Long-Term Monitoring of Utility-Scale Solar Energy Development and Application of Remote Sensing Technologies: Summary Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hamada, Yuki [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Environmental Science Division; Grippo, Mark A. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Environmental Science Division; Smith, Karen P. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Environmental Science Division

2014-09-30

In anticipation of increased utility-scale solar energy development over the next 20 to 50 years, federal agencies and other organizations have identified a need to develop comprehensive long-term monitoring programs specific to solar energy development. Increasingly, stakeholders are requesting that federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM), develop rigorous and comprehensive long-term monitoring programs. Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) is assisting the BLM in developing an effective long-term monitoring plan as required by the BLM Solar Energy Program to study the environmental effects of solar energy development. The monitoring data can be used to protect land resources from harmful development practices while at the same time reducing restrictions on utility-scale solar energy development that are determined to be unnecessary. The development of a long-term monitoring plan that incorporates regional datasets, prioritizes requirements in the context of landscape-scale conditions and trends, and integrates cost-effective data collection methods (such as remote sensing technologies) will translate into lower monitoring costs and increased certainty for solar developers regarding requirements for developing projects on public lands. This outcome will support U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Sunshot Program goals. For this reason, the DOE provided funding for the work presented in this report.

Methodology for Clustering High-Resolution Spatiotemporal Solar Resource Data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Getman, Dan [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Lopez, Anthony [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Mai, Trieu [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Dyson, Mark [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2015-09-01

In this report, we introduce a methodology to achieve multiple levels of spatial resolution reduction of solar resource data, with minimal impact on data variability, for use in energy systems modeling. The selection of an appropriate clustering algorithm, parameter selection including cluster size, methods of temporal data segmentation, and methods of cluster evaluation are explored in the context of a repeatable process. In describing this process, we illustrate the steps in creating a reduced resolution, but still viable, dataset to support energy systems modeling, e.g. capacity expansion or production cost modeling. This process is demonstrated through the use of a solar resource dataset; however, the methods are applicable to other resource data represented through spatiotemporal grids, including wind data. In addition to energy modeling, the techniques demonstrated in this paper can be used in a novel top-down approach to assess renewable resources within many other contexts that leverage variability in resource data but require reduction in spatial resolution to accommodate modeling or computing constraints.

Solar resources and power potential mapping in Vietnam using satellite-derived and GIS-based information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Polo, J.; Bernardos, A.; Navarro, A.A.; Fernandez-Peruchena, C.M.; Ramírez, L.; Guisado, María V.; Martínez, S.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Satellite-based, reanalysis data and measurements are combined for solar mapping. • Plant output modeling for PV and CSP results in simple expressions of solar potential. • Solar resource, solar potential are used in a GIS for determine technical solar potential. • Solar resource and potential maps of Vietnam are presented. - Abstract: The present paper presents maps of the solar resources in Vietnam and of the solar potential for concentrating solar power (CSP) and for grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) technology. The mapping of solar radiation components has been calculated from satellite-derived data combined with solar radiation derived from sunshine duration and other additional sources of information based on reanalysis for several atmospheric and meteorological parameters involved. Two scenarios have been selected for the study of the solar potential: CSP Parabolic Trough of 50 MWe and grid-connected Flat Plate PV plant of around 1 MWe. For each selected scenario plant performance simulations have been computed for developing simple expressions that allow the estimation of the solar potential from the annual solar irradiation and the latitude of every site in Vietnam. Finally, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been used for combining the solar potential with the land availability according each scenario to deliver the technical solar potential maps of Vietnam

Principles of solar engineering

CERN Document Server

Goswami, D Yogi

2015-01-01

Introduction to Solar Energy ConversionGlobal Energy Needs and ResourcesSolar EnergyEnergy StorageEconomics of Solar SystemsSummary of RE ResourcesForecast of Future Energy MixReferencesFundamentals of Solar RadiationThe Physics of the Sun and Its Energy TransportThermal Radiation FundamentalsSun-Earth Geometric RelationshipSolar RadiationEstimation of Terrestrial Solar RadiationModels Based on Long-Term Measured Horizontal Solar RadiationMeasurement of Solar RadiationSolar Radiation Mapping Using Satellite DataReferencesSuggested ReadingsSolar Thermal CollectorsRadiative Properties and Characteristics of MaterialsFlat-Plate CollectorsTubular Solar Energy CollectorsExperimental Testing of CollectorsConcentrating Solar CollectorsParabolic Trough ConcentratorCompound-Curvature Solar ConcentratorsCentral Receiver CollectorFresnel Reflectors and LensesSolar Concentrator SummaryReferencesSuggested ReadingThermal Energy Storage and TransportThermal Energy StorageTypes of TESDesign of Storage SystemEnergy Transport ...

Implications of applying solar industry best practice resource estimation on project financing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pacudan, Romeo

2016-01-01

Solar resource estimation risk is one of the main solar PV project risks that influences lender’s decision in providing financing and in determining the cost of capital. More recently, a number of measures have emerged to mitigate this risk. The study focuses on solar industry’s best practice energy resource estimation and assesses its financing implications to the 27 MWp solar PV project study in Brunei Darussalam. The best practice in resource estimation uses multiple data sources through the measure-correlate-predict (MCP) technique as compared with the standard practice that rely solely on modelled data source. The best practice case generates resource data with lower uncertainty and yields superior high-confidence energy production estimate than the standard practice case. Using project financial parameters in Brunei Darussalam for project financing and adopting the international debt-service coverage ratio (DSCR) benchmark rates, the best practice case yields DSCRs that surpass the target rates while those of standard practice case stay below the reference rates. The best practice case could also accommodate higher debt share and have lower levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) while the standard practice case would require a lower debt share but having a higher LCOE. - Highlights: •Best practice solar energy resource estimation uses multiple datasets. •Multiple datasets are combined through measure-correlate-predict technique. •Correlated data have lower uncertainty and yields superior high-confidence energy production. •Best practice case yields debt-service coverage ratios (DSCRs) that surpass the benchmark rates. •Best practice case accommodates high debt share and have low levelized cost of electricity.

An analysis of wind and solar energy resources for the State of Kuwait

Science.gov (United States)

Alhusainan, Haya Nasser

Kuwait is an important producer of oil and gas. Its rapid socio-economic growth has been characterized by increasing population, high rates of urbanization, and substantial industrialization, which is transforming it into a large big energy consumer as well. In addition to urbanization, climatic conditions have played an important function in increasing demand for electricity in Kuwait. Electricity for thermal cooling has become essential in the hot desert climate, and its use has developed rapidly along with the economic development, urbanization, and population growth. This study examines the long-term wind and solar resources over the Kuwait to determine the feasibility of these resources as potential sustainable and renewable energy sources. The ultimate goal of this research is to help identify the potential role of renewable energy in Kuwait. This study will examine the drivers and requirements for the deployment of these energy sources and their possible integration into the electricity generation sector to illustrate how renewable energy can be a suitable resource for power production in Kuwait and to illustrate how they can also be used to provide electricity for the country. For this study, data from sixteen established stations monitored by the meteorological department were analyzed. A solar resource map was developed that identifies the most suitable locations for solar farm development. A range of different relevant variables, including, for example, electric networks, population zones, fuel networks, elevation, water wells, streets, and weather stations, were combined in a geospatial analysis to predict suitable locations for solar farm development and placement. An analysis of recommendations, future energy targets and strategies for renewable energy policy in Kuwait are then conducted. This study was put together to identify issues and opportunities related to renewable energy in the region, since renewable energy technologies are still limited in

Externalities: Their role and value in near-term solar power implementation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swindler, G.

1992-01-01

The total cost of electricity includes social and environmental costs, or externalities, that have traditionally been discluded from the cost of energy. Under current regulatory and public pressure to account for these costs as they vary between generating resources, externalities are being reviewed and are gradually being added to the construction and operation costs of all generating resources. Accounting for externalities is described as being obligatory for the electric utility industry. This paper analyzes a variety of quantifiable externalities in comparing solar and wind power to coal, nuclear, natural gas and oil. The inclusion of externalities in full-cost resource accounting is shown to make renewable resources such as solar and wind more competitive in a levelized market

Long-term field test of solar PV power generation using one-axis 3-position sun tracker

KAUST Repository

Huang, B.J.

2011-09-01

The 1 axis-3 position (1A-3P) sun tracking PV was built and tested to measure the daily and long-term power generation of the solar PV system. A comparative test using a fixed PV and a 1A-3P tracking PV was carried out with two identical stand-alone solar-powered LED lighting systems. The field test in the particular days shows that the 1A-3P tracking PV can generate 35.8% more electricity than the fixed PV in a partly-cloudy weather with daily-total solar irradiation HT=11.7MJ/m2day, or 35.6% in clear weather with HT=18.5MJ/m2day. This indicates that the present 1A-3P tracking PV can perform very close to a dual-axis continuous tracking PV (Kacira et al., 2004). The long-term outdoor test results have shown that the increase of daily power generation of 1A-3P tracking PV increases with increasing daily-total solar irradiation. The increase of monthly-total power generation for 1A-3P sun tracking PV is between 18.5-28.0%. The total power generation increase in the test period from March 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011, is 23.6% in Taipei (an area of low solar energy resource). The long-term performance of the present 1X-3P tracking PV is shown very close to the 1-axis continuous tracking PV in Taiwan (Chang, 2009). If the 1A-3P tracking PV is used in the area of high solar energy resource with yearly-average HT>17MJ/m2day, the increase of total long-term power generation with respect to fixed PV will be higher than 37.5%. This is very close to that of dual-axis continuous tracking PV. The 1A-3P tracker can be easily mounted on the wall of a building. The cost of the whole tracker is about the same as the regular mounting cost of a conventional rooftop PV system. This means that there is no extra cost for 1A-3P PV mounted on buildings. The 1A-3P PV is quite suitable for building-integrated applications. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Solar resources estimation combining digital terrain models and satellite images techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bosch, J.L.; Batlles, F.J. [Universidad de Almeria, Departamento de Fisica Aplicada, Ctra. Sacramento s/n, 04120-Almeria (Spain); Zarzalejo, L.F. [CIEMAT, Departamento de Energia, Madrid (Spain); Lopez, G. [EPS-Universidad de Huelva, Departamento de Ingenieria Electrica y Termica, Huelva (Spain)

2010-12-15

One of the most important steps to make use of any renewable energy is to perform an accurate estimation of the resource that has to be exploited. In the designing process of both active and passive solar energy systems, radiation data is required for the site, with proper spatial resolution. Generally, a radiometric stations network is used in this evaluation, but when they are too dispersed or not available for the study area, satellite images can be utilized as indirect solar radiation measurements. Although satellite images cover wide areas with a good acquisition frequency they usually have a poor spatial resolution limited by the size of the image pixel, and irradiation must be interpolated to evaluate solar irradiation at a sub-pixel scale. When pixels are located in flat and homogeneous areas, correlation of solar irradiation is relatively high, and classic interpolation can provide a good estimation. However, in complex topography zones, data interpolation is not adequate and the use of Digital Terrain Model (DTM) information can be helpful. In this work, daily solar irradiation is estimated for a wide mountainous area using a combination of Meteosat satellite images and a DTM, with the advantage of avoiding the necessity of ground measurements. This methodology utilizes a modified Heliosat-2 model, and applies for all sky conditions; it also introduces a horizon calculation of the DTM points and accounts for the effect of snow covers. Model performance has been evaluated against data measured in 12 radiometric stations, with results in terms of the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 10%, and a Mean Bias Error (MBE) of +2%, both expressed as a percentage of the mean value measured. (author)

Estimating solar resources in Mexico using cloud cover data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Renne, David; George, Ray; Brady, Liz; Marion, Bill [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Colorado (United States); Estrada Cajigal, Vicente [Cuernavaca, Morelos (Mexico)

2000-07-01

This paper presents the results of applying the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) Climatological Solar Radiation (CSR) model to Mexico to develop solar resource data. A major input to the CSR model is a worldwide surface and satellite-derived cloud cover database, called the Real Time Nephanalysis (RTNEPH). The RTNEPH is developed by the U.S. Air Force and distributed by the U.S. National Climatic Data Center. The RTNEPH combines routine ground-based cloud cover observations made every three hours at national weather centers throughout the world with satellite-derived cloud cover information developed from polar orbiting weather satellites. The data are geospatially digitized so that multilayerd cloud cover information is available on a grid of approximately 40-km to a side. The development of this database is an ongoing project that now covers more than twenty years of observations. For the North America analysis (including Mexico) we used an 8-year summarized histogram of the RTNEPH that provides monthly average cloud cover information for the period 1985-1992. The CSR model also accounts for attenuation of the solar beam due to aerosols, atmospheric trace gases, and water vapor. The CSR model outputs monthly average direct normal, global horizontal and diffuse solar information for each of the 40-km grid cells. From this information it is also possible to produce solar resource estimates for various solar collector types and orientations, such as flat plate collectors oriented at latitude tilt, or concentrating solar power collectors. Model results are displayed using Geographic Information System software. CSR model results for Mexico are presented here, along with a discussion of earlier solar resource assessment studies for Mexico, where both modeling approaches and measurement analyses have been used. [Spanish] Este articulo presenta los resultados de aplicar el modelo Radiacion Solar Climatologica CSR del NREL (National Renewable Energy

Hilbert-Huang transform analysis of long-term solar magnetic activity

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Linhua

2018-04-01

Astronomical time series analysis is one of the hottest and most important problems, and becomes the suitable way to deal with the underlying dynamical behavior of the considered nonlinear systems. The quasi-periodic analysis of solar magnetic activity has been carried out by various authors during the past fifty years. In this work, the novel Hilbert-Huang transform approach is applied to investigate the yearly numbers of polar faculae in the time interval from 1705 to 1999. The detected periodicities can be allocated to three components: the first one is the short-term variations with periods smaller than 11 years, the second one is the mid- term variations with classical periods from 11 years to 50 years, and the last one is the long-term variations with periods larger than 50 years. The analysis results improve our knowledge on the quasi-periodic variations of solar magnetic activity and could be provided valuable constraints for solar dynamo theory. Furthermore, our analysis results could be useful for understanding the long-term variations of solar magnetic activity, providing crucial information to describe and forecast solar magnetic activity indicators.

Analysis of Long-Term Global Solar Radiation, Sunshine Duration and Air Temperature Data of Ankara and Modeling with Curve Fitting Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehmet YEŞİLBUDAK

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The information about solar parameters is important in the installation of photovoltaic energy systems that are reliable, environmentally friendly and sustainable. In this study, initially, long-term global solar radiation, sunshine duration and air temperature data of Ankara are analyzed on the annual, monthly and daily basis, elaborately. Afterwards, three different empirical methods that are polynomial, Gaussian and Fourier are used for the purpose of modeling long-term monthly total global solar radiation, monthly total sunshine duration and monthly mean air temperature data. The coefficient of determination and the root mean square error are computed as statistical test metrics in order to compare data modeling performance of the mentioned empirical methods. The empirical methods that provide the best results enable to model the solar characteristics of Ankara more accurately and the achieved outcomes constitute the significant resource for other locations with similar climatic conditions.

Residential heating costs: A comparison of geothermal solar and conventional resources

Science.gov (United States)

Bloomster, C. H.; Garrett-Price, B. A.; Fassbender, L. L.

1980-08-01

The costs of residential heating throughout the United States using conventional, solar, and geothermal energy were determined under current and projected conditions. These costs are very sensitive to location, being dependent on the local prices of conventional energy supplies, local solar insolation, climate, and the proximity and temperature of potential geothermal resources. The sharp price increases in imported fuels during 1979 and the planned decontrol of domestic oil and natural gas prices have set the stage for geothermal and solar market penetration in the 1980's.

Going Solar Yields Long-Term Economical, Educational Benefits

Science.gov (United States)

von Moos, Brian

2009-01-01

Going solar is not an easy decision, but a long-term investment with a potentially substantial up-front cost. While some schools have enough capital in reserve, can raise bond money, or can solicit sufficient donations, many schools rely on creative financial programs to make a solar energy system economically feasible. Thinking about going solar…

Wind/solar resource in Texas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nelson, V.; Starcher, K.; Gaines, H. [West Texas A& M Univ., Canyon, TX (United States)

1997-12-31

Data are being collected at 17 sites to delineate a baseline for the wind and solar resource across Texas. Wind data are being collected at 10, 25, and 40 m (in some cases at 50 m) to determine wind shear and power at hub heights of large turbines. Many of the sites are located in areas of predicted terrain enhancement. The typical day in a month for power and wind turbine output was calculated for selected sites and combination of sites; distributed systems. Major result to date is that there is the possibility of load matching in South Texas during the summer months, even though the average values by month indicate a low wind potential.

Using the Signal Tools and Statistical Tools to Redefine the 24 Solar Terms in Peasant Calendar by Analyzing Surface Temperature and Precipitation

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, J. Y.; Tung, C. P.

2017-12-01

There is an important book called "Peasant Calendar" in the Chinese society. The Peasant Calendar is originally based on the orbit of the Sun and each year is divided into 24 solar terms. Each term has its own special meaning and conception. For example, "Spring Begins" means the end of winter and the beginning of spring. In Taiwan, 24 solar terms play an important role in agriculture because farmers always use the Peasant Calendar to decide when to sow. However, the current solar term in Taiwan is fixed about 15 days. This way doesn't show the temporal variability of climate and also can't truly reflect the regional climate characteristics in different areas.The number of days in each solar term should be more flexible. Since weather is associated with climate, all weather phenomena can be regarded as a multiple fluctuation signal. In this research, 30 years observation data of surface temperature and precipitation from 1976 2016 are used. The data is cut into different time series, such as a week, a month, six months to one year and so on. Signal analysis tools such as wavelet, change point analysis and Fourier transform are used to determine the length of each solar term. After determining the days of each solar term, statistical tests are used to find the relationships between the length of solar terms and climate turbulent (e.g., ENSO and PDO).For example, one of the solar terms called "Major Heat" should typically be more than 20 days in Taiwan due to global warming and heat island effect. The advance of Peasant Calendar can help farmers to make better decision, controlling crop schedule and using the farmland more efficient. For instance, warmer condition can accelerate the accumulation of accumulated temperature, which is the key of crop's growth stage. The result also can be used on disaster reduction (e.g., preventing agricultural damage) and water resources project.

Ultra-Portable Solar-Powered 3D Printers for Onsite Manufacturing of Medical Resources.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Julielynn Y

2015-09-01

The first space-based fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer is powered by solar photovoltaics. This study seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of using solar energy to power a FDM 3D printer to manufacture medical resources at the Mars Desert Research Station and to design an ultra-portable solar-powered 3D printer for off-grid environments. Six solar panels in a 3×2 configuration, a voltage regulator/capacitor improvised from a power adapter, and two 12V batteries in series were connected to power a FDM 3D printer. Three designs were printed onsite and evaluated by experts post analogue mission. A solar-powered 3D printer composed of off-the-shelf components was designed to be transported in airline carry-on luggage. During the analogue mission, the solar-powered printer could only be operated for solar-powered 3D printer was designed that could print an estimated 16 dental tools or 8 mallet finger splints or 7 scalpel handles on one fully charged 12V 150Wh battery with a 110V AC converter. It is feasible to use solar energy to power a 3D printer to manufacture functional and personalized medical resources at a Mars analogue research station. Based on these findings, a solar-powered suitcase 3D printing system containing solar panels, 12V battery with charge controller and AC inverter, and back-up solar charge controller and inverter was designed for transport to and use in off-grid communities.

Long-term solar wind electron variations between 1971 and 1978

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feldman, W.C.; Asbridge, J.R.; Bame, S.J.; Gosling, J.T.

1979-01-01

Imp solar wind electron data measured between 1971 and 1978 were studied with the aim of determining long-term variations near the earth. Two separate sets of parameter variations were observed: (1) in 1976--1977 the solar wind density, the electron temperature, and the interplanetary electrostatic potential were all enhanced, and (2) the halo density and associated electron parameters were all depressed during a 1 1/2-year period centered on the last 6 months of 1976. Although interpretation of these results in terms of corresponding coronal and interplanetary variations is not unique, it may be significant that measured solar wind parameters near the minimum of solar cycle 20 agree better with the Hartle-Sturrock model of the coronal expansion than they do during other epochs

Solar process heat for industry, seawater desalination and solar chemistry; Solare Prozesswaerme fuer Industrie, Meerwasserentsalzung und Solarchemie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hennecke, K. [DLR Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., Berlin (Germany); Lokurlu, A. [Solitem GmbH, Aachen (Germany); Rommel, M. [Fraunhofer-Institut fuer Solare Energiesysteme (ISE), Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany); Spaete, F. [Fachhochschule Aachen, Juelich (Germany). Solar-Institut Juelich

2006-02-15

The examples discussed in this paper show that solar process heat can make an important contribution to climate protection and resource conservation. Marketable technologies providing temperatures up to approx. 200 C will be available in the short to medium term future. Continue low prices for fossil fuels and high consulting and planning costs impede the further spread of these technologies. Politicians must be called upon to facilitate the development of the market through suitable promotion programmes. There is still a long-term requirement for research, especially regarding high-temperature applications and solar chemistry.

LONG-TERM TRENDS IN THE SOLAR WIND PROTON MEASUREMENTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elliott, Heather A.; McComas, David J. [Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX (United States); DeForest, Craig E. [Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO (United States)

2016-11-20

We examine the long-term time evolution (1965–2015) of the relationships between solar wind proton temperature ( T {sub p}) and speed ( V {sub p}) and between the proton density ( n {sub p}) and speed using OMNI solar wind observations taken near Earth. We find a long-term decrease in the proton temperature–speed ( T {sub p}– V {sub p}) slope that lasted from 1972 to 2010, but has been trending upward since 2010. Since the solar wind proton density–speed ( n {sub p}– V {sub p}) relationship is not linear like the T {sub p}– V {sub p} relationship, we perform power-law fits for n {sub p}– V {sub p}. The exponent (steepness in the n {sub p}– V {sub p} relationship) is correlated with the solar cycle. This exponent has a stronger correlation with current sheet tilt angle than with sunspot number because the sunspot number maxima vary considerably from cycle to cycle and the tilt angle maxima do not. To understand this finding, we examined the average n {sub p} for different speed ranges, and found that for the slow wind n {sub p} is highly correlated with the sunspot number, with a lag of approximately four years. The fast wind n {sub p} variation was less, but in phase with the cycle. This phase difference may contribute to the n {sub p}– V {sub p} exponent correlation with the solar cycle. These long-term trends are important since empirical formulas based on fits to T {sub p} and V {sub p} data are commonly used to identify interplanetary coronal mass ejections, but these formulas do not include any time dependence. Changes in the solar wind density over a solar cycle will create corresponding changes in the near-Earth space environment and the overall extent of the heliosphere.

Smoothing out the volatility of South Africa’s wind and solar energy resources

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mushwana, Crescent

2015-10-01

Full Text Available In the past, renewables were mainly driven by the US, Europe and China, but South Africa is slowly picking up. This presentation discusses South Africa's wind and solar resources as alternative energy resources....

Long-term visual health risks from solar ultraviolet radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waxler, M.

1987-01-01

Ocular exposure to the ultraviolet radiation (UV) contained in sunlight may result in long-term visual health problems. UV plays a role in the etiology of cataracts and possibly in the etiology of visual impairments associated with solar retinopathy, retinopathy of prematurity, ocular aging, cystoid macular edema, retinitis pigmentosa, and senile macular degeneration. The exact does relationships between known UV bioeffects and these ocular problems is, however, uncertain. Thus, there are questions about the extent to which protective measures should be taken to reduce UV exposure of the eye. This paper identifies the long-term visual health problems potentially associated with ocular exposure to solar UV; proposes worst-case assumptions for the role of solar UV in these visual problems; and recommends protective measures based on damage thresholds and worst-case assumptions

Evaluating Solar Resource Data Obtained from Multiple Radiometers Deployed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Habte, A.; Sengupta, M.; Andreas, A.; Wilcox, S.; Stoffel, T.

2014-09-01

Solar radiation resource measurements from radiometers are used to predict and evaluate the performance of photovoltaic and concentrating solar power systems, validate satellite-based models for estimating solar resources, and advance research in solar forecasting and climate change. This study analyzes the performance of various commercially available radiometers used for measuring global horizontal irradiances (GHI) and direct normal irradiances (DNI). These include pyranometers, pyrheliometers, rotating shadowband irradiometers, and a pyranometer with a shading ring deployed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Solar Radiation Research Laboratory (SRRL). The radiometers in this study were deployed for one year (from April 1, 2011, through March 31, 2012) and compared to measurements from radiometers with the lowest values of estimated measurement uncertainties for producing reference GHI and DNI.

Wind and solar energy resources on the 'Roof of the World'

Science.gov (United States)

Zandler, Harald; Morche, Thomas; Samimi, Cyrus

2015-04-01

The Eastern Pamirs of Tajikistan, often referred to as 'Roof of the World', are an arid high mountain plateau characterized by severe energy poverty that may have great potential for renewable energy resources due to the prevailing natural conditions. The lack of energetic infrastructure makes the region a prime target for decentralized integration of wind and solar power. However, up to date no scientific attempt to assess the regional potential of these resources has been carried out. In this context, it is particularly important to evaluate if wind and solar energy are able to provide enough power to generate thermal energy, as other thermal energy carriers are scarce or unavailable and the existing alternative, local harvest of dwarf shrubs, is unsustainable due to the slow regeneration in this environment. Therefore, this study examines the feasibility of using wind and solar energy as thermal energy sources. Financial frame conditions were set on a maximum amount of five million Euros. This sum provides a realistic scenario as it is based on the current budget of the KfW development bank to finance the modernization of the local hydropower plant in the regions only city, Murghab, with about 1500 households. The basis for resource assessment is data of four climate stations, erected for this purpose in 2012, where wind speed, wind direction, global radiation and temperature are measured at a half hourly interval. These measurements confirm the expectation of a large photovoltaic potential and high panel efficiency with up to 84 percent of extraterrestrial radiation reaching the surface and only 16 hours of temperatures above 25°C were measured in two years at the village stations on average. As these observations are only point measurements, radiation data and the ASTER GDEM was used to train a GIS based solar radiation model to spatially extrapolate incoming radiation. With mean validation errors ranging from 5% in July (minimum) to 15% in December (maximum

Evaluation of Sources of Uncertainties in Solar Resource Measurement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Habte, Aron M [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sengupta, Manajit [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-09-25

This poster presents a high-level overview of sources of uncertainties in solar resource measurement, demonstrating the impact of various sources of uncertainties -- such as cosine response, thermal offset, spectral response, and others -- on the accuracy of data from several radiometers. The study provides insight on how to reduce the impact of some of the sources of uncertainties.

Competition partition of soil and solar radiation resources between soybean cultivars and concurrent genotypes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bianchi, M.A.; Fleck, N.G.; Dillenburg, L.R.

2006-01-01

Plants compete for environmental resources located below and over soil surface. Physical separation of competition allows understanding the relative importance of each fraction, as well as identifying possible differences among species. The aim of this research was to separate the individual effects resulting from competition for soil or solar radiation resources, between soybean and concurrent plants. Thus, experiments using pots were carried out at UFRGS, in Porto Alegre-RS, in 2001 and 2002. The treatments tested resulted from the combinations of two concurrent genotypes (crop and competitor) and four competition conditions (absence of competition, competition for soil and solar radiation, competition for soil resources, and competition for solar radiation). Soybean cultivars IAS 5 and FEPAGRO RS 10 represented the crop, whereas radish forage and the soybean cultivar FUNDACEP 33 were the competitors tested. Morpho-physiological variables were evaluated in the soybean plants and radish forage. Growth of the soybean plants was most affected by soil resources competition, with RS 10 cultivar being more competitive than IAS 5.Radish forage did not interfere in the growth of soybean cultivars but it benefited from soybean presence. (author) 6

Use of a Geothermal-Solar Hybrid Power Plant to Mitigate Declines in Geothermal Resource Productivity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dan Wendt; Greg Mines

2014-09-01

Many, if not all, geothermal resources are subject to decreasing productivity manifested in the form of decreasing brine temperature, flow rate, or both during the life span of the associated power generation project. The impacts of resource productivity decline on power plant performance can be significant; a reduction in heat input to a power plant not only decreases the thermal energy available for conversion to electrical power, but also adversely impacts the power plant conversion efficiency. The reduction in power generation is directly correlated to a reduction in revenues from power sales. Further, projects with Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) contracts in place may be subject to significant economic penalties if power generation falls below the default level specified. A potential solution to restoring the performance of a power plant operating from a declining productivity geothermal resource involves the use of solar thermal energy to restore the thermal input to the geothermal power plant. There are numerous technical merits associated with a renewable geothermal-solar hybrid plant in which the two heat sources share a common power block. The geo-solar hybrid plant could provide a better match to typical electrical power demand profiles than a stand-alone geothermal plant. The hybrid plant could also eliminate the stand-alone concentrated solar power plant thermal storage requirement for operation during times of low or no solar insolation. This paper identifies hybrid plant configurations and economic conditions for which solar thermal retrofit of a geothermal power plant could improve project economics. The net present value of the concentrated solar thermal retrofit of an air-cooled binary geothermal plant is presented as functions of both solar collector array cost and electricity sales price.

Long term adequacy of uranium resources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steyn, J.

1990-01-01

This paper examines the adequacy of world economic uranium resources to meet requirements in the very long term, that is until at least 2025 and beyond. It does so by analysing current requirements forecasts, existing and potential production centre supply capability schedules and national resource estimates. It takes into account lead times from resource discovery to production and production rate limitations. The institutional and political issues surrounding the question of adequacy are reviewed. (author)

Long-term solar activity and terrestrial connections. Part I: theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. D. Diamantides

1998-05-01

Full Text Available The research task described herein aims at the structuring of an analytical tool that traces the time course of geophysical phenomena, regional or global, and compares it to the course of long-term solar conditions, long-term meaning decades or a few centuries. The model is based on the premise that since in a last analysis the preponderance of atmospheric, hydrospheric, and, possibly, some aspects of geospheric phenomena are, or have been, powered by energy issuing from the sun – either now or in the past, the long-term behavior of such phenomena is ultimately "connected" to long-term changes occurring in the sun itself. Accordingly, the proposed research firstly derives and models a stable surrogate pattern for the long-term solar activity, secondly introduces a transfer-function algorithm for modeling the connection between the surrogate and terrestrial phenomena viewed as partners in the connection, and thirdly probes the connection outcome for episodic or unanticipated effects that may arise due to the fact that in the present context, the connection, should it exist, is very likely nonlinear. Part I of the study presents the theory of the concept, while Part II demonstrates the concept's pertinence to a number of terrestrial phenomena.Key words. Solar activity · Kolmogorov algorithm

Short-term solar irradiation forecasting based on Dynamic Harmonic Regression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trapero, Juan R.; Kourentzes, Nikolaos; Martin, A.

2015-01-01

Solar power generation is a crucial research area for countries that have high dependency on fossil energy sources and is gaining prominence with the current shift to renewable sources of energy. In order to integrate the electricity generated by solar energy into the grid, solar irradiation must be reasonably well forecasted, where deviations of the forecasted value from the actual measured value involve significant costs. The present paper proposes a univariate Dynamic Harmonic Regression model set up in a State Space framework for short-term (1–24 h) solar irradiation forecasting. Time series hourly aggregated as the Global Horizontal Irradiation and the Direct Normal Irradiation will be used to illustrate the proposed approach. This method provides a fast automatic identification and estimation procedure based on the frequency domain. Furthermore, the recursive algorithms applied offer adaptive predictions. The good forecasting performance is illustrated with solar irradiance measurements collected from ground-based weather stations located in Spain. The results show that the Dynamic Harmonic Regression achieves the lowest relative Root Mean Squared Error; about 30% and 47% for the Global and Direct irradiation components, respectively, for a forecast horizon of 24 h ahead. - Highlights: • Solar irradiation forecasts at short-term are required to operate solar power plants. • This paper assesses the Dynamic Harmonic Regression to forecast solar irradiation. • Models are evaluated using hourly GHI and DNI data collected in Spain. • The results show that forecasting accuracy is improved by using the model proposed

COMPLEX MAPPING OF ENERGY RESOURCES FOR ALLOCATION OF SOLAR AND WIND ENERGY OBJECTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. A. Novakovskiy

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents developed methodology of solar and wind energy resources complex mapping at the regional level, taking into account the environmental and socio-economic factors affecting the placement of renewable energy facilities. Methodology provides a reasonable search and allocation of areas, the most promising for the placement of wind and solar power plants.

Long-term availability of global uranium resources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monnet, Antoine

2016-01-01

From a global perspective, a low-carbon path to development driven by a growth of nuclear power production raises issues about the availability of uranium resources. Future technologies allowing nuclear reactors to overcome the need for natural uranium will take time to fully deploy. To address these issues, we analyze the conditions of availability of uranium in the 21. century. The first two conditions are technical accessibility and economic interest, both related to the cost of production. We study them using a model that estimates the ultimate uranium resources (amounts of both discovered and undiscovered resources) and their costs. This model splits the world into regions and the resource estimate for each region derives from the present knowledge of the deposits and economic filtering. The output is a long-term supply curve that illustrates the quantities of uranium that are technically accessible as a function of their cost of production. We identify the main uncertainties of these estimates and we show that with no regional breakdown, the ultimate resources are underestimated. The other conditions of availability of uranium covered in our study are related to the market dynamics, i.e. they derive from the supply and demand clearing mechanism. To assess their influence, they are introduced as dynamic constraints in a partial equilibrium model. This model of the uranium market is deterministic, and market players are represented by regions. For instance, it takes into account the short-term correlation between price and exploration expenditures, which is the subject of a dedicate econometric study. In the longer term, constraints include anticipation of demand by consumers and a gradual depletion of the cheapest ultimate resources. Through a series of prospective simulations, we demonstrate the strong influence on long-term price trends of both the growth rate of demand during the 21. century and its anticipation. Conversely, the uncertainties related to the

Long-term solar activity and terrestrial connections. Part I: theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. D. Diamantides

Full Text Available The research task described herein aims at the structuring of an analytical tool that traces the time course of geophysical phenomena, regional or global, and compares it to the course of long-term solar conditions, long-term meaning decades or a few centuries. The model is based on the premise that since in a last analysis the preponderance of atmospheric, hydrospheric, and, possibly, some aspects of geospheric phenomena are, or have been, powered by energy issuing from the sun – either now or in the past, the long-term behavior of such phenomena is ultimately "connected" to long-term changes occurring in the sun itself. Accordingly, the proposed research firstly derives and models a stable surrogate pattern for the long-term solar activity, secondly introduces a transfer-function algorithm for modeling the connection between the surrogate and terrestrial phenomena viewed as partners in the connection, and thirdly probes the connection outcome for episodic or unanticipated effects that may arise due to the fact that in the present context, the connection, should it exist, is very likely nonlinear. Part I of the study presents the theory of the concept, while Part II demonstrates the concept's pertinence to a number of terrestrial phenomena.

Key words. Solar activity · Kolmogorov algorithm

Space and Planetary Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Abbud-Madrid, Angel

2018-02-01

The space and multitude of celestial bodies surrounding Earth hold a vast wealth of resources for a variety of space and terrestrial applications. The unlimited solar energy, vacuum, and low gravity in space, as well as the minerals, metals, water, atmospheric gases, and volatile elements on the Moon, asteroids, comets, and the inner and outer planets of the Solar System and their moons, constitute potential valuable resources for robotic and human space missions and for future use in our own planet. In the short term, these resources could be transformed into useful materials at the site where they are found to extend mission duration and to reduce the costly dependence from materials sent from Earth. Making propellants and human consumables from local resources can significantly reduce mission mass and cost, enabling longer stays and fueling transportation systems for use within and beyond the planetary surface. Use of finely grained soils and rocks can serve for habitat construction, radiation protection, solar cell fabrication, and food growth. The same material could also be used to develop repair and replacement capabilities using advanced manufacturing technologies. Following similar mining practices utilized for centuries on Earth, identifying, extracting, and utilizing extraterrestrial resources will enable further space exploration, while increasing commercial activities beyond our planet. In the long term, planetary resources and solar energy could also be brought to Earth if obtaining these resources locally prove to be no longer economically or environmentally acceptable. Throughout human history, resources have been the driving force for the exploration and settling of our planet. Similarly, extraterrestrial resources will make space the next destination in the quest for further exploration and expansion of our species. However, just like on Earth, not all challenges are scientific and technological. As private companies start working toward

Evaluation of conventional and high-performance routine solar radiation measurements for improved solar resource, climatological trends, and radiative modeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gueymard, Christian A. [Solar Consulting Services, P.O. Box 392, Colebrook, NH 03576 (United States); Myers, Daryl R. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3305 (United States)

2009-02-15

The solar renewable energy community depends on radiometric measurements and instrumentation for data to design and monitor solar energy systems, and develop and validate solar radiation models. This contribution evaluates the impact of instrument uncertainties contributing to data inaccuracies and their effect on short-term and long-term measurement series, and on radiation model validation studies. For the latter part, transposition (horizontal-to-tilt) models are used as an example. Confirming previous studies, it is found that a widely used pyranometer strongly underestimates diffuse and global radiation, particularly in winter, unless appropriate corrective measures are taken. Other types of measurement problems are also discussed, such as those involved in the indirect determination of direct or diffuse irradiance, and in shadowband correction methods. The sensitivity of the predictions from transposition models to inaccuracies in input radiation data is demonstrated. Caution is therefore issued to the whole community regarding drawing detailed conclusions about solar radiation data without due attention to the data quality issues only recently identified. (author)

A Solar Atlas for Building-Integrated Photovoltaic Electricity Resource Assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Möller, Bernd; Nielsen, Steffen; Sperling, Karl

While photovoltaic energy gathers momentum as power costs increase and panel costs decrease, the total technical and economic potentials for building integrated solar energy in Denmark remain largely unidentified. The current net metering feed-in scheme is restricted to 6kW plant size, limiting...... large scale application. This paper presents a solar atlas based on a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) of all 2.9 million buildings in the country, combined with a building register. The 1.6 m resolution DEM has been processed into global radiation input, solar energy output and production....... The continuous assessment of solar electricity generation potentials by marginal costs, ownership and plant type presented in the paper may be used for defining long term policies for the development of photovoltaic energy, as well as political instruments such as a multi-tier feed-in tariff....

Renewable energy and resource curse on the possible consequences of solar energy in North Africa

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bae, Yuh Jin

2013-01-01

The main aim of this thesis is to project whether the five North African countries (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisa) have the potentials to suffer from a solar energy curse. Under the assumption that a solar energy curse will be similar to the current resource curse, the combination of

Economics of solar energy: Short term costing

Science.gov (United States)

Klee, H.

The solar economics based on life cycle costs are refuted as both imaginary and irrelevant. It is argued that predicting rates of inflation and fuel escalation, expected life, maintenance costs, and legislation over the next ten to twenty years is pure guesswork. Furthermore, given the high mobility level of the U.S. population, the average consumer is skeptical of long run arguments which will pay returns only to the next owners. In the short term cost analysis, the house is sold prior to the end of the expected life of the system. The cash flow of the seller and buyer are considered. All the relevant factors, including the federal tax credit and the added value of the house because of the solar system are included.

Space Resource Utilization: Near-Term Missions and Long-Term Plans for Human Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Sanders, Gerald B.

2015-01-01

A primary goal of all major space faring nations is to explore space: from the Earth with telescopes, with robotic probes and space telescopes, and with humans. For the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), this pursuit is captured in three important strategic goals: 1. Ascertain the content, origin, and evolution of the solar system and the potential for life elsewhere, 2. Extend and sustain human activities across the solar system (especially the surface of Mars), and 3. Create innovative new space technologies for exploration, science, and economic future. While specific missions and destinations are still being discussed as to what comes first, it is imperative for NASA that it foster the development and implementation of new technologies and approaches that make space exploration affordable and sustainable. Critical to achieving affordable and sustainable human exploration beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) is the development of technologies and systems to identify, extract, and use resources in space instead of bringing everything from Earth. To reduce the development and implementation costs for space resource utilization, often called In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), it is imperative to work with terrestrial mining companies to spin-in/spin-off technologies and capabilities, and space mining companies to expand our economy beyond Earth orbit. In the last two years, NASA has focused on developing and implementing a sustainable human space exploration program with the ultimate goal of exploring the surface of Mars with humans. The plan involves developing technology and capability building blocks critical for sustained exploration starting with the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion crew spacecraft and utilizing the International Space Station as a springboard into the solar system. The evolvable plan develops and expands human exploration in phases starting with missions that are reliant on Earth, to performing ever more challenging and

Visual Resource Analysis for Solar Energy Zones in the San Luis Valley

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sullivan, Robert [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Environmental Science Division; Abplanalp, Jennifer M. [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Environmental Science Division; Zvolanek, Emily [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Environmental Science Division; Brown, Jeffery [Bureau of Land Management, Washington, DC (United States). Dept. of the Interior

2016-01-01

This report summarizes the results of a study conducted by Argonne National Laboratory’s (Argonne’s) Environmental Science Division for the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The study analyzed the regional effects of potential visual impacts of solar energy development on three BLM-designated solar energy zones (SEZs) in the San Luis Valley (SLV) in Colorado, and, based on the analysis, made recommendations for or against regional compensatory mitigation to compensate residents and other stakeholders for the potential visual impacts to the SEZs. The analysis was conducted as part of the solar regional mitigation strategy (SRMS) task conducted by BLM Colorado with assistance from Argonne. Two separate analyses were performed. The first analysis, referred to as the VSA Analysis, analyzed the potential visual impacts of solar energy development in the SEZs on nearby visually sensitive areas (VSAs), and, based on the impact analyses, made recommendations for or against regional compensatory mitigation. VSAs are locations for which some type of visual sensitivity has been identified, either because the location is an area of high scenic value or because it is a location from which people view the surrounding landscape and attach some level of importance or sensitivity to what is seen from the location. The VSA analysis included both BLM-administered lands in Colorado and in the Taos FO in New Mexico. The second analysis, referred to as the SEZ Analysis, used BLM visual resource inventory (VRI) and other data on visual resources in the former Saguache and La Jara Field Offices (FOs), now contained within the San Luis Valley FO (SLFO), to determine whether the changes in scenic values that would result from the development of utility-scale solar energy facilities in the SEZs would affect the quality and quantity of valued scenic resources in the SLV region as a whole. If the regional effects were judged to be significant, regional

Stochastic Short-term High-resolution Prediction of Solar Irradiance and Photovoltaic Power Output

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Melin, Alexander M. [ORNL; Olama, Mohammed M. [ORNL; Dong, Jin [ORNL; Djouadi, Seddik M. [ORNL; Zhang, Yichen [University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

2017-09-01

The increased penetration of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy sources into electric grids has increased the need for accurate modeling and prediction of solar irradiance and power production. Existing modeling and prediction techniques focus on long-term low-resolution prediction over minutes to years. This paper examines the stochastic modeling and short-term high-resolution prediction of solar irradiance and PV power output. We propose a stochastic state-space model to characterize the behaviors of solar irradiance and PV power output. This prediction model is suitable for the development of optimal power controllers for PV sources. A filter-based expectation-maximization and Kalman filtering mechanism is employed to estimate the parameters and states in the state-space model. The mechanism results in a finite dimensional filter which only uses the first and second order statistics. The structure of the scheme contributes to a direct prediction of the solar irradiance and PV power output without any linearization process or simplifying assumptions of the signal’s model. This enables the system to accurately predict small as well as large fluctuations of the solar signals. The mechanism is recursive allowing the solar irradiance and PV power to be predicted online from measurements. The mechanism is tested using solar irradiance and PV power measurement data collected locally in our lab.

Near-term viability of solar heat applications for the federal sector

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, T. A.

1991-12-01

Solar thermal technologies are capable of providing heat across a wide range of temperatures, making them potentially attractive for meeting energy requirements for industrial process heat applications and institutional heating. The energy savings that could be realized by solar thermal heat are quite large, potentially several quads annually. Although technologies for delivering heat at temperatures above 100 C currently exist within industry, only a fairly small number of commercial systems have been installed to date. The objective of this paper is to investigate and discuss the prospects for near term solar heat sales to federal facilities as a mechanism for providing an early market niche to the aid the widespread development and implementation of the technology. The specific technical focus is on mid-temperature (100 to 350 C) heat demands that could be met with parabolic trough systems. Federal facilities have several features relative to private industry that may make them attractive for solar heat applications relative to other sectors. Key features are specific policy mandates for conserving energy, a long term planning horizon with well defined decision criteria, and prescribed economic return criteria for conservation and solar investments that are generally less stringent than the investment criteria used by private industry. Federal facilities also have specific difficulties in the sale of solar heat technologies that are different from those of other sectors, and strategies to mitigate these difficulties will be important. For the baseline scenario developed in this paper, the solar heat application was economically competitive with heat provided by natural gas. The system levelized energy cost was $5.9/MBtu for the solar heat case, compared to $6.8/MBtu for the life cycle fuel cost of a natural gas case. A third-party ownership would also be attractive to federal users, since it would guarantee energy savings and would not need initial federal funds.

The nekhoroshev theorem and long-term stabilities in the solar system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guzzo M.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The Nekhoroshev theorem has been often indicated in the last decades as the reference theorem for explaining the dynamics of several systems which are stable in the long-term. The Solar System dynamics provides a wide range of possible and useful applications. In fact, despite the complicated models which are used to numerically integrate realistic Solar System dynamics as accurately as possible, when the integrated solutions are chaotic the reliability of the numerical integrations is limited, and a theoretical long-term stability analysis is required. After the first formulation of Nekhoroshev’s theorem in 1977, many theoretical improvements have been achieved. On the one hand, alternative proofs of the theorem itself led to consistent improvements of the stability estimates; on the other hand, the extensions which were necessary to apply the theorem to the systems of interest for Solar System Dynamics, in particular concerning the removal of degeneracies and the implementation of computer assisted proofs, have been developed. In this review paper we discuss some of the motivations and the results which have made Nekhoroshev’s theorem a reference stability result for many applications in the Solar System dynamics.

