A skeptical Public Utilities Commission of Hawaii has sent the state's largest utility back to the drawing board on grid modernization, rejecting an expensive plan regulators said needed to do more to integrate renewable energy.
Hawaiian Electric Co. (HECO) filed its grid modernization plan last year, with estimates that the Smart Grid Foundation Project would cost approximately $340 million.
Pacific Business News reports the PUC has given utility officials until the end of June to develop a plan, and must show its progress on the revised strategy within 120 days.
Hawaii regulators told HECO in an order last week that its proposal did not go far enough to bring distributed resources online, a shift which will need to accelerate for the state to meet 100% renewable goals.
“The commission further questions the justification for such a large investment where the project asserts only an indirect link to address the primary issue currently facing Hawaii’s renewable energy integration,” the PUC wrote. “The application does not specifically address how the companies intend to integrate customer-sited assets in the near term and long term.”
The PUC also said the utility application failed to address the risks of redundancy due to distributed energy resource (DER) growth or obsolescence, and it did not spell out an approach for leveraging the growing amounts of DER connected to the state's electric grids.
"Moreover, the commission has questions related to the priority, sequencing, and pace of grid modernization investments proposed, given Hawaii's unique challenges and opportunities," the order said.
HECO had delayed filing its smart grid implementation plan while the state considered a proposed $4.3 billion takeover by NextEra. The initial phase of its smart grid program rolled out in 2014, upgrading portions of the electric grid that serve customers in Moanalua Valley and sections of Pearl City, Diamond Head, Kaimukī, Kahala, and Waikiki.
The utility's proposal included a "modern wireless communication network, smart meters and enhanced technology that will upgrade the existing electric grid to be more automated and energy efficient." Rolling out new meters, HECO said, would help to improve outage detection and restoration, as well as giving customers more information about their electricity usage.
Hawaiian Electric wants to reach almost 50% renewable power by 2020, aiming to go all carbon-free by 2040. The utility's recent Power Supply Improvement Plan says that would put it five years ahead of the state's mandated goal.
The plan calls for HECO to provide 48% renewable power by 2020, without the use of imported liquefied natural gas. The PSIP aims for the addition of 360 MW of grid-scale solar, 157 MW of wind energy, and 115 MW from demand response programs by 2050.
If there's one place solar-plus-storage can find a friendly market, it's on Kauai. The small Hawaiian island is the only one not served by the Hawaiian Electric Co., the state's investor-owned utility, and its electric cooperative is embracing the cutting edge of dispatchable renewable energy technology.
In 2015, KIUC signed a PPA with SolarCity to source renewable power from its dispatchable solar-plus-storage system for $0.145/kWh. At the time, it was billed as the world's first fully-dispatchable solar PV project.
That project was slated to come online at the end of 2016 and help the utility displace pricey, carbon-intensive oil generation. But already it appears expensive by comparison. The new deal signed with AES promises power delivered for $0.11/kWh — a nearly 30% drop in the PPA price in less than two years.
"The project delivers power to the island's electrical grid at significantly less than the current cost of oil-fired power and should help stabilize and even reduce electric rates to KIUC's members," co-op President David Bissell said in a statement. "It is remarkable that we are able to obtain fixed pricing for dispatchable solar-based renewable energy, backed by a significant battery system, at about half the cost of what a basic direct to grid solar project cost a few years ago."
The project is expected to provide 11% of Kauai's energy needs, "increasing KIUC's renewable sourced generation to well over 50%," Bissell said. The island has been known to reach renewable energy penetrations of above 90% during peak wind and solar generating hours.
Not only are the costs of both solar-plus-storage facilities below the cost of fossil fuel to power the island, they often beat the cost of the fuel alone. According to co-op documents, KIUC has paid between $0.122/kWh and $0.18/kWh in just fuel and commodity costs since Dec. 2014, with Nov. 2016 costs coming in above $0.15/kWh.
In 2015, the most recent year reported, KIUC's average residential electric rates were $0.323/kWh — lower than past years due to dipping oil prices. Rates for other customer classes were higher.
