Every where you look today, you find the promoters and detractors of developing, using, promoting or considering alternative energy. The “Smart Grid”, “distributed generation” , “grid parity”, carbon credits/offsets, energy portfolios and many more terms we see in our every day life have an impact on where we’re going. You see “upswings” and “downswings” in local and national government support. So what is the “overall” trend?
First off, we have to decide what “alternative energy” is. For years, coal was an “alternative energy” to whale blubber, oil an alternative to coal. Natural gas, nuclear energy, bio-fuels, solar, wind, geo-thermal, tidal, micro-hydro, hydro-power and many other methods of producing energy are considered “alternative”. For the purposes of this article, “renewable energy” or “non-fossil fuels” seems the more appropriate fit.
Idealistically looking at our situation, we want and unlimited supply of energy that has zero negative side effects. This may be an unrealistic, unachievable goal, remember, I said “idealistically” but as the number of people on this planet grow, the demand and competition for our current resources keep increasing. As logic dictates, sooner or later, our demand will exceed our supply. We must find some answers.
Our many advances in the “renewable” energy arena have been in areas of policy, laws, regulations, scientific breakthroughs, innovative use of current equipment and materials, environmental awareness and a whole myriad of other advancements. Though they have all come a long way, we are no where near reaching that “idealistic” goal. We may never reach it but as long as we’re striving for the growth, we are at least moving in a forward direction. As the old saying goes, “Aim for the stars, you just might hit the moon”. In other words, that may be a very worthwhile goal.
The overreaching statement that “alternative energy” is in a growth mode is at the heart of this debate. It seems to grow in “spurts”. Over the next few post, I will explore some of the government “advances” or “obstacles”, some of the scientific innovations, some results of each and think about where we might be going.
I have been fortunate to have read some books that have given me several areas to ponder and help grow my own opinions. Check out my “recommended books” page. Next week I hope to have more links to some of my favorite books, I’m in the process of getting the links. May God’s Blessing be upon you and yours.
Feel free to leave me a comment by clicking on the “comments” link immediately following this post.
This has been a rather hectic, hot week. The a/c went out in two of my cars, our home and a unit in my garage, all in 7 days time, plus other personal obstacles.
I’m typing this in the refuge of my bedroom, that I temporarily put a portable 110 volt a/c unit in. I’m old enough to remember when we didn’t have a/c but I don’t remember much, except using some old stand up fans.I’d be grateful for a good breeze, now.
I’ve heard from some of the folks I met at the Windpower Expo in Dallas. Travelia Gianmario from Italy was at the Expo with Nick Wood, representing Asia, for the Blu Wind Eolic Towers. They have an innovative, modular tower system for wind turbines. Their towers range in height from 20 meters to 50 meters. For more technical information and applications of their towers, visit their website at: http://www.blu-wind.it.
Another couple of individuals I heard from this week are from Redstone College in Colorado. Nicole Whiteley and TJ Simon were telling me about the wind turbine training program at their college. Nicole offered to write a guest post for this blog. I’m sure she can tell us about their programs in more detail. I’ve put a link for them on “our friends links” page or just Click Here.
I was also able to visit a wind farm in West Texas. I’ll tell you about it in the near future. Until then, May God Bless You. Tim
Please click on the “comments” link immediately following this post to make any comments, suggestions or ask any question you might have about my site.
Title: College of Illinois Researchers Demonstrate Little Known Approaches to Make More Productive PV Panels
Although silicon is the industry standard semiconductor in the majority of electrical devices, including the photovoltaic cells that pv panels use to transform sunshine into electricity, it is hardly the most efficient material on the market. For example, the semiconductor gallium arsenide and similar ingredient semiconductors give practically double the effectiveness as silicon in solar products, but they are rarely used in utility-scale applications because of their excessive construction value.
University of Illinois (http://illinois.edu/) professors J. Rogers and X. Li discovered lower-cost methods to manufacture thin films of gallium arsenide that also granted versatility in the kinds of units they might be integrated into.
If you could reduce considerably the expense of gallium arsenide and other compound semiconductors, then you could increase their range of applications.
