The Bagno SolutionThe road to sun power

Driven by:Richard SapienzaRobert Bagno

Energy Of The Future

•Solar is local; that’s access and economic control over energy available to nearly everyone.

•Solar resources are thousands of times more than society consumes each year.

Market

Solar is a highly popular form of energy in studies of public perception and expectation of future contribution

Policy-led demand for solar energy and global growth rates of 40 to 50 percent each year has led to recent supply bottlenecks in PV manufacturing.

“In the end, however, scale of production matters to determine which technologies and companies will be best placed to take advantage of the markets.” …. Prometheus Institute 2008

Competition and Predictions• Although PV is projected to have a

lower cost than CSThermal in the medium to long term, CST will play a role in utility scale installations due to storage capabilities and other benefits to utilities and societies.

• CST Trough technologies will be implemented first and will experience incremental technical improvements and cost reductions.

• Emerging non-tracking and low concentration CPV technologies may have an interesting impact at the distributed residential and commercial level.

Number of CSP companies targeting each market segment

“Regardless of which CSP technology is chosen, correctly assessing the cost of solar electricity and further engineering to bring it down over time is the key challenge.” …. Prometheus Institute 2008

Concentrated Solar Power The Commonly Used Technologies

A Well Proven Technology - More Cost Effective Than Photovoltaic cells

“somewhere between $80 Billion and $200 Billion of aggregate investment in this sector over the next 12 years” …. Prometheus Institute 2008

Solar Concentrators

• Solar Concentrators harness all spectrums of light energy in a large area, and then reflect that energy back to a smaller common area called a focal point.

• Generally a glass silver backed mirror adhered to a metal substrate is use to achieve the reflection of the light

Concentrated solar power

• Concentrated solar power (CSP) is more efficient than Photovoltaic(PV) cells at converting sun light into electricity, and can supply process heat, and power from while tracking the sun.

The Tower System

The Oldest and Largest Land Area

Hundreds of large flat plate glass mirrors reflect sun light onto a raised focal point receiver which heats molten salt that is transferred to a boiler to make steam to run a

steam turbine to generate electricity. First used in United States in the 80’s, then in Spain in the 90’s, and now the Australian Government is investing 100 million dollars to build

this type of system in their country in 2008.

Parabolic Through

The Most Commonly Used Worldwide This technology uses stainless steel or metal backed glass mirror to reflect sun light

onto a pipe receiver with transfer fluid to a central steam turbine electric generator. Note this technology is not point focusing in two axis's yet is still cost

effective. New emerging Fresnel mirror design is now entering the market.

Point Focusing Parabolic

Most Expensive Technology - Highest Efficiency This technology uses the thinnest glass metal back mirror that reflect sun light onto a Sterling helium gas displacement engine to make a reciprocating A/C cycle electricity compared to a rotational D/C steam turbine. No water is required

Weaknesses of All Current Designs• Too sophisticated, too precise and too expensive

• High cost from:– lower reflection, higher polarization.– heavier reflector units requiring heavier support structures, and tracking

needs.– manufacture of bent glass.– Shorten life span of reflective material due to mono-structure.

• Breakable glass restricting installation and manufacturing options.– Complex glass mounts to support structure.

• Bent light means tighter focal points requiring expensive materials.

• Inability to track sun in 2 axis's.

• Require high cost conversion units because of high temperature reflections

• Not for public consumption!

The Bagno Solar Concentrator

changing the business and energy environment

Recognizing Energy is a Technology Crisis, not a Resource Crisis!

The Bagno AdvantageLow Cost Point Focusing Solar Concentrators1. Utilizes flat plate mirror technology

– Allows for use of diffused, cloudy sun light, – Spacing allows for lower wind loads, and less surface degradation from wind blown particulates

2. Made from composite material– Requires less energy to make than 3,000-degree F glass.– Allows complete fabrication at factory level– Have dielectric properties that reduce electromagnetic polarization– No thermal expansion differentials causing deformation of reflection– Surface silvering allows for a 33% increase over traditional mirror reflection – Lower weight reduces tracking and support structure requirements. – Unbreakable.– Child safe if used at home or school.

3. Flexible Character– Mirroring can be altered for improved infrared, or ultraviolet characteristics

• Higher ir makes higher thermal energy conversions e.g. steam turbine. • Higher uv reflection makes higher energy conversions with CPV.

– Composite substrate can be etched into a Fresnel lens– Composite can be molded to form parabolic reflectors  

4. Simple construction and installation– Mirrors less expensive to make.– Unit transportable in one piece because of unbreakable mirrors– Less mounting hardware; composite mirror can be screwed through mirror right to support structure

without breakage– No metal backers that corrode silvering– Lower weight reduces tracking and support structure requirements.

The Bagno Design Benefits

•incorporates new light weight, low cost materials which allow for higher efficiency that is mass producible • Notice the slight gentle angle of the mirror reflectors, the less you bend the light the less reflectance loss from polarization. • Notice the flat plate mirror reflector not curved, or parabolic further increasing reflection while lowering cost.