Like other Hawaii jurisdictions, the island experiences a glut of solar generation during peak hours, and then must ramp up its fossil fuel generation to meet peak demand in the evening, making dispatchable renewables especially appealing:
If KIUC could move some of it solar generation to later hours, it could decrease its reliance on dirty fuel oil, prevent solar curtailment at midday, and save customers money.
Details of the AES contract were not released, so it is difficult to ascertain whether the KIUC contract could be replicated in other parts of the country. But the price alone is encouraging. U.S. residential electricity prices averaged $0.125 in Oct. 2016, the most recent data, and higher in many regions such as the Northeast and West Coast.
2017 only just arrived, but one manufacturing company is already looking 45 years into the future.
Arconic, a materials science company, has envisioned a three-mile-high skyscraper built from materials that are either in-development or have already been brought to market, including smog-eating surfaces and retractable balconies.
The tower was concocted as part of the company's larger campaign known as "The Jetsons," an homage to the 1962 cartoon set in 2062. Arconic's engineers worked alongside futurists to imagine the technologies that will be most useful several decades from now.
Sherri McCleary, one of Arconic's chief materials scientists, says one of the most exciting and immediate projects is EcoClean, a special coating that helps buildings self-clean and purify the surrounding air. It was first released in 2011 and offers a number of benefits over traditional pane glass windows, McCleary says.
"The functional coating provides aesthetics, it provides maintenance benefits, and it also provides a benefit to the surrounding environment by reducing the content of pollutants around it," she tells Business Insider.
EcoClean works with help from light and water vapor, which mix with the chemicals in the coating to produce atoms known as free radicals. These free radicals pull in pollutants from the air and break them down to get sloughed off the side of the building along with dirt and grime — almost like dead skin.
The end result is a cleaner building surrounded by cleaner air.
Arconic'sBloomframe design for windows of the future. (Arconic)
Another innovation is in the windows themselves, which Arconic also hopes could be a part of the three-mile-high tower. The new design is called Bloomframe. Essentially, it's a motorized window that converts into an all-glass balcony in under a minute.
Arconic has been showcasing the technology at trade shows around the world and will hit the market in the "near future," a company spokesperson says.
Rather than spend twice the money on materials to build separate windows and ledges, Arconic wants to invest in flexible components that can make buildings more than just static giants.
Skyscrapers built from 3D-printed materials could stretch more than three miles in the sky, Arconic says. Arconic
Some of Arconic's other futuristic designs include flying cars, ultra-lightweight car bodies, and aerodynamic airplane wings.
In the meantime, it continues working to push the limits of what modern-day skyscrapers can look like and do. Thanks to 3D printing, McCleary says many structures that aren't currently feasible could withstand high winds and unique climates.
"We're looking at optimizing the materials that can be 3D-printed to give more and more options to designers and architects," she says.
This tree-studded luxury condo tower not only looks pretty ... when completed, it will absorb 130 tons of CO2 every year. (Rendering: Vincent Callebaut Architectures)
The ultra-dreamy designs of Belgian-born sustainable architect Vincent Callebaut — he of “farmscrapers” and 3-D printed floating cities — have been subjected to a fair amount of healthy skepticism and outright dismissal … as well as numerous awards and accolades. After all, such polarizing reactions come with the territory when you’re in the business of churning out eco-utopian designs that defiantly burst — or bloom, rather — outside the box.
That said, it’s both lovely and encouraging to see one of Callebaut’s bonkers “archibiotectural” visions — visions, no matter how commendable from an environmental standpoint, are so starry-eyed that they seem destined to remain stagnant in the conceptual stage — actually take shape in the real, present world.
CNN recently published an insightful update — and accompanying Q&A with Callebaut himself — on Tao Zhu Yin Yuan (“ The Retreat of Tao Zhu”), a residential high-rise project that's currently under construction in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei. It’s anticipated that the 21-story condo tower, which sports a distinctively twisty form inspired by the double-helix structure of DNA, will be completed later this year.
