Google TechTalk Mountain View, California - May 3, 2007 local people, local materials, local energy Bringing Light to the Edge of the World: blueEnergy's

Google TechTalk Mountain View, California - May 3, 2007

local people, local materials, local energy

Bringing Light to the Edge of the World: blueEnergy's Adventures

Building Micro Wind Turbines on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua



Background

Products and Services

A Look at a Typical System

Nuts and Bolts of the Turbine

Customers

Get Involved and Contact



Where?



Background

• What is blueEnergy and what does it do?

• Family history in Nicaragua

• Interest in wind power

• blueEnergy the idea: MIT Development Entrepreneurship class

• Birth of blueEnergy: a 501(c)3 public charity with a twist

• Where we stand today

• Where we are headed



The blueEnergy Approach

• Focus on building lasting, local solution:- Use appropriate technology- Build local capacity- Long-term commitment

• Understanding and respect for local way of life

• blueEnergy’s systems are implemented using a variety of models, each of which can be characterized along the following dimensions: Location (urban, semi-urban, rural), constituency served (private, public), ownership (blueEnergy, private, public), management/operation (blueEnergy, private, public), and physical configuration (battery charging station, fixed battery bank, dual-use).



The blueEnergy Turbine

• Base design from Hugh Piggott of Scoraig Wind Electric; school of “heavy metal”

• Designed from the ground up for ease of construction, robustness and optimized for energy production in low winds

• Axial-flux alternator vs. more common radial-flux designs

• Ease of construction -> ease of maintenance -> low-cost over lifetime



Background




Customers




blueEnergy Products



blueEnergy Services



Key Points

• Isolation: A brief history of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua

• blueEnergy is nonprofit with a focus on sustainability not on maximizing sales

• On a technical note: The difference between power (W or kW) and energy (Wh or kWh):

- Power: The rate of doing some useful work. It is an instantaneous measurement; by analogy, can be thought of as water flow rate into a storage tank.

-Energy: The amount of power expended (or generated) over a period of time, i.e Energy = Power x Time; by analogy, can be thought of as amount of water stored given a specific flow rate over a specified time period.



Background




Customers




The Nuts & Bolts of the Wind TurbineBlade Rotor



The Nuts & Bolts of the Wind TurbineAlternator



The Nuts & Bolts of the Wind TurbineBody and Tail



The Nuts & Bolts of the Wind TurbineTower



Background




Customers




A Typical blueEnergy System



A Typical blueEnergy SystemWind Turbine and Tower

• 12 ft diameter rotor (6 ft blades), 3-phase, 24 V wind turbine

• 60 - 100 ft tilt-up tower; lattice towers only used in cases where space is limited because of high cost

• Anchors for guy wires are a mix of rebar mesh, metal bar, concrete and dirt and are generally 6 ft deep, 2 ft across, 4 ft wide



A Typical blueEnergy SystemPower Center

• System regulation, energy storage and energy conversion

• Community charging station vs. fixed battery bank

• PV modules generally integrated into power center structure



A Typical blueEnergy SystemPower Center

• Charge controller - BRAIN

• Batteries - HEART

• Breakers and dump load - SECURITY



A Typical blueEnergy SystemHousehold

• Not physically tied to power center due to cost of distribution lines over great distances

• Home electrification kits available from blueEnergy through micro-loan program in partnership with ADEPHCA

• Users carry batteries to charging station and charge them for a fee



A Typical Energy System: Cost

Fixed System Charging Station Home Electrification

12 ft diameter, 24 V turbine (rated 1 kW at 12 m/s) @ $1,500 + 60 ft tilt-up tower @ $1,500

12 ft diameter, 24 V turbine (rated 1 kW at 12 m/s) @ $1,500 + 60 ft tilt-up tower @ $1,500

N/A

100 W solar panel @ $700

100 W solar panel @ $700 N/A

60 A capacity charge controller @ $250

60 A capacity charge controller @ $250

10 A, for low voltage disconnect @ $25

440 AH (x8 Trojan T-105, 220 AH, 6 V) @ $1,200

N/A105 AH Trojan 27 TM @ $110

2,400 W, 24 V (Xantrex DR2424) @ $1,000

N/A N/A

$500 (breakers, wiring, etc)