SPADER - Science Planning Analysis and Data Estimation Resource for the NASA Parker Solar Probe Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Rodgers, D. J.; Fox, N. J.; Kusterer, M. B.; Turner, F. S.; Woleslagle, A. B.

2017-12-01

Scheduled to launch in July 2018, the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) will orbit the Sun for seven years, making a total of twenty-four extended encounters inside a solar radial distance of 0.25 AU. During most orbits, there are extended periods of time where PSP-Sun-Earth geometry dramatically reduces PSP-Earth communications via the Deep Space Network (DSN); there is the possibility that multiple orbits will have little to no high-rate downlink available. Science and housekeeping data taken during an encounter may reside on the spacecraft solid state recorder (SSR) for multiple orbits, potentially running the risk of overflowing the SSR in the absence of mitigation. The Science Planning Analysis and Data Estimation Resource (SPADER) has been developed to provide the science and operations teams the ability to plan operations accounting for multiple orbits in order to mitigate the effects caused by the lack of high-rate downlink. Capabilities and visualizations of SPADER are presented; further complications associated with file downlink priority and high-speed data transfers between instrument SSRs and the spacecraft SSR are discussed, as well as the long-term consequences of variations in DSN downlink parameters on the science data downlink.

Solar cycle and long term variations of mesospheric ice layers

Science.gov (United States)

Lübken, Franz-Josef; Berger, Uwe; Kiliani, Johannes; Baumgarten, Gerd; Fiedler, Jens; Gerding, Michael

2010-05-01

Ice layers in the summer mesosphere at middle and polar latitudes, frequently called `noctilucent clouds' (NLC) or `polar mesosphere clouds'(PMC), are considered to be sensitive indicators of long term changes in the middle atmosphere. We present a summary of long term observations from the ground and from satellites and compare with results from the LIMA model (Leibniz Institute Middle Atmosphere Model). LIMA nicely reproduces mean conditions of the summer mesopause region and also mean characteristics of ice layers. LIMA nudges to ECMWF data in the troposphere and lower stratosphere which influences the background conditions in the mesosphere and thereby the morphology of ice clouds. A strong correlation between temperatures and PMC altitudes is observed. Applied to historical measurements this give s negligible temperature trends at PMC altitudes (approximately 0.01-0.02 K/y). Trace gas concentrations are kept constant in LIMA except for water vapor which is modified by variable solar radiation. Still, long term trends in temperatures and ice layer parameters are observed, consistent with observations. As will be shown, these trends originate in the stratosphere. Solar cycle effects are expected in ice layers due to variations in background temperatures and water paper. We will present results from LIMA regarding solar cycle variations and compare with NLC observations at our lidar stations in Kühlungsborn (54°N) and ALOMAR (69°N), and also with satellite measurements.

SOLAR VARIABILITY FROM 240 TO 1750 nm IN TERMS OF FACULAE BRIGHTENING AND SUNSPOT DARKENING FROM SCIAMACHY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pagaran, J.; Weber, M.; Burrows, J.

2009-01-01

The change of spectral decomposition of the total radiative output on various timescales of solar magnetic activity is of large interest to terrestrial and solar-stellar atmosphere studies. Starting in 2002, SCIAMACHY was the first satellite instrument to observe daily solar spectral irradiance (SSI) continuously from 230 nm (UV) to 1750 nm (near-infrared; near-IR). In order to address the question of how much UV, visible (vis), and IR spectral regions change on 27 day and 11 year timescales, we parameterize short-term SSI variations in terms of faculae brightening (Mg II index) and sunspot darkening (photometric sunspot index) proxies. Although spectral variations above 300 nm are below 1% and, therefore, well below the accuracy of absolute radiometric calibration, relative accuracy for short-term changes is shown to be in the per mill range. This enables us to derive short-term spectral irradiance variations from the UV to the near-IR. During Halloween solar storm in 2003 with a record high sunspot area, we observe a reduction of 0.3% in the near-IR to 0.5% in the vis and near-UV. This is consistent with a 0.4% reduction in total solar irradiance (TSI). Over an entire 11 year solar cycle, SSI variability covering simultaneously the UV, vis, and IR spectral regions have not been directly observed so far. Using variations of solar proxies over solar cycle 23, solar cycle spectral variations have been estimated using scaling factors that best matched short-term variations of SCIAMACHY. In the 300-400 nm region, which strongly contributes to TSI solar cycle change, a contribution of 34% is derived from SCIAMACHY observations, which is lower than the reported values from SUSIM satellite data and the empirical SATIRE model. The total UV contribution (below 400 nm) to TSI solar cycle variations is estimated to be 55%.

Solar Energy Resource Analysis and Evaluation of Photovoltaic System Performance in Various Regions of Saudi Arabia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmed Bilal Awan

2018-04-01

Full Text Available According to Vision 2030, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (K.S.A plans to harness 9.5 GW of energy from renewable energy sources, which includes a major part of solar PV generation. This massive implementation of solar projects requires an accurate assessment and analysis of solar resource data and PV site selection. This paper presents a detailed analysis of one-year solar radiation data and energy output of 100 kW PV systems at 44 different locations across the K.S.A. Coastal areas have a lower amount of global horizontal irradiance (GHI as compared to inland areas. Najran University station gives the highest annual electrical output of 172,083 kWh, yield factor of 1721, and capacity utilization factor of 19.6%. Sharurah and Timma TVTC are second and third best with respect to annual PV performance. Similarly, during high load summer season (April–October, Tabuk station is the best location for a PV power plant with an electrical output of 110,250 kWh, yield factor of 1102, and capacity utilization factor of 21.46%. Overall, the northern province of Tabuk is the most feasible region for a solar PV plant. The basic approach presented in this research study compares solar resource pattern and solar PV system output pattern with the load profile of the country. The site selected based on this criterion is recommended to be economically most feasible which can reduce the stress on electricity companies during high load seasons by clipping the peak load during daytime in the hot summer period.

Mid-term periodicities and heliospheric modulation of coronal index and solar flare index during solar cycles 22-23

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Prithvi Raj; Saxena, A. K.; Tiwari, C. M.

2018-04-01

We applied fast Fourier transform techniques and Morlet wavelet transform on the time series data of coronal index, solar flare index, and galactic cosmic ray, for the period 1986-2008, in order to investigate the long- and mid-term periodicities including the Rieger ({˜ }130 to {˜ }190 days), quasi-period ({˜ }200 to {˜ }374 days), and quasi-biennial periodicities ({˜ }1.20 to {˜ }3.27 years) during the combined solar cycles 22-23. We emphasize the fact that a lesser number of periodicities are found in the range of low frequencies, while the higher frequencies show a greater number of periodicities. The rotation rates at the base of convection zone have periods for coronal index of {˜ }1.43 years and for solar flare index of {˜ }1.41 year, and galactic cosmic ray, {˜ }1.35 year, during combined solar cycles 22-23. In relation to these two solar parameters (coronal index and solar flare index), for the solar cycles 22-23, we found that galactic cosmic ray modulation at mid cut-off rigidity (Rc = 2.43GV) is anti-correlated with time-lag of few months.

Idaho | Midmarket Solar Policies in the United States | Solar Research |

Science.gov (United States)

% interest for solar PV projects. Low-interest financing Idaho Energy Resources Authority Solar PV project for financing through the Idaho Governor's Office and the Idaho Energy Resources Authority. Latest -owned community solar project for Idaho Power. Net Metering Idaho does not have statewide net metering

Analysis of the balancing of the wind and solar energy resources in Andalusia (Southern Spain)

Science.gov (United States)

Santos-Alamillos, F. J.; Pozo-Vazquez, D.; Lara-Fanego, V.; Ruiz-Arias, J. A.; Hernandez-Alvaro, J.; Tova-Pescador, J.

2010-09-01

A higher penetration of the renewable energy in the electric system in the future will be conditioned to a reduction of the uncertainty of the yield. A way to obtain this goal is to analyze the balancing between the productions of different sources of renewable energy, trying to combine these productions. In this work we analyze, from a meteorological point of view, the balancing between wind and solar energy resources in Andalusia (southern Iberian Peninsula). To this end, wind speed and global radiation data corresponding to an one year integration of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model were analyzed. Two method of analysis were used: a point correlation analysis and a Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA). Results from these analyses allow obtaining, eventually, areas of local and distributed balancing between the wind and solar energy resources. The analysis was carried out separately for the different seasons of the year. Results showed, overall, a considerable balancing effect between the wind and solar resources in the mountain areas of the interior of the region, along the coast of the central part of the region and, specially, in the coastal area near the Gibraltar strait. Nevertheless, considerable differences were found between the seasons of the year, which may lead to compensating effects. Autumn proved to be the season with the most significant results.

Making ''unconventional'' energy resources conventional

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beattie, D A; Bresee, J C; Cooper, M J; Herwig, L O; Kintner, E E

1977-01-01

Three ''unconventional'' energy technologies - geothermal, solar and fusion - looked upon in the United States as possessing significant potential for the large scale production of energy. Both fusion and solar energy promise virtually inexhaustible supplies in the long term while geothermal resources offer a relatively near term prospect for more modest, but still significant, energy contributions. Realizing energy production from any of these technologies will require: (1) a great deal of scientific information and/or engineering development; (2) a significant effort to achieve and insure attractive economics; and (3) the development of adequate industrial capacity and technological infrastructure. Here the status of the United States Energy Research and Development Administration's technology development programs in geothermal, solar and fusion energy systems is reviewed. Recent advances in overcoming significant technological barriers are discussed and future directions are described. Special needs and unique opportunities for contributions to each technology are also set forth.

Towards Building Reliable, High-Accuracy Solar Irradiance Database For Arid Climates

Science.gov (United States)

Munawwar, S.; Ghedira, H.

2012-12-01

based models and tools can subsequently be recalibrated or improvised to address the unique features of characteristically high aerosol load, frequent dust episodes and yet, typically clear skies, in the Gulf's primarily arid region. For example, though clouds are an important factor, radiative extinction in desert climates is primarily due to aerosols; a fact that needs to be taken into consideration since most of the existing solar radiation models are technically cloud-based. Satellite derived irradiance, although carrying a tag of uncertainties (5-10%), have special relevance in the Gulf due to lack of long-term data at the source of application. Satellite data can be merged or combined with short-term ground measurements, by various techniques available in the literature, to smooth out uncertainties in the data and build high-accuracy long-term solar irradiance profiles. Such concatenation is of particular interest to investors as it provides vital information on solar resource variability.

Solar Maps | Geospatial Data Science | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

Solar Maps Solar Maps These solar maps provide average daily total solar resource information on disability, contact the Geospatial Data Science Team. U.S. State Solar Resource Maps Access state maps of MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY × U.S. Solar Resource

A study on evaluating the power generation of solar-wind hybrid systems in Izmir, Turkey

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ulgen, K. [Ege Univ., Solar Energy Inst., Izmir (Turkey); Hepbasli, A. [Ege Univ., Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Izmir (Turkey)

2003-03-15

Turkey is abundant in terms of renewable energy resources. Residential and industrial utilization of solar energy started in the 1980s, while the first Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) windmill park, located at Alacati, Izmir, was commissioned in 1998. Additionally, power generation through solar-wind hybrid systems has recently appeared on the Turkish market. This study investigates the wind and solar thermal power availability in Izmir, located in the western part of Turkey. Simple models were developed to determine wind, solar, and hybrid power resources per unit area. Experimental data, consisting of hourly records over a 5 yr period, 1995-1999, were measured in the Solar/Wind Meteorological Station of the Solar Energy Institute at Ege University. Correlations between solar and wind power data were carried out on an hourly, a daily, and a monthly basis. It can be concluded that possible applications of hybrid systems could be considered for the efficient utilization of these resources. (Author)

Books and Other Resources for Education about the August 21, 2017, Solar Eclipse

Science.gov (United States)

Pasachoff, Jay M.; Fraknoi, Andrew; Kentrianakis, Michael

2017-06-01

As part of our work to reach and educate the 300+ million Americans of all ages about observing the August 21 solar eclipse, especially by being outdoors in the path of totality but also for those who will see only partial phases, we have compiled annotated lists of books, pamphlets, travel guides, websites, and other information useful for teachers, students, and the general public and made them available on the web, at conferences, and through webinars. Our list includes new eclipse books by David Barron, Anthony Aveni, Frank Close, Tyler Nordgren, John Dvorak, Michael Bakich, and others. We list websites accessible to the general public including those of the International Astronomical Union Working Group on Eclipses (http://eclipses.info, which has links to all the sites listed below); the AAS Eclipse 2017 Task Force (http://eclipse2017.aas.org); NASA Heliophysics (http://eclipse.nasa.gov); Fred Espenak (the updated successor to his authoritative "NASA website": http://EclipseWise.com); Michael Zeiler (http://GreatAmericanEclipse.com); Xavier Jubier (http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/); Jay Anderson (meteorology: http://eclipsophile.com); NASA's Eyes (http://eyes.nasa.gov/eyes-on-eclipse.html and its related app); the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (http://www.astrosociety.org/eclipse); Dan McGlaun (http://eclipse2017.org/); Bill Kramer (http://eclipse-chasers.com). Specialized guides include Dennis Schatz and Andrew Fraknoi's Solar Science for teachers (from the National Science Teachers Association:http://www.nsta.org/publications/press/extras/files/solarscience/SolarScienceInsert.pdf), and a printing with expanded eclipse coverage of Jay Pasachoff's, Peterson Field Guide to the Stars and Planets (14th printing of the fourth edition, 2016: http://solarcorona.com).A version of our joint list is to be published in the July issue of the American Journal of Physics as a Resource Letter on Eclipses, adding to JMP's 2010, "Resource Letter SP

Short- and Medium-term Atmospheric Effects of Very Large Solar Proton Events

Science.gov (United States)

Jackman, Charles H.; Marsh, Daniel R.; Vitt, Francis M.; Garcia, Rolando R.; Fleming, Eric L.; Labow, Gordon J.; Randall, Cora E.; Lopez-Puertas, Manuel; Funke, Bernd

2007-01-01

Long-term variations in ozone have been caused by both natural and humankind related processes. In particular, the humankind or anthropogenic influence on ozone from chlorofluorocarbons and halons (chlorine and bromine) has led to international regulations greatly limiting the release of these substances. These anthropogenic effects on ozone are most important in polar regions and have been significant since the 1970s. Certain natural ozone influences are also important in polar regions and are caused by the impact of solar charged particles on the atmosphere. Such natural variations have been studied in order to better quantify the human influence on polar ozone. Large-scale explosions on the Sun near solar maximum lead to emissions of charged particles (mainly protons and electrons), some of which enter the Earth's magnetosphere and rain down on the polar regions. "Solar proton events" have been used to describe these phenomena since the protons associated with these solar events sometimes create a significant atmospheric disturbance. We have used the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) to study the short- and medium-term (days to a few months) influences of solar proton events between 1963 and 2005 on stratospheric ozone. The four largest events in the past 45 years (August 1972; October 1989; July 2000; and October-November 2003) caused very distinctive polar changes in layers of the Earth's atmosphere known as the stratosphere (12-50 km; -7-30 miles) and mesosphere (50-90 km; 30-55 miles). The solar protons connected with these events created hydrogen- and nitrogen- containing compounds, which led to the polar ozone destruction. The hydrogen-containing compounds have very short lifetimes and lasted for only a few days (typically the duration of the solar proton event). On the other hand, the nitrogen-containing compounds lasted much longer, especially in the Winter. The nitrogen oxides were predicted

Estimation of solar radiation over Cambodia from long-term satellite data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Janjai, S.; Pankaew, P.; Laksanaboonsong, J. [Solar Energy Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Silpakorn University, Nakhon Pathom 73000 (Thailand); Kitichantaropas, P. [Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency, Ministry of Energy, 17 Rama 1 Road, Patumwan, Bangkok 10330 (Thailand)

2011-04-15

In this work, monthly average daily global solar irradiation over Cambodia was estimated from a long-term satellite data. A 14-year period (1995-2008) of visible channel data from GMS5, GOES9 and MTSAT-1R satellites were used to provide earth-atmospheric reflectivity. A satellite-based solar radiation model developed for a tropical environment was used to estimate surface solar radiation. The model relates the satellite-derived earth-atmospheric reflectivity to absorption and scattering coefficients of various atmospheric constituents. The absorption of solar radiation due to water vapour was calculated from precipitable water derived from ambient relative humidity and temperature. Ozone data from the TOMS and OMI satellite data were employed to compute the solar radiation absorption by ozone. The depletion of radiation due to aerosols was estimated from the visibility data. Five new solar radiation measuring stations were established at Cambodian cities, namely Siem Reap (13.87 N, 103.85 E), Kompong Thom (12.68 N, 104.88 E), Phnom Penh (11.55 N, 104.83 E), Sihanouke Ville (10.67 N, 103.63 E) and Kampot (10.70 N, 104.28 E). Global solar radiation measured at these stations was used to validate the model. The validation was also carried out by using solar radiation measured at four Thai meteorological stations. These stations are situated near the Cambodian border. Monthly average daily global irradiation from these stations was compared with that calculated from the model. The measured and calculated irradiation is in good agreement, with the root mean square difference of 6.3%, with respect to the mean values. After the validation, the model was used to calculate monthly average daily global solar irradiation over Cambodia. Based on this satellite-derived irradiation, solar radiation maps for Cambodia were generated. These maps show that solar radiation climate of this country is strongly influenced by the monsoons. A solar radiation database was also generated

Allocating resources and products in multi-hybrid multi-cogeneration: What fractions of heat and power are renewable in hybrid fossil-solar CHP?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beretta, Gian Paolo; Iora, Paolo; Ghoniem, Ahmed F.

2014-01-01

A general method for the allocation of resources and products in multi-resource/multi-product facilities is developed with particular reference to the important two-resource/two-product case of hybrid fossil and solar/heat and power cogeneration. For a realistic case study, we show how the method allows to assess what fractions of the power and heat should be considered as produced from the solar resource and hence identified as renewable. In the present scenario where the hybridization of fossil power plants by solar-integration is gaining increasing attention, such assessment is of great importance in the fair and balanced development of local energy policies based on granting incentives to renewables resources. The paper extends to the case of two-resource/two-product hybrid cogeneration, as well as to general multi-resource/multi-generation, three of the allocation methods already available for single-resource/two-product cogeneration and for two-resource/single-product hybrid facilities, namely, the ExRR (Exergy-based Reversible-Reference) method, the SRSPR (Single Resource Separate Production Reference) method, and the STALPR (Self-Tuned-Average-Local-Productions-Reference) method. For the case study considered we show that, unless the SRSPR reference efficiencies are constantly updated, the differences between the STALPR and SRSPR methods become important as hybrid and cogeneration plants take up large shares of the local energy production portfolio. - Highlights: • How much of the heat and power in hybrid solar-fossil cogeneration are renewable? • We define and compare three allocation methods for hybrid cogeneration. • Classical and exergy allocation are based on prescribed reference efficiencies. • Adaptive allocation is based on the actual average efficiencies in the local area. • Differences among methods grow as hybrid CHP (heat and power cogeneration) gains large market fractions

The Long-term Middle Atmospheric Influence of Very Large Solar Proton Events

Science.gov (United States)

Jackman, Charles H.; Marsh, Daniel R.; Vitt, Francis M.; Garcia, Rolando R.; Randall, Cora E.; Fleming, Eric L.; Frith, Stacey M.

2008-01-01

Long-term variations in ozone have been caused by both natural and humankind related processes. The humankind or anthropogenic influence on ozone originates from the chlorofluorocarbons and halons (chlorine and bromine) and has led to international regulations greatly limiting the release of these substances. Certain natural ozone influences are also important in polar regions and are caused by the impact of solar charged particles on the atmosphere. Such natural variations have been studied in order to better quantify the human influence on polar ozone. Large-scale explosions on the Sun near solar maximum lead to emissions of charged particles (mainly protons and electrons), some of which enter the Earth's magnetosphere and rain down on the polar regions. "Solar proton events" have been used to describe these phenomena since the protons associated with these solar events sometimes create a significant atmospheric disturbance. We have used the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) to study the long-term (> few months) influences of solar proton events from 1963 through 2004 on stratospheric ozone and temperature. There were extremely large solar proton events in 1972, 1989,2000,2001, and 2003. These events caused very distinctive polar changes in layers of the Earth's atmosphere known as the stratosphere (12-50 km; -7-30 miles) and mesosphere (50-90 km; 30-55 miles). The solar protons connected with these events created hydrogen- and nitrogen-containing compounds, which led to the polar ozone destruction. The nitrogen-containing compounds, called odd nitrogen, lasted much longer than the hydrogen-containing compounds and led to long-lived stratospheric impacts. An extremely active period for these events occurred in the five-year period, 2000- 2004, and caused increases in odd nitrogen which lasted for several months after individual events. Associated stratospheric ozone decreases of >lo% were calculated

Estimation of wind and solar resources in Mali

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Badger, J.; Kamissoko, F.; Olander Rasmussen, M.; Larsen, Soeren; Guidon, N.; Boye Hansen, L.; Dewilde, L.; Alhousseini, M.; Noergaard, P.; Nygaard, I.

2012-11-15

The wind resource has been estimated for all of Mali at 7.5 km resolution using the KAMM/WAsP numerical wind atlas methodology. Three domains were used to cover entire country and three sets of wind classes used to capture change in large scale forcing over country. The final output includes generalized climate statistics for any location in Mali, giving wind direction and wind speed distribution. The modelled generalized climate statistics can be used directly in the WAsP software. The preliminary results show a wind resource, which is relatively low, but which under certain conditions may be economically feasible, i.e. at favourably exposed sites, giving enhanced winds, and where practical utilization is possible, given consideration to grid connection or replacement or augmentation of diesel-based electricity systems. The solar energy resource for Mali was assessed for the period between July 2008 and June 2011 using a remote sensing based estimate of the down-welling surface shortwave flux. The remote sensing estimates were adjusted on a month-by-month basis to account for seasonal differences between the remote sensing estimates and in situ data. Calibration was found to improve the coefficient of determination as well as decreasing the mean error both for the calibration and validation data. Compared to the results presented in the ''Renewable energy resources in Mali - preliminary mapping''-report that showed a tendency for underestimation compared to data from the NASA PPOWER/SSE database, the presented results show a very good agreement with the in situ data (after calibration) with no significant bias. Unfortunately, the NASA-database only contains data up until 2005, so a similar comparison could not be done for the time period analyzed in this study, although the agreement with the historic NASA data is still useful as reference. (LN)

Solar Drivers of 11-yr and Long-Term Cosmic Ray Modulation

Science.gov (United States)

Cliver, E. W.; Richardson, I. G.; Ling, A. G.

2011-01-01

In the current paradigm for the modulation of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), diffusion is taken to be the dominant process during solar maxima while drift dominates at minima. Observations during the recent solar minimum challenge the pre-eminence of drift: at such times. In 2009, the approx.2 GV GCR intensity measured by the Newark neutron monitor increased by approx.5% relative to its maximum value two cycles earlier even though the average tilt angle in 2009 was slightly larger than that in 1986 (approx.20deg vs. approx.14deg), while solar wind B was significantly lower (approx.3.9 nT vs. approx.5.4 nT). A decomposition of the solar wind into high-speed streams, slow solar wind, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs; including postshock flows) reveals that the Sun transmits its message of changing magnetic field (diffusion coefficient) to the heliosphere primarily through CMEs at solar maximum and high-speed streams at solar minimum. Long-term reconstructions of solar wind B are in general agreement for the approx. 1900-present interval and can be used to reliably estimate GCR intensity over this period. For earlier epochs, however, a recent Be-10-based reconstruction covering the past approx. 10(exp 4) years shows nine abrupt and relatively short-lived drops of B to value of approx.2.8 nT. A floor in solar wind B implies a ceiling in the GCR intensity (a permanent modulation of the local interstellar spectrum) at a given energy/rigidity. The 30-40% increase in the intensity of 2.5 GV electrons observed by Ulysses during the recent solar minimum raises an interesting paradox that will need to be resolved.

Final Report for Annex II--Assessment of Solar Radiation Resources In Saudi Arabia, 1998-2000

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Myers, D. R.; Wilcox, S. M.; Marion, W. F.; Al-Abbadi, N. M.; Mahfoodh, M.; Al-Otaibi, Z.

2002-04-01

The Final Report for Annex II - Assessment of Solar Radiation Resources in Saudi Arabia 1998-2000 summarizes the accomplishment of work performed, results achieved, and products produced under Annex II, a project established under the Agreement for Cooperation in the Field of Renewable Energy Research and Development between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States. The report covers work and accomplishments from January 1998 to December 2000. A previous progress report, Progress Report for Annex II - Assessment of Solar Radiation Resources in Saudi Arabia 1993-1997, NREL/TP-560-29374, summarizes earlier work and technical transfer of information under the project. The work was performed in at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, at the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and at selected weather stations of the Saudi Meteorological and Environmental Protection Administration (MEPA).

Economic Dispatch for Power System Included Wind and Solar Thermal Energy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saoussen BRINI

2009-07-01

Full Text Available With the fast development of technologies of alternative energy, the electric power network can be composed of several renewable energy resources. The energy resources have various characteristics in terms of operational costs and reliability. In this study, the problem is the Economic Environmental Dispatching (EED of hybrid power system including wind and solar thermal energies. Renewable energy resources depend on the data of the climate such as the wind speed for wind energy, solar radiation and the temperature for solar thermal energy. In this article it proposes a methodology to solve this problem. The resolution takes account of the fuel costs and reducing of the emissions of the polluting gases. The resolution is done by the Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm (SPEA method and the simulations have been made on an IEEE network test (30 nodes, 8 machines and 41 lines.

Solar heating and cooling.

Science.gov (United States)

Duffie, J A

1976-01-01

Solar energy is discussed as an energy resource that can be converted into useful energy forms to meet a variety of energy needs. The review briefly explains the nature of this energy resource, the kinds of applications that can be made useful, and the status of several systems to which it has been applied. More specifically, information on solar collectors, solar water heating, solar heating of buildings, solar cooling plus other applications, are included.

Solar energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

This chapter discusses the role solar energy may have in the energy future of the US. The topics discussed in the chapter include the solar resource, solar architecture including passive solar design and solar collectors, solar-thermal concentrating systems including parabolic troughs and dishes and central receivers, photovoltaic cells including photovoltaic systems for home use, and environmental, health and safety issues

Atmospheric Mining in the Outer Solar System: Resource Capturing, Storage, and Utilization

Science.gov (United States)

Palaszewski, Bryan

2014-01-01

Atmospheric mining in the outer solar system has been investigated as a means of fuel production for high energy propulsion and power. Fusion fuels such as helium 3 and hydrogen can be wrested from the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune and either returned to Earth or used in-situ for energy production. Helium 3 and hydrogen (deuterium, etc.) were the primary gases of interest with hydrogen being the primary propellant for nuclear thermal solid core and gas core rocket-based atmospheric flight. A series of analyses were undertaken to investigate resource capturing aspects of atmospheric mining in the outer solar system. This included the gas capturing rate for hydrogen helium 4 and helium 3, storage options, and different methods of direct use of the captured gases. Additional supporting analyses were conducted to illuminate vehicle sizing and orbital transportation issues.

Advances in Large-Scale Solar Heating and Long Term Storage in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heller, Alfred

2000-01-01

According to (the) information from the European Large-Scale Solar Heating Network, (See http://www.hvac.chalmers.se/cshp/), the area of installed solar collectors for large-scale application is in Europe, approximately 8 mill m2, corresponding to about 4000 MW thermal power. The 11 plants...... the last 10 years and the corresponding cost per collector area for the final installed plant is kept constant, even so the solar production is increased. Unfortunately large-scale seasonal storage was not able to keep up with the advances in solar technology, at least for pit water and gravel storage...... of the total 51 plants are equipped with long-term storage. In Denmark, 7 plants are installed, comprising of approx. 18,000-m2 collector area with new plants planned. The development of these plants and the involved technologies will be presented in this paper, with a focus on the improvements for Danish...

Solar Tutorial and Annotation Resource (STAR)

Science.gov (United States)

Showalter, C.; Rex, R.; Hurlburt, N. E.; Zita, E. J.

2009-12-01

We have written a software suite designed to facilitate solar data analysis by scientists, students, and the public, anticipating enormous datasets from future instruments. Our “STAR" suite includes an interactive learning section explaining 15 classes of solar events. Users learn software tools that exploit humans’ superior ability (over computers) to identify many events. Annotation tools include time slice generation to quantify loop oscillations, the interpolation of event shapes using natural cubic splines (for loops, sigmoids, and filaments) and closed cubic splines (for coronal holes). Learning these tools in an environment where examples are provided prepares new users to comfortably utilize annotation software with new data. Upon completion of our tutorial, users are presented with media of various solar events and asked to identify and annotate the images, to test their mastery of the system. Goals of the project include public input into the data analysis of very large datasets from future solar satellites, and increased public interest and knowledge about the Sun. In 2010, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) will be launched into orbit. SDO’s advancements in solar telescope technology will generate a terabyte per day of high-quality data, requiring innovation in data management. While major projects develop automated feature recognition software, so that computers can complete much of the initial event tagging and analysis, still, that software cannot annotate features such as sigmoids, coronal magnetic loops, coronal dimming, etc., due to large amounts of data concentrated in relatively small areas. Previously, solar physicists manually annotated these features, but with the imminent influx of data it is unrealistic to expect specialized researchers to examine every image that computers cannot fully process. A new approach is needed to efficiently process these data. Providing analysis tools and data access to students and the public have proven

A GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF SOLAR ENERGY RESOURCES: NASA's Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources (POWER) Project

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, T.; Stackhouse, P. W., Jr.; Chandler, W.; Hoell, J. M.; Westberg, D.; Whitlock, C. H.

2010-12-01

NASA's POWER project, or the Prediction of the Worldwide Energy Resources project, synthesizes and analyzes data on a global scale. The products of the project find valuable applications in the solar and wind energy sectors of the renewable energy industries. The primary source data for the POWER project are NASA's World Climate Research Project (WCRP)/Global Energy and Water cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Surface Radiation Budget (SRB) project (Release 3.0) and the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) assimilation model (V 4.0.3). Users of the POWER products access the data through NASA's Surface meteorology and Solar Energy (SSE, Version 6.0) website (http://power.larc.nasa.gov). Over 200 parameters are available to the users. The spatial resolution is 1 degree by 1 degree now and will be finer later. The data covers from July 1983 to December 2007, a time-span of 24.5 years, and are provided as 3-hourly, daily and monthly means. As of now, there have been over 18 million web hits and over 4 million data file downloads. The POWER products have been systematically validated against ground-based measurements, and in particular, data from the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) archive, and also against the National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB). Parameters such as minimum, maximum, daily mean temperature and dew points, relative humidity and surface pressure are validated against the National Climate Data Center (NCDC) data. SSE feeds data directly into Decision Support Systems including RETScreen International clean energy project analysis software that is written in 36 languages and has greater than 260,000 users worldwide.

Solar Energy.

Science.gov (United States)

Eaton, William W.

Presented is the utilization of solar radiation as an energy resource principally for the production of electricity. Included are discussions of solar thermal conversion, photovoltic conversion, wind energy, and energy from ocean temperature differences. Future solar energy plans, the role of solar energy in plant and fossil fuel production, and…

Atmospheric Renewable Energy Research, Volume 5 (Solar Radiation Flux Model)

Science.gov (United States)

2017-09-01

sources, namely photovoltaic (PV) panels, to roughly determine the energy producing potential of an installation’s solar array. The implicit...power resources assembled as a single system (generator, storage, distribution and load), with the ability to run independently as an “island” and/or...atmospheric layers that will act on the solar radiation as it traverses strata. These terms are a function of cloud type, size , and density. To create a

Long-term solar activity and terrestrial connections. Part II: at the beckon of the sun?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. D. Diamantides

1998-05-01

Full Text Available The research task described herein aims at the structuring of an analytical tool that traces the time course of geophysical phenomena, regional or global, and compares it to the course of long-term solar conditions, long-term meaning decades or a few centuries. The model is based on the premise that since in a last analysis the preponderance of atmospheric, hydrospheric, and, possibly, some aspects of geospheric phenomena are, or have been, powered by energy issuing from the sun - either now or in the past - the long-term behavior of such phenomena is ultimately "connected" to long-term changes occurring in the sun itself. Accordingly, the proposed research firstly derives and models a stable surrogate pattern for the long-term solar activity, secondly introduces a transfer-function algorithm for modeling the connection between the surrogate and terrestrial phenomena viewed as partners in the connection, and thirdly probes the connection outcome for episodic or unanticipated effects that may arise due to the fact that in the present context, the connection, should it exist, is very likely nonlinear. Part I of the study presents the theory of the concept, while Part II demonstrates the concept's pertinence to a number of terrestrial phenomena.Key words. Solar activity · Kolmogorov algorithm

Johnston Avenue Solar Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schrayer, David [Isles, Inc., Trenton, NJ (United States)

2017-08-22

DOE awarded funds to support a demonstration project to illustrate how access to solar power and green roof systems could improve building performance and long-term outcomes for the building owner and multiple nonprofit tenants housed in the building. Since being placed in service the solar PV system has saved approximately $1,000 per month in energy costs. The green roof has added to this benefit by naturally cooling the building and has helped reduce local road flooding by retaining storm water. These elements have improved the quality of life in the low-income community in which the building is located by allowing social service organizations to focus more of their resources on programs and job creation.

Long-Term Resource Adequacy, Long-Term Flexibility Requirements, and Revenue Sufficiency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Milligan, Michael [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Bloom, Aaron P [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Townsend, Aaron [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Ela, Erik [Electric Power Research Institute; Botterud, Audun [Argonne National Laboratory; Levin, Todd [Argonne National Laboratory

2018-02-15

Variable generation (VG) can reduce market prices over time and also the energy that other suppliers can sell in the market. The suppliers that are needed to provide capacity and flexibility to meet the long-term reliability requirements may, therefore, earn less revenue. This chapter discusses the topics of resource adequacy and revenue sufficiency - that is, determining and acquiring the quantity of capacity that will be needed at some future date and ensuring that those suppliers that offer the capacity receive sufficient revenue to recover their costs. The focus is on the investment time horizon and the installation of sufficient generation capability. First, the chapter discusses resource adequacy, including newer methods of determining adequacy metrics. The chapter then focuses on revenue sufficiency and how suppliers have sufficient opportunity to recover their total costs. The chapter closes with a description of the mechanisms traditionally adopted by electricity markets to mitigate the issues of resource adequacy and revenue sufficiency and discusses the most recent market design changes to address these issues.

Creation and Long-term Preservation of Digital Multimedia Resources:Some Preliminary Practices

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHAO BAOYING; LUO YUNCHUAN

2008-01-01

This paper gives a comprehensive introduction of National Cultural Information Resources Sharing Project.It discusses the best practices in creation and long-term preservation of multimedia digital resources,and recommends solutions to the key issues in resource selection,standards & specifications and copyright.

Views of the solar system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hamilton, C.

1995-02-01

Views of the Solar System has been created as an educational tour of the solar system. It contains images and information about the Sun, planets, moons, asteroids and comets found within the solar system. The image processing for many of the images was done by the author. This tour uses hypertext to allow space travel by simply clicking on a desired planet. This causes information and images about the planet to appear on screen. While on a planet page, hyperlinks travel to pages about the moons and other relevant available resources. Unusual terms are linked to and defined in the Glossary page. Statistical information of the planets and satellites can be browsed through lists sorted by name, radius and distance. History of Space Exploration contains information about rocket history, early astronauts, space missions, spacecraft and detailed chronology tables of space exploration. The Table of Contents page has links to all of the various pages within Views Of the Solar System.

Comparative evaluation of solar, fission, fusion, and fossil energy resources. Part 1: Solar energy

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, J. R.

1974-01-01

The utilization of solar energy to meet the energy needs of the U.S. is discussed. Topics discussed include: availability of solar energy, solar energy collectors, heating for houses and buildings, solar water heater, electric power generation, and ocean thermal power.

Long-term solar activity and terrestrial connections. Part II: at the beckon of the sun?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. D. Diamantides

Full Text Available The research task described herein aims at the structuring of an analytical tool that traces the time course of geophysical phenomena, regional or global, and compares it to the course of long-term solar conditions, long-term meaning decades or a few centuries. The model is based on the premise that since in a last analysis the preponderance of atmospheric, hydrospheric, and, possibly, some aspects of geospheric phenomena are, or have been, powered by energy issuing from the sun - either now or in the past - the long-term behavior of such phenomena is ultimately "connected" to long-term changes occurring in the sun itself. Accordingly, the proposed research firstly derives and models a stable surrogate pattern for the long-term solar activity, secondly introduces a transfer-function algorithm for modeling the connection between the surrogate and terrestrial phenomena viewed as partners in the connection, and thirdly probes the connection outcome for episodic or unanticipated effects that may arise due to the fact that in the present context, the connection, should it exist, is very likely nonlinear. Part I of the study presents the theory of the concept, while Part II demonstrates the concept's pertinence to a number of terrestrial phenomena.

Key words. Solar activity · Kolmogorov algorithm

Renewable Resources: a national catalog of model projects. Volume 3. Southern Solar Energy Center Region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1980-07-01

This compilation of diverse conservation and renewable energy projects across the United States was prepared through the enthusiastic participation of solar and alternate energy groups from every state and region. Compiled and edited by the Center for Renewable Resources, these projects reflect many levels of innovation and technical expertise. In many cases, a critique analysis is presented of how projects performed and of the institutional conditions associated with their success or failure. Some 2000 projects are included in this compilation; most have worked, some have not. Information about all is presented to aid learning from these experiences. The four volumes in this set are arranged in state sections by geographic region, coinciding with the four Regional Solar Energy Centers. The table of contents is organized by project category so that maximum cross-referencing may be obtained. This volume includes information on the Southern Solar Energy Center Region. (WHK)

Renewable Resources: a national catalog of model projects. Volume 1. Northeast Solar Energy Center Region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1980-07-01

This compilation of diverse conservation and renewable energy projects across the United States was prepared through the enthusiastic participation of solar and alternate energy groups from every state and region. Compiled and edited by the Center for Renewable Resources, these projects reflect many levels of innovation and technical expertise. In many cases, a critique analysis is presented of how projects performed and of the institutional conditions associated with their success or failure. Some 2000 projects are included in this compilation; most have worked, some have not. Information about all is presented to aid learning from these experiences. The four volumes in this set are arranged in state sections by geographic region, coinciding with the four Regional Solar Energy Centers. The table of contents is organized by project category so that maximum cross-referencing may be obtained. This volume includes information on the Northeast Solar Energy Center Region. (WHK).

Renewable Resources: a national catalog of model projects. Volume 4. Western Solar Utilization Network Region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1980-07-01

This compilation of diverse conservation and renewable energy projects across the United States was prepared through the enthusiastic participation of solar and alternate energy groups from every state and region. Compiled and edited by the Center for Renewable Resources, these projects reflect many levels of innovation and technical expertise. In many cases, a critique analysis is presented of how projects performed and of the institutional conditions associated with their success or failure. Some 2000 projects are included in this compilation; most have worked, some have not. Information about all is presented to aid learning from these experiences. The four volumes in this set are arranged in state sections by geographic region, coinciding with the four Regional Solar Energy Centers. The table of contents is organized by project category so that maximum cross-referencing may be obtained. This volume includes information on the Western Solar Utilization Network Region. (WHK)

Space Resource Utilization and Extending Human Presence Across the Solar System

Science.gov (United States)

Curreri, Peter A.

2005-01-01

investment enables commercial and private viability beyond Earth orbit. For example, analysis has shown the lunar oxygen production for propellant becomes commercially viable after the exploration program completes the R&D, and power from lunar derived photovoltaics could, according to past NASA sponsored studies, pay for themselves while supplying most of Earth's electrical energy after about 17 years. Besides the Moon and Mars the resources of the near Earth asteroids enable the building of large space structures and science payloads. Analysis has shown that one of the thousands of these objects (some as easily accessible in space as the Moon and Mars), 2 km dia, the size of a typical open pit mine, would cost the total global financial product of Earth for 30,000 years if we were to launch it from Earth. Beyond Mars, the belt asteroids have been calculated to contain enough materials for habitat and life to support 10 quadrillion people. Thus, the development and use of space resources enables the extension of human life through the solar system allowing humanity to move from a planetary to a solar system society.

Energy development and environment: What about solar energy in a long term perspective?

Science.gov (United States)

Dessus, Benjamin; Pharabod, Francois

After decades of strong growth, the next century might be that in which the world population is stabilized around 11 billion inhabitants. Next century's main concerns include the development hoped for the probable consequences of an increase of the greenhouse effect due to main induced emissions, and the risks posed by possible dissemination of nuclear energy to all the regions of the globe. In order to shed some light on these questions, we propose an energy scenario, based on an analysis of evolution of demographics, energy needs, renewable and fossil reserves, environmental issues, technological possibilities and regional imbalances. This scenario shows that solar energy could contribute significantly in the long term energy mix. We discuss the respective advantages and drawbacks of the different solar technologies: solar power satellites, ground solar power plants and decentralized applications, as they to the needs that must be satisfied.

Task set induces dynamic reallocation of resources in visual short-term memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheremata, Summer L; Shomstein, Sarah

2017-08-01

Successful interaction with the environment requires the ability to flexibly allocate resources to different locations in the visual field. Recent evidence suggests that visual short-term memory (VSTM) resources are distributed asymmetrically across the visual field based upon task demands. Here, we propose that context, rather than the stimulus itself, determines asymmetrical distribution of VSTM resources. To test whether context modulates the reallocation of resources to the right visual field, task set, defined by memory-load, was manipulated to influence visual short-term memory performance. Performance was measured for single-feature objects embedded within predominantly single- or two-feature memory blocks. Therefore, context was varied to determine whether task set directly predicts changes in visual field biases. In accord with the dynamic reallocation of resources hypothesis, task set, rather than aspects of the physical stimulus, drove improvements in performance in the right- visual field. Our results show, for the first time, that preparation for upcoming memory demands directly determines how resources are allocated across the visual field.

Long-term dynamics of OH * temperatures over central Europe: trends and solar correlations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Kalicinsky

2016-12-01

Full Text Available We present the analysis of annual average OH* temperatures in the mesopause region derived from measurements of the Ground-based Infrared P-branch Spectrometer (GRIPS at Wuppertal (51° N, 7° E in the time interval 1988 to 2015. The new study uses a temperature time series which is 7 years longer than that used for the latest analysis regarding the long-term dynamics. This additional observation time leads to a change in characterisation of the observed long-term dynamics. We perform a multiple linear regression using the solar radio flux F10.7 cm (11-year cycle of solar activity and time to describe the temperature evolution. The analysis leads to a linear trend of (−0.089 ± 0.055 K year−1 and a sensitivity to the solar activity of (4.2 ± 0.9 K (100 SFU−1 (r2 of fit 0.6. However, one linear trend in combination with the 11-year solar cycle is not sufficient to explain all observed long-term dynamics. In fact, we find a clear trend break in the temperature time series in the middle of 2008. Before this break point there is an explicit negative linear trend of (−0.24 ± 0.07 K year−1, and after 2008 the linear trend turns positive with a value of (0.64 ± 0.33 K year−1. This apparent trend break can also be described using a long periodic oscillation. One possibility is to use the 22-year solar cycle that describes the reversal of the solar magnetic field (Hale cycle. A multiple linear regression using the solar radio flux and the solar polar magnetic field as parameters leads to the regression coefficients Csolar = (5.0 ± 0.7 K (100 SFU−1 and Chale = (1.8 ±  0.5 K (100 µT−1 (r2 = 0.71. The second way of describing the OH* temperature time series is to use the solar radio flux and an oscillation. A least-square fit leads to a sensitivity to the solar activity of (4.1 ± 0.8 K (100 SFU−1, a period P  =  (24.8 ± 3.3 years, and

Solar System Exploration Augmented by In-Situ Resource Utilization: Human Mercury and Saturn Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Palaszewski, Bryan

2015-01-01

Human and robotic missions to Mercury and Saturn are presented and analyzed. Unique elements of the local planetary environments are discussed and included in the analyses and assessments. Using historical studies of space exploration, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), and industrialization all point to the vastness of natural resources in the solar system. Advanced propulsion benefitted from these resources in many way. While advanced propulsion systems were proposed in these historical studies, further investigation of nuclear options using high power nuclear thermal and nuclear pulse propulsion as well as advanced chemical propulsion can significantly enhance these scenarios. Updated analyses based on these historical visions will be presented. Nuclear thermal propulsion and ISRU enhanced chemical propulsion landers are assessed for Mercury missions. At Saturn, nuclear pulse propulsion with alternate propellant feed systems and Titan exploration with chemical propulsion options are discussed.

Mid-latitude summer response of the middle atmosphere to short-term solar UV changes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Keckhut

1995-06-01

Full Text Available Temperature and wind data obtained with Rayleigh lidar since 1979 and Russian rockets since 1964 are analyzed to deduce the summer response of the middle atmosphere to short-term solar UV changes. The equivalent width of the 1083 nm He I line is used as a proxy to monitor the short-term UV flux changes. Spectral analyses are performed on 108-day windows to extract the 27-day component from temperature, wind and solar data sets. Linear regressions between these spectral harmonics show some significant correlations around 45 km at mid-latitudes. For large 27-day solar cycles, amplitudes of 2 K and 6 m s-1 are calculated for temperature data series over the south of France (44°N, and on wind data series over Volgograd (49°N, respectively. Cross-spectrum analyses have indicated correlations between these atmospheric parameters and the solar proxy with a phase lag of less than 2 days. These statistically correlative results, which provide good qualitative agreement with numerical simulations, are both obtained at mid-latitude. However, the observed amplitudes are larger than expected, with numerical models suggesting that dynamical processes such as equatorial or gravity waves may be responsible.

