Green Energy Technology Information

     Green Energy Technology, also known as renewable energy comes directly from natural resources. Sunlight, rain, tides, wind and geothermal heat are all examples of this. In 2008 it was estimated that less than 20% of global energy came from Green Energy Technology. Of that 20%, it is estimated that less than 2.7% of global energy came from wind, solar, bio-fuels and   geothermal heat in 2008.  In 2008, of all global electricity generation, less than 3% was from renewable energy.  

Wind Power

Wind power (wind energy) is a free renewable source of energy that can be used to produce mechanical power or electricity. That being said, it doesn’t matter how much wind power we use today, there will be more available tomorrow.

The use of wind power is growing at a rate of approximately 30% annually world wide, with Europe, Asia and the United States being the global leaders of this green technology. Wind can primarily be used to run wind turbines. Modern wind turbines can generate from 600 kw to 5 MW of power, although, most modern commercially used turbines are rated between 1.5 – 3MW.

Wind Turbines located outside of Palm Springs CA

 The power output function of a wind turbine is the (wind-speed)³, so if wind speed increases, the power generated increases substantially.  Areas where wind is blowing harder and more constant, such as off shore and higher altitudes are, therefore, most ideal for wind farms.

Off shore Wind Turbines

 A wind farm is a group  of Wind Turbines in the same place used for the production of electrical power. A large wind farm could have several hundred wind turbines and cover several hundred square miles. The land in between the turbines could be used for agricultural, or other purposes.

Solar Power

 Solar Power is the process of turning sunlight into electricity. Two different methods can be used to accomplish this. One is called Photovoltaics, (PV)  which uses the photoelectric effect method to convert light into electric energy directly. The other is called Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) which does the conversion indirectly. Concentrated Solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and a tracking system to convert a large area of sunlight into                                                                                                                                 

     One of the earliests uses of solar technology was used in the VanguardI Satellite,as back up power in 1958.  When the chemical battery of the VanguardI Satellite was exhausted, solar technology allowed the satellite to transmit for more than a year.  The success of commercial satellite infrastructure is due to Photovoltaics technology.  Due to the high cost in the late 1950s, the use of this technology declined in the 1960s, but then increased again by the 1970s.   Prices became competitive, especially in remote places, that were off the normal electrical grids such as for off shore oil rigs, navigational buoys and railroad crossings.

 Commercial Solar Power(CSP) plants first started to appear in the 1980s.  Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) is the largest CSP plant in the world, it is located in the Mojave Desert, California.  ’Sarnia Photovoltaics plant’, located in Canada, is the largest (PV) plant in the world.  Solar Power, in my opinion has awesome potential but, unfortunately it  is estimated that as of 2008, solar power was used in only 0.02%  of global energy production.

  Nellis Solar Power Plant Built in Nevada 2007

Energy Storage Methods

      Solar energy is not available, when the sun isn’t shining, so the storage of this energy is very important. Solar and wind energy are not constant so, to be able to provide continuous energy, you need to be able to store the unused portion of this technology, for use at a later time, or transfer the unused energy, to a place where it can be used. Wind and solar power tend to compliment each other. There is usually more wind when it is cloudy outside and usually more wind in the winter when the sun isn’t as prevalent and more sun when its not windy.

     Solar energy can be stored in molten salts. Salts are an effective storage medium because of the high temperature capabilities and the relatively low-costs. The high heat capabilities are complimentary for conventional solar power systems. In areas that are connected to a power grid, a PV Solar System can send unused energy, through a metering system, and get credit for the energy. During the times that the PV solar system is not producing energy the credit can be redeemed to provide energy from the on-line power grid.