The Consumer Voice for Renewable Energy

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The Renewable Energy Solution
Houston Renewable Energy Group

• The Consumer Voice for Renewable Energy
• Activities
• Meet Quarterly
• Internet Yahoo Chat Group
• Annual Houston Solar Tour
• Earth Day Booths
• Educate Houston
• Non-profit, local section of the Texas Solar
  Energy Society (TXSES)

www.txses.org/hreg
written by Chris Boyer 2006
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US Energy Demand Growing
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The Energy Problem

1. Rising cost of fossil fuel extraction
2. Trade deficit
3. War over finite resources
4. Pollution and climate change
5. Threat of nuclear proliferation and waste disposal

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The Renewables Solution

• Direct Solar
• Wind
• Hydro
• Biomass
• Geothermal

• Its Plentiful
• Its Everywhere
• It lasts forever
• Its Healthy
• Its Safe

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All the energy we use could be supplied by
Renewables!
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Solar Energy

• 80,000 Terawatts of Solar Power fall on the Earth
  constantly, compared to 14.5 Terawatts current
  used for human power.
• Solar Electricity Photovolatics (PV)
• Solar Thermal Heating
• Hot water residential and commercial
• Utility Steam Electricity
• Cooking
• Solar Building Design
• Shade venting
• Solar heating

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Solar Thermal
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Solar Thermal Hot Water

• Hot Water roof systems subsidize hot water.
• 500 to 6,000 for system
• Last 20 years
• 1 to 2 ft2 of panel for each gallon used per day.
  
• 4 yr payback
• If hot water use does not match solar
  availability, economics is not so attractive.

Controller
Panels
Pump
Tank
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Solar Thermal Utility Electricity
1million/MWp Capital Investment 20-60 Capacity
Factor (100 with N.G. Hybrid) 5000 acres for a 1
GW plant
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Solar Photovoltaic
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Solar PV Integrated into Structures
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Solar PV Grid Connected

• 6000 to 10,000 per kWp Power Installed
• 50 Modules
• 25 Inverter
• 25 Installation
• 1 to 0.18/kWh
• Sun Hours/day
• Interest Rate
• Incentives
• 1 kW 100 ft2 _at_ noon

Goal is 3000/kWp installed, or 0.10/kWh by 2025
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Advancing Solar PV Technology
New Materials
New Structures

• Silicon
• Crystalline
• Polycrystalline
• Amorphous
• Ribbon
• Nanocrystalline
• CdTe
• GaAs
• CIS/CIGS
• Dye-Sensitized
• Organic

• Wafer P-N Junction
• Thin Film P-N Junction
• Multi-Junction
• Quantum Dots
• Photoelectrochemical

Related Technologies -digital camera -LEDs -Solid
state lasers
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P-N Junction Solar Cell Structure
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Photochemical Cell Structure
Structure for high-efficiency (50) organic PV
cell based on a nanostructured substrate onto
which thin layers of molecular multi-junctions
are grown and anchored onto the nanostructure
surface. The red circle denotes an electron
acceptor the blue square, an electron donor and
the yellow circle, a metal nanoparticle.
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PV cost as a function of Efficiency
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Improvements in Cell Efficiency
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Solar PV What Where
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Solar PV Who
in 2005
(Ever-Q)
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Learning Curve for PV Production
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Potential US Solar PV Growth
Prediction based on 20 to 25 annual growth.
Note Capacity factor is 0.2
Actual World Growth 44
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Wind Energy

• 60 GW Installed in the world by 2005
• Growing 20/yr worldwide
• 1million/MW Cost
• Capacity factor 0.47
• Clean no water needed
• Dual Land Use
• 1000 GW possible in the US
• Each tower is 1 to 3 MW.

