Monthly Archives: February 2014

Solar Energy

“In 2012 solar power produced just .5% of global electricity.  It’s only a speck compared to coal (42%), natural gas (21%), hydro (15%) and nuclear (12%)”.

I started my blog with a quotation that may be discouraging to solar power advocates, but it is important to note that solar production is still in a growing stage.  The rest of my blog will consist of the leading countries regarding solar energy, challenges to overcome, and new technology that can influence the growth of solar energy.

Solar energy is the most abundant and cleanest energy source available.  Solar energy can be used for a number of things including: generate electricity, and heating water.  The most common way of harnessing solar energy is via the photovoltaic process.  Photovoltaic process uses electrical devices to convert the sun’s heat to energy.  In regards to solar energy, Germany is the leading country.  By 2050 Germany has stated they are planning on relying only on renewable energy.  Germany has taken the initiative by installing thousands of panel that produce 22 gigawatts of energy.

The image above shows a solar farm in the middle of the dessert.  Although futuristic, I believe in the near future there will be effective solar farms like the one illustrated above.

Before I begin ranting about solar energy, please take a look at this link:

http://localsolardeals.com/signup/

Honestly, I did not fill out any information nor do I recommend anyone does, but if the link is legitimate I find it fascinating that already there are company’s that can “calculate” how much money you can save by going solar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uPVZUTLAvA

This link is very informative; it explains his belief on how to make solar energy more effective.  Although lengthy, towards the end it starts describing the difference between concentrated solar power and photovoltaic.  How to make solar power energy more efficient?  That is the million-dollar question scientists are currently trying to tackle.

Now back to my blog, in regards to the U.S., President Obama wants to make the U.S. “the world’s leading exporter of renewable energy”.  China is becoming a “dominant player in green energy – especially in solar power”.  The Chinese have played a role in pushing down the prices of solar panels.  According to the NY Times China Racing Ahead of U.S. in the Drive to Go Solar, written by Keith Bradsher the U.S. cannot compete with the low prices the Chinese are selling their products at.

According to Cleantechnica.com the U.S. is ranked 20^th nation in the world regarding solar power country leaders per capita.  Interestingly enough the only other nations ranked in the top 20 that are not European are Australia (#8), Japan (#14), and Israel (#17).  Please take a look at the graph below so you can view each individual country and how countries rank among one another.

Referring back to the United States the link below is extremely informative regarding solar energy in general.  Zachary Shahan is the director of CleanTechnica is extremely informative.  He has been covering green new since 2008, and focuses specifically on solar energy. Please take a second to lookover his website, I promise

Top Solar Power States Per Capita (Updated) vs Top Solar Policy Leaders (CleanTechnica Exclusive)

The graph below describes very important estimates in regards to solar energy.  It states how much solar costs in your state, how much you could save every month, what you could save over time, and how long before it pays itself.

The Biggest Solar Farm In Latin America Will Replace An Old Coal Plant

The article above depicts an impressive image in a developing country.  In Mexico there is a coal plant that will be replaced by a solar farm.  A very impressive accomplishment and investment in my opinion.

References

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/517811/a-material-that-could-make-solar-power-dirt-cheap/

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/business/energy-environment/25solar.html?ref=solarenergy&_r=0

http://cleantechnica.com/2012/06/12/new-report-ranks-worlds-biggest-countries-on-renewable-energy/

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2013/11/new-solar-cell-is-more-efficient-less-costly

Friday February 21^st, 2014 we conducted a very interesting experiment.  After learning about solar energy, we used labview to conduct an experiment.  The lab was titled Solar Cell Lab; we used the following equipment to conduct our experiment:

• One solar cell
• One voltage probe
• One NXT adaptor
• Labview
• Ruler
• Colored film filters

The picture below taken by me on my iPhone displays some of the equipment we used.  It also displays the set up and how we went about connecting the robot to the iMac.

 Our objective was to understand the correlation between light intensity and voltage output by the solar cell.  We also gained the knowledge of the relationship between wavelength of light and voltage output of solar cell.

Within the blog I will post two pictures to help visualize my explanation.  We began our project by measuring how much voltage was generated without any light.  As expected, the 10-second average was very insignificant, .07.  Our experiment gradually became more interesting.  We followed the initial experiment by placing a flashlight directly on top of the solar cell.  After averaging the 10-second period the average was much higher than the first experiment.

