Electricity Optimisation at CEPT (Part -2)

Jay Murthy

Electricity Generation Solutions

Understanding renewable energy sources:

• Renewable energy sources are those which are not depleted when used, for example solar or wind energy.

• Currently, all the power coming to CEPT (and Ahmedabad) is derived from non-renewable sources such as coal, fossil fuels and natural gas.

• However, this is not sustainable as these sources will get depleted on earth in the future and their energy extraction processes emit harmful chemicals into the atmosphere.

• Adapting to renewable energy sources is extremely important for institutions such as CEPT, economically as well as a contribution to saving the environment.

Renewable Energy For Cept

Advantages

Disadvantages

Won’t run out High upfront costs for the university to bear

Economically better (less need to buy energy, can sell excess energy)

Renewable energy is intermittent (no constant supply)

Has numerous environmental benefits Has geographic limitations, performance can depend on location of installation

Creates brand image of a “green” institution, while also receives government benefits such as subsidies

Solar Energy

• Sunlight is our planet’s most abundant and widely available energy sources.

• The amount of sunlight reaching Earth’s surface in an hour surpasses the planet’s energy requirements for a year

• As seen in image 1, CEPT campus has 5-6 buildings, with a lot of surface area on the roofs.

• The roofs also extend above the tree line which gives them direct line of sunlight. These conditions are perfect to deploy solar panels on the roof.

Wind Energy

• Wind turns propeller like blades which transfer the kinetic energy to a generator which converts it into electrical energy.

• Wind is a form of solar energy caused by:

• Sun unevenly heating the atmosphere

• Earth surface-irregularities

• Rotation of the earth

• This means wind energy is almost a 24hr energy source, except for the fluctuations in wind currents and direction

Hydro Energy

• Similar to wind energy, hydroelectric power is generated using propellers which rotate in the flow of water

• While there are no flowing water sources like rivers around the campus, hydroelectric system can be integrated with a rainwater harvesting system.

• The system involves collecting rainwater from rooftops and directing the water into an underground storage tank.

• The flow of this water can be used to generate electricity.

• However, this system is expensive to set up and is only effective during rains

Hydroelectric system with propeller inside, generating energy before water flows to tank.

Energy Storage

• While generating energy in a clean manner is important, so is storing it and deploying when necessary.

• If CEPT uses solar energy, the highest period of energy generation will be in summer. However, there will be no energy use because of summer vacations for students.

• An energy storage system is crucial in this case for storing all the energy generated (or relaying it back to the grid) and deploying it when required by users on campus

• Supercapacitors can be chosen for energy storage at CEPT.

• They ridge the gap between conventional capacitors and rechargeable batteries.

• They store the most energy per unit volume or mass (energy density) among capacitors.

• This diagram depicts infrastructure involved in a solar panel (or any other renewable energy) system.

• One can observe, the energy takes different routes after passing the inverter, which controls the flow of electricity.

• Energy is either stored, passed onto to the building or sent back to the grid

• This can lessen the fuel charges and overall electricity bill you get as you will be compensated for sending energy.

Comparison (viability)

https://solar-power-now.com/solar-power-storage/ https://-geothermal-energy-.tumblr.com/post/84267408848/charts-of-geothermal-energy

• However, installation of well designed and well placed wind energy windmills can improve the look of the campus. This can also be taken up as design projects for Product Design students to make windmills which are aesthetically pleasing and blend into the campus.

• The graph compares cost of various renewable energy sources in Dollars per Megawatt-hour.

• It takes into account initial construction and maintenance costs.

• Looking at the analysis conducted, information of renewable energy solutions and the above graph. Solar energy seems to be the best energy solution for CEPT.

• While setting up costs are high, it requires low maintenance as it does not have moving parts and only requires periodic dust removal.

• Wind energy may not be effective as CEPT rooftops are not tall and are surrounded by trees which may block wind currents and make the system redundant.

• Hydro power, which is the cheapest (to set-up) system and with the most power output, is not a viable solution as it may only product energy during monsoons on campus. While electricity is required throughout the year and it won’t produce enough to be stored for the year.