provide alternatives for decision makers in case the nuclear option falls out of grace. The disaster with the plant at Fukushima is the most recent example of the world’s love-hate affair with civil nuclear energy. The meltdown at the Japanese power plant dramatically changed the energy policy of the third and fourth largest economies of the world: Japan and Germany. As a result, demand for LNG and investment in renewable energies has skyrocketed in recent years in these countries.

Although Rosatom’s order book is already impressively full and several potential orders could be concluded in the foreseeable future, unforeseen actions can seriously hamper developments. The high-risk nature of the nuclear energy business renders unique mitigating factors unlike others in the power production business. As the nuclear energy sector is highly dependent on reputation and safety, one mistake or accident could break Rosatom’s winning streak overnight.