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Bob Wallace

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2050 on: October 06, 2017, 04:19:16 AM »
At least one solar farm on the island was torn up.  From the single photo I've seen it looks like the weak point was the clips that hold panels to the rails.

Perhaps someone will come up with better installation hardware for places that get severe weather.

Rebuilding the system as  a group of smaller grids linked together might mean quicker recovery when/if the island is hit hard again.  One or more solar farms and some storage at each of the scattered village should mean the ability to patch together some sort of a system so that health and emergency services could operate.  People could charge cell phones and batteries for flashlights and lanterns.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2051 on: October 07, 2017, 02:42:07 AM »
Love that these arrangements begin on Twitter, rather than in secret deals.  New way of doing business?  ;D

Elon Musk and Puerto Rico Governor to talk today about ways for Tesla Energy to rebuild destroyed grid
Quote
As we reported yesterday, Elon Musk brought up the possibility for Tesla could rebuild Puerto Rico’s power grid with batteries and solar.

It has now led to the CEO securing a talk directly with the US territory’s Governor who seems more than enthusiastic about the prospect of Tesla having a role to play in the reconstruction of the island’s grid.

The CEO and high-level politician linked up on Twitter. ...

Ricardo Rosello: Let’s talk today; I will be in touch. I have no doubt #Teslasolar will work w/#PuertoRico to globally showcase the power of its technology.

Elon Musk: Sounds good, I look forward to talking later today
https://electrek.co/2017/10/06/elon-musk-puerto-rico-governor-tesla-energy-destroyed-power-grid/


Update:
Gov. Rosello: Great initial conversation with @elonmusk tonight. Teams are now talking; exploring opportunities. Next steps soon to follow.
https://twitter.com/ricardorossello/status/916477064261394432
« Last Edit: October 08, 2017, 09:49:42 PM by Sigmetnow »
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2052 on: October 08, 2017, 09:52:30 PM »
Less than 2¢ per kWh!

How is Saudi Arabia setting solar pricing records? Is it sustainable – repeatable?
Quote
“What most people suspect, including us, is that there is some sort of subsidy, either direct or indirect, within the PPA that makes this price possible,” said Benjamin Attia, an analyst in global solar markets at GTM Research. “Or they’re going to lose money on it. It’s very unlikely in my mind that Masdar is making money on an unsubsidized 1.79¢ (USD) bid.”
https://electrek.co/2017/10/08/how-is-saudi-arabia-setting-solar-pricing-records-a-financial-and-technical-analysis/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2053 on: October 09, 2017, 04:39:24 PM »
JinkoSolar and Fraunhofer ISE break solar efficiency records for everyday solar panels
Quote
Solar panel manufacturer JinkoSolar has broken the record for solar cell efficiency for the most commonly used type of solar cells – 22.04% for a P-type multicrystalline product. Near concurrently, solar research facility Fraunhofer ISE has broken the record for n-type multicrystalline solar cells with an efficiency of 22.3%.
https://electrek.co/2017/10/09/jinkosolar-and-fraunhofer-ise-break-solar-efficiency-records-22-04-and-22-3/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2054 on: October 09, 2017, 04:42:37 PM »
Renault launches its own new energy subsidiary to develop grid products
Quote
“The creation of Renault Energy Services marks an important step forward. Investing in smart grids is key to both reinforcing the lead we enjoy in the European electric vehicle market and accelerating the EV industry’s scale-up.”
https://electrek.co/2017/10/09/renault-launches-new-energy-subsidiary-develop-grid-products/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2055 on: October 09, 2017, 04:49:23 PM »
South Australia: S.A. tender attracts 60 proposals for “next-gen” renewables and storage
Quote
The South Australia Labor government says it has received nearly 60 proposals from local and international companies for next generation renewable energy technologies and storage under its Renewable Technology Fund.

The deadline for the tender fell a day before the recent unveiling of the Tesla-Neoen big battery’s connection agreement with ElectraNet and news that the 100MW/129MWh project was already half complete.

The Tesla-Neoen big battery at the Hornsdale wind farm will likely account for around $20 million of the RTF, and the government call for more projects has attracted interest from a range of technologies, including  batteries, bioenergy, pumped hydro, thermal, compressed air and flywheel.

