Home: Renewable Energy News: Tuesday 01 September, 2009

Renewable Energy News

TUESDAY 01 SEPTEMBER, 2009 |

Alaska's Monster Solar Hot Water System

Solar hot water system array - Alaska
Golden Valley Electric Association in chilly Alaska has installed the state's largest hot water system at the Denali Education Center, McKinley Village.

The system is acting as a test installation to determine whether similar technology might work in other towns and remote villages in Alaska.

According to NewsMiner, the solar hot water system is expected to generate the equivalent of 32,000 kwh of electricity and save the Denali Education Center as much as AUD $11,000 annually in energy costs.

The system consists of 120 square meters of flat panel solar thermal collectors and the array stands around 13 meters high. The water storage tank for the system holds over 10,000 litres. Water is piped to cabins via 600 metres of insulated pipe.

Previously, the Center relied on water heaters powered by electricity or propane. Using their traditional power generation system, electricity usage was as much as 300 kilowatt-hours per day, with water heating comprising a substantial amount of that figure.

The massive solar hot water system will also provide educational opportunities. Denai Education Center is teaming up with Solar Energy International to provide courses on how to design, install and maintain renewable energy systems, and how to design and build efficient, sustainable homes.

In an Australian household, electric and gas hot water systems account for approximately 20% of a household's greenhouse gas emissions. Households that install a solar hot water system can generate savings of up to 75% on their water heating costs.

Solar Power Farms In Space - A Step Closer

Space based solar farm satellite
In April this year, we reported that harvesting solar power from space via orbiting solar farms could occur as soon as 2016 according to some proponents of the technology.

While that may have been a little optimistic, the concept is being taken very seriously by some major players.

According to a report on Bloomberg, Mitsubishi Electric Corp., a manufacturer of solar panels, will join an AUD $25 billion Japanese project to construct a gigantic solar farm in space within three decades.

According to Bloomberg, Japan is working on developing the technology for a 1-gigawatt solar farm, consisting of four square kilometers of solar panels that will be stationed 36,000 kilometers above the earth's surface. One gigawatt of generation capacity would be enough to supply around 294,000 average Tokyo homes.

Prior to the deployment of the project, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), leaders of the project, will launch a small satellite decked out with solar panels in 2015 in order to test beaming electricity from space.

A division of JAXA, the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) has already designed a model of the SPS2000 (pictured), a 10 megawatt demonstration solar-power satellite.

ISAS is also working on an experimental satellite plan for wireless power supply of several hundred kilowatts. Ground experiments are being conducted to examine the influence of high-voltage discharge necessary for large-capacity power generation in space and the impact of space debris.