Mid-latitude summer response of the middle atmosphere to short-term solar UV changes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Keckhut

Full Text Available Temperature and wind data obtained with Rayleigh lidar since 1979 and Russian rockets since 1964 are analyzed to deduce the summer response of the middle atmosphere to short-term solar UV changes. The equivalent width of the 1083 nm He I line is used as a proxy to monitor the short-term UV flux changes. Spectral analyses are performed on 108-day windows to extract the 27-day component from temperature, wind and solar data sets. Linear regressions between these spectral harmonics show some significant correlations around 45 km at mid-latitudes. For large 27-day solar cycles, amplitudes of 2 K and 6 m s^-1 are calculated for temperature data series over the south of France (44°N, and on wind data series over Volgograd (49°N, respectively. Cross-spectrum analyses have indicated correlations between these atmospheric parameters and the solar proxy with a phase lag of less than 2 days. These statistically correlative results, which provide good qualitative agreement with numerical simulations, are both obtained at mid-latitude. However, the observed amplitudes are larger than expected, with numerical models suggesting that dynamical processes such as equatorial or gravity waves may be responsible.

Short term solar radiation forecasting: Island versus continental sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boland, John; David, Mathieu; Lauret, Philippe

2016-01-01

Due its intermittency, the large-scale integration of solar energy into electricity grids is an issue and more specifically in an insular context. Thus, forecasting the output of solar energy is a key feature to efficiently manage the supply-demand balance. In this paper, three short term forecasting procedures are applied to island locations in order to see how they perform in situations that are potentially more volatile than continental locations. Two continental locations, one coastal and one inland are chosen for comparison. At the two time scales studied, ten minute and hourly, the island locations prove to be more difficult to forecast, as shown by larger forecast errors. It is found that the three methods, one purely statistical combining Fourier series plus linear ARMA models, one combining clear sky index models plus neural net models, and a third using a clear sky index plus ARMA, give similar forecasting results. It is also suggested that there is great potential of merging modelling approaches on different horizons. - Highlights: • Solar energy forecasting is more difficult for insular than continental sites. • Fourier series plus linear ARMA models are one forecasting method tested. • Clear sky index models plus neural net models are also tested. • Clear sky index models plus linear ARMA is also an option. • All three approaches have similar skill.

Using Forecasting to Predict Long-Term Resource Utilization for Web Services

Science.gov (United States)

Yoas, Daniel W.

2013-01-01

Researchers have spent years understanding resource utilization to improve scheduling, load balancing, and system management through short-term prediction of resource utilization. Early research focused primarily on single operating systems; later, interest shifted to distributed systems and, finally, into web services. In each case researchers…

SHORT-TERM SOLAR FLARE LEVEL PREDICTION USING A BAYESIAN NETWORK APPROACH

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu Daren; Huang Xin; Hu Qinghua; Zhou Rui; Wang Huaning; Cui Yanmei

2010-01-01

A Bayesian network approach for short-term solar flare level prediction has been proposed based on three sequences of photospheric magnetic field parameters extracted from Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Michelson Doppler Imager longitudinal magnetograms. The magnetic measures, the maximum horizontal gradient, the length of neutral line, and the number of singular points do not have determinate relationships with solar flares, so the solar flare level prediction is considered as an uncertainty reasoning process modeled by the Bayesian network. The qualitative network structure which describes conditional independent relationships among magnetic field parameters and the quantitative conditional probability tables which determine the probabilistic values for each variable are learned from the data set. Seven sequential features-the maximum, the mean, the root mean square, the standard deviation, the shape factor, the crest factor, and the pulse factor-are extracted to reduce the dimensions of the raw sequences. Two Bayesian network models are built using raw sequential data (BN R ) and feature extracted data (BN F ), respectively. The explanations of these models are consistent with physical analyses of experts. The performances of the BN R and the BN F appear comparable with other methods. More importantly, the comprehensibility of the Bayesian network models is better than other methods.

Online short-term solar power forecasting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bacher, Peder; Madsen, Henrik; Nielsen, Henrik Aalborg

2009-01-01

This paper describes a new approach to online forecasting of power production from PV systems. The method is suited to online forecasting in many applications and in this paper it is used to predict hourly values of solar power for horizons of up to 36 hours. The data used is fifteen......-minute observations of solar power from 21 PV systems located on rooftops in a small village in Denmark. The suggested method is a two-stage method where first a statistical normalization of the solar power is obtained using a clear sky model. The clear sky model is found using statistical smoothing techniques....... Then forecasts of the normalized solar power are calculated using adaptive linear time series models. Both autoregressive (AR) and AR with exogenous input (ARX) models are evaluated, where the latter takes numerical weather predictions (NWPs) as input. The results indicate that for forecasts up to two hours...

Source term boundary adaptive estimation in a first-order 1D hyperbolic PDE: Application to a one loop solar collector through

KAUST Repository

Mechhoud, Sarra; Laleg-Kirati, Taous-Meriem

2016-01-01

In this paper, boundary adaptive estimation of solar radiation in a solar collector plant is investigated. The solar collector is described by a 1D first-order hyperbolic partial differential equation where the solar radiation models the source term

Solar radiation and thermal performance of solar collectors for Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dragsted, Janne; Furbo, Simon

This report describes the part of the EUDP project “EUDP 11-l, Solar Resource Assessment in Denmark”, which is carried out at Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark.......This report describes the part of the EUDP project “EUDP 11-l, Solar Resource Assessment in Denmark”, which is carried out at Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark....

Long-term climatic change and sustainable ground water resources management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loaiciga, Hugo A

2009-01-01

Atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs), prominently carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O), and halocarbons, have risen from fossil-fuel combustion, deforestation, agriculture, and industry. There is currently heated national and international debate about the consequences of such increasing concentrations of GHGs on the Earth's climate, and, ultimately, on life and society in the world as we know it. This paper reviews (i) long-term patterns of climate change, secular climatic variability, and predicted population growth and their relation to water resources management, and, specifically, to ground water resources management, (ii) means available for mitigating and adapting to trends of climatic change and climatic variability and their impacts on ground water resources. Long-term (that is, over hundreds of millions of years), global-scale, climatic fluctuations are compared with more recent (in the Holocene) patterns of the global and regional climates to shed light on the meaning of rising mean surface temperature over the last century or so, especially in regions whose historical hydroclimatic records exhibit large inter-annual variability. One example of regional ground water resources response to global warming and population growth is presented.

Long-term relationships of major macro-variables in a resource-related economic model of Australia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harvie, Charles; Hoa, T. van

1993-01-01

The paper reports the results of a simple cointegration analysis applied to bivariate causality models using data on resource output, oil prices, terms of trade, current account and output growth to investigate the long-term relationships among these major macroeconomic aggregates in a resource-related economic model of Australia. For the period 1960-1990, the empirical evidence indicates that these five macro-variables, as formulated in our model, are not random walks. In addition, resource production and oil prices are significantly cointegrated, and they are also significantly cointegrated with the current account, terms of trade and economic growth. These findings provide support to the long-term adjustments foundation of our resource-related model. (author)

LONG-TERM TREND OF SOLAR CORONAL HOLE DISTRIBUTION FROM 1975 TO 2014

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fujiki, K.; Tokumaru, M.; Hayashi, K.; Satonaka, D. [Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research (ISEE), Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa, Nagoya Aichi 464-8601 (Japan); Hakamada, K., E-mail: fujiki@isee.nagoya-u.ac.jp [Department of Natural Science and Mathematics, Chubu University, 1200 Matsumoto-cho, Kasugai, Aichi 487-8501 (Japan)

2016-08-20

We developed an automated prediction technique for coronal holes using potential magnetic field extrapolation in the solar corona to construct a database of coronal holes appearing from 1975 February to 2015 July (Carrington rotations from 1625 to 2165). Coronal holes are labeled with the location, size, and average magnetic field of each coronal hole on the photosphere and source surface. As a result, we identified 3335 coronal holes and found that the long-term distribution of coronal holes shows a similar pattern known as the magnetic butterfly diagram, and polar/low-latitude coronal holes tend to decrease/increase in the last solar minimum relative to the previous two minima.

Solar energy

Science.gov (United States)

Rapp, D.

1981-01-01

The book opens with a review of the patterns of energy use and resources in the United States, and an exploration of the potential of solar energy to supply some of this energy in the future. This is followed by background material on solar geometry, solar intensities, flat plate collectors, and economics. Detailed attention is then given to a variety of solar units and systems, including domestic hot water systems, space heating systems, solar-assisted heat pumps, intermediate temperature collectors, space heating/cooling systems, concentrating collectors for high temperatures, storage systems, and solar total energy systems. Finally, rights to solar access are discussed.

The role of "asteroid taxis" at mastering of Solar system

Science.gov (United States)

Steklov, A. F.; Vidmachenko, A. P.

2018-05-01

At the present time, two main tendencies can be considered for the solar system to be habitable: 1) to do something with the objects of the solar system in order to make them suitable for life; and 2), it is necessary to make it so that the interplanetary space of the solar system also becomes suitable for life. We believe that it is better to combine these two trends. To this end, we must develop a methodology for constructing special settlements at asteroids and cometary nuclei. And then, it is necessary to build settlements - the "technospheres" - on the most diverse bodies in the Solar system: asteroids, cometary nuclei, satellites of planets and even on some planets. And, first of all, it is highly desirable to use the own resources of the listed objects. Such "technospheres" should be long-term settlements in interplanetary space and at planetoids. To save energy resources, it is necessary to use near-Earth asteroids enriched with water ice. To successfully implement these concepts, it is necessary at least by two orders of magnitude reduce the cost of such settlements.

Solar System Exploration Augmented by In-Situ Resource Utilization: Mercury and Saturn Propulsion Investigations

Science.gov (United States)

Palaszewski, Bryan

2016-01-01

Human and robotic missions to Mercury and Saturn are presented and analyzed with a range of propulsion options. Historical studies of space exploration, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), and industrialization all point to the vastness of natural resources in the solar system. Advanced propulsion benefitted from these resources in many ways. While advanced propulsion systems were proposed in these historical studies, further investigation of nuclear options using high power nuclear thermal and nuclear pulse propulsion as well as advanced chemical propulsion can significantly enhance these scenarios. Updated analyses based on these historical visions will be presented. Nuclear thermal propulsion and ISRU enhanced chemical propulsion landers are assessed for Mercury missions. At Saturn, nuclear pulse propulsion with alternate propellant feed systems and Titan exploration with chemical propulsion options are discussed. In-situ resource utilization was found to be critical in making Mercury missions more amenable for human visits. At Saturn, refueling using local atmospheric mining was found to be difficult to impractical, while refueling the Saturn missions from Uranus was more practical and less complex.

Encyclopedia of the solar system

CERN Document Server

Weissman, Paul; Johnson, Torrence

1998-01-01

The Encyclopedia of the Solar System provides a series of comprehensive and authoritative articles written by more than 50 eminent planetary and space scientists. Each chapter is self-contained yet linked by cross-references to other related chapters. This beautifully designed book is a must for the library of professional astronomers and amateur star-gazers alike, in fact for anyone who wishes to understand the nature of our solar system.Key Features* Cross-referenced throughout for easy comprehension* Superbly illustrated with over 700 photos, drawings, and diagrams, including 36 color plates* Provides 40 thematically organized chapters by more than 50 eminent contributors* Convenient glossaries of technical terms introduce each chapter* Academic Press maintains a web site for the Encyclopedia at www.academicpress.com/solar; Author-recommended web resources for additional information, images, and research developments related to each chapter of this volume, are available here

Long-term resource variation and group size: A large-sample field test of the Resource Dispersion Hypothesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morecroft Michael D

2001-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Resource Dispersion Hypothesis (RDH proposes a mechanism for the passive formation of social groups where resources are dispersed, even in the absence of any benefits of group living per se. Despite supportive modelling, it lacks empirical testing. The RDH predicts that, rather than Territory Size (TS increasing monotonically with Group Size (GS to account for increasing metabolic needs, TS is constrained by the dispersion of resource patches, whereas GS is independently limited by their richness. We conducted multiple-year tests of these predictions using data from the long-term study of badgers Meles meles in Wytham Woods, England. The study has long failed to identify direct benefits from group living and, consequently, alternative explanations for their large group sizes have been sought. Results TS was not consistently related to resource dispersion, nor was GS consistently related to resource richness. Results differed according to data groupings and whether territories were mapped using minimum convex polygons or traditional methods. Habitats differed significantly in resource availability, but there was also evidence that food resources may be spatially aggregated within habitat types as well as between them. Conclusions This is, we believe, the largest ever test of the RDH and builds on the long-term project that initiated part of the thinking behind the hypothesis. Support for predictions were mixed and depended on year and the method used to map territory borders. We suggest that within-habitat patchiness, as well as model assumptions, should be further investigated for improved tests of the RDH in the future.

Solar resource assessment in complex orography: a comparison of available datasets for the Trentino region

Science.gov (United States)

Laiti, Lavinia; Giovannini, Lorenzo; Zardi, Dino

2015-04-01

The accurate assessment of the solar radiation available at the Earth's surface is essential for a wide range of energy-related applications, such as the design of solar power plants, water heating systems and energy-efficient buildings, as well as in the fields of climatology, hydrology, ecology and agriculture. The characterization of solar radiation is particularly challenging in complex-orography areas, where topographic shadowing and altitude effects, together with local weather phenomena, greatly increase the spatial and temporal variability of such variable. At present, approaches ranging from surface measurements interpolation to orographic down-scaling of satellite data, to numerical model simulations are adopted for mapping solar radiation. In this contribution a high-resolution (200 m) solar atlas for the Trentino region (Italy) is presented, which was recently developed on the basis of hourly observations of global radiation collected from the local radiometric stations during the period 2004-2012. Monthly and annual climatological irradiation maps were obtained by the combined use of a GIS-based clear-sky model (r.sun module of GRASS GIS) and geostatistical interpolation techniques (kriging). Moreover, satellite radiation data derived by the MeteoSwiss HelioMont algorithm (2 km resolution) were used for missing-data reconstruction and for the final mapping, thus integrating ground-based and remote-sensing information. The results are compared with existing solar resource datasets, such as the PVGIS dataset, produced by the Joint Research Center Institute for Energy and Transport, and the HelioMont dataset, in order to evaluate the accuracy of the different datasets available for the region of interest.

Renewable Resources: a national catalog of model projects. Volume 2. Mid-American Solar Energy Complex Region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1980-07-01

This compilation of diverse conservation and renewable energy projects across the United States was prepared through the enthusiastic participation of solar and alternate energy groups from every state and region. Compiled and edited by the Center for Renewable Resources, these projects reflect many levels of innovation and technical expertise. In many cases, a critique analysis is presented of how projects performed and of the institutional conditions associated with their success or failure. Some 2000 projects are included in this compilation; most have worked, some have not. Information about all is presented to aid learning from these experiences. The four volumes in this set are arranged in state sections by geographic region, coinciding with the four Regional Solar Energy Centers. The table of contents is organized by project category so that maximum cross-referencing may be obtained. This volume includes information on the Mid-American Solar Energy Complex Region. (WHK)

Possibilities of electricity generation from solar and other renewable resources in Turkey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tasdemiroglu, E.

1993-01-01

The paper begins by reviewing the conventional power generation in the country. Increasing power demand due to rapid industrialization as well as the environmental consequences of power generation will be discussed. The potential of renewable energy resources including solar, biomass, wind, and wave and their role in the power generation will be pointed out. Among the strong alternatives are thermal power plants, and rural electricity production by photovoltaic and by small wind machines. Finally, the technical economic difficulties in adapting renewable electricity generation systems for the conditions of the country will be discussed. (Author) 22 refs

Solar thermal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, J.

2006-01-01

While wind power is widely acknowledged as the most developed of the 'new' renewables, the number two technology, in terms of installed capacity functioning worldwide, is solar heating, or solar thermal. The author has investigated recent industry reports on how these markets are developing. The authors of an International Energy Agency (IEA) survey studied 41 countries in depth at the end of 2004, revealing that 141 million m 3 - corresponding to an installed capacity of 98.4 GWth - were installed in the sample countries (these nations represent 3.74 billion people, about 57% of the world's population). The installed capacity within the areas studied represents approximately 85%-90% of the solar thermal market worldwide. The use of solar heating varies greatly between countries - even close neighbours - and between economic regions. Its uptake often has more to do with policy than solar resource. There is also different uptake of technology. In China, Europe and Japan, plants with flat-plate and evacuated tube collectors are used, mainly to heat water and for space heating. Unglazed plastic collectors, used mainly for swimming pool heating, meanwhile, dominate the North American markets. Though the majority of solar heating installations today are installed on domestic rooftops, the larger-scale installations should not be overlooked. One important part of the market is the hotel sector - in particular hotels in locations that serve the seasonal summer holiday market, where solar is extremely effective. Likewise hospitals and residential homes, multi-family apartment blocks and sports centres are all good examples of places where solar thermal can deliver results. There are also a growing number of industrial applications, where solar thermal can meet the hot water needs (and possibly more) of a range of industries, such as food processing and agriculture. The ability of solar to provide a heat source for cooling is expected to become increasingly important as

Solar thermal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jones, J.

2006-07-15

While wind power is widely acknowledged as the most developed of the 'new' renewables, the number two technology, in terms of installed capacity functioning worldwide, is solar heating, or solar thermal. The author has investigated recent industry reports on how these markets are developing. The authors of an International Energy Agency (IEA) survey studied 41 countries in depth at the end of 2004, revealing that 141 million m{sup 3} - corresponding to an installed capacity of 98.4 GWth - were installed in the sample countries (these nations represent 3.74 billion people, about 57% of the world's population). The installed capacity within the areas studied represents approximately 85%-90% of the solar thermal market worldwide. The use of solar heating varies greatly between countries - even close neighbours - and between economic regions. Its uptake often has more to do with policy than solar resource. There is also different uptake of technology. In China, Europe and Japan, plants with flat-plate and evacuated tube collectors are used, mainly to heat water and for space heating. Unglazed plastic collectors, used mainly for swimming pool heating, meanwhile, dominate the North American markets. Though the majority of solar heating installations today are installed on domestic rooftops, the larger-scale installations should not be overlooked. One important part of the market is the hotel sector - in particular hotels in locations that serve the seasonal summer holiday market, where solar is extremely effective. Likewise hospitals and residential homes, multi-family apartment blocks and sports centres are all good examples of places where solar thermal can deliver results. There are also a growing number of industrial applications, where solar thermal can meet the hot water needs (and possibly more) of a range of industries, such as food processing and agriculture. The ability of solar to provide a heat source for cooling is expected to become

Numerical investigation on thermal and fluid dynamic behaviors of solar chimney building systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Manca, O.; Nardini, S.; Romano, P.; Mihailov, E.

2013-01-01

Full text: Buildings as big energy-consuming systems require large amount of energy to operate. Globally, buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of total world annual energy consumption. Sustainable buildings with renewable energy systems are trying to operate independently without consumption of conventional resources. Renewable energy is a significant approach to reduce resource consumption in sustainable building. A solar chimney is essentially divided into two parts, one - the solar air heater (collector) and second - the chimney. Two configurations of solar chimney are usually used: vertical solar chimney with vertical absorber geometry, and roof solar chimney. For vertical solar chimney, vertical glass is used to gain solar heat. Designing a solar chimney includes height, width and depth of cavity, type of glazing, type of absorber, and inclusion of insulation or thermal mass. Besides these system parameters, other factors such as the location, climate, and orientation can also affect its performance. In this paper a numerical investigation on a prototypal solar chimney system integrated in a south facade of a building is presented. The analysis is carried out on a three-dimensional model in air flow and the governing equations are given in terms of k-s turbulence model. Two geometrical configurations are investigated: 1) a channel with vertical parallel walls and 2) a channel with principal walls one vertical and the other inclined. The problem is solved by means of the commercial code Ansys-Fluent and the results are performed for a uniform wall heat flux on the vertical wall is equal to 300 and 600 W/m2. Results are given in terms of wall temperature distributions, air velocity and temperature fields and transversal profiles in order to evaluate the differences between the two base configurations and thermal and fluid dynamic behaviors. Further, the ground effect on thermal performances is examined. key words: mathematical modeling, solar chimney

An operational integrated short-term warning solution for solar radiation storms: introducing the Forecasting Solar Particle Events and Flares (FORSPEF) system

Science.gov (United States)

Anastasiadis, Anastasios; Sandberg, Ingmar; Papaioannou, Athanasios; Georgoulis, Manolis; Tziotziou, Kostas; Jiggens, Piers; Hilgers, Alain

2015-04-01

We present a novel integrated prediction system, of both solar flares and solar energetic particle (SEP) events, which is in place to provide short-term warnings for hazardous solar radiation storms. FORSPEF system provides forecasting of solar eruptive events, such as solar flares with a projection to coronal mass ejections (CMEs) (occurrence and velocity) and the likelihood of occurrence of a SEP event. It also provides nowcasting of SEP events based on actual solar flare and CME near real-time alerts, as well as SEP characteristics (peak flux, fluence, rise time, duration) per parent solar event. The prediction of solar flares relies on a morphological method which is based on the sophisticated derivation of the effective connected magnetic field strength (Beff) of potentially flaring active-region (AR) magnetic configurations and it utilizes analysis of a large number of AR magnetograms. For the prediction of SEP events a new reductive statistical method has been implemented based on a newly constructed database of solar flares, CMEs and SEP events that covers a large time span from 1984-2013. The method is based on flare location (longitude), flare size (maximum soft X-ray intensity), and the occurrence (or not) of a CME. Warnings are issued for all > C1.0 soft X-ray flares. The warning time in the forecasting scheme extends to 24 hours with a refresh rate of 3 hours while the respective warning time for the nowcasting scheme depends on the availability of the near real-time data and falls between 15-20 minutes. We discuss the modules of the FORSPEF system, their interconnection and the operational set up. The dual approach in the development of FORPSEF (i.e. forecasting and nowcasting scheme) permits the refinement of predictions upon the availability of new data that characterize changes on the Sun and the interplanetary space, while the combined usage of solar flare and SEP forecasting methods upgrades FORSPEF to an integrated forecasting solution. This

Film Grain-Size Related Long-Term Stability of Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiang, Chien-Hung; Wu, Chun-Guey

2016-09-22

The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the perovskite solar cell is high enough to be commercially viable. The next important issue is the stability of the device. This article discusses the effect of the perovskite grain-size on the long-term stability of inverted perovskite solar cells. Perovskite films composed of various sizes of grains were prepared by controlling the solvent annealing time. The grain-size related stability of the inverted cells was investigated both in ambient atmosphere at relative humidity of approximately 30-40 % and in a nitrogen filled glove box (H 2 Operovskite film having the grain size larger than 1 μm (D-10) decreases less than 10 % with storage in a glove box and less than 15 % when it was stored under an ambient atmosphere for 30 days. However, the cell using the perovskite film composed of small (∼100 nm) perovskite grains (D-0) exhibits complete loss of PCE after storage under the ambient atmosphere for only 15 days and a PCE loss of up to 70 % with storage in the glove box for 30 days. These results suggest that, even under H 2 O-free conditions, the chemical- and thermal-induced production of pin holes at the grain boundaries of the perovskite film could be the reason for long-term instability of inverted perovskite solar cells. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

SESC glossary of solar-terrestrial terms (Revised 2nd edition)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-02-01

The 'National Plan for Space Environment Services and Supporting Research' stipulates that the Space Environment Services Center (SESC) provide space environment services to 'meet the common needs of all Federal agencies and public users'. The SESC collects observations and compiles a real-time data base in the Space Environment Laboratory Data Acquisition and Display System (SELDADS). The data are used by the SESC to monitor solar and geomagnetic activity and radiation levels, to issue indexes and alerts describing current conditions, and to make forecasts of future conditions. The users of these services include, among others, customers concerned with satellite monitoring, national defense, and scientific research ranging from solar to seismic physics. A common vocabulary is necessary to help such a diverse variety of customers achieve the best use of the services. The manual provides a collection of customized definitions and standardized terms specifically used by the SESC in its products, publications, and user support services

Alternatives for the assessment of the solar resource in Argentina

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grossi Gallegos, H; Righini, R; Raichijk, C

2005-01-01

In Argentina, from 1972 on, several maps were presented which reported the distribution of global solar irradiation received on a horizontal plane placed at ground level and which used different time bases and information quality, whether estimates obtained from correlations established with other meteorological variables or direct irradiation measurements.n a paper by Grossi Gallegos (1998) 12 charts were presented with the monthly distribution of the mean value of daily global irradiation and one with their annual distribution, using all available information up to that moment in Argentina, whether from daily irradiation data obtained with Argentina s Solarimetric Network pyrano meters or sunshine hours measured by the National Meteorological Service (SMN) Network; the error due to the inclusion of estimates and interpolations was evaluated as lower than 10%.Argentina's Solarimetric Network underwent a continuous decrease in the number of operational stations due to the lack of resources for supporting them.In view of this situation, different alternatives were gradually evaluated which would make it possible to improve the already mentioned available global solar irradiation charts.In this sense, a statistical survey of the adjustment of satellite irradiation data available in Internet (in the base known as Surface Solar Energy (SSE) Data Set, Version 1.00) to the ground values.The objective was evaluating the possibility of using them as a complement to the data that had already been used and their application in order to obtain contour maps in homogeneous zones such as the Pampa Humeda, using geostatistical methods for drawing the irradiation isolines.Root-mean-square errors (RMSE) range from 3.7% to 24.8% depending on the inhomogeneity of the area. Nevertheless, the available temporal series are limited in time and thus their climatic representativity can be questioned.Given the shortage of solar irradiation measured data accurate enough to fulfill

Real-time energy resources scheduling considering short-term and very short-term wind forecast

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silva, Marco; Sousa, Tiago; Morais, Hugo; Vale, Zita [Polytechnic of Porto (Portugal). GECAD - Knowledge Engineering and Decision Support Research Center

2012-07-01

This paper proposes an energy resources management methodology based on three distinct time horizons: day-ahead scheduling, hour-ahead scheduling, and real-time scheduling. In each scheduling process the update of generation and consumption operation and of the storage and electric vehicles storage status are used. Besides the new operation conditions, the most accurate forecast values of wind generation and of consumption using results of short-term and very short-term methods are used. A case study considering a distribution network with intensive use of distributed generation and electric vehicles is presented. (orig.)

In the world of solar technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomson, T.

1993-01-01

The paper gives a short survey of the development of solar electrical and thermal technologies. The thermal solar technology is also applicable in Estonia with the view of using our local industrial potential. The theoretical solar resource in Estonia is 977 kWh/m 2 per year, which will make it possible to build (central) heating systems with partial solar fraction by using the method of seasonal storage. The technological solar resource can be improved by using an inter medial storage and heat pump between the solar collector and the main storage in the process of charging. (author). fig., 2 refs

Report of the solar astronomy task force to the ad hoc interagency coordinating committee on astronomy. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-06-01

The report surveys United States solar astronomy activities, compiling agency program objectives and mission requirements, identifying activities in support of the program, and assessing money and manpower expenditures. The scope of solar astrophysics is defined, and the present state of knowledge is outlined. Federally supported solar research is described in detail, by major institution and by program category. The report also discusses a coordinated national program of solar astrophysics in terms of objectives and resources and the particular importance of the Sacramento Peak Observatory and the Solar Maximum Mission to this national program

Geothermal Risk Reduction via Geothermal/Solar Hybrid Power Plants. Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wendt, Daniel [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Mines, Greg [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Turchi, Craig [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Zhu, Guangdong [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2015-11-01

There are numerous technical merits associated with a renewable geothermal-solar hybrid plant concept. The performance of air-cooled binary plants is lowest when ambient temperatures are high due to the decrease in air-cooled binary plant performance that occurs when the working fluid condensing temperature, and consequently the turbine exhaust pressure, increases. Electrical power demand is generally at peak levels during periods of elevated ambient temperature and it is therefore especially important to utilities to be able to provide electrical power during these periods. The time periods in which air-cooled binary geothermal power plant performance is lowest generally correspond to periods of high solar insolation. Use of solar heat to increase air-cooled geothermal power plant performance during these periods can improve the correlation between power plant output and utility load curves. While solar energy is a renewable energy source with long term performance that can be accurately characterized, on shorter time scales of hours or days it can be highly intermittent. Concentrating solar power (CSP), aka solar-thermal, plants often incorporate thermal energy storage to ensure continued operation during cloud events or after sunset. Hybridization with a geothermal power plant can eliminate the need for thermal storage due to the constant availability of geothermal heat. In addition to the elimination of the requirement for solar thermal storage, the ability of a geothermal/solar-thermal hybrid plant to share a common power block can reduce capital costs relative to separate, stand-alone geothermal and solar-thermal power plant installations. The common occurrence of long-term geothermal resource productivity decline provides additional motivation to consider the use of hybrid power plants in geothermal power production. Geothermal resource productivity decline is a source of significant risk in geothermal power generation. Many, if not all, geothermal resources

A solar fuels roadmap for Australia - study outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Hinkley, James T.; McNaughton, Robbie K.; Hayward, Jennifer A.; Lovegrove, Keith

2017-06-01

This paper summarises the key findings and recommendations of a 3.5 year study into the research, development and demonstration priorities to establish a solar fuels industry in Australia. While Australia has one of the best solar resources in the world, it also has an abundance of conventional fuels such as coal and natural gas. The country is heavily dependent on fossil fuels for its primary energy supply and international trade, and is seeking pathways to reduce emissions intensity. While renewable electricity will be able to displace fossil fuels in the electricity sector, this only addresses about 16% of energy consumption by end use. Concentrating solar fuels (CSF) are produced either in full or in part from concentrated solar energy, and can provide either complete or partial reduction of the CO2 emissions associated with energy consumption. Our study reviewed the various potential solar thermal technology pathways and feedstocks available to produce a range of CSF products such as hydrogen, ammonia, methanol and synthetic gasoline or diesel. We conducted what we believe to be the broadest and most sophisticated evaluation of the many options to identify those that are most prospective, including an evaluation of the expected final fuel costs. The study identified the following opportunities for CSF: • Australia: substitution of imported liquid fuels (gasoline and diesel) with synthetic CSF options would provide fuel security through the utilization of domestic resources. Ammonia is also a potentially attractive CSF product as it is produced in large quantities for fertilisers and explosives. • Export markets: Australia has significant trading relationships with many Asian countries in the energy domain, and CSF fuels could provide a long term future to enable such relationships to continue - or grow - in a carbon constrained world. Japan in particular is considering how to transition to a hydrogen economy, and could be a customer for CSF hydrogen or

Solar Renewable Energy. Teaching Unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Buchanan, Marion; And Others

This unit develops the concept of solar energy as a renewable resource. It includes: (1) an introductory section (developing understandings of photosynthesis and impact of solar energy); (2) information on solar energy use (including applications and geographic limitations of solar energy use); and (3) future considerations of solar energy…

Relative phase asynchrony and long-range correlation of long-term solar magnetic activity

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Linhua

2017-07-01

Statistical signal processing is one of the most important tasks in a large amount of areas of scientific studies, such as astrophysics, geophysics, and space physics. Phase recurrence analysis and long-range persistence are the two dynamical structures of the underlying processes for the given natural phenomenon. Linear and nonlinear time series analysis approaches (cross-correlation analysis, cross-recurrence plot, wavelet coherent transform, and Hurst analysis) are combined to investigate the relative phase interconnection and long-range correlation between solar activity and geomagnetic activity for the time interval from 1932 January to 2017 January. The following prominent results are found: (1) geomagnetic activity lags behind sunspot numbers with a phase shift of 21 months, and they have a high level of asynchronous behavior; (2) their relative phase interconnections are in phase for the periodic scales during 8-16 years, but have a mixing behavior for the periodic belts below 8 years; (3) both sunspot numbers and geomagnetic activity can not be regarded as a stochastic phenomenon because their dynamical behaviors display a long-term correlation and a fractal nature. We believe that the presented conclusions could provide further information on understanding the dynamical coupling of solar dynamo process with geomagnetic activity variation, and the crucial role of solar and geomagnetic activity in the long-term climate change.

Long-Term Variability of the Sun in the Context of Solar-Analog Stars

Science.gov (United States)

Egeland, Ricky

2018-06-01

The Sun is the best observed object in astrophysics, but despite this distinction the nature of its well-ordered generation of magnetic field in 11-year activity cycles remains a mystery. In this work, we place the solar cycle in a broader context by examining the long-term variability of solar analog stars within 5% of the solar effective temperature, but varied in rotation rate and metallicity. Emission in the Fraunhofer H & K line cores from singly-ionized calcium in the lower chromosphere is due to magnetic heating, and is a proven proxy for magnetic flux on the Sun. We use Ca H & K observations from the Mount Wilson Observatory HK project, the Lowell Observatory Solar Stellar Spectrograph, and other sources to construct composite activity time series of over 100 years in length for the Sun and up to 50 years for 26 nearby solar analogs. Archival Ca H & K observations of reflected sunlight from the Moon using the Mount Wilson instrument allow us to properly calibrate the solar time series to the S-index scale used in stellar studies. We find the mean solar S-index to be 5–9% lower than previously estimated, and the amplitude of activity to be small compared to active stars in our sample. A detailed look at the young solar analog HD 30495, which rotates 2.3 times faster than the Sun, reveals a large amplitude ~12-year activity cycle and an intermittent short-period variation of 1.7 years, comparable to the solar variability time scales despite its faster rotation. Finally, time series analyses of the solar analog ensemble and a quantitative analysis of results from the literature indicate that truly Sun-like cyclic variability is rare, and that the amplitude of activity over both long and short timescales is linearly proportional to the mean activity. We conclude that the physical conditions conducive to a quasi-periodic magnetic activity cycle like the Sun’s are rare in stars of approximately the solar mass, and that the proper conditions may be restricted

Statistical model of global uranium resources and long-term availability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monnet, A.; Gabriel, S.; Percebois, J.

2016-01-01

Most recent studies on the long-term supply of uranium make simplistic assumptions on the available resources and their production costs. Some consider the whole uranium quantities in the Earth's crust and then estimate the production costs based on the ore grade only, disregarding the size of ore bodies and the mining techniques. Other studies consider the resources reported by countries for a given cost category, disregarding undiscovered or unreported quantities. In both cases, the resource estimations are sorted following a cost merit order. In this paper, we describe a methodology based on 'geological environments'. It provides a more detailed resource estimation and it is more flexible regarding cost modelling. The global uranium resource estimation introduced in this paper results from the sum of independent resource estimations from different geological environments. A geological environment is defined by its own geographical boundaries, resource dispersion (average grade and size of ore bodies and their variance), and cost function. With this definition, uranium resources are considered within ore bodies. The deposit breakdown of resources is modelled using a bivariate statistical approach where size and grade are the two random variables. This makes resource estimates possible for individual projects. Adding up all geological environments provides a distribution of all Earth's crust resources in which ore bodies are sorted by size and grade. This subset-based estimation is convenient to model specific cost structures. (authors)

Long-term north-south asymmetry in solar wind speed inferred from geomagnetic activity: A new type of century-scale solar oscillation?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mursula, K.; Zieger, B.

2001-01-01

A significant and very similar annual variation in solar wind speed and in geomagnetic activity was recently found around all the four solar cycle minima covered by direct SW observations since mid-1960's. We have shown that the phase of this annual variation reverses with the Sun's polarity...... reversal, depicting a new form of 22-year periodicity. The annual variation results from a small north-south asymmetry in SW speed distribution where the minimum speed region is shifted toward the northern magnetic hemisphere. Here we study the very long-term evolution of the annual variation using early...... registrations of geomagnetic activity. We find a significant annual variation during the high-activity solar cycles in mid-19th century and since 1930's. Most interestingly, the SW speed asymmetry in mid-19th century was opposite to the present asymmetry, i.e., the minimum speed region was then shifted toward...

Prediction of Global Solar Radiation in India Using Artificial Neural Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rajiv Gupta

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Increasing global warming and decreasing fossil fuel reserves has necessitated the use of renewable energy resources like solar energy in India. To maximize return on a solar farm, it had to be set up at a place with high solar radiation. The solar radiation values are available only for a small number of places and must be interpolated for the rest. This paper utilizes Artificial Neural Network in interpolation, by obtaining a function with input as combinations of 7 geographical and meteorological parameters affecting radiation, and output as global solar radiation. Data considered was of past 9 years for 13 Indian cities. Low error values and high coefficient of determination values thus obtained, verified that the results were accurate in terms of the original solar radiation data known. Thus, artificial neural network can be used to interpolate the solar radiation for the places of interest depending on the availability of the data.

Comprehensive Solutions for Integration of Solar Resources into Grid Operations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pennock, Kenneth [AWS Truepower, LLC, Albany, NY (United States); Makarov, Yuri V. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Rajagopal, Sankaran [Siemens Energy, Erlangen (Germany); Loutan, Clyde [California Independent System Operator; Etingov, Pavel V. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Miller, Laurie E. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Lu, Bo [Siemens Energy, Erlangen (Germany); Mansingh, Ashmin [Siemens Energy, Erlangen (Germany); Zack, John [MESO, Inc., Raleigh, NC (United States); Sherick, Robert [Southern California Edison, Rosemead, CA (United States); Romo, Abraham [Southern California Edison; Habibi-Ashrafi, Farrokh [Southern California Edison; Johnson, Raymond [Southern California Edison

2016-01-14

The need for proactive closed-loop integration of uncertainty information into system operations and probability-based controls is widely recognized, but rarely implemented in system operations. Proactive integration for this project means that the information concerning expected uncertainty ranges for net load and balancing requirements, including required balancing capacity, ramping and ramp duration characteristics, will be fed back into the generation commitment and dispatch algorithms to modify their performance so that potential shortages of these characteristics can be prevented. This basic, yet important, premise is the motivating factor for this project. The achieved project goal is to demonstrate the benefit of such a system. The project quantifies future uncertainties, predicts additional system balancing needs including the prediction intervals for capacity and ramping requirements of future dispatch intervals, evaluates the impacts of uncertainties on transmission including the risk of overloads and voltage problems, and explores opportunities for intra-hour generation adjustments helping to provide more flexibility for system operators. The resulting benefits culminate in more reliable grid operation in the face of increased system uncertainty and variability caused by solar power. The project identifies that solar power does not require special separate penetration level restrictions or penalization for its intermittency. Ultimately, the collective consideration of all sources of intermittency distributed over a wide area unified with the comprehensive evaluation of various elements of balancing process, i.e. capacity, ramping, and energy requirements, help system operators more robustly and effectively balance generation against load and interchange. This project showed that doing so can facilitate more solar and other renewable resources on the grid without compromising reliability and control performance. Efforts during the project included

Solar System Exploration Augmented by Lunar and Outer Planet Resource Utilization: Historical Perspectives and Future Possibilities

Science.gov (United States)

Palaszewski, Bryan

2014-01-01

Establishing a lunar presence and creating an industrial capability on the Moon may lead to important new discoveries for all of human kind. Historical studies of lunar exploration, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) and industrialization all point to the vast resources on the Moon and its links to future human and robotic exploration. In the historical work, a broad range of technological innovations are described and analyzed. These studies depict program planning for future human missions throughout the solar system, lunar launched nuclear rockets, and future human settlements on the Moon, respectively. Updated analyses based on the visions presented are presented. While advanced propulsion systems were proposed in these historical studies, further investigation of nuclear options using high power nuclear thermal propulsion, nuclear surface power, as well as advanced chemical propulsion can significantly enhance these scenarios. Robotic and human outer planet exploration options are described in many detailed and extensive studies. Nuclear propulsion options for fast trips to the outer planets are discussed. To refuel such vehicles, atmospheric mining in the outer solar system has also been investigated as a means of fuel production for high energy propulsion and power. Fusion fuels such as helium 3 (3He) and hydrogen (H2) can be wrested from the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune and either returned to Earth or used in-situ for energy production. Helium 3 and H2 (deuterium, etc.) were the primary gases of interest with hydrogen being the primary propellant for nuclear thermal solid core and gas core rocket-based atmospheric flight. A series of analyses have investigated resource capturing aspects of atmospheric mining in the outer solar system. These analyses included the gas capturing rate, storage options, and different methods of direct use of the captured gases. While capturing 3He, large amounts of hydrogen and 4He are produced. With these two additional

EnviroAtlas - Average Direct Normal Solar resources kWh/m2/Day by 12-Digit HUC for the Conterminous United States

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The annual average direct normal solar resources by 12-Digit Hydrologic Unit (HUC) was estimated from maps produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for...

Analysis to long-term stability of solar cables; Untersuchungen zur Langzeitstabilitaet von Solarleitungen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Funtan, P.

2005-07-01

For the moment it is not possible to say anything about the long-term stability of solar cables. Own experiences shows, that the rubber solar cable H07 RN-F (of one manufacturer) is not qualified for installations, longer than 10 years. The outer isolation of the cable first shows embrittlements and later deep cracks. Microscopically analysis confirms this. Measurements of temperature in typical installation areas of solar cables also shows, that the influence of temperature, regarding aging plays not the most important role, when the cable is installed in a sun protected position. Up to now the reason of the cable destruction is not definitely clarified. Chemically analysis of a damaged and an intact part of the cable, which was installed inside of a module junction box (reduced humility), shows no differences in the chemical consistence. It seems, that it is a combinated effect of temperature and humidity. Further analysis will be performed. (orig.)

Sustainability and Substitution of Exhaustible Natural Resources : How Resource Prices Affect Long-Term R&D Investments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bretschger, L.; Smulders, J.A.

2003-01-01

Traditional resource economics has been criticised for assuming too high elasticities of substitution, not observing material balance principles and relying too much on planner solutions to obtain long-term growth.By analysing a multi-sector R&D based endogenous growth model with exhaustible natural

Fuels and chemicals from biomass using solar thermal energy

Science.gov (United States)

Giori, G.; Leitheiser, R.; Wayman, M.

1981-01-01

The significant nearer term opportunities for the application of solar thermal energy to the manufacture of fuels and chemicals from biomass are summarized, with some comments on resource availability, market potential and economics. Consideration is given to the production of furfural from agricultural residues, and the role of furfural and its derivatives as a replacement for petrochemicals in the plastics industry.

A Hybrid Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making Approach for Photovoltaic Solar Plant Location Selection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amy H. I. Lee

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Due to decaying fossil resource and increasing environmental consciousness, the demand of renewable energy resources is escalating these days. Photovoltaic solar energy is one of the most popular renewable energy resources in places where sunlight is abundant. The selection of a desirable location for constructing a photovoltaic solar plant is the first and one of the most important stages in the plant construction to provide a long-term energy production. In this paper, a comprehensive multiple-criteria decision-making model, which incorporates the interpretive structural modeling (ISM, fuzzy analytic network process (FANP and VIKOR (VlseKriterijumska OptimizacijaI Kompromisno Resenje in Serbian,meaning multi-criteria optimization and compromise solution, is proposed to select the most suitable photovoltaic solar plant location. The ISM is applied first to determine the interrelationships among the criteria and among the sub-criteria,andtheresults are used to construct a decision-making network. The FANP is applied next to solve the network and to calculate the importance weights of the sub-criteria. Finally, the VIKOR is adopted to determine the ranking of the photovoltaic solar plant locations. The proposed model is applied in a case study in evaluating photovoltaic solar plant locations in Taiwan. By applying the proposed model, decision makers can have a better thinking process and make more appropriate decisions justifiably.

Online Short-term Solar Power Forecasting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bacher, Peder; Madsen, Henrik; Nielsen, Henrik Aalborg

2011-01-01

This poster presents two approaches to online forecasting of power production from PV systems. The methods are suited for online forecasting in many applications and here they are used to predict hourly values of solar power for horizons up to 32 hours.......This poster presents two approaches to online forecasting of power production from PV systems. The methods are suited for online forecasting in many applications and here they are used to predict hourly values of solar power for horizons up to 32 hours....

Short-term prediction of solar energy in Saudi Arabia using automated-design fuzzy logic systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Almaraashi, Majid

2017-01-01

Solar energy is considered as one of the main sources for renewable energy in the near future. However, solar energy and other renewable energy sources have a drawback related to the difficulty in predicting their availability in the near future. This problem affects optimal exploitation of solar energy, especially in connection with other resources. Therefore, reliable solar energy prediction models are essential to solar energy management and economics. This paper presents work aimed at designing reliable models to predict the global horizontal irradiance (GHI) for the next day in 8 stations in Saudi Arabia. The designed models are based on computational intelligence methods of automated-design fuzzy logic systems. The fuzzy logic systems are designed and optimized with two models using fuzzy c-means clustering (FCM) and simulated annealing (SA) algorithms. The first model uses FCM based on the subtractive clustering algorithm to automatically design the predictor fuzzy rules from data. The second model is using FCM followed by simulated annealing algorithm to enhance the prediction accuracy of the fuzzy logic system. The objective of the predictor is to accurately predict next-day global horizontal irradiance (GHI) using previous-day meteorological and solar radiation observations. The proposed models use observations of 10 variables of measured meteorological and solar radiation data to build the model. The experimentation and results of the prediction are detailed where the root mean square error of the prediction was approximately 88% for the second model tuned by simulated annealing compared to 79.75% accuracy using the first model. This results demonstrate a good modeling accuracy of the second model despite that the training and testing of the proposed models were carried out using spatially and temporally independent data.

Climate information for the application of solar energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robles-Gil, S.

1997-01-01

In view of population growth, industrialization and urbanization which provoked increasing energy demand there has been an increasing interest in developing new technologies that use various renewable energy sources and have less environmental impact, such as solar, wind, tidal and biomass. Solar energy is one of the energy resources with a wide geographical distribution. Nowadays, its contribution to the world's energy supply is very small, but it is considered an important long term option which will satisfy, together with conventional energy sources, the future energy needs of the world. The main objective of this work is to report the actual uses of the principal types of solar energy systems, based on their climatic, technological and economical context. This is to improve the dissemination of information on the application of climate knowledge and data, especially by national meteorological services, with the purpose to improve the planning, design and operation of solar energy systems, as well as facilitate their more widespread use

Analysis of Correlation Tendency between Wind and Solar from Various Spatio-temporal Perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, X.; Weihua, X.; Mei, Y.