State energy minister Tom Koutsantonis highlighted the three proposals from Adelaide-based 1414 Degrees, which is developing a “silicon battery” that stores heat and energy, and is looking for its first commercial-scale demonstration project.

Koutsantonis said among 1414’s proposals was a pilot 10MWh thermal storage project that could allow SA Water to store some of the energy it generates from biogas produced at the Glenelg Waste Water Treatment Plant.

The 1414 technology, while often described as a “battery”, actually focuses more on heat storage, and sees its biggest potential market in places like Europe, which relies heavily on district heating, particularly in winter. ...
http://reneweconomy.com.au/s-tender-attracts-60-proposals-next-gen-renewables-storage-76381/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2056 on: October 09, 2017, 05:03:24 PM »
Video: Drone flyover. World's largest solar park: 2,000MW of solar power.  2,700 MW planned for 2018.
In India.

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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2057 on: October 09, 2017, 10:09:52 PM »
Rebuilding after a disaster.  It's not just the province of governments anymore.

Elon Musk’s offer to rebuild Puerto Rico’s electricity grid is a game-changer
• Elon Musk has offered to bring Tesla to Puerto Rico to fix and improve the island's power grid.
• This represents a new way for investors to look at disaster response beyond just lending cities money in new bonds.
• The American people seem more open to this kind of approach than they have in many years.
Quote
Now along comes Musk, and suddenly investors have another way to look at Puerto Rico. Bond debts or no bond debts, Tesla could make a project on the island profitable for its investors even just as a demonstration of what the company could do for better paying municipal customers elsewhere. Again, that takes us to a new place from just the valuable public relations effect Wal-Mart and other companies gain from pitching in cash and material after disasters.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/09/elon-musks-offer-to-rebuild-puerto-ricos-electricity-grid-is-a-game-changer-commentary.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2058 on: October 11, 2017, 04:12:04 PM »
A dash of optimism in these very dark days.

Opinion: Like Don Quixote, Coal & Oil stooge Scott Pruitt will fail in his fight against windmills
https://electrek.co/2017/10/10/don-quixote-coal-oil-stooge-scott-pruitt-fail-fight-against-windmills/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2059 on: October 11, 2017, 04:23:41 PM »
Will solar panels survive a nuclear EMP (and dear God, why do we have to think about this?)
https://solarpowerrocks.com/solar-questions/will-solar-panels-survive-nuclear-emp/

"Sol-Ark solar inverters are EMP-hardened, meaning they’re specifically designed to withstand all the disruptions of an EMP, whether it comes from a nuclear weapon or the sun."
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2060 on: October 12, 2017, 03:53:17 AM »
How to get a 60 metre wind-turbine blade round a 90-degree bend on the A87 #SuperWingCarrier
https://twitter.com/Ian_Fraser/status/916591749237301248
Video at the link!
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2061 on: October 12, 2017, 04:30:09 PM »
Despite Trump, American companies are still investing in renewable energy
Surveyed corporations stated that Trump’s election had no impact on their decision to buy renewable energy
Quote
The groups surveyed 153 major corporations (both public and private), whose combined revenue was in excess of $250 million. Among these companies, 84% are “actively pursuing or considering purchasing renewable energy over the next 5-10 years.” Surprisingly, they found that 43% of the corporations intend to be more aggressive in their pursuit of renewable energy in the next two years. 87% of those actively pursuing renewable energy purchases stated that the election of Trump had no impact on their decision.

In fact, 11% were more inclined to purchase renewable energy. Most surprising to me was that of the 128 companies that are actively pursuing or considering purchase of renewable energy over the next two years, all but 1 responded that they were “positive about either continuing forward or becoming more aggressive in their attempts to pursue renewables.” ...
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/oct/11/despite-trump-american-companies-are-still-investing-in-renewable-energy
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2062 on: October 12, 2017, 06:47:17 PM »
Solar power: not just for air-conditioned, comfortable environments any more.