Usually, gallium arsenide is placed in a individual thin layer on a little wafer. Either the wanted device is produced directly on the wafer, or the semiconductor-coated wafer is break up into chips of the preferred size. The Illinois group chose to put in several layers of the material on a single wafer, making a layered, “pancake” stack of gallium arsenide thin films.
If you grow ten layers in a single growth, you only have to load the wafer one time. If you do this in 10 growths, loading and unloading with heat range ramp-up and ramp-down take a lot of time. If you consider what is needed for every growth – the equipment, the preparation, the time, the workers – the overhead saving this solution offers is a substantial price reduction.
Next the experts individually peel off the layers and shift them. To complete this, the stacks swap layers of aluminum arsenide with the gallium arsenide. Bathing the stacks in a solution of acid and an oxidizing agent dissolves the layers of aluminum arsenide, freeing the single small sheets of gallium arsenide. A soft stamp-like device selects up the levels, just one at a time from the top down, for shift to another substrate – glass, plastic material or silicon, depending on the application. Next the wafer may be reused for one more growth.
By doing this it’s possible to generate much more material a lot more rapidly and a lot more cost effectively. This process could generate mass amounts of material, as compared to just the thin single-layer way in which it is typically grown.
Freeing the material from the wafer also opens the opportunity of flexible, thin-film electronics made with gallium arsenide or other high-speed semiconductors. To make devices that can conform but still retain higher performance, which is significant.
In a document shared on-line May 20 in the magazine Nature (http://www.nature.com/), the team explains its procedures and shows 3 kinds of devices utilizing gallium arsenide chips manufactured in multilayer stacks: light devices, high-speed transistors and photo voltaic cells. The creators additionally offer a detailed price evaluation.
Another advantage associated with the multilayer technique is the release from area constraints, particularly essential for solar cells. As the layers are taken out from the stack, they can be laid out side-by-side on another substrate to produce a significantly larger surface area, whereas the standard single-layer method confines area to the dimension of the wafer.
For solar panels, you want big area coverage to get as much sunshine as possible. In an extreme case we could develop sufficient levels to have 10 times the area of the conventional.
Next, the group programs to explore more potential unit applications and other semiconductor resources that could adapt to multilayer growth.
About the Source – Shannon Combs contributes articles for the residential solar panels blog, her personal hobby website based on recommendations to assist home owners to conserve energy with sun power.
Photos:
http://www.residentialsolarpanels.org/
http://www.residentialsolarpanels.org/solar_arsenium.jpg
Complete Bio Photo of the Author
http://www.residentialsolarpanels.org/about
http://www.residentialsolarpanels.org/files/photos/shannon.jpg
Don’t forget to listen to “yours truly, Tim” interviewed by Diane Tegarden on her BTR(Blog Talk Radio) show. The show will air July 13 at 10am PST, 11am MST, 12 noon CST and 1pm EST. You can access it on your computer at Diane’s BTR Alternative Energy Show or call toll free at 1 877 221-6957. For the link to spiral air foil, Click Here
If I don’t hear from you before next week, I’ll “see” you then. God Bless You Tim
Feel free to leave any comments by clicking on the “comments” link immediately following this post.
I received the following article in an e-mail and thought I’d share it with you.
THE CLEAN ENERGY COLLECTIVE BREAKS GROUND ON FIRST COMMUNITY-OWNED SOLAR GARDEN
IN THE NATION
Senator Gail Schwartz and others laud new era of accessible and affordable clean energy.
CARBONDALE, COLO (June 25, 2010) Senator Gail Schwartz, Holy Cross Energy CEO Del Worley, Basalt Mayor Leroy Duroux, key representatives from the Mid-Valley Metro District, and community organizations CORE and CLEER were on hand to cheer the groundbreaking for the Mid-Valley Community Solar Array in El Jebel, CO, the Clean Energy Collective’s first community-owned solar array and the first of its kind in the nation.
The first of several sites in the works for CEC, it commemorates the CEC’s long road to creating the country’s first model that allows a community to collectively own a clean energy facility—solar, wind, biomass, micro hydro—and directly reap the benefits.
