Renewable Energy Show

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Show Report

I attended the renewable energy show in Killarney yesterday Sunday 27th May 2007.

So what did I see you ask. Well apart from a bunch of sellers selling alternative energy product at mainly well above European prices, and a few of the at double the average, I saw Kedco selling their boiler and wood pellets.

Get this! Kedco Have Two 2 that's two Prices for Pellets

I find it strange that a company selling wood pellets had two VERY different prices for their products. The 2 prices for wood pellets are:

(a) €165 incl VAT per ton for bulk wood pellets and

(b) €270 incl VAT per ton for bulk wood pellets.

Now you ask why the huge difference? The (a) price is for customers who purchased their re-badged OPOP boiler. The (b) price is for all others. That is a differential of €105 per ton. Take a house that uses say 4 tons a year that €420 a year.

When I see this sort of rubbish I start asking questions straight away. Like:

1. that's one hell of a differential, there must be masses of profit on that old boiler of theirs! Or,

2. there must be one hell of a mark-up on their pellets, or indeed both, or,

3. maybe they are not interested in selling wood pellets at all - just using the supply to help hook some customers for the boiler.

Either way I think they are a bit foolish to mark it uplike that - it just shows up the manipulation of costs for what they are. If you want pellets try Balcas. (see last post)

Apart from the Prices what else did I see?

Duncan Steware gave the first and main lecture, and as far as I could see, the only non-commercial lecture on the programme. The others appeared to be connected with sellers and therefore I could not take them too seriously.

Duncan was very balanced and very knowledgeable on all the subjects touched in his talk. However what I found most interesting were his views on the macro energy situation for Ireland and especially his distress at the almost total lack of understanding and planning or joined-up-thinking for future energy supplies by the government and the national disgrace which we call the ESB.

He also spoke at some length on proper insulation, as perhaps being a better investment in energy savings in terms of return. Proper attic insulation could pay for itself in only 1 to 2 years, and thereafter for ever provide savings free of cost.

Some of the geo-thermal and wood pellets systems costing €7000+ would take many, many years to pay for themselves even if oil prices were to double.

Duncan gave a mini workshop afterwards in the lobby. If Duncan Stewart had not been present at this show I for one would have counted it a complete waste of time.




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Wood Pellet Price and Supply

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BALCAS
is holding
Wood Pellet prices
and supply Stable.

It looks like the supply and price of wood pellets is stabilising in Ireland, mainly due to Balcas Ltd. in the North. Their problem last winter was one of delivery, not so much a manufacturing shortfall. They tell me they now have increased delivery capacity and there should be no problems this coming winter.

Their price of bulk pellets this year is €160 plus VAT per ton delivered. This is very good news for those with bulk storage.

The bagged product however, which is only sold through retailers, works out at nearly twice the price of the bulk product with a 10Kg bag costing €3. It would not make any economic sense to use bagged product at that rate. As far as I know there are roughly 1016 Kg per ton or if it is a metric tonne it would be 1000Kg even. At €3 per 10 Kg bag it works out at €305 per ton or €300 per metric tonne - you would not be saving much on oil costs at that sort of price.


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Wait a Year before buying Solar Cells

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It may Be prudent
to hold-off buying
Solar Cells for a Year or so!

The costs of installations in solar electricity are poised for major and rapid reductions in costs that will place it as a mainstream power option in the next few years. This statement was made by the Worldwatch Institute in Washington, D.C., and the Prometheus Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Production of solar photovoltaic cells, which turn sunlight directly into carbon free electricity, has risen sixfold since 2000 and grew by over 40% in 2006.

Power grid-connected solar installations produce less than 1% of the world's electricity. Solar electricity capacity increased nearly 50% in 2006, to 5,000 megawatts, carried mainly by markets in Germany and Japan. Spain is likely to join the race in 2007, and the United States soon after.

The photovoltaic cell market growth, while impressive, was held back by shortages in manufacturing capacity for purified polysilicon. The same material that goes into semiconductor chips. But the situation will see massive changes in the next two years as more than a dozen companies in Europe, China, Japan, and the United States bring on unprecedented levels of production capacity.