2017-12-01

Analysis of correlation between wind resources and solar resources could explore their complementary features, enhance the utilization efficiency of renewable energy and further alleviate the carbon emission issues caused by the fossil energy. In this paper, we discuss the correlation between wind and solar from various spatio-temporal perspectives (from east to west, in terms of plain, plateau, hill, and mountain, from hourly to daily, ten days and monthly) with observed data and modeled data from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and NERL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory). With investigation of wind speed time series and solar radiation time series (period: 10 years, resolution: 1h) of 72 stations located in various landform and distributed dispersedly in USA, the results show that the correlation coefficient, Kendall's rank correlation coefficient, changes negative to positive value from east coast to west coast of USA, and this phenomena become more obvious when the time scale of resolution increases from daily to ten days and monthly. Furthermore, considering the differences of landforms which influence the local meteorology the Kendall coefficients of diverse topographies are compared and it is found that the coefficients descend from mountain to hill, plateau and plain. However, no such evident tendencies could be found in daily scale. According to this research, it is proposed that the complementary feature of wind resources and solar resources in the east or in the mountain area of USA is conspicuous. Subsequent study would try to further verify this analysis by investigating the operation status of wind power station and solar power station.

75 FR 75335 - Integration of Variable Energy Resources

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-02

... difficulties posed by the deployment of solar resources.\\26\\ Further still, commenters in the South explain... the facility owner or operator. This includes, for example, wind, solar thermal and photovoltaic, and... significant wind and solar resources.\\27\\ Commenters therefore express a need for flexibility in responding to...

World resources: engineering solutions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1976-01-01

The proceedings include 10 papers that contribute to population environment; fossil fuel resources and energy conservation; nuclear and solar power; production of ores and manufacture and use of metallic resources; resources of manufactured and natural nonmetallic materials; water as a reusable resource; and timber as a replaceable resource.

MAGNETIC FLUX TRANSPORT AND THE LONG-TERM EVOLUTION OF SOLAR ACTIVE REGIONS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ugarte-Urra, Ignacio; Upton, Lisa; Warren, Harry P.; Hathaway, David H.

2015-01-01

With multiple vantage points around the Sun, Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) and Solar Dynamics Observatory imaging observations provide a unique opportunity to view the solar surface continuously. We use He ii 304 Å data from these observatories to isolate and track ten active regions and study their long-term evolution. We find that active regions typically follow a standard pattern of emergence over several days followed by a slower decay that is proportional in time to the peak intensity in the region. Since STEREO does not make direct observations of the magnetic field, we employ a flux-luminosity relationship to infer the total unsigned magnetic flux evolution. To investigate this magnetic flux decay over several rotations we use a surface flux transport model, the Advective Flux Transport model, that simulates convective flows using a time-varying velocity field and find that the model provides realistic predictions when information about the active region's magnetic field strength and distribution at peak flux is available. Finally, we illustrate how 304 Å images can be used as a proxy for magnetic flux measurements when magnetic field data is not accessible

Field Surveys of Non-Residential Solar Water Heating Systems in Taiwan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kung-Ming Chung

2012-02-01

Full Text Available To develop indigenous alternative and renewable energy resources, long-term subsidy programs (1986–1991 and 2000–present for solar water heaters have been enforced in Taiwan. By the end of 2010, the total installed area of solar collectors had exceeded 2 million square meters. However, over 98% of solar water heaters were used in residential systems for hot water production, with the areas of installed solar collector being less than 10 square meters. There were only 98 systems with area of solar collectors installed exceeding 100 square meters put into operation from 2001 to 2010. These systems were mainly installed for water heating in dormitories, swimming pools, restaurants, and manufacturing plants. In the present study, a comprehensive survey of these large-scale solar water heaters was conducted. The objectives of the survey were to assess the system performance and to collect feedback from individual users. It is found that lack of experience in system design and maintenance are the key factors affecting reliable operation of a system. Hourly, daily and long-term field measurements of a dormitory system were also examined to evaluate its thermal efficiencies. Results indicated that thermal efficiency of the system is associated with the daily solar radiation. Hot water use pattern and operation of auxiliary heater should be taken into account in system design.

Solar Photovoltaic

OpenAIRE

Wang, Chen; Lu, Yuefeng

2016-01-01

In the 21st century, human demand for new energy sources is urgent, because the traditional fossil energy is unable to meet human needs, and the fossil resource will make pollution, in this situation, solar energy gradually into the vision of scientists. As science advances, humans can already extensive use of solar energy to generate electricity. Solar energy is an inexhaustible and clean energy. In the global energy crisis, environmental pollution is the growing problem of today. The us...

Solar absorption cooling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kim, D.S.

2007-01-01

As the world concerns more and more on global climate changes and depleting energy resources, solar cooling technology receives increasing interests from the public as an environment-friendly and sustainable alternative. However, making a competitive solar cooling machine for the market still

Photovoltaic solar cell

Science.gov (United States)

Nielson, Gregory N.; Gupta, Vipin P.; Okandan, Murat; Watts, Michael R.

2015-09-08

A photovoltaic solar concentrator is disclosed with one or more transverse-junction solar cells (also termed point contact solar cells) and a lens located above each solar cell to concentrate sunlight onto the solar cell to generate electricity. Piezoelectric actuators tilt or translate each lens to track the sun using a feedback-control circuit which senses the electricity generated by one or more of the solar cells. The piezoelectric actuators can be coupled through a displacement-multiplier linkage to provide an increased range of movement of each lens. Each lens in the solar concentrator can be supported on a frame (also termed a tilt plate) having three legs, with the movement of the legs being controlled by the piezoelectric actuators.

Photovoltaic solar concentrator

Science.gov (United States)

Nielson, Gregory N.; Gupta, Vipin P.; Okandan, Murat; Watts, Michael R.

2016-03-15

A photovoltaic solar concentrator is disclosed with one or more transverse-junction solar cells (also termed point contact solar cells) and a lens located above each solar cell to concentrate sunlight onto the solar cell to generate electricity. Piezoelectric actuators tilt or translate each lens to track the sun using a feedback-control circuit which senses the electricity generated by one or more of the solar cells. The piezoelectric actuators can be coupled through a displacement-multiplier linkage to provide an increased range of movement of each lens. Each lens in the solar concentrator can be supported on a frame (also termed a tilt plate) having three legs, with the movement of the legs being controlled by the piezoelectric actuators.

Midmarket Solar Policies in the United States: A Guide for Midsized Solar Customers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tian, Tian [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Liu, Chang [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); O' Shaughnessy, Eric [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Mathur, Shivani [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Holm, Alison [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Miller, John [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2016-09-01

The midscale market for solar photovoltaics (PV) has not experienced the same high growth rate as residential- or utility-scale market segments in the past five years when solar PV deployment increased rapidly. Midscale solar can be defined as behind-the-meter solar PV between 50 kilowatts and 2 megawatts adopted by multi-housing residential, commercial, industrial, non-profit, and other entities. A number of challenges face the midscale segment, including difficulties in contracting, mismatch between tenant lease and PV financing terms, high transaction costs relative to project sizes, and inefficiencies in matching prospective projects with capital. The changing policy landscape across U.S. states provides both opportunities and challenges to midmarket solar. Some states, such as California, are expanding system capacity limits for policies such as net metering, thus enabling a wider range of customers to benefit from excess generation. A number of states and utilities are making changes to rate design to introduce new or higher user fees for solar customers or reduced tariffs for net metering, which decrease the value of solar generation. An understanding of these policies relative to project feasibility and economics is important for prospective customers to make informed decisions to adopt solar PV. This guide complements existing solar policy resources to help potential customers navigate through the policy landscape in order to make informed decisions for their solar investment. The first part of this guide introduces the key solar policies necessary for policy-based decision-making, which involves using knowledge of a solar policy to improve project economics and efficiency. Policies that could result in policy-based decisions include interconnection standards, net metering, user fees, incentives, and third-party ownership policies. The goal of this section is to equip prospective customers and project developers with the tools necessary to understand and

Thermal solar energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez, J.C.; Leal C, H.

1998-01-01

Some relative aspects to the development and current state of thermal solar energy are summarized, so much at domestic level as international. To facilitate the criteria understanding as the size of the facilities in thermal solar systems, topics as availability of the solar resource and its interactions with the matter are included. Finally, some perspectives for the development of this energetic alternative are presented

Short-Term Solar Irradiance Forecasts Using Sky Images and Radiative Transfer Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Du

2018-05-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we propose a novel forecast method which addresses the difficulty in short-term solar irradiance forecasting that arises due to rapidly evolving environmental factors over short time periods. This involves the forecasting of Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI that combines prediction sky images with a Radiative Transfer Model (RTM. The prediction images (up to 10 min ahead are produced by a non-local optical flow method, which is used to calculate the cloud motion for each pixel, with consecutive sky images at 1 min intervals. The Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI and the diffuse radiation intensity field under clear sky and overcast conditions obtained from the RTM are then mapped to the sky images. Through combining the cloud locations on the prediction image with the corresponding instance of image-based DNI and diffuse radiation intensity fields, the GHI can be quantitatively forecasted for time horizons of 1–10 min ahead. The solar forecasts are evaluated in terms of root mean square error (RMSE and mean absolute error (MAE in relation to in-situ measurements and compared to the performance of the persistence model. The results of our experiment show that GHI forecasts using the proposed method perform better than the persistence model.

A comprehensive view of solar-terrestrial relationships in terms of a chain of four dynamo-powered plasma acceleration processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akasofu, S.-I.

1983-01-01

This paper emphasizes an effort to link processes which relate solar activity and magnetospheric disturbances in terms of energy transfer through a chain of four elements. In this view, each element is explicitly thought to be powered by a dynamo, namely the solar wind generation dynamo, the solar flare dynamo, the solar wind-magnetosphere dynamo and the aurora dynamo, respectively. Each dynamo powers a plasma acceleration process by the Lorentz force and the plasma flows thus generated are the solar wind, the flare-generated solar wind disturbance, the magnetospheric plasma convection and the ionospheric convection, respectively. Each plasma flow conveys the energy from one element to the next in the chain. Some of the kinetic energy of the photospheric plasma is eventually deposited in the polar ionosphere as heat energy. (author)

Solar engineering of thermal processes

CERN Document Server

Duffie, John A

2013-01-01

The updated fourth edition of the ""bible"" of solar energy theory and applications Over several editions, Solar Engineering of Thermal Processes has become a classic solar engineering text and reference. This revised Fourth Edition offers current coverage of solar energy theory, systems design, and applications in different market sectors along with an emphasis on solar system design and analysis using simulations to help readers translate theory into practice. An important resource for students of solar engineering, solar energy, and alternative energy as well

Exergo-Ecological Assessment of Waste to Energy Plants Supported by Solar Energy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara Mendecka

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Hybridization of Waste to Energy (WtE plants with solar facilities can take competing energy technologies and make them complementary. However, realizing the benefits of the solar integration requires careful consideration of its efficiency. To analyse such systems from the point of view of resource efficiency, the pure energy analysis is not sufficient since the quality of particular energy carriers is not evaluated. This work applies the exergo-ecological analysis using the concepts of thermoecological cost (TEC and exergy cost for the performance evaluation of an integrated Solar-Waste to Energy plant scheme, where solar energy is used for steam superheating. Different plant layouts, considering several design steam parameters as well as different solar system configurations, in terms of area of heliostats and size of the thermal storage tank, were studied. The results for the solar integrated plant scheme were compared with the scenarios where superheating is performed fully by a non-renewable energy source. The presented results of exergy cost analysis indicate that the most favorable system is the one supported by non-renewable energy. Such an analysis does not consider the advantage of the use of renewable energy sources. By extending the system boundary to the level of natural resource and applying the thermoecological cost analysis, an opposite result was obtained.

Solar energy conversion systems

CERN Document Server

Brownson, Jeffrey R S

2013-01-01

Solar energy conversion requires a different mind-set from traditional energy engineering in order to assess distribution, scales of use, systems design, predictive economic models for fluctuating solar resources, and planning to address transient cycles and social adoption. Solar Energy Conversion Systems examines solar energy conversion as an integrative design process, applying systems thinking methods to a solid knowledge base for creators of solar energy systems. This approach permits different levels of access for the emerging broad audience of scientists, engineers, architects, planners

Solar energy resources not accounted in Brazilian National Energy Balance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pinheiro, Paulo Cesar da Costa [Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Mecanica], Emails: pinheiro@netuno.Lcc.ufmg.br, pinheiro@demec.ufmg.br

2009-07-01

The main development vector of a society is the energy. The solar energy is the main energy source on the planet earth. Brazil is a tropical country, and the incident solar energy on its soil (15 trillion MWh/year) is 20,000 times its annual oil production. Several uses of solar energy are part of our lives in a so natural way that it despised in the consumption and use energy balance. In Brazil, solar energy is used directly in many activities and not accounted for in Energy Balance (BEN 2007), consisting of a virtual power generation. This work aims to make a preliminary assessment of solar energy used in different segments of the Brazilian economy. (author)

Mexico solar market: shortterm pain brings long-term gains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lacey, S.

2016-01-01

Mexico is installed solar PV capacity is currently at less than 1 GW and in all probability, only 2 to 3 GW will be added by 2020. Until recently, Mexico represented the most promising solar market in Latin America. But the strong growth expected for the country is now much less certain. In fact, solar installation figures in 2016 could be 36% lower than those projected last year. So what has happened? As GTM Research has documented, solar project developers and financiers are dealing with a completely new set of rules for selling solar electricity into Mexico energy market. Those new rules are causing some confusion and, as such, activity has slowed down. (Author)

Resource Assessment for Hydrogen Production: Hydrogen Production Potential from Fossil and Renewable Energy Resources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Melaina, M. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Penev, M. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Heimiller, D. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2013-09-01

This study examines the energy resources required to produce 4-10 million metric tonnes of domestic, low-carbon hydrogen in order to fuel approximately 20-50 million fuel cell electric vehicles. These projected energy resource requirements are compared to current consumption levels, projected 2040 business as usual consumptions levels, and projected 2040 consumption levels within a carbonconstrained future for the following energy resources: coal (assuming carbon capture and storage), natural gas, nuclear (uranium), biomass, wind (on- and offshore), and solar (photovoltaics and concentrating solar power). The analysis framework builds upon previous analysis results estimating hydrogen production potentials and drawing comparisons with economy-wide resource production projections

Lunar Solar Power System Driven Human Development of the Moon and Resource-Rich Exploration of the Inner Solar System

Science.gov (United States)

Criswell, D. R.

2002-01-01

available that can build fundamentally new infrastructure from the common silicate materials of asteroids and the moons of Mars. Commercial power can be beamed from the Moon to ion-propelled rockets and to industrial facilities throughout the inner solar systems (6, 7). The LSP System can establish the Earth and the Moon as a two-planet economy. Lunar and cis-lunar industry will grow through profitable activities. Exploration of the inner solar system can stage, at marginal cost, from the Moon and cis-lunar space rather than the surface of Earth. 1. World Energy Council (2000) Energy for Tomorrow's World - Acting Now!, 175pp., Atalink Projects Ltd, London. 2. Criswell, David R. (2001) Lunar Solar Power System: Industrial Research, Development, and Demonstration, Session 1.2.2: Hydroelectricity, Nuclear Energy and New Renewables, 18th World Energy Congress. [http://www.wec.co.uk] 3. Strong, Marice (2001) Where on Earth are We Going?, (See p. 351-352), 419pp., Random House (forward by Kofi Annan) 4. Criswell, D. R. And R. D. Waldron (1993), "International lunar base and the lunar-based power system to supply Earth with electric power," Acta Astronautica, 29, No. 6: 469-480. 5. Criswell, D. R. (1998), Lunar Solar Power: Lunar unit processes, scales, and challenges, 6 p.p. (ms), ExploSpace: Workshop on Space Exploration and Resources Exploitation, European Space Agency, Cagliari, Sardinia, (October 20 - 22). 6. Criswell, D. R. (1999), Commercial lunar solar power and sustainable growth of the two-planet economy, Proc. Third International Working Group on Lunar Exploration and Exploitation, Solar System Research, Vol. 33, #5, 356-362, Moscow, (October 11-14). 7. Criswell, D.R. 2000 (October) Commercial power for Earth and lunar industrial development, 7pp., 51st Congress of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). Paper #IAA-00-IAA.13.2.06.

Smart thermal grid with integration of distributed and centralized solar energy systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Libing; Entchev, Evgueniy; Rosato, Antonio; Sibilio, Sergio

2017-01-01

Smart thermal grids (STGs) are able to perform the same function as classical grids, but are developed in order to make better use of distributed, possibly intermittent, thermal energy resources and to provide the required energy when needed through efficient resources utilization and intelligent management. District heating (DH) plays a significant role in the implementation of future smart energy systems. To fulfil its role, DH technologies must be further developed to integrate renewable resources, create low-temperature networks, and consequently to make existing or new DH networks ready for integration into future STGs. Solar heating is a promising option for low-temperature DH systems. Thermal energy storage (TES) can make the availability of the energy supply match the demand. An integration of centralized seasonal and distributed short-term thermal storages would facilitate an efficient recovery of the solar energy. This study, through modelling and simulation, investigates the impacts of such integration on the overall performance of a community-level solar DH system. The performance analysis results show that the solar DH system with integration of distributed and centralized seasonal TESs improves system overall efficiency, and reduces DH network heat losses, primary energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, in comparison to the one without integration. - Highlights: • STG should be designed to store energy in the most efficient way at the most effective location. • Integration of centralized seasonal and distributed TESs in a solar DH system is proposed. • Performance of such integrated solar DH system is evaluated and compared to the one without. • The integration results in reduction of primary energy consumption and GHG emission. • The integration improves the overall efficiency of the total solar energy system.

Very Short-term Nonparametric Probabilistic Forecasting of Renewable Energy Generation - with Application to Solar Energy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Golestaneh, Faranak; Pinson, Pierre; Gooi, Hoay Beng

2016-01-01

Due to the inherent uncertainty involved in renewable energy forecasting, uncertainty quantification is a key input to maintain acceptable levels of reliability and profitability in power system operation. A proposal is formulated and evaluated here for the case of solar power generation, when only...... approach to generate very short-term predictive densities, i.e., for lead times between a few minutes to one hour ahead, with fast frequency updates. We rely on an Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) as a fast regression model, trained in varied ways to obtain both point and quantile forecasts of solar power...... generation. Four probabilistic methods are implemented as benchmarks. Rival approaches are evaluated based on a number of test cases for two solar power generation sites in different climatic regions, allowing us to show that our approach results in generation of skilful and reliable probabilistic forecasts...

Washington, D.C. | Midmarket Solar Policies in the United States | Solar

Science.gov (United States)

development have kept SREC prices high. Recent DC solar initiatives (e.g., the Solar Advantage Plus Program ) have targeted low-income residents. Small businesses may be able to leverage resources from the DC residential and commercial customer-generators with systems powered by renewable-energy sources. DC's net

Implications of Wide-Area Geographic Diversity for Short- Term Variability of Solar Power

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mills, Andrew; Wiser, Ryan

2010-08-23

Worldwide interest in the deployment of photovoltaic generation (PV) is rapidly increasing. Operating experience with large PV plants, however, demonstrates that large, rapid changes in the output of PV plants are possible. Early studies of PV grid impacts suggested that short-term variability could be a potential limiting factor in deploying PV. Many of these early studies, however, lacked high-quality data from multiple sites to assess the costs and impacts of increasing PV penetration. As is well known for wind, accounting for the potential for geographic diversity can significantly reduce the magnitude of extreme changes in aggregated PV output, the resources required to accommodate that variability, and the potential costs of managing variability. We use measured 1-min solar insolation for 23 time-synchronized sites in the Southern Great Plains network of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program and wind speed data from 10 sites in the same network to characterize the variability of PV with different degrees of geographic diversity and to compare the variability of PV to the variability of similarly sited wind. The relative aggregate variability of PV plants sited in a dense 10 x 10 array with 20 km spacing is six times less than the variability of a single site for variability on time scales less than 15-min. We find in our analysis of wind and PV plants similarly sited in a 5 x 5 grid with 50 km spacing that the variability of PV is only slightly more than the variability of wind on time scales of 5-15 min. Over shorter and longer time scales the level of variability is nearly identical. Finally, we use a simple approximation method to estimate the cost of carrying additional reserves to manage sub-hourly variability. We conclude that the costs of managing the short-term variability of PV are dramatically reduced by geographic diversity and are not substantially different from the costs for managing the short-term variability of similarly sited wind in

Solar energy storage

CERN Document Server

Sorensen, Bent

2015-01-01

While solar is the fastest-growing energy source in the world, key concerns around solar power's inherent variability threaten to de-rail that scale-up . Currently, integration of intermittent solar resources into the grid creates added complication to load management, leading some utilities to reject it altogether, while other operators may penalize the producers via rate increases or force solar developers to include storage devices on-site to smooth out power delivery at the point of production. However these efforts at mitigation unfold, it is increasingly clear to parties on all sides th

Dual-Function Au@Y2O3:Eu3+ Smart Film for Enhanced Power Conversion Efficiency and Long-Term Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Chang Woo; Eom, Tae Young; Yang, In Seok; Kim, Byung Su; Lee, Wan In; Kang, Yong Soo; Kang, Young Soo

2017-07-28

In the present study, a dual-functional smart film combining the effects of wavelength conversion and amplification of the converted wave by the localized surface plasmon resonance has been investigated for a perovskite solar cell. This dual-functional film, composed of Au nanoparticles coated on the surface of Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ phosphor (Au@Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ ) nanoparticle monolayer, enhances the solar energy conversion efficiency to electrical energy and long-term stability of photovoltaic cells. Coupling between the Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ phosphor monolayer and ultraviolet solar light induces the latter to be converted into visible light with a quantum yield above 80%. Concurrently, the Au nanoparticle monolayer on the phosphor nanoparticle monolayer amplifies the converted visible light by up to 170%. This synergy leads to an increased solar light energy conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells. Simultaneously, the dual-function film suppresses the photodegradation of perovskite by UV light, resulting in long-term stability. Introducing the hybrid smart Au@Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ film in perovskite solar cells increases their overall solar-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency to 16.1% and enhances long-term stability, as compared to the value of 15.2% for standard perovskite solar cells. The synergism between the wavelength conversion effect of the phosphor nanoparticle monolayer and the wave amplification by the localized surface plasmon resonance of the Au nanoparticle monolayer in a perovskite solar cell is comparatively investigated, providing a viable strategy of broadening the solar spectrum utilization.

The renewable energy resources in Bulgaria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivanov, P.; Lingova, S.; Trifonova, L.

1996-01-01

The paper presents the results from the joint study between the National Laboratory of Renewable Energy Resources of USA and the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology, Sofia (BG). The geographical distribution of solar and wind energy potential in Bulgaria as well as inventory of biomass is studied. Calculation of total, available and reserve solar and wind resources is performed. Comparative data on all kind of renewable energy resources in Bulgaria are presented. The evaluation of economically accessible resources and feasibility of implementation of specific technologies is given. 7 refs., 1 tab

Short-Term Solar Forecasting Performance of Popular Machine Learning Algorithms: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Florita, Anthony R [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Elgindy, Tarek [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Hodge, Brian S [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Dobbs, Alex [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-10-03

A framework for assessing the performance of short-term solar forecasting is presented in conjunction with a range of numerical results using global horizontal irradiation (GHI) from the open-source Surface Radiation Budget (SURFRAD) data network. A suite of popular machine learning algorithms is compared according to a set of statistically distinct metrics and benchmarked against the persistence-of-cloudiness forecast and a cloud motion forecast. Results show significant improvement compared to the benchmarks with trade-offs among the machine learning algorithms depending on the desired error metric. Training inputs include time series observations of GHI for a history of years, historical weather and atmospheric measurements, and corresponding date and time stamps such that training sensitivities might be inferred. Prediction outputs are GHI forecasts for 1, 2, 3, and 4 hours ahead of the issue time, and they are made for every month of the year for 7 locations. Photovoltaic power and energy outputs can then be made using the solar forecasts to better understand power system impacts.

Solar Resources for Universities | State, Local, and Tribal Governments |

Science.gov (United States)

stakeholders to develop deployment solutions, and empower decision makers. Text version To assist organizations Federal Tax Incentives for Battery Storage Systems Non-Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) Options to Financing Power Purchase Agreements for Solar Deployment at Universities Writing Solar Requests for Proposals

Temporal and spatial complementarity of wind and solar resources in Lower Silesia (Poland)

Science.gov (United States)

Jurasz, Jakub; Wdowikowski, Marcin; Kaźmierczak, Bartosz; Dąbek, Paweł

2017-11-01

This paper investigates the concept of temporal and spatial complementarity of wind and solar resources in Lower Silesia (south-wester Poland). For the purpose of our research we have used hourly load and energy yield from photovoltaics and wind turbines covering period 2010-2014. In order to assess the spatial complementarity we have divided the considered voivodeship into 74 squared regions with maximal area of 400 km2. The obtained results indicate an existence of temporal complementarity on a monthly time scale and a positive correlation between load and wind generation patterns (also on a monthly time scale). The temporal complementarity for hourly time series in relatively low but has potential to smooth the energy generation curves.

Enhancing crystalline silicon solar cell efficiency with SixGe1-x layers

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Adnan; Cheow, S. L.; Azhari, A. W.; Sopian, K.; Zaidi, Saleem H.

Crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cell represents a cost effective, environment-friendly, and proven renewable energy resource. Industrially manufacturing of c-Si solar has now matured in terms of efficiency and cost. Continuing cost-effective efficiency enhancement requires transition towards thinner wafers in near term and thin-films in the long term. Successful implementation of either of these alternatives must address intrinsic optical absorption limitation of Si. Bandgap engineering through integration with SixGe1-x layers offers an attractive, inexpensive option. With the help of PC1D software, role of SixGe1-x layers in conventional c-Si solar cells has been intensively investigated in both wafer and thin film configurations by varying Ge concentration, thickness, and placement. In wafer configuration, increase in Ge concentration leads to enhanced absorption through bandgap broadening with an efficiency enhancement of 8% for Ge concentrations of less than 20%. At higher Ge concentrations, despite enhanced optical absorption, efficiency is reduced due to substantial lowering of open-circuit voltage. In 5-25-μm thickness, thin-film solar cell configurations, efficiency gain in excess of 30% is achievable. Therefore, SixGe1-x based thin-film solar cells with an order of magnitude reduction in costly Si material are ideally-suited both in terms of high efficiency and cost. Recent research has demonstrated significant improvement in epitaxially grown SixGe1-x layers on nanostructured Si substrates, thereby enhancing potential of this approach for next generation of c-Si based photovoltaics.

Long-term solar activity and its implications to the heliosphere, geomagnetic activity, and the Earth’s climate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tanskanen Eija

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The Sun’s long-term magnetic variability is the primary driver of space climate. This variability is manifested not only in the long-observed and dramatic change of magnetic fields on the solar surface, but also in the changing solar radiative output across all wavelengths. The Sun’s magnetic variability also modulates the particulate and magnetic fluxes in the heliosphere, which determine the interplanetary conditions and impose significant electromagnetic forces and effects upon planetary atmospheres. All these effects due to the changing solar magnetic fields are also relevant for planetary climates, including the climate of the Earth. The ultimate cause of solar variability, at time scales much shorter than stellar evolutionary time scales, i.e., at decadal to centennial and, maybe, even millennial or longer scales, has its origin in the solar dynamo mechanism. Therefore, in order to better understand the origin of space climate, one must analyze different proxies of solar magnetic variability and develop models of the solar dynamo mechanism that correctly produce the observed properties of the magnetic fields. This Preface summarizes the most important findings of the papers of this Special Issue, most of which were presented in the Space Climate-4 Symposium organized in 2011 in Goa, India.

Long-term ageing tests on glazing materials for solar collectors; Langzeit-Alterungsuntersuchung an Abdeckungsmaterialien fuer thermische Sonnenkollektoren

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ruesch, F.; Brunold, S.; Haeuselmann, T.; Frank, E.; Frei, U.

2008-02-15

This report made by the Swiss Institute for Solar Technology at the University of Applied Sciences in Rapperswil, Switzerland, for Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) takes a look at the results of a project that investigated the long-term behaviour of glazing materials for solar collectors. The locations tested and their associated meteorological data are presented and the tests made concerning the optical characteristics of several different types of glazing are discussed. Soiling and degradation are also looked at. An overview of the solar transmission of the various materials is presented. Details on the various materials such as glass, polymethyl metacrylate (PMMA), polycarbonate (PC), fluorised plastics, unsaturated polyester (UP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are presented.

Solar System Exploration Augmented by In-Situ Resource Utilization: Human Planetary Base Issues for Mercury and Saturn

Science.gov (United States)

Palaszewski, Bryan A.

2017-01-01

Human and robotic missions to Mercury and Saturn are presented and analyzed with a range of propulsion options. Historical studies of space exploration, planetary spacecraft, and astronomy, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU), and industrialization all point to the vastness of natural resources in the solar system. Advanced propulsion benefitted from these resources in many ways. While advanced propulsion systems were proposed in these historical studies, further investigation of nuclear options using high power nuclear thermal and nuclear pulse propulsion as well as advanced chemical propulsion can significantly enhance these scenarios. Updated analyses based on these historical visions are presented. Nuclear thermal propulsion and ISRU enhanced chemical propulsion landers are assessed for Mercury missions. At Saturn, nuclear pulse propulsion with alternate propellant feed systems and Saturn moon exploration with chemical propulsion and nuclear electric propulsion options are discussed. Issues with using in-situ resource utilization on Mercury missions are discussed. At Saturn, the best locations for exploration and the use of the moons Titan and Enceladus as central locations for Saturn moon exploration is assessed.

Global status of recycling waste solar panels: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Yan; Li, Jinhui; Tan, Quanyin; Peters, Anesia Lauren; Yang, Congren

2018-05-01

With the enormous growth in the development and utilization of solar-energy resources, the proliferation of waste solar panels has become problematic. While current research into solar panels has focused on how to improve the efficiency of the production capacity, the dismantling and recycling of end-of-life (EOL) panels are seldom considered, as can be seen, for instance, in the lack of dedicated solar-panel recycling plants. EOL solar-panel recycling can effectively save natural resources and reduce the cost of production. To address the environmental conservation and resource recycling issues posed by the huge amount of waste solar panels regarding environmental conservation and resource recycling, the status of the management and recycling technologies for waste solar panels are systemically reviewed and discussed in this article. This review can provide a quantitative basis to support the recycling of PV panels, and suggests future directions for public policy makers. At present, from the technical aspect, the research on solar panel recovery is facing many problems, and we need to further develop an economically feasible and non-toxic technology. The research on solar photovoltaic panels' management at the end of life is just beginning in many countries, and there is a need for further improvement and expansion of producer responsibility. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Source term boundary adaptive estimation in a first-order 1D hyperbolic PDE: Application to a one loop solar collector through

KAUST Repository

Mechhoud, Sarra

2016-08-04

In this paper, boundary adaptive estimation of solar radiation in a solar collector plant is investigated. The solar collector is described by a 1D first-order hyperbolic partial differential equation where the solar radiation models the source term and only boundary measurements are available. Using boundary injection, the estimator is developed in the Lyapunov approach and consists of a combination of a state observer and a parameter adaptation law which guarantee the asymptotic convergence of the state and parameter estimation errors. Simulation results are provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed identifier.

Integrated Resource Management and Recovery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Astrup, Thomas Fruergaard

2014-01-01

, depends on the quality of these resources and technological abilities to extract resources from mixed materials, e.g. mobile phones, solar cells, or mixed domestic waste. The "effort" invested in recovery of secondary resources should not be more than the "benefit" associated with the secondary resources...

Long term vision on the use of the renewable energies in Mexico: Solar energy. First Part: Evaluation of the Solar Resource in Mexico (Annexe 6-I in 'A vision of year 2030 on the use of the renewable energies in Mexico'); Vision a largo plazo sobre la utilizacion de las energias renovables en Mexico: Energia solar. Primera Parte: Evaluacion del Recurso Solar en Mexico (Anexo 6-I en 'Una vision al 2030 de la utilizacion de las energias renovables en Mexico')

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Estrada Gasca, Claudio A; Arancibia Bulnes, Camilo A; Dorantes Rodriguez, Ruben; Islas Samperio, Jorge; Muhlia Velasquez, Agustin [Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (Mexico)

2005-08-15

The application of the solar energy requires an evaluation of the solar resource. It is understood by evaluation the determination of the amount of solar energy available to be used in an application; from the point of view of the present applications it is advisable to distinguish two: the direct solar radiation and the diffuse solar radiation, that conform what it is known as the global solar radiation, or hemispheric. All the solar collectors have capacity to use the direct radiation, their capacity to use diffuse radiation depends on the concentration factor of the radiation that characterizes them. Another distinction that can be done is the measurement of different parts from the spectrum. It is not simple to predict the value of the solar radiation in a site or given moment, this has implications in the design of solar facilities, which are constructed to operate during a large number of years. [Spanish] La aplicacion de la energia solar requiere una evaluacion del recurso solar. Se entiende por evaluacion a la determinacion de la cantidad de energia solar disponible para ser utilizada en una aplicacion; desde el punto de vista de las aplicaciones actuales conviene distinguir dos: la radiacion solar directa y la radiacion solar difusa, que conforman lo que se conoce como la radiacion solar global, o hemisferica. Todos los colectores solares tienen capacidad de utilizar la radiacion directa, su capacidad de usar radiacion difusa depende del factor de concentracion de la radiacion que los caracteriza. Otra distincion que se puede hacer es la medicion de diferentes partes del espectro. No es sencillo predecir el valor de la radiacion solar en un sitio o momento dado, esto tiene implicaciones en el diseno de instalaciones solares, las cuales se construyen para operar durante un numero grande de anos.

Long-term influence of asteroids on planet longitudes and chaotic dynamics of the solar system

Science.gov (United States)

Woillez, E.; Bouchet, F.

2017-11-01

Over timescales much longer than an orbital period, the solar system exhibits large-scale chaotic behavior and can thus be viewed as a stochastic dynamical system. The aim of the present paper is to compare different sources of stochasticity in the solar system. More precisely we studied the importance of the long term influence of asteroids on the chaotic dynamics of the solar system. We show that the effects of asteroids on planets is similar to a white noise process, when those effects are considered on a timescale much larger than the correlation time τϕ ≃ 104 yr of asteroid trajectories. We computed the timescale τe after which the effects of the stochastic evolution of the asteroids lead to a loss of information for the initial conditions of the perturbed Laplace-Lagrange secular dynamics. The order of magnitude of this timescale is precisely determined by theoretical argument, and we find that τe ≃ 104 Myr. Although comparable to the full main-sequence lifetime of the sun, this timescale is considerably longer than the Lyapunov time τI ≃ 10 Myr of the solar system without asteroids. This shows that the external sources of chaos arise as a small perturbation in the stochastic secular behavior of the solar system, rather due to intrinsic chaos.

Opening up the solar box: Cultural resource management and actor network theory in solar energy projects in the Mojave Desert

Science.gov (United States)

Gorrie, Bryan F.

This project considers the ways that Actor-Network Theory (ANT) can be brought to bear upon Cultural Resource Management (CRM) practices on renewable energy projects. ANT is a way of making inquiry into scientific knowledge practices and as CRM is intended to preserve environmental, historic, and prehistoric resources, it necessarily involves certain kinds of knowledge generation about regions in which projects are being developed. Because the practice of CRM is complex, involving a range of actors from developers to biologists, native peoples to academics, private landholders to environmental and cultural activists, it is imperative to account for the interests of all stakeholders and to resist devolving into the polemical relations of winners and losers, good and bad participants, or simple situations of right and wrong. This project intends to account for the "matters of concern" of various actors, both primary and secondary, by examining the case study of a single solar installation project in the Mojave Desert. A theoretical description of ANT is provided at the beginning and the concerns of this theory are brought to bear upon the case study project through describing the project, discussing the laws governing CRM on federal lands and in the state of California, and providing the points of view of various interviewees who worked directly or indirectly on various aspects of CRM for the solar project. The creators of ANT claim that it is not a methodology but it does speak to ethnomethodologies in that it insists that there is always something more to learn from inquiring into and describing any given situation. These descriptions avoid generalizations, providing instead various points of entry, from diverse perspectives to the project. There is an invitation to avoid assuming that one knows all there is to know about a given situation and to choose instead to continue investigating and thus give voice to the more obscure, often marginalized, voices in the

SOLAR ENERGY POLICY DEVELOPMENTS IN EUROPE

OpenAIRE

Mihaela PÃCE?ILÃ

2015-01-01

Solar energy is one of the most important renewable energy sources in Europe offering new possibilities to generate electricity and heat. In this context, the study provides accurate information about researches that characterize the solar resource and investigates the potential of solar energy in European countries. The analysis is also focused on the current status of market development including photovoltaic capacity, electricity production from solar photovoltaic power, solar thermal capa...

Solar Energy - It's Growth, Development, and Use

Science.gov (United States)

dropdown arrow Site Map A-Z Index Menu Synopsis Solar Energy Resources with Additional Information Solar has played a major role in solar energy development through previous research and ongoing activities . As a result of research and development, the "cost of solar energy has been reduced 100-fold

Long term changes in EUV and X-ray emissions from the solar corona and chromosphere as measured by the response of the Earth’s ionosphere during total solar eclipses from 1932 to 1999

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. J. Davis

Full Text Available Measurements of the ionospheric E region during total solar eclipses in the period 1932–1999 have been used to investigate the fraction of Extreme Ultra Violet and soft X-ray radiation, 8, that is emitted from the limb corona and chromosphere. The relative apparent sizes of the Moon and the Sun are different for each eclipse, and techniques are presented which correct the measurements and, therefore, allow direct comparisons between different eclipses. The results show that the fraction of ionising radiation emitted by the limb corona has a clear solar cycle variation and that the underlying trend shows this fraction has been increasing since 1932. Data from the SOHO spacecraft are used to study the effects of short-term variability and it is shown that the observed long-term rise in 8 has a negligible probability of being a chance occurrence.

Key words. Ionosphere (solar radiation and cosmic ray effects – Solar physics, astrophysics, and astronomy (corona and transition region

Proceedings: Second Annual Pacific Northwest Alternative and Renewable Energy Resources Conference.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1980-01-01

Papers presented at the conference are published in this volume. The purpose of the conference was to solicit regional cooperation in the promoting of near-term development of such alternative and renewable energy resources in the Pacific Northwest as: cogeneration; biomass; wind; small hydro; solar end-use applications; and geothermal direct heat utilization. Separate abstracts of selected papers were prepared for inclusion in the Energy Data Base.

Solar hot water for household and institutional use in Bujumbura, Burundi

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katihabwa, J.

1990-01-01

This paper reports on solar energy which is clean and renewable. It is the primary source for a wide range of energy resources such as biomass, hydraulics, coal, peat and petroleum. Until recently, the sun was the major source of energy used by man to satisfy his needs. The extraction and use of fossil fuels became important with the technological and industrial development that took place in the nineteenth century. For countries without fossil fuels (such as petroleum and coal), solar energy is an important asset. The oil crisis of 1973 clearly showed the limits of fossil fuel consumption. The crisis slowed down and, in some cases, severely hampered economic growth in many developing countries. To this day, fossil fuels remain expensive for many developing countries which have to part with a significant share of their meagre convertible currency resources to import fossil fuels. It is thus imperative that developing countries should investigate the possibility of developing solar energy systems that can reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. In the short term, high investment costs and shortage of qualified manpower are major constraints on the development of solar energy systems. In the long run, however, the benefits of solar energy systems are expected to overcome these constraints. The benefits include low operation costs and non-generation of pollutants. The decentralized nature of solar energy is an asset in the isolated rural areas of Africa. It is possible to build small solar units and this provide energy security and autonomy at the level of a community and even at the level of an individual. Solar energy has, however, one major disadvantage - its energy density is low (1.0 kw per square metre on the earth surface, after taking absorption losses into account)

A Long-Term Dissipation of the EUV He ii (30.4 nm) Segmentation in Full-Disk Solar Images

Science.gov (United States)

Didkovsky, Leonid

2018-06-01

Some quiet-Sun days observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on-board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) during the time interval in 2010 - 2017 were used to continue our previous analyses reported by Didkovsky and Gurman ( Solar Phys. 289, 153, 2014a) and Didkovsky, Wieman, and Korogodina ( Solar Phys. 292, 32, 2017). The analysis consists of determining and comparing spatial spectral ratios (spectral densities over some time interval) from spatial (segmentation-cell length) power spectra. The ratios were compared using modeled compatible spatial frequencies for spectra from the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on-board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and from AIA images. With the new AIA data added to the EIT data we analyzed previously, the whole time interval from 1996 to 2017 reported here is approximately the length of two "standard" solar cycles (SC). The spectral ratios of segmentation-cell dimension structures show a significant and steady increase with no detected indication of SC-related returns to the values that characterize the SC minima. This increase in spatial power at high spatial frequencies is interpreted as a dissipation of medium-size EUV network structures to smaller-size structures in the transition region. Each of the latest ratio changes for 2010 through 2017 spectra calculated for a number of consecutive short-term intervals has been converted into monthly mean ratio (MMR) changes. The MMR values demonstrate variable sign and magnitudes, thus confirming the solar nature of the changes. These changes do not follow a "typical" trend of instrumental degradation or a long-term activity profile from the He ii (30.4 nm) irradiance measured by the Extreme ultraviolet Spectrophotometer (ESP) either. The ESP is a channel of the Extreme ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE) on-board SDO.

Solar Measurement and Modeling | Grid Modernization | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

Measurement and Modeling Solar Measurement and Modeling NREL supports grid integration studies , industry, government, and academia by disseminating solar resource measurements, models, and best practices have continuously gathered basic solar radiation information, and they now gather high-resolution data

Long-term predictive assessments of solar and geomagnetic activities made on the basis of the close similarity between the solar inertial motions in the intervals 1840–1905 and 1980–2045

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Charvátová, Ivanka

2009-01-01

Roč. 14, č. 1 (2009), s. 25-30 ISSN 1384-1076 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR(CZ) IAA300120608 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30120515 Keywords : solar inertial motion * solar activity * geomagnetic activity * long-term predictive assessments Subject RIV: DE - Earth Magnetism, Geodesy, Geography Impact factor: 1.675, year: 2009

Solar electricity and solar fuels

Science.gov (United States)

Spiers, David J.

1989-04-01

The nature of solar radiation and its variation with location is described. The distribution of energy in the solar spectrum places immediate limits on the theoretical efficiency of conversion processes, since practical absorbers cannot convert all wavelengths received to useful energy. The principles of solar energy conversion methods are described. Absorption of solar energy can give rise to direct electrical generation, heating, or chemical change. Electrical generation from sunlight can be achieved by photovoltaic systems directly or by thermal systems which use solar heat to drive a heat engine and generator. The technology used and under research for promising ways of producing electricity or fuel from solar energy is described. Photovoltaic technology is established today for remote area, small power applications, and photovoltaic module sales alone are over 100 million dollars per year at present. The photovoltaic market has grown steadily since the mid-1970's, as prices have fallen continuously. Future energy options are briefly described. The merits of a sustainable energy economy, based on renewable energy resources, including solar energy, are emphasized, as this seems to provide the only hope of eliminating the problems caused by the build-up of atmospheric carbon dioxide, acid rain pollution and nuclear waste disposal. There is no doubt that clean fuels which were derived from solar energy and either did not involve carbon dioxide and used atmospheric carbon dioxide as the source dioxide as the source of carbon would be a worthy ideal. Methods described could one day achieve this.

Analysis and validation of a quasi-dynamic model for a solar collector field with flat plate collectors and parabolic trough collectors in series for district heating

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tian, Zhiyong; Perers, Bengt; Furbo, Simon

2018-01-01

performance of the hybrid solar district heating plants is also presented. The measured and simulated results show that the integration of parabolic trough collectors in solar district heating plants can guarantee that the system produces hot water with relatively constant outlet temperature. The daily energy......A quasi-dynamic TRNSYS simulation model for a solar collector field with flat plate collectors and parabolic trough collectors in series was described and validated. A simplified method was implemented in TRNSYS in order to carry out long-term energy production analyses of the whole solar heating...... plant. The advantages of the model include faster computation with fewer resources, flexibility of different collector types in solar heating plant configuration and satisfactory accuracy in both dynamic and long-term analyses. In situ measurements were taken from a pilot solar heating plant with 5960 m...

An analog ensemble for short-term probabilistic solar power forecast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alessandrini, S.; Delle Monache, L.; Sperati, S.; Cervone, G.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A novel method for solar power probabilistic forecasting is proposed. • The forecast accuracy does not depend on the nominal power. • The impact of climatology on forecast accuracy is evaluated. - Abstract: The energy produced by photovoltaic farms has a variable nature depending on astronomical and meteorological factors. The former are the solar elevation and the solar azimuth, which are easily predictable without any uncertainty. The amount of liquid water met by the solar radiation within the troposphere is the main meteorological factor influencing the solar power production, as a fraction of short wave solar radiation is reflected by the water particles and cannot reach the earth surface. The total cloud cover is a meteorological variable often used to indicate the presence of liquid water in the troposphere and has a limited predictability, which is also reflected on the global horizontal irradiance and, as a consequence, on solar photovoltaic power prediction. This lack of predictability makes the solar energy integration into the grid challenging. A cost-effective utilization of solar energy over a grid strongly depends on the accuracy and reliability of the power forecasts available to the Transmission System Operators (TSOs). Furthermore, several countries have in place legislation requiring solar power producers to pay penalties proportional to the errors of day-ahead energy forecasts, which makes the accuracy of such predictions a determining factor for producers to reduce their economic losses. Probabilistic predictions can provide accurate deterministic forecasts along with a quantification of their uncertainty, as well as a reliable estimate of the probability to overcome a certain production threshold. In this paper we propose the application of an analog ensemble (AnEn) method to generate probabilistic solar power forecasts (SPF). The AnEn is based on an historical set of deterministic numerical weather prediction (NWP) model

Integrating Solar Power onto the Electric Grid - Bridging the Gap between Atmospheric Science, Engineering and Economics

Science.gov (United States)

Ghonima, M. S.; Yang, H.; Zhong, X.; Ozge, B.; Sahu, D. K.; Kim, C. K.; Babacan, O.; Hanna, R.; Kurtz, B.; Mejia, F. A.; Nguyen, A.; Urquhart, B.; Chow, C. W.; Mathiesen, P.; Bosch, J.; Wang, G.