We repeated the process 6 times; the only variable that changed was the distance from which the flashlight was lighting the solar cell.  Below is a table describing the distance and the voltage the solar cell produced.

The graph below will show a direct correlation between the distance and the voltage.

To summarize the further the distance the lower the voltage; this is due to the fact that the solar cell captures less light when the flashlight is at a greater distance.

The second half of the experiment was from 0 distance.  Meaning the light was directly on top of the solar cell.  The only difference is the colored film filter placed on top of the solar cell.  We used four different colors to conduct the experiment.  The table below will display the colors used along with the results in voltage generated.

The bar graph below will display our findings.  My partner and I for the most part predicted the results. We knew that the solar cell without any film filter would produce the highest amount of voltage.  Out of the four colors the only one I did not predict accurately was orange, I was certain orange would allow more light through then Red, but I was wrong.

FLASHLIGHT

On February 14^th, also known as Valentines Day our class conducted a lovely experiment.  We used an old flashlight to replicate a shift generator. By the way class I apologize for not updating this blog last week, I fell a bit behind on schoolwork. We connected the Flashlight to the robot and the robot to the computer.  After we opened the Labview program on Microsoft, we began to prepare our experiment.

Our goal was simple:

• First we would measure how much electricity would be generated if we did not shake the flashlight.
• Secondly, my teammate and I would increase the number of shakes all within a 30 second window
• After each test we would open Microsoft excel
  • Open the lab-view file name Test2.va
  • We then calculated the Sum of Square by simply typing “=Sumsq(range of data)”
    • Sum of square was essential to find the total variability in the set of numbers.  Although excel did the formula out for us, if we were to calculate it on our own we would need the following formula:
      • SS=E(y)^2=E(y-y)^2

The Sum of Square is also needed to square the voltage.  Each sum of square data plot represented 30 data points

We repeated the process five times; below is a graph of the data.

Our findings were very consistent, simply put the more we shook the flashlight the more voltage and electricity we generated.  Just in case you can’t see the graph, you can view it better in the picture below.

(I took pictures of the experiment but could not figure out how to upload them)

The experiment overall went extremely well, my partner and I distributed the responsibilities evenly, and helped each other accomplish the daily task.

Granted that I did not know much about how electricity was generated prior to blogging about the topic I feel as if the link below is a great resource and learning tool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20Vb6hlLQSg

The link provides you with a short five-minute video, broadly explaining how electricity is generated, and problems with generating electricity.

Throughout my blog I will write about how electricity is generated from different sources. Coal, natural gas, and nuclear power plants, are going to be the main topics throughout the body of my blog.  Each topic will have a brief overview, that hopefully explains, how it works, which countries are highly dependent on that specific sector, flaws or problems with the sector, and the sectors projected future growth.

Coal

 Coal initially mined by miners in states or countries that have an abundance of coal, which is a natural resource.  The United States, and China being amongst the greatest producers.  Within the U.S. states such as Wyoming, West Virginia, and Kentucky are amongst the greatest producers.  As for how coal is transformed into electricity, I found a direct paragraph that summarizes the process.

“The coal is grinded to make it easier to deliver and burn as a fuel.  Large fans blow the coal powder into a boiler that stands 20 stories high.  The coal fuels a massive fireball that can reach 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.  Steam pipes in the boiler carry ultra pure water that has been pumped from a nearby cooling lake and treated.  The heat of the furnace converts the water into steam. At a temperature of 1,005 degrees and a pressure of 2,400 pounds per square inch (PSI), the steam is sent over a turbine through a series of pipes.  Low pressure, intermediate pressure and high-pressure steam are used to spin the blades of three turbines at a rate of 3,600 revolutions per minute.

The turbines, connected to a generator by a shaft, power the generator.  The generator is made of a large magnet spinning inside copper windings.  Electrons flow from the copper along a conductor to create 24,000 volts of electricity. 

In order to push the electricity from the plant further out into the city, a step-up transformer is needed to increase the power from 24,000 volts to 345,000 volts to carry electricity over transmission lines to customers.” 

These steps are obviously taken after the coal has been mined and transported to a plant.

Just incase you are too lazy to read and follow the process as stated above, below is a diagram provided by Exxon Mobile depicting the process in which coal is transformed into electricity.  According to treehugger.com, China, U.S., and India are the countries that consume the largest amount of coal.

The problem with coal as discussed in prior classes is the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere.

Surprising coals consumption is projected to slow down in growing countries such as China and India.