Bagno Flat, Light Weight Composite Material Reflectors

A fiber glass composite substrate surface silvered has many advantages over traditional silver backed glass mirror reflectors.

• 5 times lighter than glass.

• cost one fifth of glass.

• Longer lasting – Unbreakable.– No oxidation of silvering from metal substrates.– No expansion rates differences that cause reflect deformation

• Unbreakable nature allows for one piece on site installation.

• Optionally, can be surfaced to gain reduced polarization and higher reflectance due to opaque nature

The Bagno for Combined Heat and Power (CHP)

Picture 772.mpg

• CHP concepts for industry, research, and commercial buildings efficiently integrate distributed power generation and thermal energy systems.

– reduces stress on the grid by replacing peak-power-consuming components with thermally activated technologies.

• use thermal energy for heating, cooling, humidity control, and power (mechanical and electric) in buildings, factories, campuses, industrial parks, and district systems.

• Point Focusing Concentrator’s can be used with new solid state Thermal Electric Modulators (TEM), Concentrated photovoltaic cells (CPV), Standard photovoltaic cells (PVC), Sterling helium gas displacement generators, or standard steam turbine generators.

• System can be used for commercial/industrial fuel replacement to generate hydrogen, for waste incineration, and water distillation .

Back of Envelope ROIThe 10 meter Bagno prototype Based in NY - cost of machine is $3,000 • Average of 1000 watts of in coming solar isolation per meter• Concentrator will deliver. 10,000 watts or 34,140 Btu • Due to polarization factor; 66% delivered or 22,532.4 Btu/hr., or 95,000/day • over 20 years the machine will deliver 700 million Btu‘s.  • The cost of machine divided by 700 million Btu’s = .000004 cents per Btu. • At heating oil cost of $4 a gallon, $1,000 a year saved or an ROI of 3 years.  • The Bagno Concentrator can also make 1.5 kilowatts hr. of electricity instead of

heat = 6 years to pay off. – To make electric cost more because the heat to electric conversion is 37%. PVC’s will

take you 20 years because of higher cost, and no tracking.

• Initial calculations indicate a $3 per watt cost with tracking for the Bagno [before gov’t rebate] and ultimately <$1/watt.

– To build a conventional power plant cost > $1/watt w/o fuel. – PVC’s cost $8 a watt without tracking.

The Bagno Small Scale CSP for under $5K!

Compact design •suitable for both residential and commercial •high quality design lowers maintenance •built to withstand extreme wind conditions •compatible and interfaceable with existing heat and power systems

Here is a Difference – Making Technology with:

• Scalability

• Short Cycle Time to Use

• Cost Competitiveness

What Happened Value creation or increased profitability is dependent two

components of innovation

• Most recognizable is technological innovation: The “What”– the “better mousetrap”, associated with R&D – The Bagno

• The second is business systems development: The “How”– how an R&D idea is turned into a marketed and distributed product. – R3?

'You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play.’ Lee Iacocca

Next?• Prioritize potential projects.

– Set a strategy for achieving the business goals through research (the "how").

– Net present value, which is the present value of cash inflows minus the present value of cash outflows, is used as a tool to quantify opportunities to guide the tactical leadership

 • Once a business has set its strategy, flexible allocation of R&D resources for fast

development and implementation of value-generating technology. – Requires focus on a few projects and the need to drive the right ones to completion.

– The projects with the highest net present values win resources in proportion to their value, and because each project has a relative richness in resources, the many activities required to validate its concept can run in parallel.

 • Identify the critical issues of the project,

– Establish expected time lines for the project,

– Determine the skills and capital equipment required to complete the project.

– Emphasis at the group formation stage is on speed

– The team operates in a "boundaryless" environment without regard for group, geography, or previous assignments

 • The business will quickly have the information necessary to make a "Go/No go" decision

– faster than if it had to wait for all the activities to be done in series.

– Projects can succeed quickly or be killed just as quickly.

Commercial Development Stages

• Experimental Proof-of-Concept DONE• First System Prototype in 90 Days 1kW Heater• Commercial System Prototype• Commercial Engineering Drawings/Specifications• Qualification Testing – UL approval• Commercial Electricity Prototype• Qualification Testing – UL approval• Market Analysis• Fixed-Rate Production• Volume Production

Product Development

Work To Date:

• Persistent Energy has been conducting in-house research and development in technical areas strategic to core intellectual property development.

– This has encompassed system design, component design, material science, materials engineering, materials/component manufacturing and engineering.

– conducted optical performance comparisons of tracking and non-tracking systems• Comparisons been made between the following:

• Very-large, high-performance, multi-acre, ground-based, flat-reflector/compound concentrator systems. These are ideal for solar thermal steam-turbine electricity generation.

• Large-scale, linear troughs;

• Reduced-scale, compound troughs;

• Various Fresnel lenses, including refractive, reflective, square, linear and circular;

– These comparisons have been conducted using mathematical analysis, to-scale ray-tracing, concentration ratios, image size and focal-length calculations with system manufacturing tolerance and error analysis being factored-in.

Tracking Advantage

Typical solar systems (such as PV mounted on home rooftops) are fixed and do not track the sun.