Move over Taipei 101: Although 81 stories shorter than Taipei's famous skyscraper, Tao Zhu Yin Yuan will no doubt be considered a landmark high-rise in Taiwan's vertically-oriented capital city. (Photo: Vincent Callebaut Architectures)
“The tower presents a pioneer concept of sustainable residential eco-construction that aims at limiting the ecological footprint of its inhabitant,” Callebaut explains of the project, which kicked off in 2013 in Taipei’s bustling Xinyi District beneath the shadow of Taipei 101, the world’s tallest building from 2004 through 2009.
While Tao Zhu Yin Yuan does indeed boast a range of features — rainwater recycling, rooftop solar panels, natural lighting and ventilation, etc. — specifically geared to reduce the individual environmental footprints of the inhabitants living within the tower’s 40-some luxury apartments, the real star here are the trees.
Yes, the trees.
In the past, I’ve featured more than a few super-modern high-rise concepts — primarily, but not exclusively, in Asia — that have been bedecked in greenery for both eye-catching aesthetic purposes and to drive down energy costs while effectively scrubbing pollution from the air.
Vincent Callebaut Architectures calls its under-construction Taipei project a 'pioneer concept of sustainable residential eco-construction that aims at limiting the ecologic footprint of its inhabitants ...' (Photo: Vincent Callebaut Architectures)
Even more so than these past projects, it appears that the hardworking flora — both trees and shrubs — that will eventually grace the exterior of Tao Zhu Yin Yuan have quite the job cut out for them.
The 23,000 (!) trees and shrubs to be planted on the landmark tower’s roof, façade and balconies as well as in some interior public spaces — that’s more leafy specimens, as Architectural Digest points out, than in New York’s Central Park — in the coming months will be tasked with absorbing 130 tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year. That’s roughly the same amount of annual emissions produced by 27 average cars.
In essence, Tao Zhu Yin Yuan, which was previously known as Agora Garden, will function as a sort of habitable CO2 vacuum that helps to put a small, but not at all shabby, dent in Taiwan’s overall carbon emissions: 250 million tons in 2014 per the International Energy Agency.
Previously known as Agora Garden, Vincent Callebaut's carbon-capturing plantscraper is due to open in September 2017. It will feature 40 luxury units with massive outdoor 'sky gardens.' (Rendering: Vincent Callebaut Architectures)
Tao Zhu Yin Yuan's greenery will extend to street level, where residents and locals alike can enjoy lushly planted public gardens and plazas that offer respite from the grey-hued bustle of Taipei. (Rendering: Vincent Callebaut Architectures)
The tower's lucky — and one would assume, well-heeled — inhabitants will no doubt be able to breathe easier, literally, by taking up residence in such unusually verdant urban trappings. However, living within a "true fragment of vertical landscape" that serves as a "new symbol of sustainability" is far from the tower's only perk. More typical amenities at Tao Zhu Yin Yuan will include a naturally ventilated and illuminated swimming pool and fitness center, high-speed elevators and glass-enclosed "sky garages."
“Outlandish and futuristic as [they] may seem, the core of all my designs is an attempt to address the real threat that cities pose for humankind and our ecological balance,” Callebaut tells CNN. “I want to give hope for a better tomorrow.”
*** Solar LED Alliance will now be providing Ringdale's CT Energy Monitor and Data Logger ***
CT Energy Monitor and Data Logger Gives Companies Superior Insight and Control over Energy Conservation Initiatives
GEORGETOWN, Texas, Sept. 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Ringdale® Inc., a Texas-based manufacturer of USA-made solid-state technologies, including ActiveLED® luminaries, announces its CT Energy Monitor and Data Logger with Ethernet connectivity for single- or three-phase power systems. The solution allows energy and facility managers to monitor and easily detect a variety of power issues, resulting in improved oversight of energy costs and energy conservation initiatives.
Used anywhere accurate logging of energy is required, the CT Energy Monitor and Data Logger measures root mean square (RMS) current and voltage. Managers remotely access the solution through their network to identify where energy is being wasted or to identify patterns of increased power use. The information is much more robust than merely trying to review utility bills. Gathered information can be accessed in real time via a web application or stored onto a USB drive for later evaluation.