"The [image below] is of the 27MW San Fermin solar plant in Puerto Rico four days after Hurricane Maria swept the island. The image came from the NOAA by way of earther.com (and reader Will Driscoll). The system was designed back in 2012 to withstand up to 250-260kph (155-162mph) wind speeds. All hardware is two meters off of the ground and there is a local energy storage system hooked into the power plant. We’re nearing the end of a discussion – solar that is designed to withstand a hurricane will do so."
https://electrek.co/2017/10/12/egeb-hurricane-solar-power-rooftop-tracking-eversource-algonquin-3-6b/


Video at the link:  Huge solar park in the U.A.E. desert.  Inspection by drone! Inverters designed to stand up to the heat, without air conditioned cabinets. 
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sidd

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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2064 on: October 13, 2017, 09:44:08 PM »
Here’s how much of the ocean would need to be covered in wind turbines to power Earth
Quote
The researchers found that up to 4 times more wind power per square meter can be extracted from open ocean farms than current land-based techniques. With this increased wind intensity, it was discovered that 3 million wind turbines, each placed in its own 1 sq kilometer area, in this North Atlantic ocean could produce an annual amount of 18TWh of energy – equivalent to humanities current needs.

Several caveats were introduced by the authors – the first of which had to do with seasonality.

The amount of energy produced varied greatly between the winter and summer. Winter time production would actually overproduce the word’s ‘energy’ needs – whereas summer would only meet ‘electricity’ in North America and Europe. ...
https://electrek.co/2017/10/12/how-much-ocean-covered-wind-turbines-power-earth/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2066 on: October 15, 2017, 08:28:32 PM »
From the Hurricane Season 2017 thread:

Tesla starts shipping Powerpacks to Puerto Rico
Quote
Elon Musk said last week that Tesla would accelerate its effort to help bring power back to Puerto Rico after sending a few hundred Powerwall battery packs to the island where the electric grid was destroyed by hurricanes last month.

Now we learn that Tesla is indeed stepping it up with now a new shipment of Powerpacks.

A single Powerpack 2 battery pack has the same energy capacity (210 kWh) as almost 16 Powerwall 2 battery packs combined (each 13.5 kWh).

Tesla’s Powerwall is useful to bring individual rooftop solar installations back online for homes and small businesses, but Tesla’s Powerpack has the potential to bring larger parts of the grid online by working with the electric utilities and combining the energy storage systems with solar farms or other renewable energy sources.

Now several Tesla Powerpacks were spotted at the San Juan airport in Puerto Rico over the weekend....
...
Musk wrote on Twitter last week that they will first focus on helping hospitals and medical centers get stable power as less than 20% of the island currently has power and some regions are still looking at months without power.

But Tesla is looking to work with Puerto Rico beyond short-term solutions and actually try to rebuild the grid to be more resilient with solar power and energy storage.
...
https://electrek.co/2017/10/15/tesla-powerpacks-puerto-rico/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2067 on: October 15, 2017, 08:52:51 PM »
A former energy official for Obama explains why Tesla has the best plan for helping Puerto Rico
Quote
It's been almost a month since Hurricane Maria tore through Puerto Rico and the majority of the island still doesn't have power.

About 84% of the island is without electricity, critical structures like hospitals are relying on gas- and diesel-powered generators to remain operational, and the prognosis looks bleak for most residents. It could be another six months before parts of the island regain power.

It's a dire situation that should inspire the federal government to seriously pursue the construction of microgrids — which has been pitched as the best solution to Puerto Rico's long-standing energy issues before the hurricane even struck, Brandon Hurlbut, the chief of staff for the Department of Energy under President Barack Obama, said in an interview.
...
Hurlbut said he would like to see the federal government use resources at the Department of Energy to pursue a clean energy solution, but acknowledges it's unlikely. EPA Chief Scott Pruitt officially reversed Obama's Clean Power Plan this week.

But Musk appears to have the unique ability to cut through the red tape and pursue a microgrid solution, which seems like the best bet.

Rossello spoke with Musk just one day after the Tesla CEO said microgrids could solve Puerto Rico's electric crisis. That kind of public sway shouldn't be overlooked.