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Tale of 2 GW
Nuclear
Wind
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Too Many Wind Towers?
One coal plant equals about 1500 Wind towers.
Over a Million oil and gas wells were drilled in
Texas at a cost of 1 Million each. The
same as the price of a wind tower. A Million
Wind Towers would equal over 600 coal fired
plants. There are 50 coal plants in Texas
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Wind Who Where
Company
Country
Data from year 2004 BTM World Market Update
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Potential US Wind Growth
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Biomass Energy

• Sources
• Energy crops
• Crop residue
• Animal manure
• Municipal Solid Waste
• Forrest waste
• 1/2 the energy/lb of coal.
• 10 Quads/yr available in US
• Crop considerations
• water usage
• fertilizer requirements
• soil depletion.

Corn is bad Switchgrass is good
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Biomass Energy Pathways

• Direct Combustion
• Solids ? Heat
• Solids ? Combined Heat Power (CHP)
• Direct Extraction
• Oils fats ? Esterification ? Biodiesel
• Certain plants ? Solvent Extraction ? Isoprenoid
  hydrocarbons
• Biochemical
• Plant matter ? Hydrolysis ? Fermentation ?
  Ethanol
• Organic sludge ? Anerobic digestion ? Biogas ?
  CHP or H2
• Thermochemical
• Organic matter ? Pyrolysis ? biogas or bio-oil
• Organic matter ?Gasification ? Syngas ? CHP, FT
  Liquids, MeOH/DME, EtOH, or H2

BEST!
POOR
POOR
FAIR
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Ethanol
Energy Return is 4 out 3 in. Solar land
efficiency of ethanol is very low at lt
0.1. Competes for water and land use.

• US produced 3.4 billion gallons in 2005.
• 85 US Companies, most sized at 20-60 million
  gal/yr, ADM has over a billion gal/yr capacity.
• Brazil made 4.2 billion gal in 05.
• China Europe made 1 billion gal in 05
• Produces a fuel compatible with existing
  infrastructure

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Hydro Energy

• Cheapest source of Electricity 0.02/kWh
• 200 GW in US by 2005
• US developed about 40 of potential inhibited by
  environmental concerns.
• Capacity factor 0.5

Hoover Dam
Tidal
Wave
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Hydro Production Cycles in US
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Geothermal Energy

• Free heat
• Environmental concerns
• Non-sustainable ground cools.

The Earths core is hot from decay of nuclear
materials.
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US Energy Flows 2002 (Quad)
56.2 Wasted
35.2 Used
Source LLNL, EIA-DOE
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The Renewable Energy Solution
US Practical Potential for RE energy by 2025 to
2050 with existing technology.
Source GWp Cap.Fact. Quads of
Work/yr Solar 2000 0.2 10.7 Wind 1000 0.47 12.
6 Biomass 336 0.25 (effic.) 2.3 Hydro 300 0.5 4.
0 Geothermal 100 0.8 2.1
TOTAL 31.7
RE can cover 90 of the 35 Quads of Work used
today.
Note 1 Quad of Fossil Fuel is 0.3 to 0.1 Quad
of useful work. 1 Quad of Renewable
Electricity is 0.9 Quad of useful work.
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Other Energy Solutions
Polluted water Polluted air Habitat
destruction Climate change Limited Resources
Compete for water Easy terrorist
targets Monopolized markets Waste of
capital Expensive energy

• Unconventional Oil
• Tar sands
• Shale Oil
• Stranded Natural Gas
• Coal
• Nuclear

The Future Value of Such Investments is NEGATIVE!
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Pathway to Sustainable Energy

• Phase I Achieved! 1975-2005
• Economical Renewable Energy Solutions Realized
• Incubation of the RE industry.
• Phase II Achievable by 2025-2050
• Up to 25 of electric load can be supported by
  renewables without energy storage.
• Shift transportation from oil to electric.
• Technology improvements lower RE cost.
• Phase III Achievable by 2050-2100
• Incorporate energy storage to achieve 100 R.E.
• Disruptive renewable energy inventions bring
  costs lower

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Action Items For NOW

• Practice Energy Conservation
• Switch to a Green Electric Provider.
• Buy Electric Vehicles and Biofuels
• Make investments in Solar and Wind projects/
  companies.
• Vote for politicians with platforms promoting
  Sustainability
• Inform the public about the wind and solar energy
  solution.