The system is ideal for applications requiring accurate monitoring of energy usage for multiple locations, such as in high-rise buildings where energy use-per-tenant or per-floor is used for billing. Besides keeping a record of energy use, the CT Energy Monitor and Data Logger can also send an alarm notification via email in the event of a high- or low-current event or other user-programmed criteria, such as low voltage, voltage surges, power outages, brownouts, or failures.
Klaus Bollmann, president of Ringdale, explains how CT Energy Monitor and Data Logger recently helped a customer identify the source behind higher energy bills. "A customer changed its exterior showcase lighting to energy-efficient ActiveLED lighting and saved $10,000 on its monthly energy bill. Several months passed, and energy bills started to increase. After installing the CT solution, the facility manager could see what needed to be done to support the company's energy efficiency goals. The information let our customer see the impact of employees using personal heaters and helped the customer prioritize where new efficiency-based improvements should be made. It's about having the right data for targeted, accurate decision making," concluded Bollmann.
Ringdale, Inc., established in 1986, is an innovator of solid-state technology and manufacturer of commercial LED lighting fixtures, providing ActiveLED luminaries with patented, solid-state lighting control and thermal management technology. Ringdale is based in the United States with offices in the United Kingdom, France,Germany, Japan, and Singapore.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Astronauts Sample Taste LED Grown Veggies in Space
Fresh food grown in the microgravity environment of space officially is on the menu for the first time for NASA astronauts on the International Space Station. Expedition 44 crew members, including NASA'sone-year astronaut Scott Kelly, are ready to sample the fruits of their labor after harvesting a crop of "Outredgeous" red romaine lettuce Monday, Aug. 10, from the Veggie plant growth system on the nation’s orbiting laboratory.
The astronauts will clean the leafy greens with citric acid-based, food safe sanitizing wipes before consuming them. They will eat half of the space bounty, setting aside the other half to be packaged and frozen on the station until it can be returned to Earth for scientific analysis.
NASA's plant experiment, called Veg-01, is being used to study the in-orbit function and performance of the plant growth facility and its rooting "pillows," which contain the seeds.
NASA is maturing Veggie technology aboard the space station to provide future pioneers with a sustainable food supplement – a critical part of NASA’s Journey to Mars. As NASA moves toward long-duration exploration missions farther into the solar system, Veggie will be a resource for crew food growth and consumption. It also could be used by astronauts for recreational gardening activities during deep space missions.
The first pillows were activated, watered and cared for by Expedition 39 flight engineer Steve Swanson in May 2014. After 33 days of growth, the plants were harvested and returned to Earth in October 2014. At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the plants underwent food safety analysis. The second Veg-01 plant pillows were activated by Kelly on July 8 and grew again for 33 days before being harvested. The seeds had been on the station for 15 months before being activated.
Astronauts on the International Space Station are ready to sample their harvest of a crop of "Outredgeous" red romaine lettuce from the Veggie plant growth system that tests hardware for growing vegetables and other plants in space. (NASA/LEDinside)
The Veggie system was developed by Orbital Technologies Corp. (ORBITEC) in Madison, Wisconsin, and tested at Kennedy before flight. Veggie, along with two sets of pillows containing the romaine seeds and one set of zinnias, was delivered to the station on the third cargo resupply mission by SpaceX in April 2014.
The collapsible and expandable Veggie unit features a flat panel light bank that includes red, blue and green LEDs for plant growth and crew observation. Using LED lights to grow plants was an idea that originated with NASA as far back as the late 1990s, according to Dr. Ray Wheeler, lead for Advanced Life Support activities in the Exploration Research and Technology Programs Office at Kennedy.
Wheeler worked with engineers and collaborators to help develop the Veggie unit from a Small Business Innovative Research project with ORBITEC. Dr. Gioia Massa is the NASA payload scientist for Veggie at Kennedy. Massa and others worked to get the flight unit developed and certified for use on the space station. The purple/pinkish hue surrounding the plants in Veggie is the result of a combination of the red and blue lights, which by design emit more light than the green LEDs. Green LEDS were added so the plants look like edible food rather than weird purple plants.