At a time where Washington seems unwilling to consider alternative solutions, Tesla could be the best bet for executing a clean energy solution that officials have long said is necessary. ...
http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-energy-official-supports-tesla-plan-puerto-rico-2017-10
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Bob Wallace

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2068 on: October 15, 2017, 09:00:47 PM »
The 27MW San Fermin solar plant in Puerto Rico which was designed to withstand  250-260 kph (155-162 MPH)  winds and whose panels are mounted two meters off the ground seems to have come through the storm with little to no damage.

Out of 125MW of utility scale plants, 89 MW have minor damage can be restarted. 

There's a picture of one solar farm that was trashed.  From what I can tell from the picture the panels were mounted on rails that were not designed for high wind condition.  It looks like there was a lot of clamp failures which allowed panels to rip away from the rails.

This looks like an excellent opportunity for a large grid to be modernized with solar, wind and storage.  Most of the grid is gone. 

Start with the most important applications, hospitals and communication systems.  Build storm hardened generation and harden one or more buildings in each community so that people have a safe place to shelter while the storm is passing.  Put a simple satellite dish and modem in each community in their 'safe building'.  That would allow the community to be back in contact with the outside world over an inexpensive satellite ISP within an hour after the storm was over.

Maybe it's no longer to connect more remote communities with the large grid.  Mini-grids for small communities and micro-solar for isolated houses.

numerobis

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2069 on: October 15, 2017, 10:57:10 PM »
Storm-hardened infrastructure for hospitals would be useful all the time: solar panel + battery would reduce the power bill when there's no emergency situation, unlike a diesel generator which just sits around not doing much.

"Inexpensive satellite ISP" doesn't really exist though. It's not a drop-in replacement to use satellite internet versus using a fibre link to the mainland: bandwidth is two orders of magnitude slower, and latency is an order of magnitude higher. So you'd need to have a proper plan, and plans cost money (somebody has to be paid to sit there and think, then write a document that nobody reads until it's too late). The actual hardware is a couple hundred bucks.

Bob Wallace

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2070 on: October 16, 2017, 12:28:05 AM »
Quote
"Inexpensive satellite ISP" doesn't really exist though.

That's how I connected to the internet for years.  About $400 to purchase the dish and modem, about $50 per month for service. 

I doubt there would be any problem getting a provider to set up accounts and allow system checks once a month or so.  They'd probably do that for free just for the publicity.

Not fast enough for video and not very good for VoIP.  But very adequate for text messages which is all that is needed to establish communication.  Fast enough for low rez photos.  Let people have limited access in order to exchange basic messages with their friends and families. 

Mount the dish in a frame that one or two people could carry from a secure closet and bolt down to a concrete pad (or wherever).  After the storm then carry out, bolt down, power up, and communicate.

Mounting in a rigid frame would eliminate orientation problems.  Space the bolts so that there would be only one way to attach the frame.  Put the modem in the frame.  All that would be needed is an extension cord.


Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2071 on: October 16, 2017, 12:45:06 AM »
Don't spend too much on hardware. SpaceX's satellite Internet will be up and running in a few years.  ;)

SpaceX’s worldwide satellite broadband network may have a name: Starlink
• The launch of 4,425 operational satellites is slated to begin in 2019 with the system reaching full capacity in 2024.
• Previously, SpaceX has said its satellites will provide gigabit speeds at latencies of around 25ms. Those latencies are about as low as cable Internet service; typically, that wouldn't be possible with satellites, but SpaceX plans to use low-Earth orbits.
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/09/spacex-seeks-starlink-trademark-for-its-satellite-broadband-network/
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Bob Wallace

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2072 on: October 16, 2017, 01:24:42 AM »
Don't spend too much on hardware. SpaceX's satellite Internet will be up and running in a few years.  ;)

SpaceX’s worldwide satellite broadband network may have a name: Starlink
• The launch of 4,425 operational satellites is slated to begin in 2019 with the system reaching full capacity in 2024.
• Previously, SpaceX has said its satellites will provide gigabit speeds at latencies of around 25ms. Those latencies are about as low as cable Internet service; typically, that wouldn't be possible with satellites, but SpaceX plans to use low-Earth orbits.
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/09/spacex-seeks-starlink-trademark-for-its-satellite-broadband-network/

Wonder what sort of transceiver will be needed?  A small dish?  A cell phone?

