SmartPower & SmartHomes

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Is 100% Renewable Energy Possible?
by Austin Livingston
The short answer is Yes! In 2014 it's notable that there are in fact countries that are no longer dependent on fossil fuels to generate electricity. Iceland is one example, generating 100% of its electricity with renewables: 75% from large hydro, and 25% from geothermal. Equally significant, Iceland provides 87% of its demand for hot water and heat with geothermal energy.

Although just a fraction of the size of Iceland, the tiny island nation of Tokelau is now home to the largest standalone solar system in the world. The 1 MW solar system is made up of 4,032 photovoltaic panels, 298 inverters, 121 chargers and 1,344 batteries. This system provides more power than the 1,400+ residents require. Tokelau was intent on replacing the diesel based energy system with solar power, which ultimately will be backed up by local coconut oil.

The harnessing of renewable energy sources from GeoThermal, Hydro, Solar, Tidal, Wave, Solar and Wind looks to be an ever increasing trend of countries seeking to limit their dependence on fossil fuels. The countries at the top of the list with the highest growth rate of renewable energy use includes Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, China and the United States. Wind Power has already outpaced Coal in electricity production in the United States.

Nicaragua has one of the most aggressive renewable energy goals in the world — it intends to have 94% of its electricity come from renewable energy by 2017. The spark for this new energy push was an energy crisis due to a heavy reliance on foreign oil
Read more at http://cleantechnica.com/2013/01/06/94-renewable-energy-by-2017-is-goal-for-nicaragua/#3OjG8f8KLLDfIPhe.99

Wind also makes up more than 30% of Denmark's electricity consumption. Another country with lofty goals and an action plan in place is Nicaragua, that is taking steps to generate 94% of its electricity come from renewable energy by 2017 to reduce a heavy reliance on foreign oil.

Wind turbines do not have to be in the form of the towering large scale systems that first come to mind. Innovations in recent years allow the integration of Wind technology in urban settings as well. Urban wind turbine solutions come in many forms including hybrid Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) street lighting.

In the Bahamas, a small cost-effective off-grid hybrid Solar-Wind system comprised of Solar and several VAWT turbines rated at 400W could be utilized in residential or light commercial applications. Innovations in wind and solar technologies has seen the price/watt of installed systems plummet in recent years, with no signs of reversing.

The attractiveness of decentralized solar power that lets common citizens share in the wealth of the tremendously large energy industry, or at least stop giving their own wealth to it, is a powerful force that many of us solar enthusiasts presume may stimulate exponential growth in solar for years to come
Read more at http://solarlove.org/shell-bullish-on-solar-despite-dropping-solar-but-much-more-in-its-new-scenarios-than-that/#UvUCVzvLV3MEY8Hi.99

One of the simplest sources of renewable energy to harness for your home or business in the Bahamas is Solar. The attractiveness of solar power is that it allows common citizens to now affordably generate electricity, even if only a small percentage of their overall consumption, and share in the growth of the solar energy industry. With industry leading brands of solar panel prices below $0.98/Watt, more home-owners and business owners should now be taking a a closer look at renewable energy.

1 comment:

UnknownSeptember 12, 2017 at 2:09 AM
The Solar Power is considered as the new energy for us and it is green power for the environment. We should encourage more people using it in the life.
Home Solar Installation
Solar Las Vegas
Buy Solar Panels For Home
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Solar kWh Costs - News Archive

Having recently seen single module PV prices dropping to a low of $0.60/Watt, it's no surprise to also see associated solar electric kWh costs plummet.

Searching through online archives we find a related article posted February 12, 2014 on www.Energy.Gov, by Erin R. Pierce, "The U.S. solar industry is growing at a record-breaking pace, while becoming more affordable and accessible than ever before. The industry’s forward progress comes in part thanks to support from the Energy Department’s SunShot Initiative.

Set up in 2011 to re-establish U.S. leadership in the solar marketplace, SunShot partners with industry, universities, local communities and the Department’s National Laboratories to aggressively drive down the cost of solar-powered electricity generation across America.

To achieve this goal, SunShot works to lower the price of solar electricity to $0.06 per kilowatt hour (KWh) -- a cost target that will make solar-generated power to be fully cost-competitive with traditional energy sources by the end of the decade."

Fast forward to 2015 and we read of a recent study by the Berlin-based Agora Energiewende, a leading German think tank. The lead author, and renewable energy specialist Daniel Fuerstenwerth says that one of the reasons for the study was the lack of recognition among policy makers and advisors about future cost falls in solar PV, and official forecasts which continued to downplay the potential role of the technology.

He goes on to say that "the cost reduction potential of large scale solar is still misunderstood, and predicts that solar PV will be the cheapest form of power within a decade, and cost less than $US0.02/kWh by 2050."

Originally published in RenewEconomy, we further read from the Angora report that “Our results indicate that solar power will become the cheapest source of electricity in many regions of the world, reaching costs of between Euro 1.6 and 3.7c/kWh in India and the Mena region (Middle East and North Africa) by 2050.

Cost competitiveness, we're told, with large scale conventional power plants will be reached in these regions already within the next decade, at a cost for solar power by 2025 ranging between 3.3 and 5.4 ct/kWh.

The article places emphasis on the fact that, "in UAE for instance, solar is already cost competitive, with a tender for 200MW of solar going at less than $US0.06/kWh, less than the prevailing cost of gas-fired generation at $US0.09/kwh."