In a day, Persistent Energy's tracking system will capture and convert 175% more sunlight than a fixed system at the same advertised peak power rating.

The Bagno Tracking Difference

The Bagno tracks the sun as it moves across the sky from sunrise to sunset.The performance difference between tracking systems and fixed systems is significant.

Intellectual Property• Persistent Energy has been taking appropriate steps in to protect its

intellectual property. Provisional patents have been filed • Activities relating to additional patent filings are on-going.

Next Steps – System Simulations:• Over the near term Persistent Energy plans to continue its research

and development activities. – creating a demonstrable performance simulation of a series of

concentrated solar energy system that can be showcased to prospective customers.

– to fine-tune the system’s design attributes and parameters.

Some Applications of The Bagno• Generate electricity for home, business, school,

industrial building, and power plant.

• Make steam/hot fluid for commercial and residential heating, domestic hot water.

• Desalinate seawater/waste water/sewage via distillation.

• Process heat for gasification, pyrolysis or other reactions

• On site destructive incineration of hazardous materials.

• Incineration of residential waste.

• Production of hydrogen

Bagno for Hot Water • Solar hot water system is operates automatically,

taking advantage of solar energy when it is available.• The system turns on when solar energy can be

added to the water heater. • The controller activates the circulation module, which

pushes water to the solar collector(s) and begins circulation.

• When solar energy unavailable or when heated water is not required, the system will turn off and all water will gravity drain into the drainback tank.

•Reduce your energy bills,

•Environmentally friendly -- reduce greenhouse emissions

•Add Value to your home

•Extends the life of hot water tank by dramatically reducing scaling

•Qualifies for the tax credit

Convergence of Forces: New Energy Solutions

New Renewable

Conventional Non-fossil

Fuel

Fossil Fuel

On-Site Distributed

Large Distributed

Central

Utility Solar

Bio-fuels

Small Hydro

Natural Gas (combined cycle)

Hydro

Nuclear

On-site Solar/Wind

Wind

Geothermal

Diesel Generators

CoalOil

Natural Gas

Size of Generator

Typ

e o

f Fu

el

distributed economics

fuel source economics

Source: Solar Revolution: The Economic Transformation of the Global Energy Industry by Travis Bradford

Hydrogen Fuel Cells

FAST-M Methanol

Thermal vs PV

This compares to typical non-concentrated solar cells (such as thin film) that are less than 1/3 as efficient and take up to 3-times the installed area.

Persistent Energy

Near Commercialization in CSP for Electricity

Generation • solar electricity technologies are high-value electricity at both the wholesale

and retail levels since they create electricity at the most valuable time of the day - during peak daylight hours, displacing the need for expensive [natural gas fired] intermediate power generators that are subject to substantial swings in fuel prices

Cost-Competitiveness

Selected Renewable Power Technologies

A "Hybrid" System• A "hybrid" system which

combines wind and solar technologies is best.

• These systems work together to produce power when needed

• in the winter, there is more wind and less sun, and vice versa.

• Generators shared; other redundancies

• System produces electrical power off the grid, for use by individual homeowners, small businesses,schools and commercial industry.

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) to convert wind energy to electrical power. A number of critical advantages are generated for this configuration in the urban environment.

•omni-directional

•low wind-speed

•easily installed practically

•silent and seen as a solid.

•However, the designs have failed commercially because they stood alone, and the resulting inefficiencies made their electricity too expensive

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

• A typical average home horizontal-axis wind generator has the main rotor shaft as well as the electrical generator sitting on top of a tall tower and will have blades that are over twenty feet in diameter and it will be raised more than eighty feet in the air. For this reason, one acre properties are a minimum standard for wind power installation.

• A vertical wind generator has the primary rotor shaft arranged in a vertical fashion.

• highly efficient and they have low torque ripple - contributes to excellent reliability.

• machine does not have to be pointed toward the wind to be effective. – Turbulent flow can be created by air flow close to the ground and other objects therefore,

when mounted on top of a roof, the building will usually redirect the wind over the roof which can often double the wind speed at the generator

• With a vertical wind generator the gearbox can be placed near ground level. – Therefore, the tower does not have to support it.

– This generator more accessible for maintenance.

Solar Salts?• The eutectic of high purity nitrate

salts is called solar salt.• This lower cost heat transfer and

heat storage medium, has been shown to be effective, both from an economic and performance standpoint.

• The major solar salt performance advantage is its ability to store large amounts of heat in a small volume.

– heat density of 43 BTU/ft3 F. – ~ 2.7 times greater than most

liquid metal fluids (~16 BTU/ft3 F).

• chemically stable up to 1100 F

Sea Water Desalination Solar distillation  • can extend the usage of existing fresh

water in locations where the quality or quantity of supply is deteriorating.

  • Where sea water is available, Solar stills,

operating on sea or brackish water, can ensure supplies of water during a time of drought.

• Solar distillation generally uses less energy to purify water than other methods.

In sum, solar stills have:• high initial costs;• low maintenance costs (ideally);

Most competing technologies are:• low in initial costs;• dependent on economy of scale;• high in operating and maintenance-

costs;• high in energy input costs;