"She said that SpaceX will begin testing the satellites within months and launch one prototype before the end of this year."

Put the guts in a package that could be flown over an impacted area with a drone.  The basic system could get a real world workout before satellites were flying.

Could we fly cell tower transceivers with drones?  If so, we should have some on standby for situations like this.

A-Team

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2073 on: October 16, 2017, 01:55:05 AM »
Quote
"Inexpensive satellite ISP" doesn't really exist though.
Hmmm, that's what I've been using for the last ten years. Posts do get lost on occasion but I was not aware I had just been posting into the Matrix all this time.

Exede is the new geosynchronous satellite, it's plenty fast. Used to be Wild Blue. You don't buy anything, they come out to the house and aim the dish and provide a free modem/router. Monthly is similar to urban DSL. You can also ditch the phone company for a bit more.

It does not make a dent in our solar panel output, no need to be on the grid. The modem/router is such that neighbors just need the password to share the signal. There is unlimited download at night (eg for operating system GBs.)

The only tricky part is taking it mobile (in a camper) but I've seen people do it with precision telescope mounts.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2074 on: October 16, 2017, 04:12:53 AM »
<snipped>
Could we fly cell tower transceivers with drones?  If so, we should have some on standby for situations like this.

"The US Federal Communications Commission has approved Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc’s application to provide emergency cellular service to Puerto Rico through balloons."

Alphabet, which announced its Project Loon in 2013 to use solar-powered, high-altitude balloons to provide internet service in remote regions, said in an FCC filing it was working to “support licensed mobile carriers' restoration of limited communications capability” in Puerto Rico.Oct 6, 2017

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/07/puerto-rico-cell-phone-service-to-be-restored-by-google-balloons
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Adam Ash

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2075 on: October 16, 2017, 06:22:00 AM »
Don't spend too much on hardware. SpaceX's satellite Internet will be up and running in a few years.  ;)

SpaceX’s worldwide satellite broadband network may have a name: Starlink
• The launch of 4,425 operational satellites is slated to begin in 2019 with the system reaching full capacity in 2024.
• Previousl...
"She said that SpaceX will begin testing the satellites within months and launch one prototype before the end of this year."

Mmmm 4,425 more bits of cool junk in LEO.  Kessler Syndrome anybody?  (Alarmist?  Moi??!!)

Bob Wallace

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2076 on: October 16, 2017, 08:36:32 AM »
Don't spend too much on hardware. SpaceX's satellite Internet will be up and running in a few years.  ;)

SpaceX’s worldwide satellite broadband network may have a name: Starlink
• The launch of 4,425 operational satellites is slated to begin in 2019 with the system reaching full capacity in 2024.
• Previousl...
"She said that SpaceX will begin testing the satellites within months and launch one prototype before the end of this year."

Mmmm 4,425 more bits of cool junk in LEO.  Kessler Syndrome anybody?  (Alarmist?  Moi??!!)

Time to get Sir James Dyson working on a vacuum cleaner mounted on a rocket....

crandles

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2077 on: October 16, 2017, 11:51:59 AM »
Time to get Sir James Dyson working on a vacuum cleaner mounted on a rocket....

 ;D :o ;D ;D ;D vacuum cleaner in space  ;D

Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2078 on: October 16, 2017, 04:53:32 PM »
Don't spend too much on hardware. SpaceX's satellite Internet will be up and running in a few years.  ;)

SpaceX’s worldwide satellite broadband network may have a name: Starlink
• The launch of 4,425 operational satellites is slated to begin in 2019 with the system reaching full capacity in 2024.
• Previousl...
"She said that SpaceX will begin testing the satellites within months and launch one prototype before the end of this year."

Mmmm 4,425 more bits of cool junk in LEO.  Kessler Syndrome anybody?  (Alarmist?  Moi??!!)