$500 (breakers, wiring, etc)

$45

$1,500 $1,500 $10

$500 $500 $10

$2,500 (5 year operator training and servicing agreement: site visits every 6 months @ $250 per visit)

$2,500 (5 year operator training and servicing agreement: site visits every 6 months @ $250 per visit)

$2 per charge

$11,150 (does not include tax)

$8,950 (does not include tax)

$200 + charging fee (does not include tax)

Misc. Parts

Installation

Transport

Service

TOTAL



A Typical Energy System: Cost Comparison

Energy Production Life Cycle Cost Comparison

Diesel Solar (PV) Wind (bE 12 ft)

Rated Power (kWh) 10 1 1

Capital Cost ($) 5,400.00 7,500.00 3,750.00

Life Span (yr) 20 20 20

Energy Delivered Lifetime (kWh) 584,000 32,850 23,360

Fuel Cost ($/kWh) 0.38 - -

Operating Cost Lifetime ($) 223,380.00 - -

Average Energy Production Cost ($/kWh) 0.39 0.23 0.16

Notes: Diesel generator is a Suzuki / Diesel fuel @ $4.50 per gallon / Diesel generator runs 8 hrs per day / Diesel generator consumes .85 gallons per hr at full capacity / PV @ $750 per 100 W / 4.5 peak solar hours per day average / Wind turbine on 60 ft tower and produces 3.2 kWh per day average / Maintenance costs are not included (diesel would be highest, then wind turbine, then solar) / Life spans all assumed 20 years



A Typical Energy System: Power Curve



A Typical Energy System: Wind Resource

• Monthly variations: August, September, November are low months; December, January, February are high months

• Site variations: Wind resource is highly site-dependent; a study should be performed at each site where a considerable energy system investment is to be made

• Power in wind is related to cube of wind speed => doubling of wind speed means eight times the available power



A Typical Energy System: Energy Production

• February is an above average wind month

• Average per day turbine production over the year:

~ 3,200 Wh

• 100 W solar panel will add ~ 350 Wh per day

Average total daily energy production of

3,550 kWh

Energy Production for blueEnergy 12 ft Turbine (@ 60 ft height) - February 2 to February 23, 2007NOTE: Data was not collected on February 5, 12, 18, 19



A Typical Energy System: Energy Use

As shown in the previous slide, a typical system produces 3,550 watt-hours of energy per day on average.

Assuming a 90% Charge/Discharge Efficiency, What Can You Do With 3,195 watt-hours of Energy?

• You could run a light (15 W) or a radio (15 W) for 213 hours

• You could run a light (15 W) and a radio (15 W) or a small high-efficiency refrigerator (30 W) for 106 hours

• You could run a laptop (40 W) or a small television (40 W) for 80 hours

• You could run 3 lights (45 W), a radio (15 W), a laptop (40 W) and a small high-efficiency freezer (30 W) for 24 hours - i.e. all day



Background




Customers




Potential Customers

• Rural communities beyond the reach of the electrical grid and semi-urban communities with unreliable electrical grid

• Development organizations that need energy for their projects but don’t have expertise or capacity in this area: FISE, FADCANIC, Catholic Church

• Health organizations that need energy for their rural health clinics but have no expertise or capacity in this area: WHO / OPS, MINSA

• Small business owners that require backup or primary power

• Individuals



Current Project Sites



Background




Customers




Get Involved

• Volunteer (http://www.blueenergygroup.org/MainPages/GetInvolved.html)

• Tell Your Friends, Family, and Colleagues About blueEnergy

• Donate (http://www.blueenergygroup.org/MainPages/Donate.html)

• Attend a Turbine Building Workshop (http://www.scoraigwind.com)



For more information and to help support our important

work, please visit:

www.blueenergygroup.org

Mathias Craig, Executive Director

San Francisco, California, United States

[email protected]

Tel: +1 (202) 744 - 5840Fax: +1 (801) 730 - 9576

Watch for us on CNN Heroes airing in mid-July!

Contact Us

Special thanks to Steve Weis and

Google for inviting me here today

Documents

Google TechTalk Mountain View, California - May 3, 2007 local people, local materials, local energy Bringing Light to the Edge of the World: blueEnergy's