"Blue and red wavelengths are the minimum needed to get good plant growth," Wheeler said. "They are probably the most efficient in terms of electrical power conversion. The green LEDs help to enhance the human visual perception of the plants, but they don't put out as much light as the reds and blues."
Wheeler, Massa and Dr. Gary Stutte, all from Kennedy, previously investigated similar experiments to grow plants in the Habitat Demonstration Unit at NASA's desert test site near Flagstaff, Arizona, in 2010 and 2011. Wheeler said Veggie will help NASA learn more about growing plants in controlled environment agriculture settings. Similar settings include vertical agriculture, which refers to stacking up shelves of plants that are grown hydroponically and then using electric light sources like red and blue LEDs. This kind of system is popular in some Asian countries and beginning to grow in the U.S.
"There is evidence that supports fresh foods, such as tomatoes, blueberries and red lettuce are a good source of antioxidants. Having fresh food like these available in space could have a positive impact on people's moods and also could provide some protection against radiation in space," Wheeler said.
NASA plans to grow food on future spacecraft and on other planets as a food supplement for astronauts. Fresh food, such as vegetables, provide essential vitamins and nutrients that will help enable sustainable deep space pioneering. (NASA/LEDinside)
After the first crop of lettuce was returned from the space station, Massa began working with a team of flight doctors and NASA safety representatives to get approval for the crew to eat the produce.
"Microbiological food safety analysis looks very good on the first Veg-01 crop of romaine lettuce," Massa said.
Besides the nutritional benefits, could growing fresh produce in space also provide a psychological benefit? Alexandra Whitmire, a scientist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston is involved in research to answer that question.
Whitmire is the Behavioral Health and Performance Research scientist for NASA's Human Research Program. Her team supports research related to reducing psychological risks on a Mars mission.
"The Veggie experiment is currently the only experiment we are supporting which involves evaluating the effects of plant life on humans in space," Whitmire said.
Her team is focused on crew behavioral conditions, performance reduction, and team communication and psychosocial adaption.
"Future spaceflight missions could involve four to six crew members living in a confined space for an extended period of time, with limited communication," Whitmire said. "We recognize it will be important to provide training that will be effective and equip the crew with adequate countermeasures during their mission."
The countermeasures could include things like meaningful work. Habitat-related modifications also could include plant life. Whitmire said Earth studies have shown plants are associated with well-being and optimal performance. Plants potentially could serve as a countermeasure for long-duration exploration missions.
Massa agrees: "Besides having the ability to grow and eat fresh food in space, there also may be a psychological benefit. The crew does get some fresh fruits or vegetables, such as carrots or apples, when a supply ship arrives at the space station. But the quantity is limited and must be consumed quickly."
Having something green and growing--a little piece of Earth--to take care of when living and working in an extreme and stressful environment could have tremendous value and impact.
"The farther and longer humans go away from Earth, the greater the need to be able to grow plants for food, atmosphere recycling and psychological benefits. I think that plant systems will become important components of any long-duration exploration scenario," Massa said.
The system also may have implications for improving growth and biomass production on Earth, thus benefiting the average citizen. Massa said many of the lessons NASA is learning with Veggie could be applied in urban plant factories and other agriculture settings where light is provided by electrical light and water conservation is practiced.
"We hope to increase the amount and type of crop in the future, and this will allow us to learn more about growing plants in microgravity," Massa said. "We have upcoming experiments that will look at the impacts of light quality on crop yield, nutrition and flavor, both on Earth and in space."
The team at Kennedy and Johnson hope that Veggie and space gardening will become a valued feature of life aboard the space station and in the future on Mars.
Watch this video to learn more about growing plants in space.
Paul Zamprelli of Orbitec, the company that developed the Veggie greenhouse, describes the hardware that supports plant growth and, for the first time, crew consumption of lettuce on the International Space Station.