2015-12-01

One of the main obstacles to high penetrations of solar power is the variable nature of solar power generation. To mitigate variability, grid operators have to schedule additional reliability resources, at considerable expense, to ensure that load requirements are met by generation. Thus despite the cost of solar PV decreasing, the cost of integrating solar power will increase as penetration of solar resources onto the electric grid increases. There are three principal tools currently available to mitigate variability impacts: (i) flexible generation, (ii) storage, either virtual (demand response) or physical devices and (iii) solar forecasting. Storage devices are a powerful tool capable of ensuring smooth power output from renewable resources. However, the high cost of storage is prohibitive and markets are still being designed to leverage their full potential and mitigate their limitation (e.g. empty storage). Solar forecasting provides valuable information on the daily net load profile and upcoming ramps (increasing or decreasing solar power output) thereby providing the grid advance warning to schedule ancillary generation more accurately, or curtail solar power output. In order to develop solar forecasting as a tool that can be utilized by the grid operators we identified two focus areas: (i) develop solar forecast technology and improve solar forecast accuracy and (ii) develop forecasts that can be incorporated within existing grid planning and operation infrastructure. The first issue required atmospheric science and engineering research, while the second required detailed knowledge of energy markets, and power engineering. Motivated by this background we will emphasize area (i) in this talk and provide an overview of recent advancements in solar forecasting especially in two areas: (a) Numerical modeling tools for coastal stratocumulus to improve scheduling in the day-ahead California energy market. (b) Development of a sky imager to provide short term

A novel procedure for generating solar irradiance TSYs

Science.gov (United States)

Fanego, Vicente Lara; Rubio, Jesús Pulgar; Peruchena, Carlos M. Fernández; Romeo, Martín Gastón; Tejera, Sara Moreno; Santigosa, Lourdes Ramírez; Balderrama, Rita X. Valenzuela; Tirado, Luis F. Zarzalejo; Pantaleón, Diego Bermejo; Pérez, Manuel Silva; Contreras, Manuel Pavón; García, Ana Bernardos; Anarte, Sergio Macías

2017-06-01

Typical Solar Years (TSYs) are key parameters for the solar energy industry. In particular, TSYs are mainly used for the design and bankability analysis of solar projects. In essence, a TSY intends to describe the expected long-term behavior of the solar resource (direct and/or global irradiance) into a condensed period of one year at the specific location of interest. A TSY differs from a conventional Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) by its absence of meteorological variables other than solar radiation. Concerning the probability of exceedance (Pe) needed for bankability, various scenarios are commonly used, with Pe90, Pe95 or even Pe99 being most usually required as unfavorable scenarios, along with the most widely used median scenario (Pe50). There is no consensus in the scientific community regarding the methodology for generating TSYs for any Pe scenario. Furthermore, the application of two different construction methods to the same original dataset could produce differing TSYs. Within this framework, a group of experts has been established by the Spanish Association for Standardization and Certification (AENOR) in order to propose a method that can be standardized. The method developed by this working group, referred to as the EVA method, is presented in this contribution. Its evaluation shows that it provides reasonable results for the two main irradiance components (direct and global), with low errors in the annual estimations for any given Pe. The EVA method also preserves the long-term statistics when the computed TSYs for a specific Pe are expanded from the monthly basis used in the generation of the TSY to higher time resolutions, such as 1 hour, which are necessary for the precise energy simulation of solar systems.

Economic thinking, sustainable development and the role of solar energy in the 21st century

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hohmeyer, O.

1993-01-01

The long term survival of mankind will only be possible if economic thinking as well as economic theory understands that the world economy is only a subsystem of the global ecological system. Only if the scale of the economic system stays within the limits determined by the long term resource availability and the assimilative capacity of the global ecological system, sustainable development and the survival of mankind can be achieved. Solar energy as the only long term energy source supplied from outside the global ecological system needs to be a central building block of sustainable development. Today the main obstacle for a widespread use of solar energy is its relative price. The paper shows that the present prices of non-renewable energy sources are heavily subsidized by not including the costs of health and environmental damages as well as the long term costs of wasting non-renewable energy sources at the expense of future generations. If these costs are taken into account the relative costs of solar energy look far more favorable than present market prices show. Photovoltaic electricity generation may become cost effective within this decade

Solar Cycle Response and Long-Term Trends in the Mesospheric Metal Layers

Science.gov (United States)

Dawkins, E. C. M.; Plane, J. M. C.; Chipperfield, M.; Feng, W.; Marsh, D. R.; Hoffner, J.; Janches, D.

2016-01-01

The meteoric metal layers (Na, Fe, and K) which form as a result of the ablation of incoming meteors act as unique tracers for chemical and dynamical processes that occur within the upper mesosphere lower thermosphere region. In this work, we examine whether these metal layers are sensitive Fe indicators of decadal long-term changes within the upper atmosphere. Output from a whole-atmosphere climate model is used to assess the response of the Na, K, and Fe layers across a 50 year period (1955-2005). At short timescales, the K layer has previously been shown to exhibit a very different seasonal behavior compared to the other metals. Here we show that this unusual behavior is also exhibited at longer time scales (both the 11 year solar cycle and 50 year periods), where K displays a much more pronounced response to atmospheric temperature changes than either Na or Fe. The contrasting solar cycle behavior of the K and Na layers predicted by the model is confirmed using satellite and lidar observations for the period 2004-2013.

Solar UV Variations During the Decline of Cycle 23

Science.gov (United States)

DeLand, Matthew, T.; Cebula, Richard P.

2011-01-01

Characterization of temporal and spectral variations in solar ultraviolet irradiance over a solar cycle is essential for understanding the forcing of Earth's atmosphere and climate. Satellite measurements of solar UV variability for solar cycles 21, 22, and 23 show consistent solar cycle irradiance changes at key wavelengths (e.g. 205 nm, 250 nm) within instrumental uncertainties. All historical data sets also show the same relative spectral dependence for both short-term (rotational) and long-term (solar cycle) variations. Empirical solar irradiance models also produce long-term solar UV variations that agree well with observational data. Recent UV irradiance data from the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SIM) and Solar Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment (SOLSTICE) instruments covering the declining phase of Cycle 23 present a different picture oflong-term solar variations from previous results. Time series of SIM and SOLSTICE spectral irradiance data between 2003 and 2007 show solar variations that greatly exceed both previous measurements and predicted irradiance changes over this period, and the spectral dependence of the SIM and SOLSTICE variations during these years do not show features expected from solar physics theory. The use of SORCE irradiance variations in atmospheric models yields substantially different middle atmosphere ozone responses in both magnitude and vertical structure. However, short-term solar variability derived from SIM and SOLSTICE UV irradiance data is consistent with concurrent solar UV measurements from other instruments, as well as previous results, suggesting no change in solar physics. Our analysis of short-term solar variability is much less sensitive to residual instrument response changes than the observations of long-term variations. The SORCE long-term UV results can be explained by under-correction of instrument response changes during the first few years of measurements

Solar Energy Technologies Program: Multi-Year Technical Plan 2003-2007 and Beyond

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2004-01-01

This publication charts a 5-year planning cycle for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Program. The document includes anticipated technical plans for the next 5 years for photovoltaics, concentrating solar power, solar water and space heating, solar hybrid lighting, and other new concepts that can take advantage of the solar resource. Solar energy is described as a clean, abundant, renewable energy resource that can benefit the nation by diversifying our energy supply.

Agua Caliente Wind/Solar Project at Whitewater Ranch

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hooks, Todd [Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Palm Springs, CA (United States); Stewart, Royce [Red Mountain Energy Partners, Sante Fe, NM (United States)

2014-12-16

Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians (ACBCI) was awarded a grant by the Department of Energy (DOE) to study the feasibility of a wind and/or solar renewable energy project at the Whitewater Ranch (WWR) property of ACBCI. Red Mountain Energy Partners (RMEP) was engaged to conduct the study. The ACBCI tribal lands in the Coachella Valley have very rich renewable energy resources. The tribe has undertaken several studies to more fully understand the options available to them if they were to move forward with one or more renewable energy projects. With respect to the resources, the WWR property clearly has excellent wind and solar resources. The DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has continued to upgrade and refine their library of resource maps. The newer, more precise maps quantify the resources as among the best in the world. The wind and solar technology available for deployment is also being improved. Both are reducing their costs to the point of being at or below the costs of fossil fuels. Technologies for energy storage and microgrids are also improving quickly and present additional ways to increase the wind and/or solar energy retained for later use with the network management flexibility to provide power to the appropriate locations when needed. As a result, renewable resources continue to gain more market share. The transitioning to renewables as the major resources for power will take some time as the conversion is complex and can have negative impacts if not managed well. While the economics for wind and solar systems continue to improve, the robustness of the WWR site was validated by the repeated queries of developers to place wind and/or solar there. The robust resources and improving technologies portends toward WWR land as a renewable energy site. The business case, however, is not so clear, especially when the potential investment portfolio for ACBCI has several very beneficial and profitable alternatives.

Solar variability observed through changes in solar figure and mean diameter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, H.A.

1991-01-01

The work performed on solar variability during 1990 at SCLERA is reviewed. That portion of the SCLERA research program supported by the Department of Energy has been directed toward the detection and monitoring of climatically significant solar variability by accurate measurement of the variability in solar shape and diameter. Observations were obtained in 1990 and results from analysis of earlier observations obtained. The observational evidence of systematic long-term changes in the apparent solar diameter and/or radius has been detected, and these changes continue to strongly correlated with long-term changes in solar total irradiance. Additional evidence for internal gravity modes has been found which may be important to understanding the internal structure of the Sun. Each of these findings shows promise for anticipating future changes in the solar luminosity. Progress has been made in setting up an international network based on SCLERA-type instruments to improve the coverage and quality of the observations. A proposal is made for the continuation of support from the Department of Energy for further studies relevant to solar-variability forecasting

Is solar power too expensive? In the long term, no

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hawkins, A. C.

2007-01-01

This short article reports on a workshop held by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Zurich, Switzerland, which addressed the question if solar power is too expensive. The article summarises the presentations of energy and financial experts from around the world who attended the workshop. Developments in solar technology, traditional energy supply and the various applications of solar energy are discussed. Marketing aspects and price developments are examined and the risks and chances offered by the solar business are discussed. The lack of purchasing power in developing countries is also addressed.

A sunny future: expert elicitation of China's solar photovoltaic technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Lam, Long T.; Branstetter, Lee; Azevedo, Inês L.

2018-03-01

China has emerged as the global manufacturing center for solar photovoltaic (PV) products. Chinese firms have entered all stages of the supply chain, producing most of the installed solar modules around the world. Meanwhile, production costs are at record lows. The decisions that Chinese solar producers make today will influence the path for the solar industry and its role towards de-carbonization of global energy systems in the years to come. However, to date, there have been no assessments of the future costs and efficiency of solar PV systems produced by the Chinese PV industry. We perform an expert elicitation to assess the technological and non-technological factors that led to the success of China’s silicon PV industry as well as likely future costs and performance. Experts evaluated key metrics such as efficiency, costs, and commercial viability of 17 silicon and non-silicon solar PV technologies by 2030. Silicon-based technologies will continue to be the mainstream product for large-scale electricity generation application in the near future, with module efficiency reaching as high as 23% and production cost as low as 0.24/W. The levelized cost of electricity for solar will be around 34/MWh, allowing solar PV to be competitive with traditional energy resources like coal. The industry’s future developments may be affected by overinvestment, overcapacity, and singular short-term focus.

Survey and research achievement report for fiscal 1980 on patent and information under Sunshine Program. Survey of information on new energy technology development (Solar energy); 1980 nendo tokkyo joho chosa kenkyu seika hokokusho. Shin energy gijutsu kaihatsu joho chosa (taiyohen)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1981-03-01

Solar energy as defined by the United States includes hydroelectric power, biomass, and the ocean. The short-term strategy deals with passive solar air-conditioning, hydroelectric power, and biomass direct combustion. The medium-term strategy involves positive heating and wind power. The long-term strategy covers heat for agriculture, photovoltaic power, and OTEC (ocean thermal energy conversion), and the ultralong-term strategy covers power generation in space and photochemical conversion. Canada is behind other countries in the conversion of solar energy into power, and solar energy is used but passively as heat source, this because this country is rich in other resources. In West Germany, solar energy may be exploited for hot-water supply and heating at high latitudes, but it is not likely that it will be used for power generation. Home heating offers some appeal since potential demand for it is great. In Britain, the use of solar energy is not a pressing matter, this because systems for effective use of coal have long been established at homes, society, and industries in this country, rich in coal resources and enjoying oil from the North Sea oil field. France's efforts include biomass exploitation. In its development efforts, importance is attached to home heating, hot-water supply, and biomass. Next comes the conversion into power of solar energy. Photocells are also a subject of research and development. (NEDO)

Survey and research achievement report for fiscal 1980 on patent and information under Sunshine Program. Survey of information on new energy technology development (Solar energy); 1980 nendo tokkyo joho chosa kenkyu seika hokokusho. Shin energy gijutsu kaihatsu joho chosa (taiyohen)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1981-03-01

Solar energy as defined by the United States includes hydroelectric power, biomass, and the ocean. The short-term strategy deals with passive solar air-conditioning, hydroelectric power, and biomass direct combustion. The medium-term strategy involves positive heating and wind power. The long-term strategy covers heat for agriculture, photovoltaic power, and OTEC (ocean thermal energy conversion), and the ultralong-term strategy covers power generation in space and photochemical conversion. Canada is behind other countries in the conversion of solar energy into power, and solar energy is used but passively as heat source, this because this country is rich in other resources. In West Germany, solar energy may be exploited for hot-water supply and heating at high latitudes, but it is not likely that it will be used for power generation. Home heating offers some appeal since potential demand for it is great. In Britain, the use of solar energy is not a pressing matter, this because systems for effective use of coal have long been established at homes, society, and industries in this country, rich in coal resources and enjoying oil from the North Sea oil field. France's efforts include biomass exploitation. In its development efforts, importance is attached to home heating, hot-water supply, and biomass. Next comes the conversion into power of solar energy. Photocells are also a subject of research and development. (NEDO)

Long term vision on the use of the renewable energies in Mexico: Solar energy. First Part: Evaluation of the Solar Resource in Mexico (Annexe 6-I in 'A vision of year 2030 on the use of the renewable energies in Mexico'); Vision a largo plazo sobre la utilizacion de las energias renovables en Mexico: Energia solar. Primera Parte: Evaluacion del Recurso Solar en Mexico (Anexo 6-I en 'Una vision al 2030 de la utilizacion de las energias renovables en Mexico')

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Estrada Gasca, Claudio A; Arancibia Bulnes, Camilo A; Dorantes Rodriguez, Ruben; Islas Samperio, Jorge; Muhlia Velasquez, Agustin [Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (Mexico)

2005-08-15

The application of the solar energy requires an evaluation of the solar resource. It is understood by evaluation the determination of the amount of solar energy available to be used in an application; from the point of view of the present applications it is advisable to distinguish two: the direct solar radiation and the diffuse solar radiation, that conform what it is known as the global solar radiation, or hemispheric. All the solar collectors have capacity to use the direct radiation, their capacity to use diffuse radiation depends on the concentration factor of the radiation that characterizes them. Another distinction that can be done is the measurement of different parts from the spectrum. It is not simple to predict the value of the solar radiation in a site or given moment, this has implications in the design of solar facilities, which are constructed to operate during a large number of years. [Spanish] La aplicacion de la energia solar requiere una evaluacion del recurso solar. Se entiende por evaluacion a la determinacion de la cantidad de energia solar disponible para ser utilizada en una aplicacion; desde el punto de vista de las aplicaciones actuales conviene distinguir dos: la radiacion solar directa y la radiacion solar difusa, que conforman lo que se conoce como la radiacion solar global, o hemisferica. Todos los colectores solares tienen capacidad de utilizar la radiacion directa, su capacidad de usar radiacion difusa depende del factor de concentracion de la radiacion que los caracteriza. Otra distincion que se puede hacer es la medicion de diferentes partes del espectro. No es sencillo predecir el valor de la radiacion solar en un sitio o momento dado, esto tiene implicaciones en el diseno de instalaciones solares, las cuales se construyen para operar durante un numero grande de anos.

Concentrated solar thermal power - Now

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aringhoff, R.; Brakmann, G. [Solar Thermal Power Industry Association ESTIA, Avenue de la Fauconnerie 73, 1170 Brussels (Belgium); Geyer, M. [IEA SolarPACES Implementing Agreement, Avenida de la Paz 51, 04720 Aguadulce, Almeria (Spain); Teske, S. [Greenpeace International, Ottho Heldringstraat 5, 1066 AZ Amsterdam (Netherlands)

2005-09-15

This report demonstrates that there are no technical, economic or resource barriers to supplying 5% of the world's electricity needs from solar thermal power by 2040. It is written as practical blueprint to improve understanding of the solar thermal contribution to the world energy supply.

Long Island Solar Farm

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anders, R.

2013-05-01

The Long Island Solar Farm (LISF) is a remarkable success story, whereby very different interest groups found a way to capitalize on unusual circumstances to develop a mutually beneficial source of renewable energy. The uniqueness of the circumstances that were necessary to develop the Long Island Solar Farm make it very difficult to replicate. The project is, however, an unparalleled resource for solar energy research, which will greatly inform large-scale PV solar development in the East. Lastly, the LISF is a superb model for the process by which the project developed and the innovation and leadership shown by the different players.

THE EVALUATION OF THE SOLAR ORIENTED ENERGY EFFECTIVE BUILDING DESIGN UNDER THE MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE CONDITIONS IN TERMS OF WATER HEATING SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gizem TETİK

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Within the acknowledging of the fact that the half of the resources of the earth is being utilized for construction purposes; in this dissertation, which aims to lower this rate for our country by raising the awareness of the society, it is asserted that the utilization of the solar energy, unlike the common belief, should be considered as a passive manner during the design phase, before utilizing it in an active manner and the types of utilization, in which the solar energy can be benefitted at its full, is further demonstrated. Within this context, the analyses of the solar energy systems were conducted, the variables according to the climate and building types were discussed and the current suggestions for the improvement were presented along with the relevant literature reviews and case studies.

New Earth-abundant Materials for Large-scale Solar Fuels Generation.

Science.gov (United States)

Prabhakar, Rajiv Ramanujam; Cui, Wei; Tilley, S David

2018-05-30

The solar resource is immense, but the power density of light striking the Earth's surface is relatively dilute, necessitating large area solar conversion devices in order to harvest substantial amounts of power for renewable energy applications. In addition, energy storage is a key challenge for intermittent renewable resources such as solar and wind, which adds significant cost to these energies. As the majority of humanity's present-day energy consumption is based on fuels, an ideal solution is to generate renewable fuels from abundant resources such as sunlight and water. In this account, we detail our recent work towards generating highly efficient and stable Earth-abundant semiconducting materials for solar water splitting to generate renewable hydrogen fuel.

Long-term field test of solar PV power generation using one-axis 3-position sun tracker

KAUST Repository

Huang, B.J.; Ding, W.L.; Huang, Y.C.

2011-01-01

The 1 axis-3 position (1A-3P) sun tracking PV was built and tested to measure the daily and long-term power generation of the solar PV system. A comparative test using a fixed PV and a 1A-3P tracking PV was carried out with two identical stand

Emergency Response and Long Term Planning: Two sides of the Coin for Managing Water Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Metchis, K.; Beller-Simms, N.

2014-12-01

As projected by the US National Climate Assessment and the IPCC, extreme climate and weather events are occurring more frequently and with more intensity across the nation. Communities - and the water resource managers that serve them - are facing difficult choices to increase emergency preparedness, recover from costly impacts, and increase long term resilience. The presentation is based on a recent set of case studies about what happened in six communities that experienced one or more extreme events, focusing on water resource management. Two of the case studies will be presented, revealing that building climate resilience is not just about long term planning - it is also about taking the steps to be prepared for - and to be able to recover from - emergency events. The results of this study have implications for educating local officials on ways to think about resilience to balance both long-term and short-term preparedness.

Concentrated solar thermal power - Now

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aringhoff, R.; Brakmann, G. [Solar Thermal Power Industry Association ESTIA, Avenue de la Fauconnerie 73, 1170 Brussels (Belgium); Geyer, M. [IEA SolarPACES Implementing Agreement, Avenida de la Paz 51, 04720 Aguadulce, Almeria (Spain); Teske, S. [Greenpeace International, Ottho Heldringstraat 5, 1066 AZ Amsterdam (Netherlands)

2005-09-15

This report demonstrates that there are no technical, economic or resource barriers to supplying 5% of the world's electricity needs from solar thermal power by 2040. It is written as practical blueprint to improve understanding of the solar thermal contribution to the world energy supply.

2500 km on solar-electric bike: let’s congratulate them by giving a donation to the Long-Term Collections

CERN Multimedia

Staff Association

2013-01-01

On 15th July, the adventure on “solar-electric bike” to promote solar and eco-mobility of our colleagues, Céline and Jean had to be interrupted in Odessa, Ukraine, for health reasons. In about four weeks, they already had crossed eight countries: Switzerland, France, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Moldavia and Ukraine. On their request, you can show your solidarity by subscribing to a humanitarian action in which you commit yourself to give a minimum of 30 CHF and a maximum of 80 CHF (10 CHF for each crossed country) to the Long-Term Collections (for further information on the Long-Term Collections, see their website: http://cern.ch/staffassoc/CLT/). Participate to this action by registering yourself on the following website: https://cern.ch/staff-association/content/soutien-celine-jean. You will then receive a payment slip that will allow you to pay the amount of your choice into the account of the Long-Term Collections. We congratulate our colleagues and champions, C&a...

2500 km on solar-electric bike: let’s congratulate them by giving a donation to the Long-Term Collections

CERN Multimedia

Staff Association

2013-01-01

On 15th July, the adventure on “solar-electric bike” to promote solar and eco-mobility of our colleagues, Céline and Jean had to be interrupted in Odessa, Ukraine, for health reasons. In about four weeks, they already had crossed eight countries: Switzerland, France, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Moldavia and Ukraine. On their request, you can show your solidarity by subscribing to a humanitarian action in which you commit yourself to give a minimum of 30 CHF and a maximum of 80 CHF (10 CHF for each crossed country) to the Long-Term Collections (for further information on the Long-Term Collections, see their website: http://cern.ch/staffassoc/CLT/). Participate to this action by registering yourself on the following website: https://cern.ch/staff-association/content/soutien-celine-jean. You will then receive a payment slip that will allow you to pay the amount of your choice into the account of the Long-Term Collections. We congratulate our colleagues and champions,...

Atmospheric Mining in the Outer Solar System: Outer Planet In-Space Bases and Moon Bases for Resource Processing

Science.gov (United States)

Palaszewski, Bryan

2017-01-01

Atmospheric mining in the outer solar system has been investigated as a means of fuel production for high energy propulsion and power. Fusion fuels such as Helium 3 (3He) and deuterium can be wrested from the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune and either returned to Earth or used in-situ for energy production. Helium 3 and deuterium were the primary gases of interest with hydrogen being the primary propellant for nuclear thermal solid core and gas core rocket-based atmospheric flight. A series of analyses were undertaken to investigate resource capturing aspects of atmospheric mining in the outer solar system. This included the gas capturing rate, storage options, and different methods of direct use of the captured gases. While capturing 3He, large amounts of hydrogen and 4He are produced. The propulsion and transportation requirements for all of the major moons of Uranus and Neptune are presented. Analyses of orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs), landers, factories, and the issues with in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) low gravity processing factories are included. Preliminary observations are presented on near-optimal selections of moon base orbital locations, OTV power levels, and OTV and lander rendezvous points. Several artificial gravity in-space base designs and orbital sites at Uranus and Neptune and the OTV requirements to support them are also addressed.

Quantitative variability of renewable energy resources in Norway

Science.gov (United States)

Christakos, Konstantinos; Varlas, George; Cheliotis, Ioannis; Aalstad, Kristoffer; Papadopoulos, Anastasios; Katsafados, Petros; Steeneveld, Gert-Jan

2017-04-01

Based on European Union (EU) targets for 2030, the share of renewable energy (RE) consumption should be increased at 27%. RE resources such as hydropower, wind, wave power and solar power are strongly depending on the chaotic behavior of the weather conditions and climate. Due to this dependency, the prediction of the spatiotemporal variability of the RE resources is more crucial factor than in other energy resources (i.e. carbon based energy). The fluctuation of the RE resources can affect the development of the RE technologies, the energy grid, supply and prices. This study investigates the variability of the potential RE resources in Norway. More specifically, hydropower, wind, wave, and solar power are quantitatively analyzed and correlated with respect to various spatial and temporal scales. In order to analyze the diversities and their interrelationships, reanalysis and observational data of wind, precipitation, wave, and solar radiation are used for a quantitative assessment. The results indicate a high variability of marine RE resources in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea.

Response of Solar Irradiance to Sunspot-area Variations

Science.gov (United States)

Dudok de Wit, T.; Kopp, G.; Shapiro, A.; Witzke, V.; Kretzschmar, M.

2018-02-01

One of the important open questions in solar irradiance studies is whether long-term variability (i.e., on timescales of years and beyond) can be reconstructed by means of models that describe short-term variability (i.e., days) using solar proxies as inputs. Preminger & Walton showed that the relationship between spectral solar irradiance and proxies of magnetic-flux emergence, such as the daily sunspot area, can be described in the framework of linear system theory by means of the impulse response. We significantly refine that empirical model by removing spurious solar-rotational effects and by including an additional term that captures long-term variations. Our results show that long-term variability cannot be reconstructed from the short-term response of the spectral irradiance, which questions the extension of solar proxy models to these timescales. In addition, we find that the solar response is nonlinear in a way that cannot be corrected simply by applying a rescaling to a sunspot area.

Solar PV electricity and market characteristics: two Canadian case-studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rowlands, I.H.

2005-01-01

To determine whether solar electricity (that is, electricity generated by photovoltaics) is, on an average, more valuable - in market terms - than the electricity generated in power systems as a whole, this article investigates the extent to which solar resource availability in two Canadian locations is associated with peak electricity market demand and peak electricity market price. More specifically, solar radiation and electricity market data for the period 1 May 2002 to 30 April 2004 are examined for Calgary, Alta. and Guelph, Ont. A variety of visual and statistical investigations reveal that solar radiation values coincide closely with peak electricity market demand and, though to a somewhat lesser extent, peak electricity market prices during the summertime in each location. While more detailed investigation is needed in order to determine the specific impact of different levels of PV penetration upon provincial electricity markets, the article provides ample encouragement for further research. The article also shows how different techniques can be used-in any location-to investigate the relationship among solar electricity potential, system-wide demand and market prices. With electricity industries being restructured around the world, it continues to be important for solar energy proponents to participate in discussions regarding economic costs and benefits. Techniques used in this article can help them advance the solar electricity case more effectively and thus catalyse the deployment of photovoltaics in markets around the world. (author)

A novel inclusion of intermittent generation resources in long term energy auctions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marambio, Rodrigo; Rudnick, Hugh

2017-01-01

Long term energy auctions are positioning as a valuable tool in order to attract new investments into power systems, especially in Latin American countries where emergent economies characteristics and their correspondent risks are usually present. Even though the focus of these auctions is the long term, there are short term issues involved which actual auction designs fail to include, resulting in an energy allocation that is not necessarily optimal for the system, a condition which becomes more evident in the presence of intermittent renewable technologies. A novel mechanism is formulated to obtain the optimal allocation in long term energy auctions, considering short term generation profiles from both intermittent and conventional base load technologies, and also their risk aversions. The proposed mechanism is developed and simulations are made for some scenarios in the Chilean power market, with different levels of renewable penetration. Significant cost savings are achieved for the final consumers in relation to energy purchases, in comparison with a mechanism that follows the demand profile. As more renewable intermittent capacity enters the power system it is evident the need for changes in the energy auctions allocation mechanisms, including elements to exploit the synergies among participants in the short term. - Highlights: • Risk management consideration in technology neutral auctions allocation. • Allocation mechanism in technology neutral auctions with intermittent technologies. • Renewable and conventional technologies energy auction offer curves. • Increase bid prices in auctions as a consequence of solar technology support.

A Global Look at Future Trends in the Renewable Energy Resource

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, S.; Freedman, J. M.; Kirk-Davidoff, D. B.; Brower, M.

2017-12-01

With the aggressive deployment of utility-scale and distributed generation of wind and solar energy systems, an accurate estimate of the uncertainty associated with future resource trends and plant performance is crucial in maintaining financial integrity in the renewable energy markets. With continuing concerns regarding climate change, the move towards energy resiliency, and the cost-competitiveness of renewables, a rapidly expanding fleet of utility-scale wind and solar power facilities and distributed generation of both resources is now being incorporated into the electric distribution grid. Although solar and wind account for about 3% of global power production, renewable energy is now and will continue to be the world's fastest-growing energy source. With deeper penetration of renewables, confidence in future power production output on a spectrum of temporal and spatial scales is crucial to grid stability for long-term planning and achieving national and international targets in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Here, we use output from a diverse subset of Earth System Models (Climate Model Inter-comparison Project-Phase 5 members) to produce projected trends and uncertainties in regional and global seasonal and inter-annual wind and solar power production and respective capacity factors through the end of the 21st century. Our trends and uncertainty analysis focuses on the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios. For wind and solar energy production estimates, we extract surface layer wind (extrapolated to hub height), irradiance, cloud fraction, and temperature (air temperature affects density [hence wind power production] and the efficiency of photovoltaic [PV] systems), output from the CMIP5 ensemble mean fields for the period 2020 - 2099 and an historical baseline for POR of 1986 - 2005 (compared with long-term observations and the ERA-Interim Reanalysis). Results include representative statistics such as the

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF SOLAR COLLECTORS USING A SOLAR SIMULATOR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Norhafana

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Solar water heating systems is one of the applications of solar energy. One of the components of a solar water heating system is a solar collector that consists of an absorber. The performance of the solar water heating system depends on the absorber in the solar collector. In countries with unsuitable weather conditions, the indoor testing of solar collectors with the use of a solar simulator is preferred. Thus, this study is conducted to use a multilayered absorber in the solar collector of a solar water heating system as well as to evaluate the performance of the solar collector in terms of useful heat of the multilayered absorber using the multidirectional ability of a solar simulator at several values of solar radiation. It is operated at three variables of solar radiation of 400 W/m2, 550 W/m2 and 700 W/m2 and using three different positions of angles at 0º, 45º and 90º. The results show that the multilayer absorber in the solar collector is only able to best adapt at 45° of solar simulator with different values of radiation intensity. At this angle the maximum values of useful heat and temperature difference are achieved. KEYWORDS: solar water heating system; solar collector; multilayered absorber; solar simulator; solar radiation 

1991 SOLAR WORLD CONGRESS - VOLUME 1, PART I

Science.gov (United States)

The four-volume proceedings document the 1991 Solar World Congress (the biennial congress of the International Solar Energy Society) in Denver, CO, August 19-23, 1991. Volume 1 is dedicated to solar electricity, biofuels, and renewable resources. Volume 2 contains papers on activ...

Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Solar in Action (Brochure)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2011-10-01

This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of Milwaukee, WI, a 2008 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.

Sacramento, California: Solar in Action (Brochure)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2011-10-01

This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of Sacramento, CA, a 2008 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Solar in Action (Brochure)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2011-10-01

This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of Pittsburgh, PA, a 2007 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.

Seattle, Washington: Solar in Action (Brochure)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2011-10-01

This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of Seattle, WA, a 2008 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.

Orlando, Florida: Solar in Action (Brochure)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2011-10-01

This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of Orlando, FL, a 2008 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.

Austin, Texas: Solar in Action (Brochure)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2011-10-01

This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of Austin, Texas, a 2007 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.

Mid-Term Quasi-Periodicities and Solar Cycle Variation of the White-Light Corona from 18.5 Years (1996.0 - 2014.5) of LASCO Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Barlyaeva, T.; Lamy, P.; Llebaria, A.

2015-07-01

We report on the analysis of the temporal evolution of the solar corona based on 18.5 years (1996.0 - 2014.5) of white-light observations with the SOHO/LASCO-C2 coronagraph. This evolution is quantified by generating spatially integrated values of the K-corona radiance, first globally, then in latitudinal sectors. The analysis considers time series of monthly values and 13-month running means of the radiance as well as several indices and proxies of solar activity. We study correlation, wavelet time-frequency spectra, and cross-coherence and phase spectra between these quantities. Our results give a detailed insight on how the corona responds to solar activity over timescales ranging from mid-term quasi-periodicities (also known as quasi-biennial oscillations or QBOs) to the long-term 11 year solar cycle. The amplitude of the variation between successive solar maxima and minima (modulation factor) very much depends upon the strength of the cycle and upon the heliographic latitude. An asymmetry is observed during the ascending phase of Solar Cycle 24, prominently in the royal and polar sectors, with north leading. Most prominent QBOs are a quasi-annual period during the maximum phase of Solar Cycle 23 and a shorter period, seven to eight months, in the ascending and maximum phases of Solar Cycle 24. They share the same properties as the solar QBOs: variable periodicity, intermittency, asymmetric development in the northern and southern solar hemispheres, and largest amplitudes during the maximum phase of solar cycles. The strongest correlation of the temporal variations of the coronal radiance - and consequently the coronal electron density - is found with the total magnetic flux. Considering that the morphology of the solar corona is also directly controlled by the topology of the magnetic field, this correlation reinforces the view that they are intimately connected, including their variability at all timescales.

Building a parabolic solar concentrator prototype

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Escobar-Romero, J F M; Montiel, S Vazquez y; Granados-AgustIn, F; Rodriguez-Rivera, E; Martinez-Yanez, L; Cruz-Martinez, V M

2011-01-01

In order to not further degrade the environment, people have been seeking to replace non-renewable natural resources such as fossil fuels by developing technologies that are based on renewable resources. An example of these technologies is solar energy. In this paper, we show the building and test of a solar parabolic concentrator as a prototype for the production of steam that can be coupled to a turbine to generate electricity or a steam engine in any particular industrial process.

The Solar Bank concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eckhart, M.T.

1999-01-01

The Solar Bank is proposed to be established as a multinational wholesale lending institution supporting the adoption of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems by as much as 40% of the world's population. It would supply capital resources to local lending institutions such as banks, credit unions, cooperatives, and rural lending organizations in the developing countries, and to financial institutions in the developed countries. The Solar Bank is intended to be global in scope, with operations in the major countries. The Solar Bank will bring a degree of standardization to the process of making small loans to many people for the purchase of PV systems, and it will provide technical support and training to its participating financial institutions. 'Solar Bank International' is likely to be headquartered in Europe. (orig.)

Representation of Solar Capacity Value in the ReEDS Capacity Expansion Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sigrin, B. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sullivan, P. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Ibanez, E. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Margolis, R. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2014-03-01

An important issue for electricity system operators is the estimation of renewables' capacity contributions to reliably meeting system demand, or their capacity value. While the capacity value of thermal generation can be estimated easily, assessment of wind and solar requires a more nuanced approach due to the resource variability. Reliability-based methods, particularly assessment of the Effective Load-Carrying Capacity, are considered to be the most robust and widely-accepted techniques for addressing this resource variability. This report compares estimates of solar PV capacity value by the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) capacity expansion model against two sources. The first comparison is against values published by utilities or other entities for known electrical systems at existing solar penetration levels. The second comparison is against a time-series ELCC simulation tool for high renewable penetration scenarios in the Western Interconnection. Results from the ReEDS model are found to compare well with both comparisons, despite being resolved at a super-hourly temporal resolution. Two results are relevant for other capacity-based models that use a super-hourly resolution to model solar capacity value. First, solar capacity value should not be parameterized as a static value, but must decay with increasing penetration. This is because -- for an afternoon-peaking system -- as solar penetration increases, the system's peak net load shifts to later in the day -- when solar output is lower. Second, long-term planning models should determine system adequacy requirements in each time period in order to approximate LOLP calculations. Within the ReEDS model we resolve these issues by using a capacity value estimate that varies by time-slice. Within each time period the net load and shadow price on ReEDS's planning reserve constraint signals the relative importance of additional firm capacity.

Solar energy in Germany: a national commitment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Persem, Melanie

2012-01-01

This document presents some key information and figures about the development of solar energy in Germany: national energy plan and share of solar energy in the German energy mix, the photovoltaic industry: a dynamic industry which creates jobs, 2006-2012 evolution of photovoltaic power plant costs, solar thermal resource potentialities and effective exploitation

Hybrids of Solar Sail, Solar Electric, and Solar Thermal Propulsion for Solar-System Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Wilcox, Brian H.

2012-01-01

Solar sails have long been known to be an attractive method of propulsion in the inner solar system if the areal density of the overall spacecraft (S/C) could be reduced to approx.10 g/sq m. It has also long been recognized that the figure (precise shape) of useful solar sails needs to be reasonably good, so that the reflected light goes mostly in the desired direction. If one could make large reflective surfaces with reasonable figure at an areal density of approx.10 g/sq m, then several other attractive options emerge. One is to use such sails as solar concentrators for solar-electric propulsion. Current flight solar arrays have a specific output of approx. 100W/kg at 1 Astronomical Unit (AU) from the sun, and near-term advances promise to significantly increase this figure. A S/C with an areal density of 10 g/sq m could accelerate up to 29 km/s per year as a solar sail at 1 AU. Using the same sail as a concentrator at 30 AU, the same spacecraft could have up to approx. 45 W of electric power per kg of total S/C mass available for electric propulsion (EP). With an EP system that is 50% power-efficient, exhausting 10% of the initial S/C mass per year as propellant, the exhaust velocity is approx. 119 km/s and the acceleration is approx. 12 km/s per year. This hybrid thus opens attractive options for missions to the outer solar system, including sample-return missions. If solar-thermal propulsion were perfected, it would offer an attractive intermediate between solar sailing in the inner solar system and solar electric propulsion for the outer solar system. In the example above, both the solar sail and solar electric systems don't have a specific impulse that is near-optimal for the mission. Solar thermal propulsion, with an exhaust velocity of the order of 10 km/s, is better matched to many solar system exploration missions. This paper derives the basic relationships between these three propulsion options and gives examples of missions that might be enabled by

Space satellite power system. [conversion of solar energy by photovoltaic solar cell arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Glaser, P. E.

1974-01-01

The concept of a satellite solar power station was studied. It is shown that it offers the potential to meet a significant portion of future energy needs, is pollution free, and is sparing of irreplaceable earth resources. Solar energy is converted by photovoltaic solar cell arrays to dc energy which in turn is converted into microwave energy in a large active phased array. The microwave energy is beamed to earth with little attenuation and is converted back to dc energy on the earth. Economic factors are considered.

Regional applicability and potential of salt-gradient solar ponds in the United States. Volume 2: Detailed report

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, E. I. H.

1982-03-01

A comprehensive assessment of the regional applicability and potential of salt-gradient solar ponds in the United States is provided. The assessment is focused on the general characteristics of twelve defined geographic regions. Natural resources essential to solar ponds are surveyed. Meteorological and hydrogeological conditions affecting pond performance are examined. Potentially favorable pond sites are identified. Regional thermal and electrical energy output from solar ponds is calculated. Selected pond design cases are studied. Five major potential market sectors are evaluated in terms of technical and energy-consumption characteristics, and solar-pond applicability and potential. Relevant pond system data and financial factors are analyzed. Solar-pond energy costs are compared with conventional energy costs. The assessment concludes that, excepting Alaska, ponds are applicable in all regions for at least two market sectors. Total solar pond energy supply potential in the five market sectors examined is estimated to be 8.94 quads/yr by the year 2000, approximately 7.2% of the projected total national energy demand.

Solar Technical Assistance Team 2013 Webinars | State, Local, and Tribal

Science.gov (United States)

Governments | NREL 3 Webinars Solar Technical Assistance Team 2013 Webinars The Solar Technical Assistance Team (STAT) 2013 webinar series provides an overview of solar technologies, resources, and the following sessions are available: Solar Finance for Residential and Commercial Customers and Potential Roles

Arsenic Removal from Groundwater by Solar Driven Inline-Electrolytic Induced Co-Precipitation and Filtration—A Long Term Field Test Conducted in West Bengal

OpenAIRE

Otter, Philipp; Malakar, Pradyut; Jana, Bana Bihari; Grischek, Thomas; Benz, Florian; Goldmaier, Alexander; Feistel, Ulrike; Jana, Joydev; Lahiri, Susmita; Alvarez, Juan Antonio

2017-01-01

Arsenic contamination in drinking water resources is of major concern in the Ganga delta plains of West Bengal in India and Bangladesh. Here, several laboratory and field studies on arsenic removal from drinking water resources were conducted in the past and the application of strong-oxidant-induced co-precipitation of arsenic on iron hydroxides is still considered as the most promising mechanism. This paper suggests an autonomous, solar driven arsenic removal setting and presents the finding...

Assessing climate change and socio-economic uncertainties in long term management of water resources

Science.gov (United States)

Jahanshahi, Golnaz; Dawson, Richard; Walsh, Claire; Birkinshaw, Stephen; Glenis, Vassilis

2015-04-01

Long term management of water resources is challenging for decision makers given the range of uncertainties that exist. Such uncertainties are a function of long term drivers of change, such as climate, environmental loadings, demography, land use and other socio economic drivers. Impacts of climate change on frequency of extreme events such as drought make it a serious threat to water resources and water security. The release of probabilistic climate information, such as the UKCP09 scenarios, provides improved understanding of some uncertainties in climate models. This has motivated a more rigorous approach to dealing with other uncertainties in order to understand the sensitivity of investment decisions to future uncertainty and identify adaptation options that are as far as possible robust. We have developed and coupled a system of models that includes a weather generator, simulations of catchment hydrology, demand for water and the water resource system. This integrated model has been applied in the Thames catchment which supplies the city of London, UK. This region is one of the driest in the UK and hence sensitive to water availability. In addition, it is one of the fastest growing parts of the UK and plays an important economic role. Key uncertainties in long term water resources in the Thames catchment, many of which result from earth system processes, are identified and quantified. The implications of these uncertainties are explored using a combination of uncertainty analysis and sensitivity testing. The analysis shows considerable uncertainty in future rainfall, river flow and consequently water resource. For example, results indicate that by the 2050s, low flow (Q95) in the Thames catchment will range from -44 to +9% compared with the control scenario (1970s). Consequently, by the 2050s the average number of drought days are expected to increase 4-6 times relative to the 1970s. Uncertainties associated with urban growth increase these risks further

Solar-system Education for the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

Science.gov (United States)

Pasachoff, Jay M.

2017-10-01

I describe an extensive outreach program about the Sun, the silhouette of the Moon, and the circumstances both celestial and terrestrial of the August 21, 2017, total solar eclipse. Publications included a summary of the last decade of solar-eclipse research for Nature Astronomy, a Resource Letter on Observing Solar Eclipses for the American Journal of Physics, and book reviews for Nature and for Phi Beta Kappa's Key Reporter. Symposia arranged include sessions at AAS, APS, AGU, and AAAS. Lectures include all ages from pre-school through elementary school to high school to senior-citizen residences. The work, including the scientific research about the solar corona that is not part of this abstract, was supported by grants from the Solar Terrestrial Program of the Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Division of NSF and from the Committee for Research and Exploration of the National Geographic Society. Additional student support was received from NSF, NASA's Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium, the Honorary Research Society Sigma Xi, the Clare Booth Luce Foundation, and funds at Williams College.

Solar Sail Propulsion Technology at NASA

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Charles Les

2007-01-01

NASA's In-Space Propulsion Technology Program developed the first generation of solar sail propulsion systems sufficient to accomplish inner solar system science and exploration missions. These first generation solar sails, when operational, will range in size from 40 meters to well over 100 meters in diameter and have an area density of less than 13 grams per square meter. A rigorous, multi-year technology development effort culminated in 2005 with the testing of two different 20-m solar sail systems under thermal vacuum conditions. This effort provided a number of significant insights into the optimal design and expected performance of solar sails as well as an understanding of the methods and costs of building and using them. In addition, solar sail orbital analysis tools for mission design were developed and tested. Laboratory simulations of the effects of long-term space radiation exposure were also conducted on two candidate solar sail materials. Detailed radiation and charging environments were defined for mission trajectories outside the protection of the earth's magnetosphere, in the solar wind environment. These were used in other analytical tools to prove the adequacy of sail design features for accommodating the harsh space environment. The presentation will describe the status of solar sail propulsion within NASA, near-term solar sail mission applications, and near-term plans for further development.