SpaceX intends to traverse that space regularly, so I'm guessing it's not as big a hazard as we think.  However, Musk did mention that the SpaceX BFR ship could be used to gather up old satellites and space debris and remove them from orbit.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2079 on: October 16, 2017, 05:26:19 PM »
Wales' Environment Secretary has announced an ambitious target for energy generation in the country. She wants 70 percent of the nation's electricity to be generated by renewable sources by the year 2030.
https://futurism.com/wales-sets-new-goal-of-70-percent-clean-energy-generation-by-2030/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2080 on: October 16, 2017, 10:14:30 PM »
New wind turbine efficiency so great, utilities ‘repowering’ farms early
Quote
Warren Buffett owned MidAmerican Energy is upgrading wind turbines in Iowa early in their lifetimes in order to take advantage of the newest innovations in gear boxes and blades. Since only small parts of the already developed wind farms need be upgraded – these moves will increase the profitability of the farms. Wind turbines are evolving at a fast enough pace that waiting for standard end of life (30 years) means leaving money on the table.
...

Interestingly –

After refurbishing some of the turbines at the Diablo Winds project in the Altamont Pass in California, researchers found that the fatality rates fell by 54 percent for raptors and 66 percent for all birds.

MidAmerican estimates that repowering the farms would increase output from the turbines by 19-28%. Annually, wind farms lower in output by about 1.7% per year. The lifetime of a wind farm has historically been around 30 years. ...
https://electrek.co/2017/10/16/new-wind-turbine-efficiency-so-great-utilities-repowering-farms-early/
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numerobis

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2081 on: October 16, 2017, 11:28:27 PM »
Quote
"Inexpensive satellite ISP" doesn't really exist though.
Hmmm, that's what I've been using for the last ten years. Posts do get lost on occasion but I was not aware I had just been posting into the Matrix all this time.

It's what I'm posting on as well. I spend a couple hundred bucks a month, and I get 50 GB to download over the city's dish. On weekends it's pretty slow because a lot of people -- maybe several hundred, or even a couple thousand at a time -- are watching netflix or whatever. There's also a service where you buy a dish for about $100 and pay just $100 per month or less, but it sucks: very low upload speed, and at 6pm it completely craps out when people get home and check Facebook or snapchat or whatever.

That crapping out part is the problem.

If I'd designed an IT system of institutions serving millions of people, assuming a fibre connection, then the satellite backup would be nearly worthless. The satellite "backup" would have a tiny fraction of the bandwidth. If you let the normal systems connect through the satellite, it'll just get overloaded immediately and nobody would get through.

So that means you need to explicitly design a backup system and have procedures laid out of how to use it. The cost of that dwarfs the cost of the dishes.

Just like with global warming, the absolute level of service isn't the issue, it's the change.

Bob Wallace

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2082 on: October 17, 2017, 08:56:40 PM »
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Rooftop solar pv decreased the average price of wholesale electricity from $132/MWh to $88/MWh over the one year study period inNew South Wales, Australia (pop. 7.5M)

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Texas wind capacity could soon exceed coal after retirements, new analysis says – Yesterday, we saw that coal was closing in Texas. Today, further analysis of these coal closures gives us math that there will be more wind in Texas than coal very soon. Texas will have almost 24 GW of wind capacity next year, compared with 20.3 GW of coal capacity. In the USA as a whole, wind capacity factors are about 40-43% and coal is probably just below 55% – meaning in terms of actual electricity produced – 84,096GWhs for wind projected vs 97,805GWs of coal. Texas wind, I think, would have a higher capacity factor – and the fact that its coal is closing down probably means a low capacity factor there. If Texas wind were 45% and Texas coal 53%, both numbers that are within reason, wind would be producing more. Long game prognosis – wind will dominate, coal will whither.


https://electrek.co/2017/10/17/egeb-new-south-waves-nsw-australia-wind-texas-china-poverty-alleviation/#more-53691

Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2083 on: October 18, 2017, 12:06:58 AM »
Want to add a solar farm?  Here's everything you need.
Batteries not included. ;) ;D

Solar farm in a box – 500 homes worth of solar power in a standardized kit
Quote
One of the world’s largest solar manufacturers in the world, GCL System Integrated Technology, has designed and sold their first out of the box ready solar farm – the ‘2.5MW Solar Block.’

