Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings and Offsite Renewables

The energy performance of buildings is key for reaching the European Union’s very ambitious climate targets. “Nearly zero energy building (nZEB)” is the term for a building standard that complies with this ambition. Living in 2013 we have 8 years to go until every single Member State will have to build every single new building as nearly zero energy building, and even only 6 years to go for nearly zero energy public buildings.

Materials for electric busways

Busbars, busducts, and busways using copper conductors have several advantages compared to their counterparts fabricated from other materials.

The main advantages of copper arise from its high electric conductivity (low electric resistance). These characteristics make it possible to create busways with the same current carrying capacity but that are smaller and/or more energy efficient.

In addition, the use of copper results in highly durable connections that can resist strong mechanical forces.

Cable Conductor Sizing for Minimum Life Cycle Cost

Energy prices are high and expected to rise. All CO₂ emissions are being scrutinized by regulators as well as by public opinion. As a result, energy management has become a key factor in almost every business. To get the most out of each kilowatt-hour, appliances must be carefully evaluated for their energy efficiency.

Stochastic Life Cycle Costing

Life Cycle Costing (LCC) analysis helps you compare several investment opportunities based on the costs and revenues each investment generates over several years. You learned how to perform a simple LCC in the first Application Note.

World Energy Expenditures

US$6,000bn for energy consumers, and substantial revenues for governments

World energy expenditures have more than doubled in 20 years

More than US$6,000bn -10% of the world Gross Domestic Product (GDP)- is spent each year in the world for energy purposes (figures in US$2005ppp). This places energy second to health care expenditures in many countries; and in some cases first.

The cost of the post fossil-fuel economy - 2 radically opposed visions

Can we evolve to a post fossil-fuel economy by 2050? A recent study at Stanford University investigated the development of an energy system driven solely by wind, water, and the sun. In contrast to that, the article 'Renewables Won’t Keep the Lights On' by Euan Mearns, which appeared in the Oil Drum, sketched a pitch-black view of our energy future and considered nuclear energy the only reasonable option. The fact that both scenarios are possible in terms of energy flows has already been well-argued by David MacKay in his book 'Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air'. Unlike MacKay, however, the Stanford University and Euan Mearns texts also take the cost of the future energy system into account. It is interesting that they arrive at two radically different conclusions. It should be noted that both articles were written before the Fukushima accident in Japan.

Messages on fraud with Spanish solar energy incentives

Only very small amounts in terms of percentage

Last April, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo published a story on PV farms that claimed to have produced solar electricity between midnight and 7 a.m. The newspaper suspected the operators of running diesel-burning generators at night to cash in on the high feed-in tariffs for photovoltaic electricity in that country. A number of foreign media channels, including the influential Bloomsberg Businessweek, picked up the story.

The reaction of the Spanish PV industry association, Asociación de la Industria Fotovoltaica, regretted the fact that vague and sometimes unsubstantiated accusations of photovoltaic fraud get into the press with relative frequency. Not all of these stories translate into a valid legal case. Concerned about the public image of the sector, they asked the government to investigate the newspaper’s claims.

Such messages do indeed harm the image of solar energy. Moreover, they fuel questions regarding the usefulness of government incentives. Is the potential for fraud an argument against the system of feed-in tariffs?

Before jumping to any conclusions, it is worthwhile to put the figures into perspective. The total amount of energy that was allegedly produced fraudulently was 4,500 MWh, according to El Mundo. This is 0.05% of the total PV production in Spain in 2009 (Sources: Energyportal.eu and IEA). In the same period, the European retail sector lost 1.33% of their turnover to theft and the American retail sector even more at 1.61% (Source: CRR Centre for Retail Research).

Optimisation of Photovoltaic Plants : Economic Cable Sizing

Over-sizing the cross section of a cable beyond the result of voltage and current theoretical calculations is, in most of cases, a worthwhile investment that is easily amortised by the electricity bill savings (reduction of Joule losses). In the case of a photovoltaic (PV) installation, the allocated price for energy (feed-in tariff) is much higher than the market price, getting amortised much faster.