Natural Gas

 Is a versatile fossil fuel, meaning it can be used for various different things, such as cooking, electricity, etc.…  Some of the advantages are that natural gas burns cleanlier than coal and oil.  However, natural gas is still a fossil fuel, which contributes to global warming.

As to how it works the link below is extremely informative on the process.  The link includes flaws, strengths, and future possibilities for natural gas.

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/coal-and-other-fossil-fuels/how-natural-gas-works.html

“The fastest growing use of natural gas today is for the generation of electric power”.  Natural gas is used in a plant, in order to provide heat/energy those later powers steam turbines, which provides consumers with electricity.

“Because energy produced from natural gas has much lower associated carbon emissions than these other fossil fuels, natural gas could act as a “bridge” fuel to a low-carbon energy future.  Particularly in the electric sector, natural gas has the potential to ease our transition to renewable energy”.

Some the flaws regarding natural gas are the possibility that extracting natural gas may lead to earthquakes.  Although, not proven I believe the mini earthquakes caused by hydraulic fracturing, leads to larger earthquakes.  Not to mention that although is less harmful to the environment it is still a short-term solution.

The U.S., Russia, and European Union are the three largest consumers of natural gas.

 Nuclear Power Plant

The diagram above displays the process of how nuclear power plants actually work.  In reality all three plants (Nuclear, coal, natural gas) work very similarly.  Commonality being, heat is needed in order to turn turbines that produce energy.

The flaw with nuclear power plants is the danger of a disaster.  When things go wrong they go terribly wrong.

“On one hand, atomic energy offers a clean energy alternative that frees us from the shackles of fossil fuel dependence. On the other, it summons images of disaster: quake-ruptured Japanese power plants belching radioactive steam, the dead zone surrounding Chernobyl’s concrete sarcophagus”.

This quote does a great job describing how dangerous nuclear power plants are.  In our recent memory there are images of the devastation left behind by not only the tsunami but also the nuclear power plant in Japan.

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/japans-nuclear-meltdown/

The video provided in the link although lengthy is a great short documentary.  It really helps you visualize the horror possible with nuclear power plants.

Advantages of Nuclear Energy

1)   Lower Greenhouse Gas Emission

2)   Powerful and Efficient

3)   Reliable

4)   Cheap Electricity

5)   Low Fuel Cost

6)   Continuous Supply

Countries that produce the most amount of electricity from nuclear power plants are as follows:

1)   U.S.

2)   France

3)   Japan

4)   Russia

Conclusion

 It is fair to say that each individual plant has both pro’s and con’s.  As future contributors to society, it is our duty to be well informed on the matter.

References:

http://www.cpsenergy.com/Services/Generate_Deliver_Energy/Coal/coal_generation.asp

http://www.treehugger.com/clean-technology/what-are-the-top-10-coal-burning-countries-on-the-planet-whos-1.html

http://www.catf.us/fossil/problems/co2/

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-16/coal-demand-growth-to-slow-in-next-five-years-on-china-iea-says.html

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/coal-and-other-fossil-fuels/how-natural-gas-works.html

http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/Advantages_NuclearEnergy.php

In Class Pulley Experiment

 Friday February 7^th was an interesting class to say the least.  I found myself lost and did my best to avoid frustration.  Nothing seemed to work, to add to the pressure a majority of my peers including my partner were confused.  However, I managed to complete the task and learned how to explain my thoughts to my partner.  Between the both of us and assistance from the professor we pulled together and finished our objective.

During our experiment we used Newton’s 2^nd law, which states:

Force=Mass * Acceleration

Initially we began by maintaining the robots force fixed at 50 (Newton’s).  We repeated this experiment three times and increased the mass each time.

1.) TRIAL #1

If you take a look at the table below you will notice that by increasing the mass the acceleration is decreasing.  There is a direct correlation between mass and acceleration.

2.) TRIAL #2

For our second trial we maintained the mass at the same weight .1kg.  We repeated the experiment three times; each time we changed the force.  As you can see in the first column the force increased from 70 to 100 and then decreased to 90 Newton’s.  The change in force caused the acceleration to change each time.  Trial #2 proved that the greater the force the greater the acceleration (assuming Mass is constant).

3.) MGH calculations

Our third goal was to calculate MGH (mass*gravity*height). We first began by ensuring all the units were compatible.  After measuring the height of the pulley in inches, we converted the height of 12.5 inches into .317 meters.  We then proceeded to calculate our joules or potential energy.