A Geospatial Comparison of Distributed Solar Heat and Power in Europe and the US

Science.gov (United States)

Norwood, Zack; Nyholm, Emil; Otanicar, Todd; Johnsson, Filip

2014-01-01

The global trends for the rapid growth of distributed solar heat and power in the last decade will likely continue as the levelized cost of production for these technologies continues to decline. To be able to compare the economic potential of solar technologies one must first quantify the types and amount of solar resource that each technology can utilize; second, estimate the technological performance potential based on that resource; and third, compare the costs of each technology across regions. In this analysis, we have performed the first two steps in this process. We use physical and empirically validated models of a total of 8 representative solar system types: non-tracking photovoltaics, 2d-tracking photovoltaics, high concentration photovoltaics, flat-plate thermal, evacuated tube thermal, concentrating trough thermal, concentrating solar combined heat and power, and hybrid concentrating photovoltaic/thermal. These models are integrated into a simulation that uses typical meteorological year weather data to create a yearly time series of heat and electricity production for each system over 12,846 locations in Europe and 1,020 locations in the United States. Through this simulation, systems composed of various permutations of collector-types and technologies can be compared geospatially and temporally in terms of their typical production in each location. For example, we see that silicon solar cells show a significant advantage in yearly electricity production over thin-film cells in the colder climatic regions, but that advantage is lessened in regions that have high average irradiance. In general, the results lead to the conclusion that comparing solar technologies across technology classes simply on cost per peak watt, as is usually done, misses these often significant regional differences in annual performance. These results have implications for both solar power development and energy systems modeling of future pathways of the electricity system. PMID

Evaluation of the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB): 1998-2015

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Habte, Aron [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sengupta, Manajit [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Lopez, Anthony [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-04-01

This paper validates the performance of the physics-based Physical Solar Model (PSM) data set in the National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB) to quantify the accuracy of the magnitude and the spatial and temporal variability of the solar radiation data. Achieving higher penetrations of solar energy on the electric grid and reducing integration costs requires accurate knowledge of the available solar resource. Understanding the impacts of clouds and other meteorological constituents on the solar resource and quantifying intra-/inter-hour, seasonal, and interannual variability are essential for accurately designing utility-scale solar energy projects. Solar resource information can be obtained from ground-based measurement stations and/or from modeled data sets. The availability of measurements is scarce, both temporally and spatially, because it is expensive to maintain a high-density solar radiation measurement network that collects good quality data for long periods of time. On the other hand, high temporal and spatial resolution gridded satellite data can be used to estimate surface radiation for long periods of time and is extremely useful for solar energy development. Because of the advantages of satellite-based solar resource assessment, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory developed the PSM. The PSM produced gridded solar irradiance -- global horizontal irradiance (GHI), direct normal irradiance (DNI), and diffuse horizontal irradiance -- for the NSRDB at a 4-km by 4-km spatial resolution and half-hourly temporal resolution covering the 18 years from 1998-2015. The NSRDB also contains additional ancillary meteorological data sets, such as temperature, relative humidity, surface pressure, dew point, and wind speed. Details of the model and data are available at https://nsrdb.nrel.gov. The results described in this paper show that the hourly-averaged satellite-derived data have a systematic (bias) error of approximately +5% for GHI and less than +10% for

Climate Wind Power Resources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nana M. Berdzenishvili

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Georgia as a whole is characterized by rather rich solar energy resources, which allows to construct alternative power stations in the close proximity to traditional power plants. In this case the use of solar energy is meant. Georgia is divided into 5 zones based on the assessment of wind power resources. The selection of these zones is based on the index of average annual wind speed in the examined area, V> 3 m / s and V> 5 m / s wind speed by the summing duration in the course of the year and V = 0. . . 2 m / s of passive wind by total and continuous duration of these indices per hour.

What factors influence the effectiveness of financial incentives on long-term natural resource management practice change?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emma Swann

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Financial incentives are used by natural resource management organisations to encourage landholders to adopt sustainable practices where the outcomes on a farm scale may be negative or marginal. There is a growing body of research aimed at understanding why landholders do or do not agree to participate in financial incentive programs, however research that considers when and how financial incentives work to bring about long-term behaviour change is relatively immature. The purpose of this review is to answer the question ‘What factors influence the effectiveness of financial incentives on long-term natural resource management practice change?’ In synthesising the evidence, it was found that there are numerous characteristics of the practice change itself, along with the program design and implementation, which are important to understand long-term behaviour change. These include whether inexpensive maintenance or long-term funding is available; whether the changes are relatively simple to sustain; whether the program involves structural changes; whether there is land use rigidity; and whether the changes have resulting environmental benefits that are highly observable. Additionally, it is advisable for programs that use financial incentives to include the following program features: ongoing extension support and a focus on building relationship and trust; flexibility in how the practice change is applied; active landholder involvement from planning to evaluation; and contract length that is appropriate for the complexity of the NRM practice. These characteristics can be used to guide policy makers in their natural resource management investment decisions. There is a clear need for greatly increased monitoring and evaluation of existing programs, both during the program and after its conclusion, in order to more fully understand its long-term impacts and ultimate effectiveness. Finally, landholders undertaking a practice change generally

Solar-terrestrial physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patel, V.L.

1977-01-01

The Glossary is designed to be a technical dictionary that will provide solar workers of various specialties, students, other astronomers and theoreticians with concise information on the nature and the properties of phenomena of solar and solar-terrestrial physics. Each term, or group of related terms, is given a concise phenomenological and quantitative description, including the relationship to other phenomena and an interpretation in terms of physical processes. The references are intended to lead the non-specialist reader into the literature. This section deals with: geomagnetic field; coordinate systems; geomagnetic indices; Dst index; auroral electrojet index AE; daily, 27-day and semi-annual variations of geomagnetic field; micropulsation; geomagnetic storms; storm sudden commencement (SSC) or sudden commencement (SC); initial phase; ring current; sudden impulses; ionosphere; D region; polar cap absorption; sudden ionospheric disturbance; E region; sporadic E; equatorial electrojet; solar flare effect; F 1 and F 2 regions; spread F; travelling ionospheric disturbances; magnetosphere; magnetospheric coordinate systems; plasmasphere; magnetosheath; magnetospheric tail; substorm; radiation belts or Van Allen belts; whistlers; VLF emissions; aurora; auroral forms; auroral oval and auroral zones; auroral intensity; stable auroral red arcs; pulsing aurora; polar glow aurora; and airglow. (B.R.H.)

Practice of Meteorological Services in Turpan Solar Eco-City in China (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Y.; Chang, R.; He, X.; Jiang, Y.; Zhao, D.; Ma, J.

2013-12-01

Turpan Solar Eco-City is located in Gobi in Northwest China, which is one of the National New Energy Demonstration Urban. The city was planed and designed from October of 2008 and constructed from May of 2010, and the first phase of the project has been completed by October of 2013. Energy supply in Turpan Solar Eco-City is mainly from PV power, which is installed in all of the roof and the total capacity is 13.4MW. During the planning and designing of the city, and the running of the smart grid, meteorological services have played an important role. 1) Solar Energy Resource Assessment during Planning Phase. According to the observed data from meteorological stations in recent 30 years, solar energy resource was assessed and available PV power generation capacity was calculated. The results showed that PV power generation capacity is 1.3 times the power consumption, that is, solar energy resource in Turpan is rich. 2) Key Meteorological Parameters Determination for Architectural Design. A professional solar energy resource station was constructed and the observational items included Global Horizontal Irradiance, Inclined Total Solar Irradiance at 30 degree, Inclined Total Solar Irradiance at local latitude, and so on. According these measured data, the optical inclined angle for PV array was determined, that is, 30 degree. The results indicated that the annual irradiation on inclined plane with optimal angle is 1.4% higher than the inclined surface with latitude angle, and 23.16% higher than the horizontal plane. The diffuse ratio and annual variation of the solar elevation angle are two major factors that influence the irradiation on inclined plane. 3) Solar Energy Resource Forecast for Smart Grid. Weather Research Forecast (WRF) model was used to forecast the hourly solar radiation of future 72 hours and the measured irradiance data was used to forecast the minutely solar radiation of future 4 hours. The forecast results were submitted to smart grid and used to

Solar thermal coldness in Rottweil. First results from a long-term monitoring; Solarthermische Kaelte in Rottweil. Erste Ergebnisse eines Langzeitmonitorings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huber, Klaus; Bollin, Elmar [Hochschule Offenburg (Germany)

2012-11-01

In cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE (Freiburg, Federal Republic of Germany) the University of Offenburg (Offenburg, Federal Republic of Germany) accompanied the solarly assisted air-conditioning of Deutsche Telekom in Rottweil (Federal Republic of Germany). The plant was sponsored by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany) in line with the research project 'Solarthermie2000plus'. In the meanwhile first results from a long-term monitoring are available.

Randomized trial of plastic bags to prevent term neonatal hypothermia in a resource-poor setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Belsches, Theodore C; Tilly, Alyssa E; Miller, Tonya R; Kambeyanda, Rohan H; Leadford, Alicia; Manasyan, Albert; Chomba, Elwyn; Ramani, Manimaran; Ambalavanan, Namasivayam; Carlo, Waldemar A

2013-09-01

Term infants in resource-poor settings frequently develop hypothermia during the first hours after birth. Plastic bags or wraps are a low-cost intervention for the prevention of hypothermia in preterm and low birth weight infants that may also be effective in term infants. Our objective was to test the hypothesis that placement of term neonates in plastic bags at birth reduces hypothermia at 1 hour after birth in a resource-poor hospital. This parallel-group randomized controlled trial was conducted at University Teaching Hospital, the tertiary referral center in Zambia. Inborn neonates with both a gestational age ≥37 weeks and a birth weight ≥2500 g were randomized 1:1 to either a standard thermoregulation protocol or to a standard thermoregulation protocol with placement of the torso and lower extremities inside a plastic bag within 10 minutes after birth. The primary outcome was hypothermia (plastic bag (n = 135) or to standard thermoregulation care (n = 136) had similar baseline characteristics (birth weight, gestational age, gender, and baseline temperature). Neonates in the plastic bag group had a lower rate of hypothermia (60% vs 73%, risk ratio 0.76, confidence interval 0.60-0.96, P = .026) and a higher axillary temperature (36.4 ± 0.5°C vs 36.2 ± 0.7°C, P plastic bag at birth reduced the incidence of hypothermia at 1 hour after birth in term neonates born in a resource-poor setting, but most neonates remained hypothermic.

Perspectives for solar thermal applications in Taiwan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Keh-Chin; Lin, Wei-Min; Leu, Tzong-Shyng; Chung, Kung-Ming

2016-01-01

Taiwan has long depended on imported fossil energy. The government is thus actively promoting the use of renewable energy. Since 2000, domestic installations of solar water heaters have increased substantially because of the long-term subsidies provided for such systems. However, data on the annual installation area of solar collectors in recent years indicated that the solar thermal industry in Taiwan has reached a bottleneck. The long-term policy providing subsidies must thus be revised. It is proposed that future thermal applications in Taiwan should focus on building-integrated solar thermal, photovoltaic/thermal, and industrial heating processes. Regarding building-integrated solar thermal systems, the current subsidy model can be continued (according to area of solar collectors); nevertheless, the application of photovoltaic/thermal and industrial heating systems must be determined according to the thermal output of such systems. - Highlights: •The long-term subsidization for solar water heaters has lost effectiveness. •Solar thermal applications include BIST, PV/T and industrial heating process. •A performance-based subsidy policy should be implemented.

Development of Inorganic Solar Cells by Nanotechnology

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Yafei Zhang; Huijuan Geng; Zhihua Zhou; Jiang Wu; Zhiming Wang; Yaozhong Zhang; Zhongli Li; Liying Zhang; Zhi Yang; Huey Liang Hwang

2012-01-01

Inorganic solar cells, as durable photovoltaic devices for harvesting electric energy from sun light,have received tremendous attention due to the fear of exhausting the earth’s energy resources and damaging the living environment due to greenhouse gases. Some recent developments in nanotechnology have opened up new avenues for more relevant inorganic solar cells produced by new photovoltaic conversion concepts and effective solar energy harvesting nanostructures. In this review, the multiple exciton generation effect solar cells, hot carrier solar cells, one dimensional material constructed asymmetrical schottky barrier arrays, noble nanoparticle induced plasmonic enhancement, and light trapping nanostructured semiconductor solar cells are highlighted.

Solar-based navigation for robotic explorers

Science.gov (United States)

Shillcutt, Kimberly Jo

2000-12-01

This thesis introduces the application of solar position and shadowing information to robotic exploration. Power is a critical resource for robots with remote, long-term missions, so this research focuses on the power generation capabilities of robotic explorers during navigational tasks, in addition to power consumption. Solar power is primarily considered, with the possibility of wind power also contemplated. Information about the environment, including the solar ephemeris, terrain features, time of day, and surface location, is incorporated into a planning structure, allowing robots to accurately predict shadowing and thus potential costs and gains during navigational tasks. By evaluating its potential to generate and expend power, a robot can extend its lifetime and accomplishments. The primary tasks studied are coverage patterns, with a variety of plans developed for this research. The use of sun, terrain and temporal information also enables new capabilities of identifying and following sun-synchronous and sun-seeking paths. Digital elevation maps are combined with an ephemeris algorithm to calculate the altitude and azimuth of the sun from surface locations, and to identify and map shadows. Solar navigation path simulators use this information to perform searches through two-dimensional space, while considering temporal changes. Step by step simulations of coverage patterns also incorporate time in addition to location. Evaluations of solar and wind power generation, power consumption, area coverage, area overlap, and time are generated for sets of coverage patterns, with on-board environmental information linked to the simulations. This research is implemented on the Nomad robot for the Robotic Antarctic Meteorite Search. Simulators have been developed for coverage pattern tests, as well as for sun-synchronous and sun-seeking path searches. Results of field work and simulations are reported and analyzed, with demonstrated improvements in efficiency

New Orleans, Louisiana: Solar in Action (Brochure)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2011-10-01

This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of New Orleans, LA, a 2007 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.

On the role of solar and geomagnetic activity in long-term trends in the atmosphere-ionosphere system

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Laštovička, Jan

2005-01-01

Roč. 67, č. 1-2 (2005), s. 83-92 ISSN 1364-6826 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR KSK3012103; GA AV ČR IAA3042102 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30420517 Keywords : Long-term trends * Atmosphere * Ionosphere * Solar activity * Geomagnetic activity Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology Impact factor: 1.309, year: 2005

Sustained orderly development of the solar electric technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aitken, D.W.

1992-01-01

This article examines the need of electric utilities to support the commercialization of solar electric technologies now in order to have the technology available for future energy resources. The topics of the article include deteriorating opportunities, sustained orderly development of solar electric technologies, historical aspects, and market forces in the solar electric industry

Improved model for solar heating of buildings

OpenAIRE

Lie, Bernt

2015-01-01

A considerable future increase in the global energy use is expected, and the effects of energy conversion on the climate are already observed. Future energy conversion should thus be based on resources that have negligible climate effects; solar energy is perhaps the most important of such resources. The presented work builds on a previous complete model for solar heating of a house; here the aim to introduce ventilation heat recovery and improve on the hot water storage model. Ventilation he...

Space Resources Roundtable 2

Science.gov (United States)

Ignatiev, A.

2000-01-01

Contents include following: Developing Technologies for Space Resource Utilization - Concept for a Planetary Engineering Research Institute. Results of a Conceptual Systems Analysis of Systems for 200 m Deep Sampling of the Martian Subsurface. The Role of Near-Earth Asteroids in Long-Term Platinum Supply. Core Drilling for Extra-Terrestrial Mining. Recommendations by the "LSP and Manufacturing" Group to the NSF-NASA Workshop on Autonomous Construction and Manufacturing for Space Electrical Power Systems. Plasma Processing of Lunar and Planetary Materials. Percussive Force Magnitude in Permafrost. Summary of the Issues Regarding the Martian Subsurface Explorer. A Costing Strategy for Manufacturing in Orbit Using Extraterrestrial Resources. Mine Planning for Asteroid Orebodies. Organic-based Dissolution of Silicates: A New Approach to Element Extraction from LunarRegohth. Historic Frontier Processes Active in Future Space-based Mineral Extraction. The Near-Earth Space Surveillance (NIESS) Mission: Discovery, Tracking, and Characterization of Asteroids, Comets, and Artificial Satellites with a microsatellite. Privatized Space Resource Property Ownership. The Fabrication of Silicon Solar Cells on the Moon Using In-Situ Resources. A New Strategy for Exploration Technology Development: The Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) Exploratiori/Commercialization Technology Initiative. Space Resources for Space Tourism. Recovery of Volatiles from the Moon and Associated Issues. Preliminary Analysis of a Small Robot for Martian Regolith Excavation. The Registration of Space-based Property. Continuous Processing with Mars Gases. Drilling and Logging in Space; An Oil-Well Perspective. LORPEX for Power Surges: Drilling, Rock Crushing. An End-To-End Near-Earth Asteroid Resource Exploitation Plan. An Engineering and Cost Model for Human Space Settlement Architectures: Focus on Space Hotels and Moon/Mars Exploration. The Development and Realization of a Silicon-60-based

Development of gridded solar radiation data over Belgium based on Meteosat and in-situ observations

Science.gov (United States)

Journée, Michel; Vanderveken, Gilles; Bertrand, Cédric

2013-04-01

Knowledge on solar resources is highly important for all forms of solar energy applications. With the recent development in solar-based technologies national meteorological services are faced with increasing demands for high-quality and reliable site-time specific solar resource information. Traditionally, solar radiation is observed by means of networks of meteorological stations. Costs for installation and maintenance of such networks are very high and national networks comprise only few stations. Consequently the availability of ground-based solar radiation measurements has proven to be spatially and temporally inadequate for many applications. To overcome such a limitation, a major effort has been undertaken at the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (RMI) to provide the solar energy industry, the electricity sector, governments, and renewable energy organizations and institutions with the most suitable and accurate information on the solar radiation resources at the Earth's surface over the Belgian territory. Only space-based observations can deliver a global coverage of the solar irradiation impinging on horizontal surface at the ground level. Because only geostationary data allow to capture the diurnal cycle of the solar irradiance at the Earth's surface, a method that combines information from Meteosat Second Generation satellites and ground-measurement has been implemented at RMI to generate high resolution solar products over Belgium on an operational basis. Besides these new products, the annual and seasonal variability of solar energy resource was evaluated, solar radiation climate zones were defined and the recent trend in solar radiation was characterized.

Impact of the 2017 Solar Eclipse on Smart Grid

Science.gov (United States)

Reda, I.; Andreas, A.; Sengupta, M.; Habte, A.

2017-12-01

With the increasing interest in using solar energy as a major contributor to renewable energy utilization, and with the focus on using smart grids to optimize the use of electrical energy based on demand and resources from different locations, arises the need to know the Moon position in the sky with respect to the Sun. When a solar eclipse occurs, the Moon disk might totally or partially shade the Sun disk, which can affect the irradiance level from the sun disk, consequently, a resource on the grid is affected. The Moon position can then provide the smart grid users with information about potential total or partial solar eclipse at different locations in the grid, so that other resources on the grid can be directed where this might be needed when such phenomena occurs. At least five solar eclipses occur yearly at different locations on earth, they can last three hours or more depending on the location, which can have devastating effects on the smart grid users. On August 21, 2017 a partial solar eclipse will occur at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, USA. The solar irradiance will be measured during the eclipse and compared to the data generated by a model for validation.

Long term performance of a solar floor and hot water heating house; Taiyonetsu yukadanbo kyuto jutaku no choki seino

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Udagawa, M [Kogakuin University, Tokyo (Japan)

1997-11-25

Outlined herein are measured energy consumption followed for 12 years for a totally electrified solar house with a floor-heating and hot-water heating system. In the solar system, hot water generated by the solar collector is sent, via a surge tank, to a living room, dining room and study to heat their concrete floors, and recycled back to the collector after heating the heat-storage tank for hot water supply. The collector is of plate type, consisting of 6 units, each with a white glass sheet as the heat-collecting membrane for selectively absorbing heat. Its total heat-collecting area is 11.4m{sup 2}. Long-term performance of the solar system installed for floor and hot-water heating in a totally electrified solar house, is analyzed by the measured results collected for 12 years. The house consumes secondary energy of 11.7MWh/year on the average, which is approximately 20% lower that that required for a house of the equivalent size. The solar system has been operated smoothly, to supply 46 and 35% of the required heat for hot-water and floor heating. It is however estimated that annual heat loss reaches 34% in the hot-water heating system, including that in the electric hot-water generator, and prevention of heat loss is one of the major themes for the future system designs. 4 refs., 5 figs.

Solar Deployment System (SolarDS) Model: Documentation and Sample Results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Denholm, P.; Drury, E.; Margolis, R.

2009-09-01

The Solar Deployment System (SolarDS) model is a bottom-up, market penetration model that simulates the potential adoption of photovoltaics (PV) on residential and commercial rooftops in the continental United States through 2030. NREL developed SolarDS to examine the market competitiveness of PV based on regional solar resources, capital costs, electricity prices, utility rate structures, and federal and local incentives. The model uses the projected financial performance of PV systems to simulate PV adoption for building types and regions then aggregates adoption to state and national levels. The main components of SolarDS include a PV performance simulator, a PV annual revenue calculator, a PV financial performance calculator, a PV market share calculator, and a regional aggregator. The model simulates a variety of installed PV capacity for a range of user-specified input parameters. PV market penetration levels from 15 to 193 GW by 2030 were simulated in preliminary model runs. SolarDS results are primarily driven by three model assumptions: (1) future PV cost reductions, (2) the maximum PV market share assumed for systems with given financial performance, and (3) PV financing parameters and policy-driven assumptions, such as the possible future cost of carbon emissions.

Reallocating risks and returns to scale up adoption of distributed electricity resources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulatilaka, Nalin; Santiago, Leonardo; Vakili, Pirooz

2014-01-01

Deployment of distributed electricity resources requires bringing together assets that belong to diverse and geographically diffuse owners. Using the example of distributed solar PV, we analyze the schemes used to encourage/induce owners of distributed assets to make them available for electricity generation. The dominant model in the U.S. is long term power purchase agreements (PPA) offered to owners/consumers by solar developers. We show that these agreements (mis)allocate the electricity price risk to owners/consumers and impose limitations on the scale up of distributed solar. By proper use of financial markets it is possible to shift the electricity price risk from owners/consumers to parties that are better positioned to manage it. The proposed contracts simplify the adoption decision for owners/consumers and can lead to a wider adoption. Removing barriers to scale up requires (i) eliminating the tight coupling between consumers and owners and (ii) rewarding the owners unambiguously for the assets they provide. These necessitate the transformation of the current intermediary firms into full-fledged distributed generators. We discuss the implications of such a transformation and argue that the broad outline of our analysis can be used to assess scale up schemes in other domains of distributed electricity resources as well. - Highlights: • We analyze schemes used to induce owners of distributed assets to make them available for electricity generation. • We show that power purchase agreements used in solar PV “misallocate” electricity price risk to owners/consumers. • We propose new contracts forms that shift price risk from consumers to parties that are better able to manage it. • Full-fledged distributed generators are created by unambiguously rewarding owners and de-coupling consumption/ownership. • We argue that our analysis can be used to assess scale up schemes in other domains of distributed electricity resources

Meanings at Hand: Coordinating Semiotic Resources in Explaining Mathematical Terms in Classroom Discourse

Science.gov (United States)

Heller, Vivien

2016-01-01

The article examines how diverse semiotic resources are made available for explaining mathematical terms in a fifth-grade classroom. Situated within the methodological framework developed by conversation analysis and the analysis of embodiment-in-interaction, the study deals with two instances of a classroom episode in each of which participants…

Solar energy legal bibliography. Final report. [160 references

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seeley, D.; Euser, B.; Joyce, C.; Morgan, G. H.; Laitos, J. G.; Adams, A.

1979-03-01

The Solar Energy Legal Bibliography is a compilation of approximately 160 solar publications abstracted for their legal and policy content (through October 1978). Emphasis is on legal barriers and incentives to solar energy development. Abstracts are arranged under the following categories: Antitrust, Biomass, Building Codes, Consumer Protection, Environmental Aspects, Federal Legislation and Programs, Financing/Insurance, International Law, Labor, Land Use (Covenants, Easements, Nuisance, Zoning), Local Legislation and Programs, Ocean Energy, Patents and Licenses, Photovoltaics, Solar Access Rights, Solar Heating and Cooling, Solar Thermal Power Systems, Standards, State Legislation and Programs, Tax Law, Tort Liability, Utilities, Warranties, Wind Resources, and General Solar Law.

Low Power FPGA Based Solar Charge Sensor Design Using Frequency Scaling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tomar, Puneet; Gupta, Sheigali; Kaur, Amanpreet

2016-01-01

Resources of energy are degrading day by day the concept of energy saving is very important. Solar chargers are very most widely used devices which saves our energy resources. Use of Solar charges is now extremely increased. But the performance and effective output of these chargers depend upon h...

Recent Progress of Solar Weather Forecasting at Naoc

Science.gov (United States)

He, Han; Wang, Huaning; Du, Zhanle; Zhang, Liyun; Huang, Xin; Yan, Yan; Fan, Yuliang; Zhu, Xiaoshuai; Guo, Xiaobo; Dai, Xinghua

The history of solar weather forecasting services at National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) can be traced back to 1960s. Nowadays, NAOC is the headquarters of the Regional Warning Center of China (RWC-China), which is one of the members of the International Space Environment Service (ISES). NAOC is responsible for exchanging data, information and space weather forecasts of RWC-China with other RWCs. The solar weather forecasting services at NAOC cover short-term prediction (within two or three days), medium-term prediction (within several weeks), and long-term prediction (in time scale of solar cycle) of solar activities. Most efforts of the short-term prediction research are concentrated on the solar eruptive phenomena, such as flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar proton events, which are the key driving sources of strong space weather disturbances. Based on the high quality observation data of the latest space-based and ground-based solar telescopes and with the help of artificial intelligence techniques, new numerical models with quantitative analyses and physical consideration are being developed for the predictions of solar eruptive events. The 3-D computer simulation technology is being introduced for the operational solar weather service platform to visualize the monitoring of solar activities, the running of the prediction models, as well as the presenting of the forecasting results. A new generation operational solar weather monitoring and forecasting system is expected to be constructed in the near future at NAOC.

Renewable energy resources and technologies practice in Bangladesh

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rofiqul Islam, M.; Rafiqul Alam Beg, M. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Rajshahi 6204 (Bangladesh); Rabiul Islam, M. [Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Rajshahi 6204 (Bangladesh)

2008-02-15

Bangladesh has very limited nonrenewable energy resources of its own. She is facing energy crisis and serious desertification problem in rural areas. These issues could be removed if renewable energy is used as a primary source of energy in rural areas. It is essential for scientists and researchers to find out the renewable energy resources and effective technologies. Bangladesh is endowed with vast renewable energy resources such as biomass and solar insolation. Besides, hydro and wind power can be considered as potential renewable energy resources. Harnessing these resources appears to be a promising solution for improving the quality of life of rural villagers. The government and many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have tried to comprehend and have strived to address the problem of energy. This paper reviews the renewable energy resources and renewable energy technologies (RETs) practicing in Bangladesh in terms of its implementation, research and development activities. The development and trial of systems are mostly funded so far by donor agencies in collaboration with government and NGOs. Biomass energy sources are traditionally used for domestic cooking and in small rural industries. Approximately 60% of total energy demand of the country is supplied by indigenous biomass based fuels. Activities on the development and promotion of biomass technologies have been going on for one decade. Some national and international funds have been available for biogas technology, improved biomass cookers and production of biomass briquettes. At the time, around 25,000 biogas plants exist all over the country in rural areas and educational institutes, etc. More than 0.20 million improve stoves have been installed to save biomass fuel. Over 900 briquetting machines have been operating in the country on commercial basis. The annual solar radiation availability in Bangladesh is as high as 1700 kWh/m{sup 2}. Research and demonstration activities carried out for one

High temperature solar thermal technology: The North Africa Market

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1990-12-01

High temperature solar thermal (HTST) technology offers an attractive option for both industrialized and non-industrialized countries to generate electricity and industrial process steam. The purpose of this report is to assess the potential market for solar thermal applications in the North African countries of Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. North Africa was selected because of its outstanding solar resource base and the variety of applications to be found there. Diminishing oil and gas resources, coupled with expanding energy needs, opens a large potential market for the US industry. The US high temperature solar trough industry has little competition globally and could build a large market in these areas. The US is already familiar with certain solar markets in North Africa due to the supplying of substantial quantities of US-manufactured flat plate collectors to this region.

Optical performance of inclined south-north single-axis tracked solar panels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Zhimin; Liu, Xinyue; Tang, Runsheng

2010-01-01

To investigate optical performance of the inclined south-north single-axis (ISN-axis, in short) tracked solar panels, a mathematical procedure to estimate the annual collectible radiation on fixed and tracked panels was suggested based on solar geometry and monthly horizontal radiation. For solar panels tracking about ISN-axis, the yearly optimal tilt-angle of ISN-axis for maximizing annual solar gain was about 3 o deviating from the site latitude in most of China except in areas with poor solar resources, and the maximum annual collectible radiation on ISN-axis tracked panels was about 97-98% of that on dual-axis tracked panels; whereas for ISN-axis tracked panels with the tilt-angle of ISN-axis being adjusted four times in a year at three fixed tilt-angles, the annual collectible radiation was almost close to that on dual-axis tracked panels, the optimum date of tilt-angle adjustment of ISN-axis was 23 days from the equinoxes, and the optimum tilt-angle adjustment value for each adjustment was about 22 o . Compared to fixed south-facing solar panels inclined at an optimal tilt-angle, the increase in the annual solar gain due to using ISN-axis sun tracking was above 30% in the areas with abundant solar resources and less than 20% in the areas with poor solar resources.

[Job Demands-Resources, exhaustion and work engagement in a long-term care institution].

Science.gov (United States)

Conway, P M; Neri, L; Campanini, P; Francioli, L; Camerino, D; Punzi, S; Fichera, G P; Costa, G

2012-01-01

In this study, we aimed at testing the main hypotheses of the Job Demands-Resources model (JD-R) in a sample of employees (n = 205, mainly healthcare workers) of a long-term care institution located in Northern Italy. Hierarchical linear regression analyses show that almost all job demands considered were significantly associated with higher general psycho-physical exhaustion (beta ranging from 0.14 to 0.29), whereas more unfavourable scores in all job resources were associated with lower work engagement (from -0.27 to -0.51). However, also significant cross-over associations were observed, mainly between job resources and exhaustion, with effect sizes comparable with those found for the relationships between job demands and exhaustion. Hence, our study only partially supports the JD-R model. Implications of results for work-related stress management are finally discussed.

Diagnosis of district potential in terms of renewable energies. Report 1 - Present situation: Assessment of renewable energy production, Identification and quantification of territory's potentialities in terms of renewable energies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-10-01

After a presentation of the Gers district context (geography, administrative organisation, demography, housing, economy, expertise), the report presents the energy situation, an overview of the solar thermal sector (installations and installers), of the solar photovoltaic sector (existing and projected installations, installers), of hydroelectricity, of wood-energy (individual heating, industrial heating plants, planned installations), of wind energy, of biogas, and of geothermal energy (existing and planned installations). It proposes an assessment of these energies as a whole. Then, after an overview of the district situation with respect to national objectives and to other districts of the region, the study reports an identification and quantification of potentialities in terms of theoretical resources for different energy sources (solar, wind, hydraulic, wood, methanization, valorizable biomass, geothermal, and agri-fuels). Avoided CO 2 emissions are assessed

Solar Energy Education. Home economics: student activities. Field test edition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1981-03-01

A view of solar energy from the standpoint of home economics is taken in this book of activities. Students are provided information on solar energy resources while performing these classroom activities. Instructions for the construction of a solar food dryer and a solar cooker are provided. Topics for study include window treatments, clothing, the history of solar energy, vitamins from the sun, and how to choose the correct solar home. (BCS)

Mini Solar and Sea Current Power Generation System

Science.gov (United States)

Almenhali, Abdulrahman; Alshamsi, Hatem; Aljunaibi, Yaser; Almussabi, Dheyab; Alshehhi, Ahmed; Hilal, Hassan Bu

2017-07-01

The power demand in United Arab Emirates is increased so that there is a consistent power cut in our region. This is because of high power consumption by factories and also due to less availability of conventional energy resources. Electricity is most needed facility for the human being. All the conventional energy resources are depleting day by day. So we have to shift from conventional to non-conventional energy resources. In this the combination of two energy resources is takes place i.e. wind and solar energy. This process reviles the sustainable energy resources without damaging the nature. We can give uninterrupted power by using hybrid energy system. Basically this system involves the integration of two energy system that will give continuous power. Solar panels are used for converting solar energy and wind turbines are used for converting wind energy into electricity. This electrical power can utilize for various purpose. Generation of electricity will be takes place at affordable cost. This paper deals with the generation of electricity by using two sources combine which leads to generate electricity with affordable cost without damaging the nature balance. The purpose of this project was to design a portable and low cost power system that combines both sea current electric turbine and solar electric technologies. This system will be designed in efforts to develop a power solution for remote locations or use it as another source of green power.

PSA Solar furnace: A facility for testing PV cells under concentrated solar radiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fernandez-Reche, J.; Canadas, I.; Sanchez, M.; Ballestrin, J.; Yebra, L.; Monterreal, R.; Rodriguez, J.; Garcia, G. [Concentration Solar Technologies, Plataforma Solar de Almeria-CIEMAT P.O. Box 22, Tabernas, E-04200 (Almeria) (Spain); Alonso, M.; Chenlo, F. [Photovoltaic Components and Systems, Renewable Energies Department-CIEMAT Avda. Complutense, 22, Madrid, E-28040 (Spain)

2006-09-22

The Plataforma Solar de Almeria (PSA), the largest centre for research, development and testing of concentration solar thermal technologies in Europe, has started to apply its knowledge, facilities and resources to development of the Concentration PV technology in an EU-funded project HiConPV. A facility for testing PV cells under solar radiation concentrated up to 2000x has recently been completed. The advantages of this facility are that, since it is illuminated by solar radiation, it is possible to obtain the appropriate cell spectral response directly, and the flash tests can be combined with prolonged PV-cell irradiation on large surfaces (up to 150cm{sup 2}), so the thermal response of the PV cell can be evaluated simultaneously. (author)

Solar thermal collectors at design and technology activity days

OpenAIRE

Petrina, Darinka

2016-01-01

Thesis encompases usage of renewable resources of energy, especially solar energy, which is essential for our future. On one hand, certain ways of exploiting solar energy (with solar cells) have been well established and is included in the Design and technology curriculum, on the other hand however, solar thermal collectors have not been recognized enough in spite of their distribution, applicability and environmentally friendly technology. Consequently thesis emphasizes the usage of solar en...

Degradation of CIGS solar cells

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Theelen, M.J.

2015-01-01

Thin film CIGS solar cells and individual layers within these solar cells have been tested in order to assess their long term stability. Alongside with the execution of standard tests, in which elevated temperatures and humidity levels are used, the solar cells have also been exposed to a

Long-term energy storage tanks for dwellings and solar house architecture. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1980-12-01

The design and installation of hot water storage tanks as accumulators of solar energy is presented. Solar house architecture which maximizes roof, solar collector energy absorption potential is then considered. Proposals for residential areas which include solar houses are made.

Costing for long-term care: the development of Scottish health service resource utilization groups as a casemix instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

Urquhart, J; Kennie, D C; Murdoch, P S; Smith, R G; Lennox, I

1999-03-01

to create a casemix measure with a limited number of categories which discriminate in terms of resource use and will assist in the development of a currency for contracting for the provision of health care. nursing staff completed a questionnaire providing clinical data and also gave estimates of relative patient resource use; ward-based costs were collected from appropriate unit managers. National Health Service continuing-care wards in 50 Scottish hospitals. 2783 long-stay patients aged 65 years and over. inter-rater reliability was assessed using 1402 patients; percentage agreement between raters for individual variables varied from 68% for feeding to 97% for clinically complex treatments. Nursing costs gave 62% agreement given categories of high, medium and low. The Scottish health service resource utilization groups (SHRUG) measure was developed using 606 cases, and 67% consistency was achieved for the five categories. The relative weights for the SHRUG categories ranged from 0.56 to 1.41. The five categories explain 35% of variance in costs. the five SHRUG casemix categories show good discrimination in terms of costs. The SHRUG measure compares favourably with diagnosis-related groups in the acute sector and with other casemix instruments for long-term care previously piloted in the UK. SHRUG is a useful measurement instrument in assessing the resource needs of elderly people in long-term care.

Using smart meter data to estimate demand response potential, with application to solar energy integration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dyson, Mark E.H.; Borgeson, Samuel D.; Tabone, Michaelangelo D.; Callaway, Duncan S.

2014-01-01

This paper presents a new method for estimating the demand response potential of residential air conditioning (A/C), using hourly electricity consumption data (“smart meter” data) from 30,000 customer accounts in Northern California. We apply linear regression and unsupervised classification methods to hourly, whole-home consumption and outdoor air temperature data to determine the hours, if any, that each home's A/C is active, and the temperature dependence of consumption when it is active. When results from our sample are scaled up to the total population, we find a maximum of 270–360 MW (95% c.i.) of demand response potential over a 1-h duration with a 4 °F setpoint change, and up to 3.2–3.8 GW of short-term curtailment potential. The estimated resource correlates well with the evening decline of solar production on hot, summer afternoons, suggesting that demand response could potentially act as reserves for the grid during these periods in the near future with expected higher adoption rates of solar energy. Additionally, the top 5% of homes in the sample represent 40% of the total MW-hours of DR resource, suggesting that policies and programs to take advantage of this resource should target these high users to maximize cost-effectiveness. - Highlights: • We use hourly electricity use data to estimate residential demand response (DR) potential. • The residential cooling DR resource is large and well-matched to solar variability. • Customer heterogeneity is large; programs should target high potential customers

International conference on comparative assessments of solar power technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, A.

1994-02-01

Many regions in the world which lack fossil fuel resources but possess ample sunshine seek to identify near-term solar technologies capable of gradually replacing their fuel imports in cost-effective fashion. The conference addresses the following topics: technical and economical studies specifying their underlying basic assumption, methods and rules for evaluation in order to enable meaningful comparison between different technologies and systems. Detailed delineation of numerical and graphical representations, critical analysis and comparison between simulations, and test validity. Generalized performance indicators for systems and subsystems, problems of measuring and evaluating physical parameters, of terminology and conceptual tools for comparative evaluations. Advances in research development, engineering and field performance, including implications pertaining to comparative assessments and definitions of criteria and standards helpful to comparative evaluation. Assessments of the full (and hidden) cost of fossil energies as compared to solar, including environmental costs. Cost/benefit studies for remote versus centralized systems. (ed.)

Renewable Energy Finance Tracking Initiative (REFTI) Solar Trend Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hubbell, R.; Lowder, T.; Mendelsohn, M.; Cory, K.

2012-09-01

This report is a summary of the finance trends for small-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects (PV <1 MW), large-scale PV projects (PV greater than or equal to 1 MW), and concentrated solar power projects as reported in the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Renewable Energy Finance Tracking Initiative (REFTI). The report presents REFTI data during the five quarterly periods from the fourth quarter of 2009 to the first half of 2011. The REFTI project relies exclusively on the voluntary participation of industry stakeholders for its data; therefore, it does not offer a comprehensive view of the technologies it tracks. Despite this limitation, REFTI is the only publicly available resource for renewable energy project financial terms. REFTI analysis offers usable inputs into the project economic evaluations of developers and investors, as well as the policy assessments of public utility commissions and others in the renewable energy industry.

76 FR 72717 - Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed KRoad Moapa Solar Generation Facility...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-25

... benefits for the Tribe by using solar resources from Reservation lands where exposure to levels of high... their renewable energy goals by providing electricity generated from solar resources from tribal lands... site impacts. The proposed Federal action is the BIA approval of a solar energy ground lease and...

Laboratory Testing of Solar Combi System with Compact Long Term PCM Heat Storage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Johansen, Jakob Berg; Englmair, Gerald; Dannemand, Mark

2016-01-01

To enable the transition from fossil fuels as a primary heat source for domestic hot water preparation and space heating solar thermal energy has great potential. The heat from the sun has the disadvantage that it is not always available when there is a demand. To solve this mismatch a thermal...... seasonal storage can be used to store excess heat from the summer to the winter when the demand is higher than the supply. Installing a long term thermal storage in a one family house it needs to be compact and sensible heat storages are not suitable. A latent heat storage with a phase change material (PCM...

Solar heat storages in district heating networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ellehauge, K. (Ellehauge og Kildemoes, AArhus (DK)); Engberg Pedersen, T. (COWI A/S, Kgs. Lyngby (DK))

2007-07-15

This report gives information on the work carried out and the results obtained in Denmark on storages for large solar heating plants in district heating networks. Especially in Denmark the share of district heating has increased to a large percentage. In 1981 around 33% of all dwellings in DK were connected to a district heating network, while the percentage in 2006 was about 60% (in total 1.5 mio. dwellings). In the report storage types for short term storage and long term storages are described. Short term storages are done as steel tanks and is well established technology widely used in district heating networks. Long term storages are experimental and used in connection with solar heating. A number of solar heating plants have been established with either short term or long term storages showing economy competitive with normal energy sources. Since, in the majority of the Danish district heating networks the heat is produced in co-generation plants, i.e. plants producing both electricity and heat for the network, special attention has been put on the use of solar energy in combination with co-generation. Part of this report describes that in the liberalized electricity market central solar heating plants can also be advantageous in combination with co-generation plants. (au)

Evaluation of Franchising Business Model to Solar Energy Market in Vietnam

OpenAIRE

Nguyen, Thanh

2009-01-01

The shortage of energy, the running out of natural resources, the concern for environment pollution and the advantage of potential solar resource has become an opportunity for foreign investors who have intention to enter Vietnam‟s solar energy market. There are so many entry modes for the investors to choose rom but the application of franchising business model to solar energy industry is still a new concept not only in Vietnam but also all over the world. Therefore, this study works on the...

Development of Inorganic Solar Cells by Nano-technology

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Yafei Zhang; HueyLiang Hwang; Huijuan Geng; Zhihua Zhou; Jiang Wu; Zhiming Wang; Yaozhong Zhang; Zhongli Li; Liying Zhang; Zhi Yang

2012-01-01

Inorganic solar cells, as durable photovoltaic devices for harvesting electric energy from sun light, have received tremendous attention due to the fear of exhausting the earth’s energy resources and damaging the living environment due to greenhouse gases. Some recent developments in nanotechnology have opened up new avenues for more relevant inorganic solar cells produced by new photovoltaic conversion concepts and effective solar energy harvesting nanostructures. In this review, the multiple exciton generation effect solar cells, hot carrier solar cells, one dimensional material constructed asymmetrical schottky barrier arrays, noble nanoparticle induced plasmonic enhancement, and light trapping nanostructured semiconductor solar cells are highlighted.

77 FR 15794 - Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed KRoad Moapa Solar Generation Facility...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-16

... benefits for the Tribe by using solar resources from reservation lands where exposure to levels of high... energy goals, by providing electricity generated from solar resources from tribal lands that may be...'s purpose and need for the proposed Federal action is to respond to the proposed solar energy ground...

Characteristic studies on solar x-ray flares and solar radio bursts during descending phases of solar cycles 22 and 23

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhattacharya, J.; De, B.K.; Guha, A.

2014-01-01

In this paper, a comparative study between the solar X-ray flares and solar radio bursts in terms of their duration and energy has been done. This has been done by analyzing the data in a statistical way covering the descending phase of the 22nd and 23rd solar cycles. It has been observed that the most probable value of duration of both solar X-ray flares and solar radio bursts remain same for a particular cycle. There is a slight variation in the most probable value of duration in going from 22nd cycle to 23rd cycle in the case of both kinds of events. This small variation may be due to the variation of polar field. A low correlation has been observed between energy fluxes in solar X-ray flares and in solar radio bursts. This has been attributed to the non symmetric contribution of energy to the solar radio and X-ray band controlled by solar magnetic field

Assessment of satellite and model derived long term solar radiation for spatial crop models: A case study using DSSAT in Andhra Pradesh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anima Biswal

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Crop Simulation models are mathematical representations of the soil plant-atmosphere system that calculate crop growth and yield, as well as the soil and plant water and nutrient balances, as a function of environmental conditions and crop management practices on daily time scale. Crop simulation models require meteorological data as inputs, but data availability and quality are often problematic particularly in spatialising the model for a regional studies. Among these weather variables, daily total solar radiation and air temperature (Tmax and Tmin have the greatest influence on crop phenology and yield potential. The scarcity of good quality solar radiation data can be a major limitation to the use of crop models. Satellite-sensed weather data have been proposed as an alternative when weather station data are not available. These satellite and modeled based products are global and, in general, contiguous in time and also been shown to be accurate enough to provide reliable solar and meteorological resource data over large regions where surface measurements are sparse or nonexistent. In the present study, an attempt was made to evaluate the satellite and model derived daily solar radiation for simulating groundnut crop growth in the rainfed distrcits of Andhra Pradesh. From our preliminary investigation, we propose that satellite derived daily solar radiation data could be used along with ground observed temperature and rainfall data for regional crop simulation studies where the information on ground observed solar radiation is missing or not available.

Nanophysics of solar and renewable energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wolf, Edward L.

2012-01-01

This easy accessible textbook provides an overview of solar to electric energy conversion, followed by a detailed look at one aspect, namely photovoltaics, including the underlying principles and fabrication methods. The author, an experienced author and teacher, reviews such green technologies as solar-heated-steam power, hydrogen, and thermoelectric generation, as well as nuclear fusion. Throughout the book, carefully chosen, up-to-date examples are used to illustrate important concepts and research tools. The opening chapters give a broad and exhaustive survey of long term energy resources, reviewing current and potential types of solar driven energy sources. The core part of the text on solar energy conversion discusses different concepts for generating electric power, followed by a profound presentation of the underlying semiconductor physics and rounded off by a look at efficiency and third-generation concepts. The concluding section offers a rough analysis of the economics relevant to the large-scale adoption of photovoltaic conversion with a discussion of such issues as durability, manufacturability and cost, as well as the importance of storage. The book is self-contained so as to be suitable for students with introductory calculus-based courses in physics, chemistry, or engineering. It introduces concepts in quantum mechanics, atomic and molecular physics, plus the solid state and semiconductor junction physics needed to attain a quantitative understanding of the current status of this field. With its comments on economic aspects, it is also a useful tool for those readers interested in a career in alternative energy. (orig.)

Nanophysics of solar and renewable energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wolf, Edward L. [New York Univ., Brooklyn, NY (United States). Polytechnic Institute

2012-11-01

This easy accessible textbook provides an overview of solar to electric energy conversion, followed by a detailed look at one aspect, namely photovoltaics, including the underlying principles and fabrication methods. The author, an experienced author and teacher, reviews such green technologies as solar-heated-steam power, hydrogen, and thermoelectric generation, as well as nuclear fusion. Throughout the book, carefully chosen, up-to-date examples are used to illustrate important concepts and research tools. The opening chapters give a broad and exhaustive survey of long term energy resources, reviewing current and potential types of solar driven energy sources. The core part of the text on solar energy conversion discusses different concepts for generating electric power, followed by a profound presentation of the underlying semiconductor physics and rounded off by a look at efficiency and third-generation concepts. The concluding section offers a rough analysis of the economics relevant to the large-scale adoption of photovoltaic conversion with a discussion of such issues as durability, manufacturability and cost, as well as the importance of storage. The book is self-contained so as to be suitable for students with introductory calculus-based courses in physics, chemistry, or engineering. It introduces concepts in quantum mechanics, atomic and molecular physics, plus the solid state and semiconductor junction physics needed to attain a quantitative understanding of the current status of this field. With its comments on economic aspects, it is also a useful tool for those readers interested in a career in alternative energy. (orig.)