GCL is a vertically integrated solar manufacturing company – they’re the largest polysilicon manufacturer globally, and along with making solar wafers and cells, they’re involved in solar panel final assembly. Their goal in designing the Solar Block is to lower the cost and speed the deployment of utility-scale solar power. The units can be daisy chained into larger plants.

The first sale of the product was as part of a 5MW project in Australia. The press release says the 5MW project will be built in four months – “Upon the completion of all preparation work, construction will begin in late October, and the whole project will be completed by next February.” Other deals are already signed with customers on multiple continents. ...
https://electrek.co/2017/10/17/gcl-poly-2-5mw-super-solar-block/
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Bob Wallace

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2084 on: October 18, 2017, 04:46:40 AM »
Solar farm in a box is a great idea.  That means that someone can order a solar farm and have a regular construction company do the installation.  No system design and component selection required.


TerryM

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2085 on: October 18, 2017, 02:29:48 PM »
Solar farm in a box is a great idea.  That means that someone can order a solar farm and have a regular construction company do the installation.  No system design and component selection required.
Ramen!
Cost savings could be substantial.
Terry

crandles

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2086 on: October 18, 2017, 02:50:03 PM »
Next step, Musk to do a box batteries included?

Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2087 on: October 19, 2017, 07:30:24 PM »
Next step, Musk to do a box batteries included?

I would think any utility-size battery company would be on the phone trying to make a partnership with these folks.  So much simpler to configure a storage system if you already know what the input looks like.

Tesla has so many emergency- and back-orders, I don't see them standardizing to this extent just yet.  But I bet it will happen.  :)
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2088 on: October 19, 2017, 07:33:49 PM »
Puerto Rico projects:  Hydroelectric, efficiency, and "liquefied gas."

PR gov’t unveils 6 Public/Private Partnerships in energy, education, maritime
Quote
Puerto Rico government officials announced Monday the first six public-private partnerships to modernize and diversify power generation and transmission; transform the quality of life of the public university system; fix parkings; and to improve and expand the island’s maritime transportation system. ...
http://newsismybusiness.com/unveils-education-maritime/
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numerobis

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2089 on: October 19, 2017, 08:02:09 PM »
Next step, Musk to do a box batteries included?

Here you go:
https://www.tesla.com/en_CA/powerpack

Two phone calls and you're done. Getting it down to one phone call might be nice, but the contracting overhead is getting pretty small.

TerryM

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2090 on: October 19, 2017, 09:56:28 PM »
Would something similar involving wind turbines have wings?


I'd read a study where they had built turbines with dual, counter rotating propellers, similar to some of the large Russian airplanes. They claimed a 30% increase over turbines with the same wingspan.
Might cut manufacturing and transportation costs considerably.


Terry

numerobis

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2091 on: October 20, 2017, 03:56:36 AM »
It would literally have wings, given that that’s what the blades are.

Counterrotating turbines aren’t being done, so I’m assuming that the 30% efficiency costs more than 30% cost for whatever reason. I can imagine a few: you need twice the blades, for one. And you’d need almost double the resistance to bending in a stiff breeze, so your tower might be more expensive per kWh.

sidd

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2092 on: October 20, 2017, 06:40:33 AM »
One problem with double blades counterrotating was vortex shedding from windward blades whacking the leeward ones. But maybe they are doing something very clever, but i doubt they have been clever enough. Anyone have an engineering analysis ?

sidd

TerryM

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2093 on: October 20, 2017, 08:53:49 PM »
One problem with double blades counterrotating was vortex shedding from windward blades whacking the leeward ones. But maybe they are doing something very clever, but i doubt they have been clever enough. Anyone have an engineering analysis ?

sidd


I had access to a paper at one time and I'll see if I can't locate it again. As I recall, by spacing the blades properly the (exhaust)? stream was brought back into a more linear flow with less turbulence.


I should have had the paper at hand before I broached the subject.
Sorry
Terry


Didn't take anywhere as long as I'd feared.


http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/75/1/012003/pdf


I'd been following links from the contra-rotating helicopters and planes and at some point wondered if the technology could be adapted to wind driven turbines. Apparently I was far from the first to ask the question.