“Colorado is leading the nation when it comes to attracting industry, attracting innovation, and attracting technology. This is one of the most important parts of it,” said Senator Gail Schwartz. “We actually have mechanisms now to make renewable energy affordable to all households.”
Holy Cross Energy CEO Del Worley was enthusiastic about the potential for locally-generated renewable energy. “It’s great to get local renewable energy off the ground, and this is one more arrow in our quiver for Holy Cross to meet its 20% goal of renewable energy by 2015,” he said.
Holy Cross’s residential and commercial customers are eligible to place reservations in the 80 kW Mid-Valley solar array for $3.15/watt. Holy Cross will then credit members’ utility bills directly each month at $.11/kWh based on how much solar each member owns in the array.
“We are extremely thankful to our partner Holy Cross Energy for continuing to execute on its commitment to clean energies and collaborating with us on this innovative initiative,” said CEC founder Paul Spencer. Spencer
also announced that Carbondale-based Sunsense Solar Electric will manage the construction of the array.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Tim Braun, b2,inc.
(970) 618-0080; tbraun@b2inc.net
Next week I have another special guest post by Shannon Combs from Oakland, CA. Shannon is involved with alternative energy and has her website devoted to it. Click Here to view her site
In another exciting note, I’ve been invited to be interviewed by Diane Tegarden on her Blog Talk Radio (BTR) Show July 13 (next Tuesday). You can call in for the free show at 1 877 221-6957. Go to her shows website for times and other good info. BTR Show with Diane Tegarden
May God Bless You. Hope to see you next week. Tim
ps. Send me your url and I’ll place a free link on “my friends” links page. You can send it by the “comments” link or my e-mail at: timsjs@yahoo.com.
Ever since I was a “youngin”, I was in awe of windmills(mechanical action), wind turbines(electrical action), solar panels and other alternative/renewable energy displays at different locations my family and I visited. In this post, I intend to concentrate on wind turbines (generators).
There are two broad classifications of wind turbines: 1) Horizontal Axis (HAWT), and 2) Vertical Axis (VAWT). I’ll start with a brief rundown of the Horizontal Axis wind turbines and wind up with a short discussion of the Vertical Axis wind turbines.
Horizontal Axis wind turbines dominate the market and have been described as a “propeller on a stick” They are called “horizontal” because their rotating axis is parallel to the ground.
Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines 
On the whole, Horizontal Axis wind turbines are more efficient and effective in relatively high, steady winds. One reason why they’re more efficient, the full length of the blades catch the full face of the wind during their entire rotation. Some of the disadvantages are: 1) they require a greater amount of steady wind to be efficient, which requires higher mounting to achieve the necessary altitude; 2) most of the operating components are mounted on top of the tower, making servicing them a more complicated task; 3) they require an additional “yaw” mechanism to keep the blades facing into the wind; 4) HAWTs require expensive equipment, like cranes and heavy duty dozers to build them, along with the personnel to operate the equipment and 5) specialized transportation is required for the blades.
On the other side of the coin are the Vertical Axis wind turbines (VAWTs). Their main rotor shaft is situated vertically, with respect to the ground.
Vertical Axis Wind Turbines
The two main types of VAWTs are: 1) Savonius – drag based like an anemometer and 2) Darrieus – named after the French inventor, Georges Darrieus. They are predominently lift based (aerodynamic design with the blades exceeding the speed of the wind).
VAWTs have several advantages which include: 1) the wind can come from any direction; 2) lower startup wind speeds reqired for electrical production; 3) less noise; 4) works better with gusting winds, wind changing directions and speed; 5) usually easier to service because closer proximity to the ground and 6) they can usually be built where taller structures are prohibited.
The disadvantages include: 1) not as efficient use of the wind (blades do not have constant head on wind); 2) some designs place blades directly on top of the generator, making maintenance a real chore and 3) they are subject to “surface drag”.
An excellent book I’ve been reading on wind turbines that cuts through a lot of hype is “The Ultimate Consumer Guide to Wind Power I was a little disappointed that their book only deals with HAWTs but their research, actual lessons and applications are honest and can be used for any type of wind turbine.
