SOLAR ENERGY FOR THE GREEN ECONOMY: IS IT AN EXPENSIVE WASTE OF TIME, OR A SMART STRATEGY? Anders Jepsen, CEO, Heliodynamics, Inc. for the Santa Fe Community.

SOLAR ENERGY FOR THE GREEN ECONOMY:

IS IT AN EXPENSIVE WASTE OF TIME,

OR A SMART STRATEGY? Anders Jepsen, CEO, Heliodynamics,

Inc. for the

Santa Fe Community CollegeSustainable Technologies Center

25 June 2008

SFCC Green Energy Workshop

25 June 2008- 2

Climate Change -Somebody Else’s

Problem?“We will pay for this one way or another. We will pay to reduce greenhouse gas emissions today, or we will pay the price later in military terms.”

General Anthony C. Zinni, USMC (Ret.), Former Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM)


25 June 2008- 3

Climate Change is an Energy Problem

•Almost all of it is caused by burning fossil fuel.

•Most of our energy (electricity, heat and motive power) comes from burning fossil fuels.

•The fossil fuel industries are firmly entrenched in our way of life.


25 June 2008- 4

The 21st Century Energy Challenge• An irresistible force:

Rising energy demand to increase the size of the world economy;

China’s demand has required an increase in oil supply.

• An immovable object: Not enough growth in energy supply.

• Result: Price of oil risen 1200% in a decade; Price of fuels has doubled in 10 months.


25 June 2008- 5

6-month natural gas curve


25 June 2008- 6

Why is supply not keeping pace? -1

•Oil: 75% capacity is under control of

government monopolies;

Both of the world’s largest oil fields, Saudi Arabia’s giant Ghawar field and Kuwait’s giant Burgan field, are in decline;


25 June 2008- 7

Why is supply not keeping pace? -2

Natural Gas:

More capital investment & time required to develop infrastructure.

Coal:

Until carbon emission problem is solved, new investment in coal-fired power plants very unlikely.


25 June 2008- 8

What will balance supply and demand?

•Reduction in Demand(either by energy conservation or by

industries forced to close by energy costs):

Vehicles (oil);

Buildings (coal, gas);

Processes (gas).


25 June 2008- 9

Whose demand may stabilise price?

•Countries which subsidise fuels? - No

China; India; Most of the M. East.

•Market economies? - Yes

IF taxes not reduced on motor fuels; IF technologies offer improved performance.


25 June 2008- 10

What other options do we have to meet the need for new supply?

•Other sustainable (renewable) sources of energy: Biofuels (cellulose, sugar, seed-oil); Wind; Solar; Marine.


25 June 2008- 11

So, where does HelioDynamics fit into this scenario?

•We’re a concentrating solar technology company.

•We make systems to deliver industrial grade heat for solar-powered air conditioning and for other processes that now burn natural gas

•We make Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems for both electricity and heat for many different uses.

Concentrating Solar

So what’s Concentrating Solar?Big area of focus or reflector, small area of receiver Existing systems use the heat to make electricity

Solar 2 (tower, decom’d) SEGS (trough, working) Dish Stirling (in dev)

How do these Concentrating Solar systems harvest the heat energy?

ReceiversTower (molten salt!) from reflecting heliostats

heat to steam to turbine electricityThermal tubes of hot oil – from reflecting troughs

heat to steam to turbine electricityDish Stirling – Stirling engine drives a

turbine directly. 25kW per unit.

What’s good about these systems?

1) Utility Scale Concentrating systems can and do deliver solar power to the grid

2) Lots of sunny (windy) desert space available

But, here’s the down side.

1) The technology needs big systems to work - very costly

2) Big arrays need extra wheeling capacity (power lines) to deliver the power to the grid.58

395


25 June 2008- 15

Is there a smaller technology?

Yes, indeed! Here’s a simple system:* a linear Fresnel lens, made from* flat plate glass mirrors* laser-cut steel or aluminum structure* a single controller to keep the sun focused, and* makes pv electricity and heat together, or just heat

It works just like the big systems - big area of reflectors, small area of receiversHow does it make the electricity? The system has the pv cells, modified so they can carry a lot of current, mounted to the underside of the receiver. We cool the pv cells so optimize their performance,and the cooling system harvests the heat

That’s Combined Heat and Power! CHP

CHP not only uses PV cells to make electricityby concentrating the the sun but also makes heat, at the same time!

And, because of its simplicity of design, it can be installed anywhere that the energy is needed. It’s DISTRIBUTABLE!

And what about the heat?

That’s where the real energy savings come in.If you have a use for the heat, the capital cost barrier that has stood in the way of solar power for all these years IS REMOVED.