If fewer, shorter towers and more numerous but much shorter blades could produce a similar output, they might find a niche in Puerto Rico, or the far north, or wherever transportation costs or local manufacturing might present obstacles.
« Last Edit: October 20, 2017, 09:24:31 PM by TerryM »

Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2094 on: October 21, 2017, 03:04:43 AM »
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos inaugurates an impressive new wind farm
Quote
Jeff Bezos atop a wind farm breaking it in with a bottle of bubbly is pretty intense. Amazon’s founder made his way up one of more than 100 new wind turbines in Texas celebrating a major renewable energy project coming online.

The 253-megawatt “Amazon Wind Farm Texas” in Scurry County is part Amazon’s long-term goal to reach 100% renewable energy. As of the end of 2016, the company was beyond 40% – and expects to break 50% before the end of 2017.

This is Amazon’s largest wind farm to date. They also own four other large wind farms – 150MW, 208MW, 100MW and 189MW. These projects are located in Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina.

This plant brought the company to over 1,200MW of total renewable energy installed – making them the second largest renewable energy customer in the USA. Google leads at around 1,800MW installed, and Apple is just behind Amazon. The US Defense Department is in fourth place.

Amazon partnered with Lincoln Clean Energy on the project. Lincoln managed the construction of the plant, and will own and operate the facility. Amazon has entered into a long-term agreement to purchase 90% of the facility’s output.

This farm will generate 1,000,000MWh/year. An average US residence uses about 10MWh/year. A single turbine can power 3,000 homes. ...
https://electrek.co/2017/10/19/amazon-wind-farm/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2095 on: October 21, 2017, 03:09:43 AM »
The lowest price for solar power last year is the highest price now.

Solar power crushes its own record for cheapest electricity ‘ever, anywhere, by any technology’
https://thinkprogress.org/stunner-lowest-price-solar-power-f3b620d04010/
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sidd

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2096 on: October 21, 2017, 05:54:58 AM »
Re: Counterrotating wind turbines

The paper from iop is a calculation. I shall await experiment.

sidd

Sigmetnow

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2097 on: October 21, 2017, 05:23:21 PM »
Australia project:  World’s first solar+wind+storage project
Quote
“Kennedy will consist of 43.2MW Wind, 15MW AC, single axis tracking Solar and 4MWh of Li Ion battery storage. The project will use twelve Vestas V136, 3.6MW turbines at a hub height of 132metres; the largest wind turbines yet to be deployed in Australia. The Li Ion storage will be provided by Tesla. The project will be constructed under a joint construction contract managed by Vestas and Quanta. The project will take a little over 12 months to construct and is expected to be fully operational before the end of 2018. The project will create more than 100 local jobs during construction.”

They believe this system will supply energy for more than 35,000 average Australian homes and it will serve as a demonstration of combining wind, solar and energy storage at the local level. ...
https://electrek.co/2017/10/19/tesla-batteries-powerpack-worlds-first-solar-wind-storage-project/
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Bob Wallace

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2098 on: October 21, 2017, 10:18:20 PM »
This is only enough storage to smooth out the flow.  Perhaps to firm up 5 or 15 minute blocks of power for sale (don't know how the area grid purchases power). 

Nothing like what would be needed to move large amounts of energy several hours to a higher demand period.

crandles

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Re: Renewable Energy
« Reply #2099 on: October 21, 2017, 11:12:58 PM »
This is only enough storage to smooth out the flow.  Perhaps to firm up 5 or 15 minute blocks of power for sale (don't know how the area grid purchases power). 

Nothing like what would be needed to move large amounts of energy several hours to a higher demand period.

I would have thought that solar plus wind plus storage would be a very good idea. Wind tends to be stronger at night or when cloudy. So needs far less batteries than a solar plus batteries location in addition to a wind plus batteries location. 4MWh batteries obviously doesn't make it fully dispatchable. Maybe it doesn't need to be dispatchable if the supply reasonably matches demand perhaps it doesn't make the need for dispatchable generation much or any worse?