In conclusion, I would surmise that HAWTs would be a superior choice for large wattage output, commercial applications and some residential while the VAWTs would be a better choice for most residential applications. This is my personal opinion. There are new and improved designs being developed all the time, I could change my opinion next week, though that would be unlikely.
Thank you for your visit to my site. Feel free to leave me any questions, comments and/or suggestions by clicking on the “comments” link immediately following this post May God Bless You and may you enjoy a favorable wind. Tim
The Expo had so many attractions, it would be virtually impossible to list them all. Most of the display booths in the Expo were devoted to the traditional horizontal axis wind turbines. I spent 2 full days there and still didn’t come close to seeing it all. It really opened my eyes to some of the “infrastructure” involved with the wind industry.
When you see the windturbines in use, you don’t see everything that preceded their use – like the manufacturing of the different components, transport, erection not to mention all of the preliminary details.
You have to select a location. In selecting a location, it’s a good idea to measure the wind. There are several services that do this or provide the equipment to do this. An anemometer is a wind speed measuring device. They can be combined with other devices that will measure everything from atmospheric density to moisture content. I talked with Allison Minogue with Second Wind Inc. She was showing one of their multi-function units(pictured).
Allison with her anemometer
The location has to be within an accepted distance from the power transfer lines. The final destination of the components to build the turbines is usually done by truck
or rail, so there must be some sort of access to the site. Erection cranes and heavy equipment are often times necessary. All of this requires a coordinated effort. Of course, you hope to have properly working equipment.
Platform of erection equipment
One of the places to help with this is the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, TX. I learned from talking with Harold Simmons, one of the institutes staff engineers, that they have a “rotating machinery section” devoted to developing better components.
There were experts on electrical service, turbine braking, manufacturing, specialized tools, bearings, composite materials, towers, metals and just about anything you can think of dealing with wind power. Several areas of the globe were represented. From Germany to China, Korea, Australia, Italy, Greece, Japan, India, several locations in the U.S. and Canada, just to mention a few.
Brake disc for stopping turbine blades
Next week, I’ll touch on vertical axis as opposed to the more traditional horizontal axis wind turbines. I’ll end this week with a couple more interesting pics and give a link to seeing my first working wind turbine.
Till next week, May God Bless You and all of your activities. Tim
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcfv5uZAsNw My first working homebuilt wind turbine
Please leave a comment, suggestion or a question by clicking on the “comment” link immediately following this post.
This will be my last week on strictly VAWT’s. A quick lesson on the two basic types of VAWT’s. The first type is called the “lift-based” turbines. These turn faster than the speed of the wind due to aerodynamic design. The second basic type is “drag-based” turbines. The blades, cups, paddles or some type of wind catching device do not exceed the speed of the wind, such as anemometers used to measure wind speed.
Tangerie's Helical VAWT
Green EnerG Bladed Windturbine
I’ll start off with a few more “lift-based” VAWT’s that I was able to view at the Expo. There were several different designs, like “eddy” from Urban Green Energy(preview 2 weeks ago), HiVAWT’s small 300 watt wind turbine(previewed last week), JL CarbonFree Energy Co.’s FDC-S series of helical wind turbines, the “Gale” line of helical VAWT’s from Tangarie, residential VAWT’s by Gentle Breeze, Synergy Viridis with their line of small VAWT’s and 2 or 3 others I didn’t get a chance to visit any in depth.
Since I’ve already previewed “eddy” and HiVAWT, I’ll briefly go over the remainder of mentioned VAWT’s. JL CarbonFree Energy FDC-S series of helical wind turbines display was represented by a pearly white, direct driven permanent magnetic system with no magnetic brush, requiring practically no maintenance. Their site is: www.carbonfreeenergy.cn. See picture.
JL CarbonFree Energy FDC-S
Tangarie, a woman owned company, that manufactures and distributes the “Gale” line of VAWT’s, as well as other related services and products in the renewable energy arena. You can view their site at: www.tangerie.com. Their helical VAWT pictured.
The display by Gentle Breeze of their residential VAWT was one of fluid motion. I wish my video of this turbine was clear enough to publish but alas… I have included a picture of Miwa Kashiwagi in front of their residential model. You can access their site at: www.gentlebreeze.com.
