Energy Power Alternatives
Offshore wind farms are more expensive to install than land wind farms but they have the benefit of being less intrusive, and are less restricted by size and noise limitations. Also because there are no obstructions out on the water such as land contours, trees and buildings, the wind speed is usually considerable faster and more reliable, and so offshore wind farms typically have much higher energy yields than land based ones.
Offshore wind farms are usually built approximately 10 kilometres from land, and have been constructed both in the ocean and also in the middle of very large lakes. Building offshore turbine towers presents unique difficulties, mainly in building the foundations down into the sea/lake bed, and also constructing underwater power cables to transmit the electricity back to the main grid. Maintenance and repairs costs are also higher as the towers are exposed to some extreme elements, and for those wind farms that are situated in salt-water, corrosion can be an expensive and time consuming problem.
The higher yield of offshore wind farms means that the actual cost of converting the wind energy into electricity is relatively low. These wind farms are often very large, with as many as 100 turbines in operation at one time and they can operate very competitively against smaller onshore installations. For this reason it is likely that offshore wind farms will continue to be the main source of wind power for some time, despite the higher installation and running costs.
The possibilities for developing offshore wind farms are extensive. There are even some conceptual designs that suggest different uses for these farms altogether, such as to generate rain, rather than electricity. It is thought that the turbines could be used manually precipitate water into a fine mist, which could in turn increase the chances rainfall (more…)
Excited about renewable energy sources and going green? If you are going to customize your own solar power system, there is some basic information regarding solar panels and battery storage you may want to consider.
One of the mistakes made with a solar array and battery storage is the system is not balanced. Too many solar panels and not enough batteries, energy will be wasted. Too many batteries and not enough solar panels (or other renewable energy source) and the batteries will never reached a full state of charge and the power may run out during the night.
The solar panels will need to produce enough watts to maintain the usage throughout the day when the sun is shining and enough battery storage to get through the night plus any reserve battery storage for cloudy days. If you are gone all day then chances are you will use more power during the evening hours after the sun has gone down. Take this into consideration when you do your calculation chart for the number of watts used and increase your battery storage. Be sure to use an efficiency rating such as 75-80% drop. If producing 100 watts a day, only 80 watts of usable energy will be produced. This is due to many factors such as wire size, the distant from the solar array to the batteries and draws such as the inverter/charge controller, and appliances with a constant draw etc. The solar panels need to produce 120% of the power that is needed.
If appliances are added after the solar power system is up, there will be a change in the battery reserve. When calculating the usage for your home, try to factor in any future appliances. Keep in mind that ambient temperature effects how often appliances such as refrigerators and freezers cycle. A refrigerator that only uses 1.5 amps but it cycles for 7 minutes every 15 minutes it is drawing for 28 minutes every hour, that’s 11.2 hours (more…)
