Transcript No Slide Title

Solar Energy Technology
for Commercial Facilities
John Archibald
American Solar, Inc.
Association of Energy Engineers
Baltimore Chapter
March 2002
www.americansolar.com
What do solar energy
systems offer?
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Energy savings
Cost savings
Reduced maintenance
Improved reliability
Improved operability
Improved environment for workforce
www.americansolar.com
What types of solar energy
systems are available?
• Solar Electric
– Photovoltaics (Electricity from solar cells)
– Solar thermal electric (Focussed heat for steam turbine
electricity)
• Active Thermal Systems pump air or water
– Air heating up to 190 deg.F
– Mid temperature water heating 110-180deg.F
– Low temperature pool heating < 110 deg. F
• Passive Thermal Systems heat without fans
or pumps
www.americansolar.com
Where should solar electric
systems be deployed?
• Photovoltaics
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Remote applications with complex fuel/electricity delivery
Small local applications with high cost power line installation
Security lighting, sensors, and radio/call boxes
Lighting for critical operations
• Solar Thermal Electric
– High cost electricity with concurrent heating needs
– Combined heating, absorption cooling, and power
applications
– Energy Savings Performance Contracts for solar heat
www.americansolar.com
Where should water heating
systems be deployed?
• Mid temperature water heating
– Displace high cost electric resistance domestic water heating
– Large volume water preheating for labs, medical, or
equipment washdown
– Water tube radiant floor space heating
• Swimming pool heating
– Almost all heated outdoor pools
– Heated indoor pools without heat recovery from
dehumidification
– Heated indoor pools with high cost electric dehumidification
www.americansolar.com
Where should solar air heating
systems be deployed?
• Low temperature air - less than 110 deg.F
– Ventilation preheating in cold climates
– High volume low temperature drying applications
• Mid temperature air 110 - 190 deg.F
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Emergency generator standby heating all climates
Boiler air pre-heating all climates
Ventilation air heating and preheating
Heat pump pre-heating
Hot water heating with air to water heat exchanger
Air radiant floor and under floor ventilation
www.americansolar.com
What makes a good
solar application?
• Year round load, year round load, year round load
– Make the system repay investment every day the sun shines
• Don’t try to make solar meet 100% of the peak
energy needs for large systems
– Use solar to cut “annual” costs of large energy systems
• Displace electric, propane, oil heat with solar heat
• Avoid conversion from the original solar energy for
use or storage
– no AC inverter, no batteries, no thermal storage tank, no grid
connection
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What makes a good
solar application?
• Low installed cost
– under $25/sq ft
• High solar efficiency
– 10 to 30 units of solar energy gathered for every unit of
energy used to run fans or pumps
– greater than 20% of available solar energy converted to heat
or electricity
• Building integrated
– makes building walls or roof do double duty (weather
envelope and energy production) for no extra cost
• Buy the energy not the system, if capital funds are
not available but operating funds for energy bills are
www.americansolar.com
Standby heating of
emergency generators
New Federal Application
• Electric heaters keep
engine jacket water at
130 deg F all year
• 2-8 KW typical load
• Solar heated air floods
generator enclosure,
reduces electric heating
• Warm air keeps engine
ready to start
• Payback period well
under 10 years
• ‘Free’ storage building
www.americansolar.com
Solar energy looks better and
does more than ever before!
• New aesthetics with building
integrated technologies
– New solar roofs
– New solar walls
• New solar applications
– EDGs, boiler air, heat pump
preheat, ventilation air
• Lower installed costs
• Higher energy delivery
• Attractive economics
www.americansolar.com