Impact of the 2017 Solar Eclipse on the Smart Grid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Habte, Aron M [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Reda, Ibrahim M [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Andreas, Afshin M [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sengupta, Manajit [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-12-12

With the increasing interest in using solar energy as a major contributor to the use of renewable generation, and with the focus on using smart grids to optimize the use of electrical energy based on demand and resources from different locations, the need arises to know the moons position in the sky with respect to the sun. When a solar eclipse occurs, the moon disk might totally or partially shade the sun disk, which can affect the irradiance level from the sun disk, consequently affecting a resource on the electric grid. The moons position can then provide smart grid users with information about how potential total or partial solar eclipses might affect different locations on the grid so that other resources on the grid can be directed to where they might be needed when such phenomena occurs. At least five solar eclipses occur yearly at different locations on Earth, they can last 3 hours or more depending on the location, and they can affect smart grid users. On August 21, 2017, a partial and full solar eclipse occurred in many locations in the United States, including at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. Solar irradiance measurements during the eclipse were compared to the data generated by a model for validation at eight locations.

Initial Analyses of Change Detection Capabilities and Data Redundancies in the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Lubinski, Kenneth

2001-01-01

Evaluations of Long Term Resource Monitoring Program sampling designs for water quality, fish, aquatic vegetation, and macroinvertebrates were initiated in 1999 by analyzing data collected since 1992...

National Community Solar Platform

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rupert, Bart [Clean Energy Collective, Louisville, CO (United States)

2016-06-30

This project was created to provide a National Community Solar Platform (NCSP) portal known as Community Solar Hub, that is available to any entity or individual who wants to develop community solar. This has been done by providing a comprehensive portal to make CEC’s solutions, and other proven community solar solutions, externally available for everyone to access – making the process easy through proven platforms to protect subscribers, developers and utilities. The successful completion of this project provides these tools via a web platform and integration APIs, a wide spectrum of community solar projects included in the platform, multiple groups of customers (utilities, EPCs, and advocates) using the platform to develop community solar, and open access to anyone interested in community solar. CEC’s Incubator project includes web-based informational resources, integrated systems for project information and billing systems, and engagement with customers and users by community solar experts. The combined effort externalizes much of Clean Energy Collective’s industry-leading expertise, allowing third parties to develop community solar without duplicating expensive start-up efforts. The availability of this platform creates community solar projects that are cheaper to build and cheaper to participate in, furthering the goals of DOE’s SunShot Initiative. Final SF 425 Final SF 428 Final DOE F 2050.11 Final Report Narrative

Solar Sailing

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Les

2009-01-01

Solar sailing is a topic of growing technical and popular interest. Solar sail propulsion will make space exploration more affordable and offer access to destinations within (and beyond) the solar system that are currently beyond our technical reach. The lecture will describe solar sails, how they work, and what they will be used for in the exploration of space. It will include a discussion of current plans for solar sails and how advanced technology, such as nanotechnology, might enhance their performance. Much has been accomplished recently to make solar sail technology very close to becoming an engineering reality and it will soon be used by the world s space agencies in the exploration of the solar system and beyond. The first part of the lecture will summarize state-of-the-art space propulsion systems and technologies. Though these other technologies are the key to any deep space exploration by humans, robots, or both, solar-sail propulsion will make space exploration more affordable and offer access to distant and difficult destinations. The second part of the lecture will describe the fundamentals of space solar sail propulsion and will describe the near-, mid- and far-term missions that might use solar sails as a propulsion system. The third part of the lecture will describe solar sail technology and the construction of current and future sailcraft, including the work of both government and private space organizations.

Texasgulf solar cogeneration program. Mid-term topical report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1981-02-01

The status of technical activities of the Texasgulf Solar Cogeneration Program at the Comanche Creek Sulfur Mine is described. The program efforts reported focus on preparation of a system specification, selection of a site-specific configuration, conceptual design, and facility performance. Trade-off studies performed to select the site-specific cogeneration facility configuration that would be the basis for the conceptual design efforts are described. Study areas included solar system size, thermal energy storage, and field piping. The conceptual design status is described for the various subsystems of the Comanche Creek cogeneration facility. The subsystems include the collector, receiver, master control, fossil energy, energy storage, superheat boiler, electric power generation, and process heat subsystems. Computer models for insolation and performance are also briefly discussed. Appended is the system specification. (LEW)

Environmental Impacts From the Installation and Operation of Large-scale Solar Power Plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fthenakis, V.; Turney, Damon

2011-04-23

Large-scale solar power plants are being developed at a rapid rate, and are setting up to use thousands or millions of acres of land globally. The environmental issues related to the installation and operation phases of such facilities have not, so far, been addressed comprehensively in the literature. Here we identify and appraise 32 impacts from these phases, under the themes of land use intensity, human health and well-being, plant and animal life, geohydrological resources, and climate change. Our appraisals assume that electricity generated by new solar power facilities will displace electricity from traditional U.S. generation technologies. Altogether we find 22 of the considered 32 impacts to be beneficial. Of the remaining 10 impacts, 4 are neutral, and 6 require further research before they can be appraised. None of the impacts are negative relative to traditional power generation. We rank the impacts in terms of priority, and find all the high-priority impacts to be beneficial. In quantitative terms, large-scale solar power plants occupy the same or less land per kW h than coal power plant life cycles. Removal of forests to make space for solar power causes CO{sub 2} emissions as high as 36 g CO{sub 2} kW h{sup -1}, which is a significant contribution to the life cycle CO{sub 2} emissions of solar power, but is still low compared to CO{sub 2} emissions from coal-based electricity that are about 1100 g CO{sub 2} kW h{sup -1}.

Simulation of solar system in a house; Simulacion de un sistema solar en una vivienda unifamiliar

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rey, F. J.; Velasco, E.; Herrero, R.; Varela, F.; Nunez, M. J.; Lopez, L. M.

2004-07-01

Building sustainable development make necessary the rational use of already existing Energy Resources and the use of the Renewable Energies as the Thermal Solar Energy. The technological advance of the last years has allowed the development and improvement of Solar Energy Systems. As today the Thermal Solar Energy is available technical and economically reducing the environmental impact. In the present work it has been developed a TRNSYS simulation of a thermal Solar System for Hot water consumption and Space Heating by radiant Flooring in a single house. The Thermal Solar installation Simulation allows the hour-by-hour system parameters treatment to determine the energy consumptions, yields, solar contribution etc. Also, it has been studied the Energy Qualification of the building by TRNSYS and the AEV methodology developed by the Termotecnia Department of Valladolid University ( UVA). (Author)

Solar Panel Integration as an Alternate Power Source on Centaur 2 (SPIAPS)

Science.gov (United States)

Gebara, Christine A.; Schuetze, Nich A.; Knochel, Aviana M.; Magruder, Darby F.

2011-01-01

The dream of exploration has inspired thousands throughout time. Space exploration, in particular, has taken the past century by storm and caused a great advance in technology. In this project, a retractable solar panel array will be developed for use on the Centaur 2 Rover. Energy generated by the solar panels will go to power the Centaur 2 Robot (C2) or Regolith & Environment Science & Oxygen & Lunar Volatile Extraction (RESOLVE) payload, an in-situ resource utilization project. Such payload is designed to drill into lunar and Martian terrain as well as be able to conduct other geological testing; RESOLVE is slated for testing in 2012. Ultimately, this project will fit into NASA s larger goal of deep space exploration as well as long term presence outside Earth s orbit.

Shedding light on solar technologies-A techno-economic assessment and its policy implications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peters, Michael; Schmidt, Tobias S.; Wiederkehr, David; Schneider, Malte

2011-01-01

Solar power technologies will have to become a major pillar in the world's future energy system to combat climate change and resource depletion. However, it is unclear which solar technology is and will prove most viable. Therefore, a comprehensive comparative assessment of solar technologies along the key quantitative and qualitative competitiveness criteria is needed. Based on a literature review and detailed techno-economic modeling for 2010 and 2020 in five locations, we provide such an assessment for the three currently leading large-scale solar technologies. We show that today these technologies cannot yet compete with conventional forms of power generation but approach competitiveness around 2020 in favorable locations. Furthermore, from a global perspective we find that none of the solar technologies emerges as a clear winner and that cost of storing energy differs by technology and can change the order of competitiveness in some instances. Importantly, the competitiveness of the different technologies varies considerably across locations due to differences in, e.g., solar resource and discount rates. Based on this analysis, we discuss policy implications with regard to fostering the diffusion of solar technologies while increasing the efficiency of policy support through an adequate geographical allocation of solar technologies. - Highlights: → We conduct a comprehensive comparative assessment of solar technologies (CSP/PV). → While solar technologies approach competitiveness in 2020, no clear winner emerges. → Solar resource and discount rate heavily impact competitiveness of solar technologies. → Adequate geographical allocation of solar technologies increases policy efficiency. → Focus on key cost down levers and strategic co-benefits of solar technologies needed.

Salt Lake City, Utah: Solar in Action (Brochure)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2011-10-01

This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of Salt Lake City, UT, a 2007 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.

The long-term relationships among China's energy consumption sources and adjustments to its renewable energy policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou Gaolu

2012-01-01

To reduce its consumption of coal and oil in its primary energy consumption, China promotes the development of renewable energy resources. I have analysed the long-term relationship among China's primary energy consumption sources. Changes in coal consumption lead those in the consumption of other energy sources in the long term. Coal and oil fuels substitute for each other equally. The long-term elasticities of China's coal consumption relative to its hydroelectricity consumption were greater than one and nearly equal during the two sample periods. Therefore, increased hydroelectricity consumption did not imply a reduction in coal consumption. China holds abundant hydroelectricity, wind and, solar energy potential. China must prevent an excessive escalation of its economy and resultant energy demand to realise a meaningful substitution of coal with hydroelectricity. Moreover, China must develop and use wind and solar energy sources. Natural gas can be a good substitute for coal, given its moderate price growth and affordable price levels. - Highlights: ► Coal consumption changes lead those of other energy sources in the long term. ► Coal and oil fuels substitute for each other equally. ► Increased hydroelectricity consumption has not meant lower coal consumption. ► Wind, solar and natural gas are China's promising energy sources.

Direct solar energy and its applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamdani, A.J.

1997-01-01

Solar energy, which was a utopian dream forty years ago, is today already on the market, particularly for specialized uses and in remote areas. Even solar cells are now on the eve of becoming economically competitive. After a brief account of solar-cell theory, this paper gives the essential details of Photovoltaic Module Manufacturing Technologies, Single Crystal Technology, Fabrication of Wafers, Fabrication of Solar Cell, Photovoltaic Module, Multi Crystalline Silicon, Amorphous Silicon Cell. Semi-conductor based Thin-Film Technology (other than silicon), Copper-Indium Di selenide (IS), Gallium Arsenide, Multi-Junction Devices, as well as Technologies for Improving Conversion Efficiencies, Criteria for high-efficiency Cells and Module Fabrication. It concludes with a section on Direct Utilisation of solar energy, in which a brief description is presented on Solar Thermal Devices, Solar Water Heaters, Calculating hot-water requirements, Solar Stills, Solar Drying, Concentrator Collectors and, finally Measurement of the Solar Resource. At the end, there is a useful Appendix on World-Wide Photovoltaic Cell/Module Manufacturing Capacity Expansion Profile. (author)

Priority to solar energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berner, Joachim

2011-01-01

There are many different combinations of solar heating systems and heat pumps in the market; some of them differ considerably in terms of the design concept, control management and storage technology. One thing they all have in common is that solar heating comes first.

Biomass and Solar Technologies Lauded | News | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

4 » Biomass and Solar Technologies Lauded News Release: Biomass and Solar Technologies Lauded July security and reduce our reliance on foreign sources of oil." The Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Biomass Cellulose to Sugars technology is expected to allow a wide range of biomass resources to be used to produce

Solar energy perspectives in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

In a context combining climate change, energy supply crisis, an increased interest in solar energy, a strongly increasing market of solar installations, new technologies, a promotion of the development of the use solar energy in France and a fast development of the water heater and photovoltaic generator markets in France, this report proposes a wide overview of the past, present and future development of solar energy. It discusses the evolution of the French national energy policy and of the solar energy within this policy. It presents and discusses the solar energy resources, their strengths and weaknesses, their geographical and time distribution. It describes the various uses and applications of solar energy in buildings, discusses different aspects of this market (actors, economical data, evolutions, public incentives, perspectives). Then, it describes and discusses technical and economical aspects of two important technologies, the photovoltaic solar energy and the thermodynamic conversion of solar energy. Public incentives, laws and regulations, technical and economic aspects of the connection to the distribution network are then discussed. Some recommendations and ideas are formulated concerning research activities, industrial development, quality of equipment and facilities, personnel education, investment needs

Southeast Regional Assessment Study: an assessment of the opportunities of solar electric power generation in the Southeastern United States

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1980-07-01

The objective of this study was to identify and assess opportunities for demonstration and large scale deployment of solar electric facilities in the southeast region and to define the technical, economic, and institutional factors that can contribute to an accelerated use of solar energy for electric power generation. Graphs and tables are presented indicating the solar resource potential, siting opportunities, energy generation and use, and socioeconomic factors of the region by state. Solar electric technologies considered include both central station and dispersed solar electric generating facilities. Central stations studied include solar thermal electric, wind, photovoltaic, ocean thermal gradient, and biomass; dispersed facilities include solar thermal total energy systems, wind, and photovoltaic. The value of solar electric facilities is determined in terms of the value of conventional facilities and the use of conventional fuels which the solar facilities can replace. Suitable cost and risk sharing mechanisms to accelerate the commercialization of solar electric technologies in the Southeast are identified. The major regulatory and legal factors which could impact on the commercialization of solar facilities are reviewed. The most important factors which affect market penetration are reviewed, ways to accelerate the implementation of these technologies are identified, and market entry paths are identified. Conclusions and recommendations are presented. (WHK)

Short-Term Solar Collector Power Forecasting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bacher, Peder; Madsen, Henrik; Perers, Bengt

2011-01-01

This paper describes a new approach to online forecasting of power output from solar thermal collectors. The method is suited for online forecasting in many applications and in this paper it is applied to predict hourly values of power from a standard single glazed large area flat plate collector...... enabling tracking of changes in the system and in the surrounding conditions, such as decreasing performance due to wear and dirt, and seasonal changes such as leaves on trees. This furthermore facilitates remote monitoring and check of the system....

Interanual variability os solar radiation in Peninsula Iberica; Variabilidad interanual de la radiacion solar en la Peninsula Iberica

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pozo-Vazquez, D.; Tovar-Pescador, J.; Gamiz-Fortis, S.; Esteban-Parra, M.; Castro-Diez, Y.

2004-07-01

The NAO climatic phenomenon is the main responsible for the interanual cloud cover variability in Europe. We explore the relationship between the NAO and the solar radiation spatio-temporal variability in Europe during winter. Measured monthly sums of sunshine duration and short-wave downward solar flux reanalysis data have been used. Correlation analysis between the NAO index and the measured sunshine duration shows a maximum positive value (+0.75) over the Iberian Peninsula. Accordingly, solar radiation in this area undergoes an interanual variability that can reach up to 30%, with the derived consequences for a reliable solar energy resources evaluation. (Author)

Partição da competição por recursos do solo e radiação solar entre cultivares de soja e genótipos concorrentes Competition partition of soil and solar radiation resources between soybean cultivars and concurrent genotypes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.A. Bianchi

2006-12-01

Full Text Available As plantas competem por recursos do meio situados abaixo e/ou acima da superfície do solo. A separação física da competição entre plantas possibilita conhecer a importância relativa de cada fração, bem como apontar possíveis diferenças em competitividade entre espécies. Objetivou-se neste trabalho separar os efeitos individuais decorrentes da competição por recursos do solo ou radiação solar, entre soja e plantas concorrentes. Foram realizados seis experimentos em vasos na UFRGS, em Porto Alegre-RS, sendo dois em 2001 e quatro em 2002. Os tratamentos testados resultaram das combinações de dois genótipos concorrentes (cultura e competidor e quatro condições de competição (ausência de competição, competição por recursos do solo e radiação solar, competição por recursos do solo e competição por radiação solar. Os cultivares de soja IAS 5 e Fepagro RS 10 representaram a cultura, enquanto o nabo forrageiro e o cultivar de soja Fundacep 33 foram os competidores. Determinaram-se variáveis morfofisiológicas em plantas de soja e de nabo forrageiro. O crescimento das plantas de soja foi mais afetado pela competição por recursos do solo, sendo o cultivar RS 10 mais competitivo do que IAS 5. O nabo forrageiro não interferiu no crescimento dos cultivares de soja, porém cresceu mais na presença da cultura.Plants compete for environmental resources located below and over soil surface. Physical separation of competition allows understanding the relative importance of each fraction, as well as identifying possible differences among species. The aim of this research was to separate the individual effects resulting from competition for soil or solar radiation resources, between soybean and concurrent plants. Thus, experiments using pots were carried out at UFRGS, in Porto Alegre-RS, in 2001 and 2002. The treatments tested resulted from the combinations of two concurrent genotypes (crop and competitor and four competition

Solar Resources for Local Governments | State, Local, and Tribal

Science.gov (United States)

Validation, and Permitting April: Project Financing, Policy, and Incentives May: Solar Procurement (Requests Module 3 Presentation Module 4: Project Financing, Policy, and Incentives Introduction Text version Clarification February: Screening and Identifying PV Projects March: Detailed Site Evaluation, Project

Combined wind and solar feed-in to the grid

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mushwana, Crescent

2018-05-01

Full Text Available This presentation highlights South African wind and solar resources and presents a case study on wind and solar PV combination. It also distinguishes between traditional and new philosophies regarding energy system design and the changes...

Solar Water Heating with Low-Cost Plastic Systems (Brochure)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2012-01-01

Newly developed solar water heating technology can help Federal agencies cost effectively meet the EISA requirements for solar water heating in new construction and major renovations. This document provides design considerations, application, economics, and maintenance information and resources.

Spatio-temporal mapping of solar energy potential of Dutse, Jigawa ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Efficient solar energy harnessing technology is required for sustainability and effective utilization of the resource. In this work, a survey of solar energy potential of Dutse, Jigawa state Nigeria was carried out with the aim of identifying the best location for optimal performance of solar energy power plant. Elevation information ...

Developing solar energy in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alary-Grall, L.

2003-01-01

3 years ago the 'Soleil' program was launched and today 660.000 m 2 of solar cells have been installed which has made France to rank 4 behind Germany, Greece and Austria in terms of the use of solar energy. The 'Soleil' program, that will end in 2006, aims at developing solar energy in France and is composed of 4 axis: 1) the contribution to the funding of solar equipment through enticing financial helps, 2) the implementation of a quality plan for the installers of solar equipment, 3) the setting of a quality label for innovative and efficient solar equipment and 4) the promoting of solar energy to the professionals of the construction sector. (A.C.)

Solar Spectral Irradiance Changes During Cycle 24

Science.gov (United States)

Marchenko, Sergey; Deland, Matthew

2014-01-01

We use solar spectra obtained by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on board the Aura satellite to detect and follow long-term (years) and short-term (weeks) changes in the solar spectral irradiance (SSI) in the 265-500 nm spectral range. During solar Cycle 24, in the relatively line-free regions the SSI changed by approximately 0.6% +/- 0.2% around 265 nm. These changes gradually diminish to 0.15% +/- 0.20% at 500 nm. All strong spectral lines and blends, with the notable exception of the upper Balmer lines, vary in unison with the solar "continuum." Besides the lines with strong chromospheric components, the most involved species include Fe I blends and all prominent CH, NH, and CN spectral bands. Following the general trend seen in the solar "continuum," the variability of spectral lines also decreases toward longer wavelengths. The long-term solar cycle SSI changes are closely, to within the quoted 0.1%-0.2% uncertainties, matched by the appropriately adjusted short-term SSI variations derived from the 27 day rotational modulation cycles. This further strengthens and broadens the prevailing notion about the general scalability of the UV SSI variability to the emissivity changes in the Mg II 280 nm doublet on timescales from weeks to years. We also detect subtle deviations from this general rule: the prominent spectral lines and blends at lambda approximately or greater than 350 nm show slightly more pronounced 27 day SSI changes when compared to the long-term (years) trends. We merge the solar data from Cycle 21 with the current Cycle 24 OMI and GOME-2 observations and provide normalized SSI variations for the 170-795 nm spectral region.

Evaluation of the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB) Using Ground-Based Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Y.; Sengupta, M.; Habte, A.; Lopez, A.

2017-12-01

Solar resource is essential for a wide spectrum of applications including renewable energy, climate studies, and solar forecasting. Solar resource information can be obtained from ground-based measurement stations and/or from modeled data sets. While measurements provide data for the development and validation of solar resource models and other applications modeled data expands the ability to address the needs for increased accuracy and spatial and temporal resolution. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has developed and regular updates modeled solar resource through the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB). The recent NSRDB dataset was developed using the physics-based Physical Solar Model (PSM) and provides gridded solar irradiance (global horizontal irradiance (GHI), direct normal irradiance (DNI), and diffuse horizontal irradiance) at a 4-km by 4-km spatial and half-hourly temporal resolution covering 18 years from 1998-2015. A comprehensive validation of the performance of the NSRDB (1998-2015) was conducted to quantify the accuracy of the spatial and temporal variability of the solar radiation data. Further, the study assessed the ability of NSRDB (1998-2015) to accurately capture inter-annual variability, which is essential information for solar energy conversion projects and grid integration studies. Comparisons of the NSRDB (1998-2015) with nine selected ground-measured data were conducted under both clear- and cloudy-sky conditions. These locations provide a high quality data covering a variety of geographical locations and climates. The comparison of the NSRDB to the ground-based data demonstrated that biases were within +/- 5% for GHI and +/-10% for DNI. A comprehensive uncertainty estimation methodology was established to analyze the performance of the gridded NSRDB and includes all sources of uncertainty at various time-averaged periods, a method that is not often used in model evaluation. Further, the study analyzed the inter

Solar Irradiance Variability is Caused by the Magnetic Activity on the Solar Surface.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeo, Kok Leng; Solanki, Sami K; Norris, Charlotte M; Beeck, Benjamin; Unruh, Yvonne C; Krivova, Natalie A

2017-09-01

The variation in the radiative output of the Sun, described in terms of solar irradiance, is important to climatology. A common assumption is that solar irradiance variability is driven by its surface magnetism. Verifying this assumption has, however, been hampered by the fact that models of solar irradiance variability based on solar surface magnetism have to be calibrated to observed variability. Making use of realistic three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the solar atmosphere and state-of-the-art solar magnetograms from the Solar Dynamics Observatory, we present a model of total solar irradiance (TSI) that does not require any such calibration. In doing so, the modeled irradiance variability is entirely independent of the observational record. (The absolute level is calibrated to the TSI record from the Total Irradiance Monitor.) The model replicates 95% of the observed variability between April 2010 and July 2016, leaving little scope for alternative drivers of solar irradiance variability at least over the time scales examined (days to years).

Evaluation of solar radiation abundance and electricity production capacity for application and development of solar energy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rahim, Mustamin [Department of Architecture, Khairun University, Ternate (Indonesia); Environmental and Renewable Energy Systems Division, Graduate School of Engineering, Gifu University (Japan); Yoshino, Jun; Yasuda, Takashi [Environmental and Renewable Energy Systems Division, Graduate School of Engineering, Gifu University (Japan)

2012-07-01

This study was undertaken to analyze solar radiation abundance to ascertain the potential of solar energy as an electrical energy resource. Local weather forecasting for predicting solar radiation is performed using a meteorological model MM5. The prediction results are compared with observed results obtained from the Japan Meteorological Agency for verification of the data accuracy. Results show that local weather forecasting has high accuracy. Prediction of solar radiation is similar with observation results. Monthly average values of solar radiation are sufficiently good during March–September. Electrical energy generated by photovoltaic cells is almost proportional to the solar radiation amount. Effects of clouds on solar radiation can be removed by monthly averaging. The balance between supply and demand of electricity can be estimated using a standard curve obtained from the temporal average. When the amount of solar radiation every hour with average of more than 100 km radius area does not yield the standard curve, we can estimate the system of storage and auxiliary power necessary based on the evaluated results of imbalance between supply and demand.

Solar ultraviolet irradiance variations: a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lean, J.

1987-01-01

Despite the geophysical importance of solar ultraviolet radiation, specific aspects of its temporal variations have not yet been adequately determined experimentally, nor are the mechanisms for the variability completely understood. Satellite observations have verified the reality of solar ultraviolet irradiance variations over time scales of days and months, and model calculations have confirmed the association of these short-term variations with the evolution and rotation of regions of enhanced magnetic activity on the solar disc. However, neither rocket nor satellite measurements have yet been made with sufficient accuracy and regularity to establish unequivocally the nature of the variability over the longer time of the 11-year solar cycle. The comparative importance for the long-term variations of local regions of enhanced magnetic activity and global scale activity perturbations is still being investigated. Solar ultraviolet irradiance variations over both short and long time scales are reviewed, with emphasis on their connection to solar magnetic activity. Correlations with ground-based measures of solar variability are examined because of the importance of the ground-based observations as historical proxies of ultraviolet irradiance variations. Current problems in understanding solar ultraviolet irradiance variations are discussed, and the measurements planned for solar cycle 22, which may resolve these problems, are briefly described. copyright American Geophysical Union 1987

Climate and land-use change impacts on potential solar photovoltaic power generation in the Black Sea region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gunderson, I.; Goyette, S.; Gago-Silva, A.; Quiquerez, L.; Lehmann, A.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The solar resource is sufficient to provide PV power at suitable locations within the Black Sea catchment. • Climate change will not significantly impact the solar resource, although uncertainty exists. • Land-use change will significantly impact potential PV power, although socio-economic factors will have more importance. • It is important to strengthen regional cooperation for the integration of renewable energy resources. - Abstract: Climate change is a naturally occurring phenomenon that has recently been greatly impacted by anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. One of the main contributing sectors to GHG emissions is the energy sector, due to its high dependency on fossil fuels. Renewable energy systems, notably solar energy, can be an effective climate change mitigation alternative. Photovoltaic (PV) technology provides an interesting method to produce electricity through a virtually infinite renewable resource at the human time scale: solar radiation. This study evaluates the current and future solar energy potential through the use of grid-connected PV power plants at the scale of countries within the Black Sea catchment. Simulated data are used to determine potential change in climate and land-use according to two different development scenarios. Incident solar radiation flux from re-analyses, spatial interpolation, and the application of the Delta change method are used to assess the current and future solar resource potential within this catchment. Potential sites suitable for PV power plants are selected following a Fuzzy logic approach, and thus the total potential solar energy through PV power generation can be determined. Results show that climate change will have little impact on the solar radiation resource, while land-use change induces more variability. However, regardless of the scenario followed, the solar energy potential is sufficient to provide an interesting contribution to the electricity generation mix of

Solar vision 2025 : beyond market competitiveness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-12-01

Canada's reputation as an energy superpower is based on its abundant traditional energy resources. The Canadian Solar Industries Association (CanSIA) has presented a vision of Canada's future solar energy industry. Rising demands for energy, along with the high cost of replacing Canada's aging generation facilities may provide an opportunity for the development of renewable energy sources and a more diversified energy system. The vision focused on creating high quality energy solutions while reducing the high cost of solar energy equipment. Studies have suggested that the solar photovoltaic energy will be market competitive by 2020. By 2025, it is hoped that the solar industry will support more than 35,000 jobs in the economy, and displace 15 to 31 million tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per year. The economic benefits of solar energy were outlined, and new technologies were presented. The export potential of solar energy was discussed. 26 refs., 4 tabs., 40 figs.

Solar Energy Prospecting in Remote Alaska: An Economic Analysis of Solar Photovoltaics in the Last Frontier State

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schwabe, Paul [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2016-02-11

This report provides a high-level examination of the potential economics of solar energy in rural Alaska across a geographically diverse sample of remote Alaska Native villages throughout the state. It analyzes at a high level what combination of diesel fuel prices, solar resource quality, and photovoltaic (PV) system costs could lead to an economically competitive moderate-scale PV installation at a remote village. The goal of this analysis is to provide a baseline economic assessment to highlight the possible economic opportunities for solar PV in rural Alaska for both the public and private sectors.

Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota: Solar in Action (Brochure)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2011-10-01

This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of Minneapolis, MN, a 2008 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.

Progress commercializing solar-electric power systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dracker, R.; De Laquil, P. III

1996-01-01

The commercial status of the principal solar electric technologies -- photovoltaic and solar thermal -- is reviewed. Current and near-term market niches are identified, and projected longer-term markets are explored along with the key strategies for achieving them, including technological breakthroughs, manufacturing developments, economies of scale and mass production, and market creation. Market barriers and public policy impacts on commercialization are discussed

Very short-term reactive forecasting of the solar ultraviolet index using an extreme learning machine integrated with the solar zenith angle.

Science.gov (United States)

Deo, Ravinesh C; Downs, Nathan; Parisi, Alfio V; Adamowski, Jan F; Quilty, John M

2017-05-01

Exposure to erythemally-effective solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) that contributes to malignant keratinocyte cancers and associated health-risk is best mitigated through innovative decision-support systems, with global solar UV index (UVI) forecast necessary to inform real-time sun-protection behaviour recommendations. It follows that the UVI forecasting models are useful tools for such decision-making. In this study, a model for computationally-efficient data-driven forecasting of diffuse and global very short-term reactive (VSTR) (10-min lead-time) UVI, enhanced by drawing on the solar zenith angle (θ s ) data, was developed using an extreme learning machine (ELM) algorithm. An ELM algorithm typically serves to address complex and ill-defined forecasting problems. UV spectroradiometer situated in Toowoomba, Australia measured daily cycles (0500-1700h) of UVI over the austral summer period. After trialling activations functions based on sine, hard limit, logarithmic and tangent sigmoid and triangular and radial basis networks for best results, an optimal ELM architecture utilising logarithmic sigmoid equation in hidden layer, with lagged combinations of θ s as the predictor data was developed. ELM's performance was evaluated using statistical metrics: correlation coefficient (r), Willmott's Index (WI), Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient (E NS ), root mean square error (RMSE), and mean absolute error (MAE) between observed and forecasted UVI. Using these metrics, the ELM model's performance was compared to that of existing methods: multivariate adaptive regression spline (MARS), M5 Model Tree, and a semi-empirical (Pro6UV) clear sky model. Based on RMSE and MAE values, the ELM model (0.255, 0.346, respectively) outperformed the MARS (0.310, 0.438) and M5 Model Tree (0.346, 0.466) models. Concurring with these metrics, the Willmott's Index for the ELM, MARS and M5 Model Tree models were 0.966, 0.942 and 0.934, respectively. About 57% of the ELM model

Multiyear Synthesis of Limnological Data from 1993 to 2001 for the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Houser, Jeffrey N; Bierman, David W; Burdis, Robert M; Fischer, James R; Rogala, James T; Soeken-Gittinger, Lori A; Hoff, Kraig L; Harms, Erik

2005-01-01

.... The Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) provides a systemic perspective through the collection and analysis of monitoring data from six study reaches representing the upper, lower, and open river reaches of the UMRS...

SOLAR WIND HEAVY IONS OVER SOLAR CYCLE 23: ACE/SWICS MEASUREMENTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lepri, S. T.; Landi, E.; Zurbuchen, T. H.

2013-01-01

Solar wind plasma and compositional properties reflect the physical properties of the corona and its evolution over time. Studies comparing the previous solar minimum with the most recent, unusual solar minimum indicate that significant environmental changes are occurring globally on the Sun. For example, the magnetic field decreased 30% between the last two solar minima, and the ionic charge states of O have been reported to change toward lower values in the fast wind. In this work, we systematically and comprehensively analyze the compositional changes of the solar wind during cycle 23 from 2000 to 2010 while the Sun moved from solar maximum to solar minimum. We find a systematic change of C, O, Si, and Fe ionic charge states toward lower ionization distributions. We also discuss long-term changes in elemental abundances and show that there is a ∼50% decrease of heavy ion abundances (He, C, O, Si, and Fe) relative to H as the Sun went from solar maximum to solar minimum. During this time, the relative abundances in the slow wind remain organized by their first ionization potential. We discuss these results and their implications for models of the evolution of the solar atmosphere, and for the identification of the fast and slow wind themselves.

NASA Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resource High Resolution Meteorology Data For Sustainable Building Design

Science.gov (United States)

Chandler, William S.; Hoell, James M.; Westberg, David; Zhang, Taiping; Stackhouse, Paul W., Jr.

2013-01-01

A primary objective of NASA's Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resource (POWER) project is to adapt and infuse NASA's solar and meteorological data into the energy, agricultural, and architectural industries. Improvements are continuously incorporated when higher resolution and longer-term data inputs become available. Climatological data previously provided via POWER web applications were three-hourly and 1x1 degree latitude/longitude. The NASA Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) data set provides higher resolution data products (hourly and 1/2x1/2 degree) covering the entire globe. Currently POWER solar and meteorological data are available for more than 30 years on hourly (meteorological only), daily, monthly and annual time scales. These data may be useful to several renewable energy sectors: solar and wind power generation, agricultural crop modeling, and sustainable buildings. A recent focus has been working with ASHRAE to assess complementing weather station data with MERRA data. ASHRAE building design parameters being investigated include heating/cooling degree days and climate zones.

Design and long-term monitoring of DSC/CIGS tandem solar module

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vildanova, M F; Nikolskaia, A B; Kozlov, S S; Shevaleevskiy, O I

2015-01-01

This paper describes the design and development of tandem dye-sensitized/Cu(In, Ga)Se (DSC/CIGS) PV modules. The tandem PV module comprised of the top DSC module and a bottom commercial 0,8 m 2 CIGS module. The top DSC module was made of 10 DSC mini-modules with the field size of 20 × 20 cm 2 each. Tandem DSC/CIGS PV modules were used for providing the long-term monitoring of energy yield and electrical parameters in comparison with standalone CIGS modules under outdoor conditions. The outdoor test facility, containing solar modules of both types and a measurement unit, was located on the roof of the Institute of Biochemical Physics in Moscow. The data obtained during monitoring within the 2014 year period has shown the advantages of the designed tandem DSC/CIGS PV-modules over the conventional CIGS modules, especially for cloudy weather and low-intensity irradiation conditions. (paper)

A Groundwater Model to Assess Water Resource Impacts at the Brenda Solar Energy Zone

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Quinn, John [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Carr, Adrianne E. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Greer, Chris [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Bowen, Esther E. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2013-12-01

The purpose of this study is to develop a groundwater flow model to examine the influence of potential groundwater withdrawal to support utility-scale solar energy development at the Brenda Solar Energy Zone (SEZ), as a part of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Solar Energy Program.

New views of the solar system

CERN Document Server

2009-01-01

Is your library up to date on the Solar System? When the International Astronomical Union redefined the term "planet," Pluto was stripped of its designation as the solar system''s ninth planet. New Views of the Solar System looks at scientists'' changing perspectives on the solar system, with articles on Pluto, the eight chief planets, and dwarf planets. Brilliant photos and drawings showcase the planets, asteroids, comets, and more, providing a stunning collection of vivid and detailed images of the solar system.

Arkansas Solar Retrofit Guide. Greenhouses, Air Heaters and Water Heaters.

Science.gov (United States)

Skiles, Albert; Rose, Mary Jo

Solar retrofits are devices of structures designed to be attached to existing buildings to augment their existing heating sources with solar energy. An investigation of how solar retrofits should be designed to suit the climate and resources of Arkansas is the subject of this report. Following an introduction (section 1), section 2 focuses on…

Solar UV radiation variations and their stratospheric and climatic effects

Science.gov (United States)

Donnelly, R. F.; Heath, D. F.

1985-01-01

Nimbus-7 SBUV measurements of the short-term solar UV variations caused by solar rotation and active-region evolution have determined the amplitude and wavelength dependence for the active-region component of solar UV variations. Intermediate-term variations lasting several months are associated with rounds of major new active regions. The UV flux stays near the peak value during the current solar cycle variation for more than two years and peaks about two years later than the sunspot number. Nimbus-7 measurements have observed the concurrent stratospheric ozone variations caused by solar UV variations. There is now no doubt that solar UV variations are an important cause of short- and long-term stratospheric variations, but the strength of the coupling to the troposphere and to climate has not yet been proven.

New York City, New York: Solar in Action (Brochure)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2011-10-01

This brochure provides an overview of the challenges and successes of New York City, NY, a 2007 Solar America City awardee, on the path toward becoming a solar-powered community. Accomplishments, case studies, key lessons learned, and local resource information are given.

Assessment of the solar radiation potential of the Thika and Nairobi ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This assessment seeks to provide information on the solar energy resource potential of the Thika – Nairobi area essential in the dissemination of Renewable Energy Technologies which are essentially solar photovoltaic and thermal systems. To achieve this, solar radiation data for three stations (Dagoretti Corner, Thika and ...

Seven thematic sheets 'solar and building' to understand the stakes of solar for the building industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

In order to highlight the interest of solar energy for building for commissioning clients and public authorities, in terms of quality and competitiveness, this document proposes seven sheets which respectively address: the positive energy building, the development of solar energy in buildings with local authorities, photovoltaic self-consumption, the competitiveness of solar PV, an offer of quality by professionals of the solar PV, the competitiveness of solar heating. Each sheet proposes an overview of stakes, technical solutions, and local or professional commitment, and formulates some proposals for the future

NASA Solar Sail Propulsion Technology Development

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Les; Montgomery, Edward E.; Young, Roy; Adams, Charles

2007-01-01

NASA's In-Space Propulsion Technology Program has developed the first generation of solar sail propulsion systems sufficient to accomplish inner solar system science and exploration missions. These first generation solar sails, when operational, will range in size from 40 meters to well over 100 meters in diameter and have an areal density of less than 13 grams per square meter. A rigorous, multi-year technology development effort culminated in 2005 with the testing of two different 20-m solar sail systems under thermal vacuum conditions. The first system, developed by ATK Space Systems of Goleta, California, uses rigid booms to deploy and stabilize the sail. In the second approach, L'Garde, Inc. of Tustin, California uses inflatable booms that rigidize in the coldness of space to accomplish sail deployment. This effort provided a number of significant insights into the optimal design and expected performance of solar sails as well as an understanding of the methods and costs of building and using them. In a separate effort, solar sail orbital analysis tools for mission design were developed and tested. Laboratory simulations of the effects of long-term space radiation exposure were also conducted on two candidate solar sail materials. Detailed radiation and charging environments were defined for mission trajectories outside the protection of the earth's magnetosphere, in the solar wind environment. These were used in other analytical tools to prove the adequacy of sail design features for accommodating the harsh space environment. Preceding and in conjunction with these technology efforts, NASA sponsored several mission application studies for solar sails. Potential missions include those that would be flown in the near term to study the sun and be used in space weather prediction to one that would use an evolved sail capability to support humanity's first mission into nearby interstellar space. This paper will describe the status of solar sail propulsion within

Best Practices of Uncertainty Estimation for the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB 1998-2015): Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Habte, Aron M [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sengupta, Manajit [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-12-19

It is essential to apply a traceable and standard approach to determine the uncertainty of solar resource data. Solar resource data are used for all phases of solar energy conversion projects, from the conceptual phase to routine solar power plant operation, and to determine performance guarantees of solar energy conversion systems. These guarantees are based on the available solar resource derived from a measurement station or modeled data set such as the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB). Therefore, quantifying the uncertainty of these data sets provides confidence to financiers, developers, and site operators of solar energy conversion systems and ultimately reduces deployment costs. In this study, we implemented the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) 1 to quantify the overall uncertainty of the NSRDB data. First, we start with quantifying measurement uncertainty, then we determine each uncertainty statistic of the NSRDB data, and we combine them using the root-sum-of-the-squares method. The statistics were derived by comparing the NSRDB data to the seven measurement stations from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Surface Radiation Budget Network, National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Solar Radiation Research Laboratory, and the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program's Southern Great Plains Central Facility, in Billings, Oklahoma. The evaluation was conducted for hourly values, daily totals, monthly mean daily totals, and annual mean monthly mean daily totals. Varying time averages assist to capture the temporal uncertainty of the specific modeled solar resource data required for each phase of a solar energy project; some phases require higher temporal resolution than others. Overall, by including the uncertainty of measurements of solar radiation made at ground stations, bias, and root mean square error, the NSRDB data demonstrated expanded uncertainty of 17 percent - 29 percent on hourly

Renewable Resources in SA

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mushwana, C

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Renewable energy is derived form natural resources that are replenished at a faster rate than they are consumed, and thus cannot be depleted. Solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, and some forms of biomass are common sources of renewable energy. Almost 90...

Solar Storage Tank Insulation Influence on the Solar Systems Efficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Negoitescu Arina

2012-09-01

Full Text Available For the storage tank of a solar system for domestic hot water production was analyzed the insulation thickness and material influence. To this end, it was considered a private house, occupied by 3 persons, located in zone I of thermal radiation, for which has been simulated the domestic hot water production process. The tank outlet hot water temperature was considered of 45°C. For simulation purposes, as insulation materials for the storage tank were taking into account glass wool and polyurethane with various thicknesses. Finally, was carried out the comparative analysis of two types of tanks, in terms of the insulation thickness influence on the solar fraction, annual solar contribution and solar annual productivity. It resulted that polyurethane is the most advantageous from all points of view.

Optimal electricity development by increasing solar resources in diesel-based micro grid of island society in Thailand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prachuab Peerapong

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Isolated grid diesel-based systems have been a basic electricity system in islands in developing countries. Nevertheless, the increasing diesel price and the higher cost of diesel transport to a long distance to the remote islands make the diesel-based systems unsustainable. This study analyzes the viability to increase solar photovoltaic (PV resources in the existing diesel-based systems. The hybrid PV/diesel system is not only reducing the cost of electricity generation but also decreasing the harmful emissions from fossil fuels. This study uses net present cost (NPC to evaluate the optimum PV/diesel system configurations for installation in isolated island in Thailand. The results of analyses show that the optimal case PV/diesel system can decrease COE from $0.429/kWh to $0.374/kWh when compared to the existing diesel-based system and can decrease emissions both carbon dioxide of 796.61 tons/yr and other gases of 21.47 tons/yr. The hybrid PV/diesel system also reduces diesel fuel consumption of 302,510 liters per year as a result from an optimal of 41% PV resource shares in this system.

Materials and processes for solar fuel production

CERN Document Server

Viswanathan, Balasubramanian; Lee, Jae Sung

2014-01-01

This book features different approaches to non-biochemical pathways for solar fuel production. This one-of-a-kind book addresses photovoltaics, photocatalytic water splitting for clean hydrogen production and CO2 conversion to hydrocarbon fuel through in-depth comprehensive contributions from a select blend of established and experienced authors from across the world. The commercial application of solar based systems, with particular emphasis on non-PV based devices have been discussed. This book intends to serve as a primary resource for a multidisciplinary audience including chemists, engineers and scientists providing a one-stop location for all aspects related to solar fuel production. The material is divided into three sections: Solar assisted water splitting to produce hydrogen; Solar assisted CO2 utilization to produce green fuels and Solar assisted electricity generation. The content strikes a balance between theory, material synthesis and application with the central theme being solar fuels.

Solar activity and transformer failures in the Greek national electric grid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zois Ioannis Panayiotis

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Aims: We study both the short term and long term effects of solar activity on the large transformers (150 kV and 400 kV of the Greek national electric grid. Methods: We use data analysis and various statistical methods and models. Results: Contrary to common belief in PPC Greece, we see that there are considerable both short term (immediate and long term effects of solar activity onto large transformers in a mid-latitude country like Greece. Our results can be summarised as follows: For the short term effects: During 1989–2010 there were 43 “stormy days” (namely days with for example Ap ≥ 100 and we had 19 failures occurring during a stormy day plus or minus 3 days and 51 failures occurring during a stormy day plus or minus 7 days. All these failures can be directly related to Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GICs. Explicit cases are briefly presented. For the long term effects, again for the same period 1989–2010, we have two main results: The annual number of transformer failures seems to follow the solar activity pattern. Yet the maximum number of transformer failures occurs about half a solar cycle after the maximum of solar activity. There is statistical correlation between solar activity expressed using various newly defined long term solar activity indices and the annual number of transformer failures. These new long term solar activity indices were defined using both local (from the geomagnetic station in Greece and global (planetary averages geomagnetic data. Applying both linear and non-linear statistical regression we compute the regression equations and the corresponding coefficients of determination.

Lepton mixing and the 'solar neutrino puzzle'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bilenky, S.M.; Pontecorvo, B.

1977-01-01

The results of the well-known solar neutrino experiments in which the Cl-Ar method was employed are discussed; the results of this experiment gave a too-small neutrino signal and were referred to as the 'solar neutrino puzzle'. A number of explanations have been offered to account for the results, but it is stated that the explanation in terms of lepton mixing and neutrino sterility is attractive in terms of present day elementary particle physics and much more natural than the other explanations offered. Headings are as follows: neutrino oscillations and lepton charge, oscillations and solar neutrino experiments, lepton mixing according to old and present ideas, neutrino oscillations and the 'solar neutrino puzzle'. (U.K.)

Location optimization of solar plants by an integrated hierarchical DEA PCA approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azadeh, A.; Ghaderi, S.F.; Maghsoudi, A.