Miwa Kashiwagi beside Gentle Breeze VAWT
The final “lift-based” VAWT that I was able to visit at the 2010 Windpower Expo was a display by Synergy Viridis. They also had a small, residential VAWT available. You can visit their site at: www.SynergyViridis.com
There were several “drag-based” VAWT’s, if you want to count all of the anemometer displays. Other than that, I visited one booth with a “drag-based” VAWT. It was a good display of a VAWT from Sauer Energy. It was made with a “dimpled” surface, same drag reduction principal as a golf ball. Their site can be viewed at: www.sauerenergy.com. I’ve included a picture of this “drag-based” VAWT to give you an idea of it’s appearance.
I have most of the pictures labeled so you know which is which, hopefully. Till next week, May God Bless You. Tim p.s. please leave any comments, questions or suggestions by clicking on the “comments” link immediately following this post.
Last week I wrote briefly about Nick Blitterswyk of Urban Green Energy. One of Nick’s Vertical Axis Wind Turbine designs, nicknamed “eddy” was the focus of my article. I had several emails asking about the nickname given to his 600 watt rated VAWT so I asked Nick this week how they came up with the name “eddy”. He replied that “eddy” was taken partly from the well known concept of an eddy often seen in rivers…(and they thought) it was a cute name to give the turbine its own identity.” I know, it made me feel a certain warmth, akin to familiarity. Thanks again for the info, Nick.
This week, I’m going to tell a little about one of the other Vertical Axis Wind Turbines I saw at the Expo. Just as I was finishing my visit to the Wind Power Expo, I crossed paths with another young man named Morris Lin with Hi-VAWT Technology Corp.
HiVAWT - Vertical Axis Wind Turbine
Morris was very well versed on his company’s wind turbines. He showed me some marvelous, short clips featuring several styles of wind turbines and solar panels. He explained that the Vertical Axis Wind Turbines from his company had several advantages.
Grid tie or stand alone
Next week, we’ll take a look at some of the “drag based” VAWT I saw at the Expo. It’s hard to come back down to earth after being at this wind power expo, I have to actually “work” building some of my own “garage built” wind turbines. They don’t have the aerodynamics or sophistication of some of the turbines I saw at the expo but they do work.
See you next week. May God Bless You. Tim
P.S. I have a friend, Diane Tegarden, who is in the running for an Oprah Winfrey talk show. I know Diane is very environmentally conscious. I voted for her and hope you will, too. Vote for her at this link:http://myown.oprah.com/audition/
Happy day after Memorial Day. Hope you had as good a Memorial Day as me and my family. One of my “out of town” brothers and sis’n law stopped in for a visit. Only in this country, through all of our fallen heroes, we celebrate them with Memorial Day. Enjoyed the visit bro and sis’n law.
eddy vertical axis wind turbine
Since this day after is still part of the Memorial Day celebration, I’ll just lightly touch on my time in Dallas at the 2010 Wind Power expo. It was a truly memorable time. I made several new friends with some very excited people. This week, I’ll introduce you to one of the first people I met and tell you a little about him.
Me and Nick in front of eddy
I would like to thank Joanne Barber for setting me up a time to talk to Nick and Nick for taking the time to talk with me.
The 2010 Windpower expo had a vast majority of traditional horizontal axis turbines and all aspects of transporting, erecting and maintaining them that the vertical axis wind turbines showcased were few and far between. I personally believe that vertical axis has a tremendous future and I will highlight some more of them in the next coming articles over the next few weeks. Make sure to be here to see some of these unique powerplants.
Make the most of what we already have, renewable energy. God Bless Tim
spiral wind more spiral wind wind converter spiral wind
propulsion wind spiral drag wind inflatable wind earth spiral
There are as many workable types of wind turbines as there are hairs on your head(my head at least). I’m in Dallas for the 2010 Windpower expo. I’ll have some really cool pics and 1st hand info for you over the next few weeks.
I’m going to cut short the writing and include a few more pics.
Blue Energy Plain & Simple Windside Wind Broadstar Wind
Beautiful Earth Helical Design H-rotor Design place your wind
Hope to see you next week. I’ll have some exciting, new information from the experts.
Till then, May God Bless You Tim