So how can we use the heat?Community power, cooling and heatHot water for hospitals, labs, industriesDrive a Chiller for refrigeration and coolingHot water for schools and gymnasiaWhat do you need? What do you

want?

So where does CHP fit in today’s world?

Three configurations available:

Heat only – receiver has no pv cells, industrial grade heat up to 225 C Electricity only – GaAs cells, 500x conc’n. Coming soon for large energy parks Combined Heat and electric Power (true CHP: Electricity + 90C hot water)

(presently limited by pv cell shortage)

Some Applications

• Off grid mobile home park in Napa Valley

• Food processor• Hospital hot water• Retirement Community air conditioning• Albuquerque airport car rental facility

Mobile Home Park: CHP

Long term Object: 500 kWe, LEEDS certification, community heating (propane now) and community air conditioningStart with: 10 kWe plus

60 kWthermUse for heat: air conditioning, winter heating and pasteurization for ag useLocal value of the electricity: @$.30 per kWe =$6000yrLocal value of the heat: @$4.40/therm =$17,600/yr

Food Processor – Refrigeration(and hot water for cleaning)

Objective: Refrigeration and hot waterObstacle: CFO, paybackMotive: Save $ nowTechnical: replace 50 tons elect refrig’n plus 1.6MMBTU/hr hot waterValue: Replace 116,600 kWe/yr 35,400 therms gas/yrCost: $700,000, payback 3.5 years

Hospital – hot water

Objective: hot waterObstacle: paybackMotive: hedge against ga$; Look greenSize: 1287 kW therm over pkg lotCost: $1,100,000Payback: 11 yrs w/ FTC (before gas price increase)

Retirement Community – Cooling

Objective: Provide A/C cooling to individual unitsObstacle: CFO, paybackMotive: look green & Hedge against gas $Size: 450 tons of coolingCost: $3.4 millionPayback: 7 yearsIncentives: FTC, 5-yr dep’n

Albuquerque Airport - CHP

System: 30 tons refrigeration (105 kW cooling) equivalent to 35 kWe of electricity plus 13 kWe

Site: SunPort car rental

Output: 48 kWe (equiv)

Cost: $6.00 per watt!


25 June 2008- 25

Answer(1): We developed a two-axis system

using GaAs pv cells and a greater optical concentration – 500 suns

Question: So, how did we adapt this technology to bigger, utility-scale systems?

~7.5m

~4m

Azimuth Tracking

HD GaAs 2 Axis Concentrator

3-5-5-3 Module Array on ~30m Turntable.

Output: 48kWe (DC)

Primary Optics : Cradlesx15kW/m2

Secondary optics:Parabola x200 kW/m2

Tertiary optics: Lensx750 kWm2

Space Need: 5 acres per MWe

Cradles


25 June 2008- 27

Answer(2): We adapted our HD16.t single-axis system with higher performance fittings on the thermal receiver to generate up to 225C heat.

This is hot enough to drive an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC)

120kWe turbine.

and another adaptation…


25 June 2008- 28

Again, 1 MWe on 5 acres, $6 per watt today,with both electric power and heat!

• Multiple arrays of HD16.t, yielding heat at 225C

ORC Turbogenerator

Invertor/controller

Chop/dry

Nickel metal

chloride battery

Woodfuel

Thermalsolar

concentrator

Sun

Demand controller/

meter

Boiler

Shop: appliances, meter top-up, advice

LocalGrid

Layout of complete system with wood burning backup for extended operation beyond solar hours


25 June 2008- 29

A LocalGrid Integrated Schematic

ORC Turbogenerator

Inverter

Fuel dryer (opt)Nickel

salt battery

Chipped woodfuel

Sun

CustomerService

Unit

Boiler BiodieselGenerator

Sets

Biodiesel

Solar PV


25 June 2008- 30

So, a Quick Recap

Solar Technology: simple design that’s a candidate for local manufacture (much of it, anyway).

Applications:Solar Powered Air ConditioningCombined Heat and Power for Commercial/IndustrialStand-Alone off-grid systems with other renewablesCan be scaled up for grid scale production

Solar is becoming cost competitive as well as being green


25 June 2008- 31

It doesn’t seem like such a waste of time after all!

Thank you for your attention

Anders Jepsen, CEOHelioDynamics, Inc.23 Dos PososOrinda, CA 94563

[email protected]

tel: 1-925-254-5250

SOLAR ENERGY FOR THE GREEN ECONOMY: IS IT AN EXPENSIVE WASTE OF TIME, OR A SMART STRATEGY? Anders Jepsen, CEO, Heliodynamics, Inc. for the Santa Fe Community.

Documents

solar energy

sfcc green energy workshop

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