2008-01-01

Unique features of renewable energies such as solar energy has caused increasing demands for such resources. In order to use solar energy as a natural resource, environmental circumstances and geographical location related to solar intensity must be considered. Different factors may affect on the selection of a suitable location for solar plants. These factors must be considered concurrently for optimum location identification of solar plants. This article presents an integrated hierarchical approach for location of solar plants by data envelopment analysis (DEA), principal component analysis (PCA) and numerical taxonomy (NT). Furthermore, an integrated hierarchical DEA approach incorporating the most relevant parameters of solar plants is introduced. Moreover, 2 multivariable methods namely, PCA and NT are used to validate the results of DEA model. The prescribed approach is tested for 25 different cities in Iran with 6 different regions within each city. This is the first study that considers an integrated hierarchical DEA approach for geographical location optimization of solar plants. Implementation of the proposed approach would enable the energy policy makers to select the best-possible location for construction of a solar power plant with lowest possible costs

Solar drying: An appropriate technology for the north Argentina; Secado solar: Una tecnologia apropiada para el norte argentino

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zurlo, Hugo D; Vergara, Liliana; Spotorno, Ruben; Benitez, Francisco; De Pedro, Jorge; Cervino, Veronica; Monzon, Sergio [Universidad Tecnologica Nacional, Chaco (Argentina)

2000-07-01

The results concerning to solar drying of nutritious products for rehearsed a low cost solar dryer, adapted to the area, composed by a plane solar collector of 2 m{sup 2} and a drying camera with capacity for, approximately, 5 kg of product. The objectives of the work were: a) to develop a low cost solar dry, capable to dehydrate products for human alimentary use; b) to transfer the developed technology to low resources rural communities through the INCUPO (Institute of Popular Culture) and to small producers through the INTA (National Institute of Agricultural Technology) and c) to diffuse the practice of the solar drying among small producers. The diffusion and transfer of the developed technology to small rural producers, contribute to improve their quality of life when facilitating them additional revenues for productive diversification, besides the contribution to the sustainable use of the forest like source of non conventional nutritious resources contributing to the task of cultural rescue faced by organizations like the INCUPO. [Spanish] Se exponen los resultados concernientes al secado solar de productos alimenticios para consumo humano. Se diseno, construyo y ensayo un secador solar de bajo costo, adaptado a la zona, compuesto por un colector solar plano de 2m{sup 2} y una camara de secado con capacidad para, aproximadamente, 5 kg de producto fresco. Los objetivos del trabajo fueron: a) desarrollar un secadero solar de bajo costo, apto para deshidratar productos para uso alimentario humano; b) transferir la tecnologia desarrollada a comunidades rurales de bajos recursos a traves del INCUPO (Instituto de Cultura Popular) y a pequenos productores a traves del INTA (Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria) y c) difundir la practica del secado solar entre productores frutihorticolas. La difusion y transferencia de la tecnologia desarrollada a pequenos productores rurales, contribuye a mejorar su calidad de vida al posibilitarles ingresos adicionales

Understanding Solar Cycle Variability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cameron, R. H.; Schüssler, M., E-mail: cameron@mps.mpg.de [Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 3, D-37077 Göttingen (Germany)

2017-07-10

The level of solar magnetic activity, as exemplified by the number of sunspots and by energetic events in the corona, varies on a wide range of timescales. Most prominent is the 11-year solar cycle, which is significantly modulated on longer timescales. Drawing from dynamo theory, together with the empirical results of past solar activity and similar phenomena for solar-like stars, we show that the variability of the solar cycle can be essentially understood in terms of a weakly nonlinear limit cycle affected by random noise. In contrast to ad hoc “toy models” for the solar cycle, this leads to a generic normal-form model, whose parameters are all constrained by observations. The model reproduces the characteristics of the variable solar activity on timescales between decades and millennia, including the occurrence and statistics of extended periods of very low activity (grand minima). Comparison with results obtained with a Babcock–Leighton-type dynamo model confirm the validity of the normal-mode approach.

Speed of sound in the solar interior

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christensen-Dalsgaard, J.; Rhodes, E.J. Jr.

1985-01-01

Frequencies of solar 5-min oscillations can be used to determine directly the sound speed of the solar interior. The determination described does not depend on a solar model, but relies only on a simple asymptotic description of the oscillations in terms of trapped acoustic waves. (author)

The hour equivalent solar pick, definition and interpretation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pérez Martínez, Maykop; Morales Rodríguez; Clemente; Castro Ingeniero, Elio

2017-01-01

Photovoltaic solar energy takes advantage of the light energy of the sun to produce electricity through semiconductor plates that are altered by solar radiation, these systems are called Photovoltaic Solar Panels (PSP). In order to calculate the energy absorbed by these PSPs, it is necessary to use technical terms that are a little difficult to interpret, for those less experienced in the subject, above all because of the ambiguity, the level of abstraction required in their understanding and the variety of ways of expressing very similar ideas without offering a clear and unique definition. The main term to which this article is dedicated is the Hour Solar Pick (HSP), which in the experiences of the authors has generated strong discussions about its interpretation. In order to arrive at the desired term, it is necessary to start with others, so the aim is to propose a definition and physical and mathematical interpretation to clarify the meaning of this term. (author)

Reuniting the Solar System: Integrated Education and Public Outreach Projects for Solar System Exploration Missions and Programs

Science.gov (United States)

Lowes, Leslie; Lindstrom, Marilyn; Stockman, Stephanie; Scalice, Daniela; Klug, Sheri

2003-01-01

The Solar System Exploration Education Forum has worked for five years to foster Education and Public Outreach (E/PO) cooperation among missions and programs in order to leverage resources and better meet the needs of educators and the public. These efforts are coming together in a number of programs and products and in '2004 - The Year of the Solar System.' NASA's practice of having independent E/PO programs for each mission and its public affairs emphasis on uniqueness has led to a public perception of a fragmented solar system exploration program. By working to integrate solar system E/PO, the breadth and depth of the solar system exploration program is revealed. When emphasis is put on what missions have in common, as well as their differences, each mission is seen in the context of the whole program.

Plan for the long term environmental assessment of geopressured resource development in the Louisiana Gulf Coast Region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Newchurch, E.J.; Bryan, C.F.; Harrison, D.P.; Muller, R.A.; Wilcox, R.E.; Bachman, A.L.; Newman, J.P.; Cunningham, K.J.; Hilding, R.K.; Rehage, J.A.

1978-07-15

Results of research to develop a plan for the long-term environmental assessment of geopressured/geothermal resource development in the Louisiana Gulf Coast region are reported. An overall view of the environmental issues facing decision-makers in the area of geopressured resource development is presented, along with a plan for monitoring potential environmental impacts. Separate assessments and plans are presented for geological effects, air and water quality, ecosystem quality, and socioeconomic and cultural considerations. (JGB)

Solar weather monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.-F. Hochedez

2005-11-01

Full Text Available Space Weather nowcasting and forecasting require solar observations because geoeffective disturbances can arise from three types of solar phenomena: coronal mass ejections (CMEs, flares and coronal holes. For each, we discuss their definition and review their precursors in terms of remote sensing and in-situ observations. The objectives of Space Weather require some specific instrumental features, which we list using the experience gained from the daily operations of the Solar Influences Data analysis Centre (SIDC at the Royal Observatory of Belgium. Nowcasting requires real-time monitoring to assess quickly and reliably the severity of any potentially geoeffective solar event. Both research and forecasting could incorporate more observations in order to feed case studies and data assimilation respectively. Numerical models will result in better predictions of geomagnetic storms and solar energetic particle (SEP events. We review the data types available to monitor solar activity and interplanetary conditions. They come from space missions and ground observatories and range from sequences of dopplergrams, magnetograms, white-light, chromospheric, coronal, coronagraphic and radio images, to irradiance and in-situ time-series. Their role is summarized together with indications about current and future solar monitoring instruments.

General characterisation of the solar radiation behaviour in Mozambique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cuamba, B.C. [Renewable Energies Research and Training Programme, Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), Maputo (Mozambique)]|[Action Group for Renewable Energies and Sustainable Development, Maputo (Mozambique); Chenene, M.L.; Mahumane, G. [Renewable Energies Research and Training Programme, Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), Maputo (Mozambique); Quissico, D.Z. [Renewable Energies Research and Training Programme, Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), Maputo (Mozambique)]|[National Institute of Meteorology, Maputo (Mozambique); Vasco, E. [National Institute of Meteorology, Maputo (Mozambique); Lovseth, J. [Solar Energy and Environmental Group, Department of Physics (LADE), Trondheim University of Science and Technology (NTNU) (Norway); O' Keefe, P. [University of Northumbria at Newcastle, Newcastle Upon Tyne (United Kingdom)

2004-07-01

Just as with the other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, Mozambique faces severe and interrelated problems of energy and environment linked with the massive consumption of fuel wood biomass. The conventional power grid caters for less than 7% of the energy needs for the country's 17 million inhabitants, and about 83% of the energy consumed in the country comes from biomass. Areas around the major urban centres and along the main development corridors are the most affected by energy shortages. This hinders the country's economic and social development as it is generally acknowledged that no development can be sustainable without linking it to energy planning and environmental management. Renewable energy resources can play an important role in the process of development of the country. From the vast renewable energy resources available in the country, solar energy represents one of those with the highest potential. Thus the evaluation of its potential is of extreme importance. This paper represents a first attempt to systemise the solar radiation data being measured by the National Institute of Meteorology (INAM). The period considered for analysis is from 1970 to 2000. Results of the present work reveal that the country has substantial solar energy resources for a variety of solar energy technologies. (orig.)

The Flexible Solar Utility. Preparing for Solar's Impacts to Utility Planning and Operations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sterling, John [Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA), Washington, DC (United States); Davidovich, Ted [Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA), Washington, DC (United States); Cory, Karlynn [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Aznar, Alexandra [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); McLaren, Joyce [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2015-09-01

This paper seeks to provide a flexible utility roadmap for identifying the steps that need to be taken to place the utility in the best position for addressing solar in the future. Solar growth and the emergence of new technologies will change the electric utility of tomorrow. Although not every utility, region, or market will change in the same way or magnitude, developing a path forward will be needed to reach the Electric System of the Future in the coming decades. In this report, a series of potential future states are identified that could result in drastically different energy mixes and profiles: 1) Business as Usual, 2) Low Carbon, Centralized Generation, 3) Rapid Distributed Energy Resource Growth, 4) Interactivity of Both the Grid and Demand, and 5) Grid or Load Defection. Complicating this process are a series of emerging disruptions; decisions or events that will cause the electric sector to change. Understanding and preparing for these items is critical for the transformation to any of the future states to be successful. Predicting which future state will predominate 15 years from now is not possible; however, utilities still will need to look ahead and try to anticipate how factors will impact their planning, operations, and business models. In order to dig into the potential transformations facing the utility industry, the authors conducted a series of utility interviews, held a working session at a major industry solar conference, and conducted a quantitative survey. To focus conversations, the authors leveraged the Rapid Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Growth future to draw out how utilities would have to adapt from current processes and procedures in order to manage and thrive in that new environment. Distributed solar was investigated specifically, and could serve as a proxy resource for all distributed generation (DG). It can also provide the foundation for all DERs.

Ecological and economical aspects of solar energy use

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sobczyk Wiktoria

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The natural environment is devastated by the industry and by households, which use fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas for heating water and buildings as well as for generating electricity. One of the ways to limit the degradation of the environment and the usage of natural resources is to use unconventional and renewable resources and to implement energy-saving technologies in construction, industry and households. A dynamic development of systems based on renewable energy sources such as biomass, water, wind, heat from inside the Earth and sunbeams has recently occurred in the whole world. This thesis is related to the purest and the least onerous for environment source of energy which is undoubtedly the energy that comes directly from the solar radiation. In this article the solar energy application is presented, taking into account its impact on the environment and financial costs of developing solar techniques. The installation of alternative energy sources are entitled to grants and credits, which reduces the investment costs. Ecological effects, although immeasurable, are significant and definitely testify in favor of the solar system.

Solar Eclipse Computer API: Planning Ahead for August 2017

Science.gov (United States)

Bartlett, Jennifer L.; Chizek Frouard, Malynda; Lesniak, Michael V.; Bell, Steve

2016-01-01

With the total solar eclipse of 2017 August 21 over the continental United States approaching, the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) on-line Solar Eclipse Computer can now be accessed via an application programming interface (API). This flexible interface returns local circumstances for any solar eclipse in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) that can be incorporated into third-party Web sites or applications. For a given year, it can also return a list of solar eclipses that can be used to build a more specific request for local circumstances. Over the course of a particular eclipse as viewed from a specific site, several events may be visible: the beginning and ending of the eclipse (first and fourth contacts), the beginning and ending of totality (second and third contacts), the moment of maximum eclipse, sunrise, or sunset. For each of these events, the USNO Solar Eclipse Computer reports the time, Sun's altitude and azimuth, and the event's position and vertex angles. The computer also reports the duration of the total phase, the duration of the eclipse, the magnitude of the eclipse, and the percent of the Sun obscured for a particular eclipse site. On-line documentation for using the API-enabled Solar Eclipse Computer, including sample calls, is available (http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/api.php). The same Web page also describes how to reach the Complete Sun and Moon Data for One Day, Phases of the Moon, Day and Night Across the Earth, and Apparent Disk of a Solar System Object services using API calls.For those who prefer using a traditional data input form, local circumstances can still be requested that way at http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/SolarEclipses.php. In addition, the 2017 August 21 Solar Eclipse Resource page (http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/Eclipse2017.php) consolidates all of the USNO resources for this event, including a Google Map view of the eclipse track designed by Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office (HMNAO). Looking further ahead, a

Using Probability of Exceedance to Compare the Resource Risk of Renewable and Gas-Fired Generation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bolinger, Mark [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2017-08-01

Of the myriad risks surrounding long-term investments in power plants, resource risk is one of the most difficult to mitigate, and is also perhaps the risk that most-clearly distinguishes renewable generation from natural gas-fired generation. For renewable generators like wind and solar projects, resource risk manifests as a quantity risk—i.e., the risk that the quantity of wind and insolation will be less than expected.i For gas-fired generators (i.e., a combined-cycle gas turbine or “CCGT”), resource risk manifests primarily as a price risk—i.e., the risk that natural gas will cost more than expected. Most often, resource risk—and natural gas price risk in particular—falls disproportionately on utility ratepayers, who are typically not well-equipped to manage this risk. As such, it is incumbent upon utilities, regulators, and policymakers to ensure that resource risk is taken into consideration when making or approving resource decisions, or enacting policies that influence the development of the electricity sector more broadly.

Part I. Alternative fuel-cycle and deployment strategies: their influence on long-term energy supply and resource usage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Till, C.E.; Chang, Y.I.; Rudolph, R.R.

1980-01-01

This report examines the implications of alternative fast breeder fuel cycles and deployment strategies on long-term energy supply and uranium resource utilization. An international-aggregate treatment for nuclear energy demand and resource base assumptions was adopted where specific assumptions were necessary for system analyses, but the primary emphasis was placed on understanding the general relationships between energy demand, uranium resource and breeder deployment option. The fast breeder deployment options studied include the reference Pu/U cycle as well as alternative cycles with varying degrees of thorium utilization

Comparative Study on KNN and SVM Based Weather Classification Models for Day Ahead Short Term Solar PV Power Forecasting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei Wang

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Accurate solar photovoltaic (PV power forecasting is an essential tool for mitigating the negative effects caused by the uncertainty of PV output power in systems with high penetration levels of solar PV generation. Weather classification based modeling is an effective way to increase the accuracy of day-ahead short-term (DAST solar PV power forecasting because PV output power is strongly dependent on the specific weather conditions in a given time period. However, the accuracy of daily weather classification relies on both the applied classifiers and the training data. This paper aims to reveal how these two factors impact the classification performance and to delineate the relation between classification accuracy and sample dataset scale. Two commonly used classification methods, K-nearest neighbors (KNN and support vector machines (SVM are applied to classify the daily local weather types for DAST solar PV power forecasting using the operation data from a grid-connected PV plant in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China. We assessed the performance of SVM and KNN approaches, and then investigated the influences of sample scale, the number of categories, and the data distribution in different categories on the daily weather classification results. The simulation results illustrate that SVM performs well with small sample scale, while KNN is more sensitive to the length of the training dataset and can achieve higher accuracy than SVM with sufficient samples.

Solar cosmic rays in the system of solar terrestrial relations

Science.gov (United States)

Miroshnichenko, Leonty I.

2008-02-01

In this brief review, we discuss a number of geophysical effects of solar energetic particles (SEPs) or solar cosmic rays (SCR). We concentrate mainly on the observational evidence and proposed mechanisms of some expected effects and/or poor-studied phenomena discovered within the last three decades, in particular, depletion of the ozone layer, perturbations in the global electric current, effects on the winter storm vorticity, change of the atmospheric transparency and production of nitrates. Some "archaeological" data on SCR fluxes in the past and upper limit of total energy induced by SEPs are also discussed. Due attention is paid to the periodicities in the solar particle fluxes. Actually, many solar, heliospheric and terrestrial parameters changing generally in phase with the solar activity are subjected to a temporary depression close to the solar maximum ("Gnevyshev Gap"). A similar gap has been found recently in the yearly numbers of the >10 MeV proton events. All the above-mentioned findings are evidently of great importance in the studies of general proton emissivity of the Sun and long-term trends in the behaviour of solar magnetic fields. In addition, these data can be very helpful for elaborating the methods for prediction of the radiation conditions in space and for estimation of the SEPs' contribution to solar effects on the geosphere, their relative role in the formation of terrestrial weather and climate and in the problem of solar-terrestrial relations (STR) on the whole.

Renewable energy worldwide outlooks: solar energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darnell, J.R.

1994-01-01

Solar energy yield is weak because it is very diffuse. The solar energy depends on the weather. The collectors need the beam radiation. Wavelength is important for some applications that include not only the visible spectrum but also infrared and ultraviolet radiation. The areas of the greatest future population growth are high on solar energy resources. We have different types of conversion systems where energy can be converted from solar to electric or thermal energy. Photovoltaic cells are made of silicone or gallium arsenide, this latter for the space use. For the solar energy applications there is a storage problem: electric batteries or superconducting magnets. Today, the highest use of solar energy is in the low temperature thermal category with over 90% of the world contribution from this energy. The penetration of solar energy will be higher in rural areas than in urban regions. But there are technical, institutional, economic constraints. In spite of that the use of solar energy would be increasing and will go on to increase thereafter. The decreasing costs over time are a real phenomenon and there is a broad public support for increased use of that energy. 15 figs

Gasification of oil shale by solar energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ingel, Gil

1992-04-01

Gasification of oil shales followed by catalytic reforming can yield synthetic gas, which is easily transportable and may be used as a heat source or for producing liquid fuels. The aim of the present work was to study the gasification of oil shales by solar radiation, as a mean of combining these two energy resources. Such a combination results in maximizing the extractable fuel from the shale, as well as enabling us to store solar energy in a chemical bond. In this research special attention was focused upon the question of the possible enhancement of the gasification by direct solar irradiation of the solid carbonaceous feed stock. The oil shale served here as a model feedstock foe other resources such as coal, heavy fuels or biomass all of which can be gasified in the same manner. The experiments were performed at the Weizman institute's solar central receiver, using solar concentrated flux as an energy source for the gasification. The original contributions of this work are : 1) Experimental evidence is presented that concentrated sunlight can be used effectively to carry out highly endothermic chemical reactions in solid particles, which in turn forms an essential element in the open-loop solar chemical heat pipe; 2) The solar-driven gasification of oil shales can be executed with good conversion efficiencies, as well as high synthesis gas yields; 3)There was found substantial increase in deliverable energy compared to the conventional retorting of oil shales, and considerable reduction in the resulting spent shale. 5) A detailed computer model that incorporates all the principal optical and thermal components of the solar concentrator and the chemical reactor has been developed and compared favorably against experimental data. (author)

Solar PV resource for higher penetration through a combined spatial aggregation with wind

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Bischof-Niemz, ST

2016-06-01

Full Text Available between wind and solar PV and how these would be reflected in the power system. The benefits of spatial distribution of renewables are well understood, but the impact of the combined spatial aggregation of wind and solar PV is central to the design...

Proceedings of the Canadian Solar Buildings Conference : the 31. annual conference of the Solar Energy Society of Canada Inc. and the 1. Canadian Solar Buildings Research Network conference

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Athienitis, A.; Charron, R.; Karava, P.; Stylianou, M.; Tzempelikos, A.

2006-01-01

The first conference organized by the newly established Canadian Solar Buildings Research Network (SBRN) was held in conjunction with the thirty-first annual conference of the Solar Energy Society of Canada Inc (SESCI). The conference was attended by top researchers from 10 Canadian Universities to promote innovative research and development in solar energy applications and to advance the awareness of solar energy in Canada. It featured special events such as trade shows, photovoltaic workshops, a course in ESP-r simulation, tours of solar houses and other events focused on the economic, environmental and socio-economic benefits of solar technology, including the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. SBRN was founded on the premise that university researchers should focus on solar energy applications for buildings. Several presentations proposed action plans to accelerate the implementation of solar energy through the use of innovative building technologies and sustainable energy policies. Other major issues of interest were also discussed, including the development of the net-zero energy solar home and grid-connection issues. The sessions of the conference were entitled: solar thermal systems; solar electricity; building integrated photovoltaic systems; design issues and tools; integrating PV and solar thermal in buildings; daylighting and solar radiation modeling; fenestration and shading; PV manufacturing and solar electricity resources. The proceedings featured 41 refereed papers and 13 poster presentations, all of which have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database. refs., tabs., figs

FARIMA MODELING OF SOLAR FLARE ACTIVITY FROM EMPIRICAL TIME SERIES OF SOFT X-RAY SOLAR EMISSION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stanislavsky, A. A.; Burnecki, K.; Magdziarz, M.; Weron, A.; Weron, K.

2009-01-01

A time series of soft X-ray emission observed by the Geostationary Operational Environment Satellites from 1974 to 2007 is analyzed. We show that in the solar-maximum periods the energy distribution of soft X-ray solar flares for C, M, and X classes is well described by a fractional autoregressive integrated moving average model with Pareto noise. The model incorporates two effects detected in our empirical studies. One effect is a long-term dependence (long-term memory), and another corresponds to heavy-tailed distributions. The parameters of the model: self-similarity exponent H, tail index α, and memory parameter d are statistically stable enough during the periods 1977-1981, 1988-1992, 1999-2003. However, when the solar activity tends to minimum, the parameters vary. We discuss the possible causes of this evolution and suggest a statistically justified model for predicting the solar flare activity.

Short- and long-term variability of spectral solar UV irradiance at Thessaloniki, Greece: effects of changes in aerosols, total ozone and clouds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Fountoulakis

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In this study, we discuss the short- and the long-term variability of spectral UV irradiance at Thessaloniki, Greece, using a long, quality-controlled data set from two Brewer spectrophotometers. Long-term changes in spectral UV irradiance at 307.5, 324 and 350 nm for the period 1994–2014 are presented for different solar zenith angles and discussed in association with changes in total ozone column (TOC, aerosol optical depth (AOD and cloudiness observed in the same period. Positive changes in annual mean anomalies of UV irradiance, ranging from 2 to 6 % per decade, have been detected both for clear- and all-sky conditions. The changes are generally greater for larger solar zenith angles and for shorter wavelengths. For clear-skies, these changes are, in most cases, statistically significant at the 95 % confidence limit. Decreases in the aerosol load and weakening of the attenuation by clouds lead to increases in UV irradiance in the summer, of 7–9 % per decade for 64° solar zenith angle. The increasing TOC in winter counteracts the effect of decreasing AOD for this particular season, leading to small, statistically insignificant, negative long-term changes in irradiance at 307.5 nm. Annual mean UV irradiance levels are increasing from 1994 to 2006 and remain relatively stable thereafter, possibly due to the combined changes in the amount and optical properties of aerosols. However, no statistically significant corresponding turning point has been detected in the long-term changes of AOD. The absence of signatures of changes in AOD in the short-term variability of irradiance in the UV-A may have been caused by changes in the single scattering albedo of aerosols, which may counteract the effects of changes in AOD on irradiance. The anti-correlation between the year-to-year variability of the irradiance at 307.5 nm and TOC is clear and becomes clearer as the AOD decreases.

Technology for obtaining of solar elements based on heterostructure basis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Camalova, A.Q.; Aliyeva, A.K.; Zeynalova, S.M.; Latifova, N.A.

2013-01-01

As it is known the level of energy sources usage reflects the level of development of civilization and was accepted by all as main factor. Currently, there are mainly oil, coal and natural gas are used as raw material in traditional energy, which leads to formation of environmental problems. They are not endless reserves of traditional energy sources and there is a danger of their extinction in the near future. For that reason, recently, the use of wind, solar, thermal waters and some other natural resources rapidly increased in many countries. The most important place among these natural resources belongs to solar energy. Thus, the amount of solar energy coming into the earth is much more than the amount of energy of oil, gas, coal and uranium reserves in the world taken together. At present the annual production of solar components exceeds 500 MW in the world. Photoelectric stations are silent and do not waste harmful products to the environment. The majority of modern solar cells are made on the basis of a single p-n junction

Solar-based groundwater pumping for irrigation: Sustainability, policies, and limitations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Closas, Alvar; Rap, Edwin

2017-01-01

The increasing demand for solar-powered irrigation systems in agriculture has spurred a race for projects as it potentially offers a cost-effective and sustainable energy solution to off-grid farmers while helping food production and sustaining livelihoods. As a result, countries such as Morocco and Yemen have been promoting this technology for farmers and national plans with variable finance and subsidy schemes like in India have been put forward. By focusing on the application of solar photovoltaic (PV) pumping systems in groundwater-fed agriculture, this paper highlights the need to further study the impacts, opportunities and limitations of this technology within the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus. It shows how most policies and projects promoting solar-based groundwater pumping for irrigation through subsidies and other incentives overlook the real financial and economic costs of this solution as well as the availability of water resources and the potential negative impacts on the environment caused by groundwater over-abstraction. There is a need to monitor groundwater abstraction, targeting subsidies and improving the knowledge and monitoring of resource use. Failing to address these issues could lead to further groundwater depletion, which could threaten the sustainability of this technology and dependent livelihoods in the future. - Highlights: • Solar pumping projects require assessing environmental and financial sustainability. • Subsidies for solar pumping need to be tied to groundwater pumping regulations. • Solar irrigation projects need to consider groundwater availability and depletion. • Data and monitoring are needed to improve water resource impact assessments.

Solar energy: an environment friendly reliable and sustainable source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siddique, M.A.; Akhtar, W.

2011-01-01

The rapid enhancement in consumption of fossil fuels in order to meet the day-to day increasing energy requirements has blown a danger sign for all nations. Global warming effect has compelled researchers to discover other techniques of energy generation instead of traditional ways in order to reduce adverse effects on global terrain. Renewable energy resources have got attention of global entrepreneurs due to their long lasting availability and environment friendliness. Solar technology is finding increased application in both domestic and military application. This paper discusses the ideas behind the art of design of solar cells and their historical developments. It also covers the kind of techniques/ methodologies used for solar energy conversion into electrical energy with comparison between different renewable technologies and solar technology. This paper gives the brief review of world energy resources and their consumption v/s Solar energy production percentage. Researchers in the field of energy generation have impressed by the Prodigious results of Renewable Energies. Today's most of the high ranked international universities of developed countries in collaboration with government/ industries have been carrying on advance researches in the field of renewable technologies. (author)

Concentrated solar power (CSP innovation analysis in South Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Craig, Toyosi Onalapo

2017-08-01

Full Text Available South Africa aims to generate 42 per cent of its electricity from renewable energy technology sources by 2030. Concentrating solar power (CSP is one of the major renewable energy technologies that have been prioritised by South Africa, given the abundant solar resources available in the region. Seven CSP plants have been, or are being, built; three of them are already connected to the national grid. However, the impacts of this technology on South African research, development, and innovation have not been investigated to date. This paper thus analyses the CSP technologies in South Africa in terms of the existing technology adoption models and diffusion strategies, used by government and its agencies, to improve the development and deployment of these technologies. It is found that CSP has been treated generally like other renewable energy technologies through the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP, although a tariff plan for CSP plants of the future has been made. No specific technology diffusion or adoption model for CSP was found; so this paper explores how it can be developed.

Texas Solar Collaboration DOE Rooftop Solar Challenge City of Houston Project Summary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ronk, Jennifer [Houston Advanced Research Center, TX (United States)

2013-02-14

The City of Houston is committed to achieving a sustainable solar infrastructure. In 2008, Houston was named a United States Department of Energy (DOE) Solar America City. As a Solar America City, Houston teamed with the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC), Sandia National Laboratory (Sandia), industry, and academia, to implement the Solar Houston Initiative and prepare the Solar Houston Plan. The Solar Houston initiative was focused on identifying and overcoming barriers associated with establishing a solar infrastructure that is incorporated into the City of Houston’s overall energy plan. A broad group of Houston area stakeholders, facilitated by HARC, came together to develop a comprehensive solar plan that went beyond technology to address barriers and establish demonstrations, public outreach, education programs and other activities. The plan included proposed scopes of work in four program areas: policies, solar integration, public outreach, and education. Through the support of the DOE SunShot Rooftop Solar Challenge (RSC) grant to the Texas Collaboration (San Antonio, Austin, and Hosuton), Houston has been able to implement several of the recommendations of the Solar Houston Plan. Specific recommendations that this project was able to support include; Working with the other Texas Solar America Cities (San Antonio and Austin), to harmonize permitting and inspection processes to simplify for installers and lower soft costs of installation; Participating in state level solar policy groups such as the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association (TRIEA); Continued coordination with the local transmission and distribution utility (CenterPoint) and retail electric providers (REP); Identification of opportunities to improve permitting and interconnection; Providing training on PV systems to City inspectors; Educating the public by continuing outreach, training, and workshops, particularly using the the Green Building Resources Center; Evaluating methods of

GLOBAL IMPACT OF SOLAR ENERGY, CASE STUDY - GERMANY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gheorghe Caralicea Marculescu

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Renewable energy is a socially and politically defined category of energy sources. Renewable energy is generally defined as energy that comes from resources which are continually replenished on a human timescale such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves and geothermal heat. About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewable resources, with 10% of all energy from traditional biomass, mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from hydroelectricity. New renewables (small hydro, modern biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, and biofuels accounted for another 3% and are growing rapidly. This paper seeks is aimed at presenting the impact solar energy could have on a world level given the finitude, reachability and ever increasing prices of fossil fuels. As a case study we will present the solar energy industry in Germany emphasizing the advantages and disadvantages this form of energy has in this country and worldwide.

Advanced Solar Panel Designs

Science.gov (United States)

Ralph, E. L.; Linder, E. B.

1995-01-01

Solar panel designs that utilize new high-efficiency solar cells and lightweight rigid panel technologies are described. The resulting designs increase the specific power (W/kg) achievable in the near-term and are well suited to meet the demands of higher performance small satellites (smallsats). Advanced solar panel designs have been developed and demonstrated on two NASA SBIR contracts at Applied Solar. The first used 19% efficient, large area (5.5 cm x 6.5 cm) GaAs/Ge solar cells with a lightweight rigid graphite epoxy isogrid substrate configuration. A 1,445 sq cm coupon was fabricated and tested to demonstrate 60 W/kg with a high potential of achieving 80 W/kg. The second panel design used new 22% efficiency, dual-junction GaInP2/GaAs/Ge solar cells combined with a lightweight aluminum core/graphite fiber mesh facesheet substrate. A 1,445 sq cm coupon was fabricated and tested to demonstrate 105 W/kg with the potential of achieving 115 W/kg.

The Interdependence of Long- and Short-Term Components in Unmasked Repetition Priming: An Indication of Shared Resources.

Science.gov (United States)

Merema, Matt R; Speelman, Craig P

2015-01-01

It has been suggested that unmasked repetition priming is composed of distinct long-and short-term priming components. The current study sought to clarify the relationship between these components by examining the relationship between them. A total of 60 people (45 females, 15 males) participated in a computer-based lexical decision task designed to measure levels of short-term priming across different levels of long-term priming. The results revealed an interdependent relationship between the two components, whereby an increase in long-term priming prompted a decrease in short-term priming. Both long-term and short-term priming were accurately captured by a single power function over seven minutes post repetition, suggesting the two components may draw on the same resources. This interdependence between long- and short-term priming may serve to improve fluency in reading.

The Interdependence of Long- and Short-Term Components in Unmasked Repetition Priming: An Indication of Shared Resources.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matt R Merema

Full Text Available It has been suggested that unmasked repetition priming is composed of distinct long-and short-term priming components. The current study sought to clarify the relationship between these components by examining the relationship between them. A total of 60 people (45 females, 15 males participated in a computer-based lexical decision task designed to measure levels of short-term priming across different levels of long-term priming. The results revealed an interdependent relationship between the two components, whereby an increase in long-term priming prompted a decrease in short-term priming. Both long-term and short-term priming were accurately captured by a single power function over seven minutes post repetition, suggesting the two components may draw on the same resources. This interdependence between long- and short-term priming may serve to improve fluency in reading.

Solar system sputtering

Science.gov (United States)

Tombrello, T. A.

1982-01-01

The sites and materials involved in solar system sputtering of planetary surfaces are reviewed, together with existing models for the processes of sputtering. Attention is given to the interaction of the solar wind with planetary atmospheres in terms of the role played by the solar wind in affecting the He-4 budget in the Venus atmosphere, and the erosion and differentiation of the Mars atmosphere by solar wind sputtering. The study is extended to the production of isotopic fractionation and anomalies in interplanetary grains by irradiation, and to erosion effects on planetary satellites with frozen volatile surfaces, such as with Io, Europa, and Ganymede. Further measurements are recommended of the molecular form of the ejected material, the yields and energy spectra of the sputtered products, the iosotopic fractionation sputtering causes, and the possibility of electronic sputtering enhancement with materials such as silicates.

Carbon emissions and resources use by Chinese economy 2007: A 135-sector inventory and input-output embodiment

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, G. Q.; Chen, Z. M.

2010-11-01

A 135-sector inventory and embodiment analysis for carbon emissions and resources use by Chinese economy 2007 is presented in this paper by an ecological input-output modeling based on the physical entry scheme. Included emissions and resources belong to six categories as: (1) greenhouse gas (GHG) in terms of CO 2, CH 4, and N 2O; (2) energy in terms of coal, crude oil, natural gas, hydropower, nuclear power, and firewood; (3) water in terms of freshwater; (4) exergy in terms of coal, crude oil, natural gas, grain, bean, tuber, cotton, peanut, rapeseed, sesame, jute, sugarcane, sugar beet, tobacco, silkworm feed, tea, fruits, vegetables, wood, bamboo, pulp, meat, egg, milk, wool, aquatic products, iron ore, copper ore, bauxite, lead ore, zinc ore, pyrite, phosphorite, gypsum, cement, nuclear fuel, and hydropower; (5) and (6) solar and cosmic emergies in terms of sunlight, wind power, deep earth heat, chemical power of rain, geopotential power of rain, chemical power of stream, geopotential power of stream, wave power, geothermal power, tide power, topsoil loss, coal, crude oil, natural gas, ferrous metal ore, non-ferrous metal ore, non-metal ore, cement, and nuclear fuel. Accounted based on the embodied intensities are carbon emissions and resources use embodied in the final use as rural consumption, urban consumption, government consumption, gross fixed capital formation, change in inventories, and export, as well as in the international trade balance. The resulted database is basic to environmental account of carbon emissions and resources use at various levels.

Potential for natural evaporation as a reliable renewable energy resource.

Science.gov (United States)

Cavusoglu, Ahmet-Hamdi; Chen, Xi; Gentine, Pierre; Sahin, Ozgur

2017-09-26

About 50% of the solar energy absorbed at the Earth's surface drives evaporation, fueling the water cycle that affects various renewable energy resources, such as wind and hydropower. Recent advances demonstrate our nascent ability to convert evaporation energy into work, yet there is little understanding about the potential of this resource. Here we study the energy available from natural evaporation to predict the potential of this ubiquitous resource. We find that natural evaporation from open water surfaces could provide power densities comparable to current wind and solar technologies while cutting evaporative water losses by nearly half. We estimate up to 325 GW of power is potentially available in the United States. Strikingly, water's large heat capacity is sufficient to control power output by storing excess energy when demand is low, thus reducing intermittency and improving reliability. Our findings motivate the improvement of materials and devices that convert energy from evaporation.The evaporation of water represents an alternative source of renewable energy. Building on previous models of evaporation, Cavusoglu et al. show that the power available from this natural resource is comparable to wind and solar power, yet it does not suffer as much from varying weather conditions.

A desalination plant with solar and wind energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, H; Ye, Z; Gao, W

2013-01-01

The shortage of freshwater resources has become a worldwide problem. China has a water shortage, although the total amount of water resources is the sixth in the world, the per capita water capacity is the 121th (a quarter of the world's per capita water capacity), and the United Nations considers China one of the poorest 13 countries in the world in terms of water. In order to increase the supply of fresh water, a realistic way is to make full use of China's long and narrow coastline for seawater desalination. This paper discusses a sea water desalination device, the device adopts distillation, uses the greenhouse effect principle and wind power heating principle, and the two-type start is used to solve the problem of vertical axis wind turbine self-starting. Thrust bearings are used to ensure the stability of the device, and to ensure absorbtion of wind energy and solar energy, and to collect evaporation of water to achieve desalination. The device can absorb solar and wind energy instead of input energy, so it can be used in ship, island and many kinds of environment. Due to the comprehensive utilization of wind power and solar power, the efficiency of the device is more than other passive sea water desalting plants, the initial investment and maintenance cost is lower than active sea water desalting plant. The main part of the device cannot only be used in offshore work, but can also be used in deep sea floating work, so the device can utilise deep sea energy. In order to prove the practicability of the device, the author has carried out theory of water production calculations. According to the principle of conservation of energy, the device ais bsorbing solar and wind power, except loose lost part which is used for water temperature rise and phase transition. Assume the inflow water temperature is 20 °C, outflow water temperature is 70 °C, the energy utilization is 60%, we can know that the water production quantity is 8 kg/ m 2 per hour. Comparing

Long-term energy output estimation for photovoltaic energy systems using synthetic solar irradiation data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Celik, A.N.

2003-01-01

A general methodology is presented to estimate the monthly average daily energy output from photovoltaic energy systems. Energy output is estimated from synthetically generated solar radiation data. The synthetic solar radiation data are generated based on the cumulative frequency distribution of the daily clearness index, given as a function of the monthly clearness index. Two sets of synthetic solar irradiation data are generated: 3- and 4-day months. In the 3-day month, each month is represented by 3 days and in the 4-day month, by 4 days. The 3- and 4-day solar irradiation data are synthetically generated for each month and the corresponding energy outputs are calculated. A total of 8-year long measured hourly solar irradiation data, from five different locations in the world, is used to validate the new model. The monthly energy output values calculated from the synthetic solar irradiation data are compared to those calculated from the measured hour-by-hour data. It is shown that when the measured solar radiation data do not exist for a particular location or reduced data set is advantageous, the energy output from photovoltaic converters could be correctly calculated

A Groundwater Model to Assess Water Resource Impacts at the Imperial East Solar Energy Zone

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Quinn, John [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Greer, Chris [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); O' Connor, Ben L. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Tompson, Andrew F.B. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2013-12-01

The purpose of this study is to develop a groundwater flow model to examine the influence of potential groundwater withdrawal to support the utility-scale solar energy development at the Imperial East Solar Energy Zone (SEZ) as a part of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) solar energy program.

Advanced Cloud Forecasting for Solar Energy’s Impact on Grid Modernization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Werth, D. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL); Nichols, R. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)

2017-09-29

Solar energy production is subject to variability in the solar resource – clouds and aerosols will reduce the available solar irradiance and inhibit power production. The fact that solar irradiance can vary by large amounts at small timescales and in an unpredictable way means that power utilities are reluctant to assign to their solar plants a large portion of future energy demand – the needed power might be unavailable, forcing the utility to make costly adjustments to its daily portfolio. The availability and predictability of solar radiation therefore represent important research topics for increasing the power produced by renewable sources.

Study of s-component of the solar radio emission and short-term quantitative prediction of powerful solar flares

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guseynov, Sh; Gakhramanov, I.G.

2012-01-01

Full text : All living and non-living things on Earth is dependent on the processes occurring in the Sun. Therefore the study of the Sun with the aim to predict powerful solar flares is of great scientific and practical importance. It is known that the main drawback of modern forecasting of solar flares and the low reliability of forecasts is the lack of use of the physical concepts of the mechanism of flares

Solar energy in Peru

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pierson, H.

1981-12-01

The past, present, and future of Peru is discussed in terms of solar energy development and the social, economic, climatic, and technical factors involved. It is pointed out that there are 3 geographical divisions in Peru including: (1) the foggy coastal strip where rain is infrequent, insolation is low and population is high; (2) the mountainous Andes region with high insolation and many populated high mountain valleys; and (3) the rainy, Amazon basin covered with jungle, and sparcely populated with high but inconsistent insolation. Since there is little competition with other forms of energy, solar energy shows promise. Passive solar heating of buildings, particularly in the Andes region, is described, as well as the use of solar water heaters. Prototypes are described and illustrated. Industrial use of solar heated water in the wool industry as well as solar food drying and solar desalination are discussed. High temperature applications (electrical generators and refrigeration) as well as photovoltaic systems are discussed briefly. It is concluded that social and political factors are holding back the development of solar energy but a start (in the form of prototypes and demonstration programs) is being made. (MJJ)

Design and Implementation of Dual Axis Solar Tracking system

OpenAIRE

Sirigauri N,; Raghav S

2015-01-01

Solar energy is a promising technology that can have huge long term benefits. Solar cells convert the solar energy into electrical energy. Solar tracking system is the most suited technology to improve the efficiency and enhance the performance by utilizing maximum solar energy through the solar cell. In hardware development we utilize LDR’s as sensors and two servomotors to direct the position of the solar panel. The software part is implemented on a code written using an Arduino...

Final Report. Forest County Potawatomi Community, Community-Scale Solar Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Drescher, Sara M. [Forest County Potawatomi Community, Crandon, WI (United States)

2016-03-31

The Forest County Potawatomi Community (“FCPC” or “Tribe”) is a federally recognized Indian tribe with a membership of over 1400. The Tribe has a reservation in Forest County, Wisconsin, and also holds tribal trust and fee lands in Milwaukee, Oconto, and Fond du Lac Counties, Wisconsin. The Tribe has developed the long-term goal of becoming energy independent using renewable resources. In order to meet this goal, the Tribe has taken a number of important steps including energy audits leading to efficiency measures, installation of solar PV, the construction of a biodigester and the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates to offset its current energy use. To further its energy independence goals, FCPC submitted an application to the Department of Energy (“DOE”) and was awarded a Community-Scale Clean Energy Projects in Indian Country grant, under funding opportunity DE-FOA-0000852. The Tribe, in collaboration with Pewaukee, Wisconsin based SunVest Solar Inc. (SunVest), installed approximately 922.95 kW of solar PV systems at fifteen tribal facilities in Milwaukee and Forest Counties. The individual installations ranged from 9.0 kW to 447.64 kW and will displace between 16.9% to in some cases in excess of 90% of each building’s energy needs.

Economical investigation of an integrated boiler-solar energy saving system in Jordan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Salaymeh, A.; Al-Rawabdeh, I.; Emran, S.

2010-01-01

Jordan is relatively poor in conventional energy resources and is basically a non-oil producing country, i.e. its energy supply relies to a very large extent on imports. It is therefore unlikely that any future energy scenario for Jordan will not include a significant proportion of its energy to come from renewable sources such as solar energy. The lack of an integrated energy saving system which utilizes the solar energy for domestic hot water as well as for building space heating was the main motivation for the present study. In Jordan, there is no existing system can provide the integration mechanisms of solar energy and fuel combustion with electrical ones. Also adding new and related products increases sales of current boilers products and can be offered at competitive prices. During our investigations, it has been found that the market demand for boiler-solar integration system in terms of the system acceptability, system feasibility, and system values is very high especially after the increased in oil prices during the last 3 years, i.e. 2006-2008. The market trend shows that even though solar collector is not attractive as an energy source for domestic hot water, but the combined system for space heating and domestic hot water is fully accepted. However, the market demand for such a system is not completely identified yet but the awareness and the discussion of the idea shows a good potential. The economical study about the integration system of boiler and solar energy shows that using solar water heaters to heat space and for domestic water is cost-effective. Payback can be as low as 3 years, and utility bills are much lower than they would be using a conventional heating system. The initial draft and design of a prototype for the boiler-solar-electrical integration system has been carried out.

Solar energy system economic evaluation: Contemporary Newman, Georgia

Science.gov (United States)

1980-01-01

An economic evaluation of performance of the solar energy system (based on life cycle costs versus energy savings) for five cities considered to be representative of a broad range of environmental and economic conditions in the United States is discussed. The considered life cycle costs are: hardware, installation, maintenance, and operating costs for the solar unique components of the total system. The total system takes into consideration long term average environmental conditions, loads, fuel costs, and other economic factors applicable in each of five cities. Selection criteria are based on availability of long term weather data, heating degree days, cold water supply temperature, solar insolation, utility rates, market potential, and type of solar system.

Renewable energy resources and their role in the energy balance of the country

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivanov, P.; Trifonova, L.

2001-01-01

The role of the renewable energy sources in the energy production sector is discussed. The main features of solar, wind and biomass energy are reviewed. Studies for Bulgaria show a total solar radiation above 1600 kWh/m 2 for the Southern regions. The assessment of the solar resources, made by the DOE gives about 170 000 TWh/y for the whole territory. The economically advantageous resources for passive heating are 10.6 TWh till 2020. For the same period the utilization of 0.92 TWh solar energy is possible. Solar installations with surface about 14 000 m 2 are currently in operation. 54% of them are in the tourism sphere and only 8% are in industry (due to some economical difficulties about 44% of the industrial installations are shut down). On the base of processing of the data from more that 100 meteorological stations on the country territory, a spatial assessment of the resources has been done. For the whole territory the wind potential is estimated to about 15800 GW. Theoretical average annual wind resources at 10 km above the surface are 125 000 TWh. There are several areas with wind velocity 5-6 m/s which are suitable for wind energy production. The energy resources of biomass for the country are large - around 35.5 TWh. Under the programmes 'Country Study Project' and PHARE, different scenarii for the renewable energy source utilization till 2020 are developed. Estimation for the possibilities for wider application of the renewable sources in the market are done

Intra-Hour Dispatch and Automatic Generator Control Demonstration with Solar Forecasting - Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coimbra, Carlos F. M. [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States