In 2006, for the first time, more than half the world's polysilicon was used to produce solar PV cells.

Advances in design along with a vastly increased polysilicon supply will bring costs down rapidly and by more than 40% in the next three years, according to Prometheus estimates.




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45% Efficient Photovoltic Cells

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45% Efficiency in new type Solar Cells
and
1 Megawatt Photovoltaic Installations!!!

New concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) modules with a concentration rate of 500 times have been developed by a research team at The Chinese Institute of Nuclear Energy Research.

The Chinese Institute of Nuclear Energy Research has also constructed a high-efficiency, high-precision sunlight tracking module. The CPV module along with the tracking module can provide a much higher power generation efficiency.

The Chinese intend to establish a system for one-megawatt CPV power generators in 2008.
The institute is also working on a project to raise the conversion efficiency of solar cells to 45% .




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Solar Cells produce power at 6 cent per Kw/h

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New Type Solar Cell Technology
Produces Electricity at 6 Euro cent per Kw/h

I have been learning a bit about solar cells which produce electricity - called photo voltic cells. There are a bunch of really new and efficient types just coming on the market now. I am sharing some of the stuff I have been wading through and simplified it a bit. I have converted the investment costs and the cost per Kw/h from US cents into Euro cent. I am sure there will be those who will disagree with some of the facts. I am NOT inventing the facts just passing on in good faith what I am learning myself.

The new solar cells.

U.S. Department of Energy announced last December a concentrator solar cell produced by Boeing-Spectrolab has recently achieved a world-record conversion efficiency of 40.7%. This discovery could mean systems with an installation cost of only €2.40 per watt, producing electricity at a cost of 6 to 7.5 Euro Cent per kilowatt/hour, making solar electricity a much more cost-effective option.

A 2 Kw system would cost €4800 to purchase, a 5Kw system would be around €12,000 to install

Most current solar cells do not concentrate sunlight but use only what the sun produces naturally, what the boffins call "one sun insolation," which achieves an efficiency of 12 – 18% at best. However, by using an optical concentrator, sunlight intensity can be increased, squeezing more electricity out of a single solar cell.

The 40.7% cell was developed using a unique structure called a multi-junction solar cell. This type of cell achieves a higher efficiency by capturing more of the solar spectrum. In a multi-junction cell, individual cells are made of layers, where each layer captures part of the sunlight passing through the cell. This allows the cell to get more energy from the sun's light.

For the past two decades researchers have tried to break the "40% efficient" barrier on solar cell devices. In the early 1980s, the US Department of Energy started work on "multi-junction gallium arsenide-based solar cells," multi-layered solar cells which converted about 16% of the sun's available energy into electricity. In 1994, the National Renewable Energy laboratory broke the 30% limit. This attracted interest from the space industry. Most satellites use multi-junction cells.



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coolpower.ie

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CoolPower - Cool or Watt?
Solar Electricity

On the 7th May last I wrote to CoolPower, an Irish company offering a new type of highly efficient electric solar panel. I was interested in their claimed technology. I wanted to write up a piece for this blog. Here is the e-mail I sent to the company:


Hi - I have a Renewable Energy Blog going for 11 months. It has taken over 36,000 hits since I installed the counter about 10 months ago. Your company and product is of interest. I would like to do an informative piece on what you offer.

If you are interested please send me some photos of domestic retro-fits and control gear installation. And answer, as fully as possible, the following question for publication:

1. How much does say a 5Kw system cost in total. Incl. Gear, Labour, and maintenance contract for usable life?
2. What area square meters - would be needed for 5Kw output in hazy sunshine. Is it possible in the average domestic residence?
2. How much electricity - realistically - in a year does it produce.
3. How long is the system guaranteed for?
4. How much does a Kilowatt/Hour cost from your system - based on
(a) Total Cost of system.
(b) Guaranteed life of system.

Regards,


Here, reproduced in full, is the reply I received:













































End of reply.

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The Oil Guys want Renewable Energy

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Oil & Gas Executives
Want Focus on Renewable Energy

In a survey oil executives indicate they want government involvement in supporting the development of renewable energy sources that they say is necessary to alleviate the problem of declining oil reserves.

