Onward and Upward

Sustainable Living: Alternative Energy

As utilities become more prohibitively expensive and global concerns for the well-being of the earth increase, the demand for alternative sources of power will likewise see increases; the movement towards a green home and green lifestyle becoming a stampede.

By now, everyone has heard of or considered wind and solar power. These, of all of the alternative sources of power, are probably the most familiar. For consideration in this article are: solar power, wind energy, and ethanol back-up generators. Ethanol burns very clean, and is sustainable (derived from fermented plant materials).

There have been suggestions that tidal power generators also be implemented, but these hold the potential to be very damaging to the envoronment in that they divert tidal waters and disrupt the natural habitats which may depend on tidal movement for survival.

For the purposes of this article, each of these sources of alternative power will be evaluated from an individual perspective: from reducing utility bills, to going "off-grid" with a hybridized system (a combination of wind and/or solar power with a generator for backup).

Sustainable Living: Alternative Energy Part One: Wind Energy

Wind generators are available in sizes appropriate to single households, your location and zoning issues considered. You don't need tens of acres to be able to use one effectively; 1/2 acre should be sufficient if your area gets good wind flow.

The horizontal-axis up-wind turbines are the most commonly used, and in the case of smaller units are likely to use a simple wind vane for directional control. Larger units utilize a servo motor and wind sensors with a gear box to direct the blades into a more efficient position, but these are typically used in commercial or farming situations.

In a very oversimplified summary, wind moves the turbine, the turbine creates energy by its movement, said energy (about 50% efficiency, on average) is stored and used. If you're itching for a more indepth information on wind turbine mechanics, check out Wikipedia. They have tons of related articles, you'll have a blast.

Deciding to install a wind generator requires some consideration. There are several factors to include: cost of installation, zoning restrictions, permits, social factors (Will your neighbours complain? Make sure they know and understand what's going on, they can have a frustrating impact on a project.), if you have enough space and see enough wind in your location to make this a valuable alternative. Also: find out if you will want to (or are able to) go partially grid connected. If so, see if there will be net metering available so you can see surplus purchased from you as it's fed into the grid.

How much power or 'load' will you need to carry? Look at all of your appliances and electrical equipment, from your hair dryer and alarm clock to the furnace fan and washing machine. They should all have power usage information on them. Your electric utitlity bill should also have information. For reference, let us say that the average household uses about 800 kWh/month, or 10,600 per year.

A single 1.5 kW wind turbine in a location with an annual average wind speed of 6 m/s will produce roughly 300 kWh of electricity monthly, about one third of an average home's demand for electricity. Many sites selling alternative energy equipment also have a calculator and reference pages to determine how much energy you actually consume or will need.

Sizes range pretty widely, though residential locations usually have to deal with zoning restrictions. As you increase the size of the unit, initial costs and maintenance expenses often increase as can the complexity of the equipment; decide if the savings over time will offset the added expense, net metering and environmental benefit considered. Units have an average lifetime of roughly 15 years, though purchase coverage terms will vary with merchants, suppliers and products.

Many people, myself included, like the idea of a system that uses two or more sources of green, renewable energy. The wind is not always consistent, but weather in which the wind is low often sees the sun out.

Sustainable Living: Alternative Energy Part Two: Solar Energy

Not only are the types of solar cells are quite diverse, there have been many exciting innovations in solar power research. We're probably all familiar with the flat roof panels and banks of vertical panels; mono/multi crystalline. There are also thin-film, and amorphous cells, roof tiles and shingles, parabolic dishes and troughs, flexible solar sheets, transparent solar panels which can be used as windows, and quantum-dot panels that could see increases in efficiency rise to higher than 40% from its current high end efficiency of roughly 20%.

One obvious bonus to roof installed solar panels is the arrangement; it's space you were using for nothing else anyway and is usually exposed to full sun. If your rooftop space is not ideal, you may have to angle the panels you afix to the roof. All panels should be facing true south (not magnetic south), and be perpendicular to the sun for the best exposure.

The average length of guarantees run twenty or more years, anticipated lifetime is even longer than that. Although amorphous panels are reported to drop in efficiency after the first couple of years, they are still have long-life coverage.

Solar photovoltaics work, in very short summary, by collecting solar energy in the cells which is transerred by conducting wires in contact with the cell, while active thermal systems work by directly converting solar radiation into heat. Batteries of varying sizes are available to house the collected energy, and net metering (getting paid for surplus energy that your system feeds into the grid) is still a possibility, depending on availability in your area. I recommend Wikipedia's resources on solar power if you're dying for more scientific details.

There are also a number of solar products available: flashlights and lanterns, solar ovens, portable solar power packs, solar fans, etc, some fun adventures with solar cars; the potential of solar power is very exciting and encouraging.

Just as intruiging is the concept of earth and geothermal energy, which is using the temperature of the earth to cool (or heat) air and water for residential, industrial and commercials buildings.

Either buried in horizontal trenches or sunk in deep drilled vertical holes, pipes carry water (or air) on a cycle; from the earth to the pump/compressor, to the area to be heated and back through the earth. Here is an excellent illustration of a unit at work. Compared to the long term expense, both financial and ecologocal, of air conditioners and central air, the expense of having a system like this installed may be well justified.

It's easy to see how a system that incorporates both wind and solar aspects would be more effective, given residential restrictions and seasonal changes in both sunlight and wind. The fact that in any season one these energy sources will likely be less effective due to weather, a back-up plan is still a prudent idea. There are all kinds of generators available, but we don't want fossil fuels supplying our power. The answer is ethanol: clean-burning, readily sustainable and efficient.

Next: Sustainable Living: Alternative Energy Part Three: Generators and the Potential of Ethanol

Resources

• http://www.canwea.ca/
• Wikipedia: Wind turbine
• Wikipedia: Solar Power/Photovoltaics
• Wikipedia: Solar Cells.
• http://www.thesolarguide.com/
• http://www.magenn.com/faq.php
• http://www.ottawasolarpower.com/stepbystep.html
• The Green Pages