The survey done in April 2007, showed 25% of the respondents said that at least 75% of government funding for energy should be directed into the renewable sources sector and 44% said that at least 50% of national funding should be allocated in the same way.
The vast majority surveyed 82% said declining oil stock were the main concern.

Even the oil and gas companies are now sending out a clear signal that intervention is needed.

These guys are keen to see renewable energy sources becoming mass produced, but some 60% say that will not be possible by 2010. Of those that believe it will happen, 18% say that ethanol is the most viable for mass production, 13% indicate biodiesel.

60% of the oil execs believe that the decline in oil reserves is irreversible.



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The Irish Property Bubble

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The Bubble will BURST!

I am again tempted to write leakage material outside the general parameters of this blog. What has sparked this rant is a news item on EuroNews about squatters in Barcelona.

The phenomena of squatting has grown along with the drastic rise in property prices coupled with a growing number of vacant properties. Squatting in Barcelona is a growing movement with its own theatre, newspaper and community centre.

This rang immediate alarm bells in my head.

The property situation in Ireland is much the same. With 25% of newer homes are vacant why? House prices in Ireland are up to 60% above real values why?

The situation is almost at the critical mass point, like a nuclear reactor where the control rods have been removed and the mass of uranium exceeds fission starting levels and the whole thing is set to explode like Chernobyl.

What are the factors.

IMHO I see the elements as follows:
1. The dispossessed, the young couples who cannot afford the artificially inflated house prices. 2. The property speculators who have money to buy and speculate on many homes keeping the prices inflated and keeping the properties out of use. 3. Lack of proper Government controls. 4. Lack of proper housing initiatives by the government.

IMHO a Squatters Movement would be Justified Morally in Ireland

I am amazed there has not been a radical seizure of empty speculative properties in Ireland by squatters. They have every rational justification for so doing. The housing situation is a disgrace and an embarrassment to the country. it has made the rich into the super rich, while denying homes to the less well off. One in one hundred 1% of Irish are millionaires - I would only guess that many of these have made the money on property speculation.

It is about time to place a punishing tax on second homes and on property speculation. It is also time for a MASSIVE housing plan for Ireland.

Ireland is a country for the rich, not the poor.

We the Irish have detached ourselves from our history and our Christian past to become "empire builders" within our own land. The Irish empire consists of property and money. The new peasants, fuzzy-wuzzies and wogs of this Irish "Empire"are the poorer Irish. Some Irish are also empire building overseas with this property fever.

Slavery in Ireland

There are two forms of slavery being perpetrated in Ireland at this time.

1. The inexcusable sex trade where children are trafficked into and through this country, currently over 300 non-national children on the missing list in Ireland. This is a total disgrace to ireland.

2. The young couples who sign up essentially as indentured slaves for 20 to 30 years of their lives in order to get a house to live in. They are borrowing sometimes at 100% mortgages and amounts equal to a 15 full years salary. If the slightest thing goes wrong with the economy or with their health - they will end up in negative equity and financially enslaved for the rest of their lives.

And there was I thinking that slavery was outlawed in the civilized world!!!

The current situation is immoral and cannot be allowed to last.



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CFL bulbs

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Popular Mechanics recently published an article about CFLs on their website that reaches some startling conclusions.

The conclusions were based on measurements of colour temperature, brightness and wattage; and observations by three of their staff and a lighting expert:

Even though the incandescent bulbs measured slightly brighter than the equivalent CFLs, the testers didn’t see any dramatic difference in brightness.

What was a revelation and a surprise was when it came to the overall quality of the light, all the CFLs scored higher than the incandescent control bulb. In other words, the new fluorescent bulbs aren’t just better for both your wallet and the environment; they actually produce a better quality of light.

CFLs use about 70% less electricity than ordinary bulbs. The average modern home has about 40 ordinary light bulbs in total. Some are lit for longer periods than others, but on average — replacing forty 75-watt incandescent bulbs with CFLs would realistically save over €45 a year. Remember also that CFL bulbs last up to 5 years or more while ordinary bulbs have a life of a year or less – that means CFLs pay for themselves twice over in their lifetime.

Here is a link to the original article: http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_journal/home_improvement/4215199.html


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