What the MGH calculation proved was that as mass increased Joules increased.  We then continued to plot our information on excel.

Graph 1

Graph 1 displays the direct correlation between an increase in mass and decrease in acceleration.  Displaying that the heavier the mass the lower the acceleration.

Graph 2

This graph depicts the correlation between power and acceleration.  The greater the power the faster the acceleration.

“He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks”.

The quote above written by Sun Tzu, famously recognized from his book Art of War, ties into why I believe Germany will be successful in establishing their country as the first to reach 100% renewable energy “as quickly as possible”.  As I read through articles online, I am continuously impressed by the dedication of the German population.

The article below listed below, depicts 3 Reasons Germans are Going Renewable ‘At All Costs’.

 http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/10/3-reasons-germans-are-going-renewable-at-all-costs

To summarize, the article the key points the author describes are:

1. “Germany has some of the highest rates per kilowatt-hour in the world”
2. 84% of residents, support the idea of 100% renewable energy
3. Nearly 63,000 megawatts of wind and solar power is locally owner
4. Millions of Germans are building their retirement funds by investing in solar and wind power plants

What this article tells me is that Germany as a nation is fully committed to achieving their goal.  Which leads me to believe that they will accomplish their goal.  If you take a look at the quote I stated in the beginning of my blog, “army”, “spirit”, and “ranks” can all be interpreted to Germany’s scenario.

Army – Country / population

Spirit – Common goal

Ranks – throughout all social/economical classes

If Germany continues to work as a unit, I believe it will ultimately lead to their success.  They are setting an example of the tremendous amount of effort required by a country to benefit from sustainability in the long-term.

This Graph represents, 100% of renewable energy market.  As you can see in the graph, individuals own 35% of the market.  Which should astonish you, companies do not have the largest part of the market share.

Although this all seems like a great fairy tale story, lets now take a moment to uncover the hardship, and difficulties Germany is trying to overcome.  As of Thursday the 30^th of January, Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s minister is trying to maintain and keep public acceptance on the matter.  “The public’s acceptance will be critical for Germany to continue expanding the use of renewable sources of energy”.

Unfortunately, the cabinet in Germany is beginning to feel the pressure and is trying to withstand the cost of initiating a movement.  According to the Wall Street Journal, “Germany is struggling with rising energy costs as it phases out nuclear power and tries to shift to more renewable energy”.

Whether Germany can overcome the most difficult task of budgeting this project will determine if Germany is capable of overcoming this obstacle.

Interesting Videos:

Kilowatt-hour – is most commonly known as a billing unit for energy delivered to consumers by electric utilities

http://rt.com/business/germany-green-energy-costs-489/

This link leads you to a video that gets into greater depth in describing the financial difficulties Germany is trying to overcome.

http://www.ecology.com/2013/02/12/germany-renewable-energy-revolution/

This link is a PBS video; although lengthy this video is extremely interesting.  It is the opposite of the video above and describes the potential Germany has, if they are to succeed with their plans.

References:

http://www.the-american-interest.com/blog/2014/01/09/end-result-of-germanys-green-energy-policy-more-coal/

http://www.dw.de/germanys-green-energy-debate-just-beginning/a-17397270

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2013/10/3-reasons-germans-are-going-renewable-at-all-costs

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304632204579336220103661350

Robots Activities Blog

 Today was my first time using and experimenting with robots.  Quite honestly, I enjoyed the experiment and learned a lot.  Our goal was to collect data from nine different experiments.  Three experiments were conducted per set of circumstances.  My team then calculated and accounted for an error percentage.

 Error percentage was calculated with the following formula:

Error% = Distance (measured) – Distance (Lab view)

Distance (measured) + Distance (Lab view)    X 100%

2

Before I begin to explain or get into the details of our class experiment I would like to make a suggestion.  Our team had two business students and one electrical engineer.  I believe this should be the case on a weekly basis.  Having my partner completely understand the project added value to my time in class.  He answered a lot of questions and seemed comfortable with robotics.  Although I can only speak for myself, as a business student I have never conducted research in this manner.  It would be beneficial to the entire class if business students were paired with electrical engineers.

STEP 1:

• We first took the wheel and calculated the circumference.
• Circumference = Pi * Diameter
• Our measurements stated that the diameter of the wheel was 5.5 cm
• We converted it into meters .055m
• Circumference = .55 * pi = .173

Trial 1, which I consider to be the first threes samples went as follows.  The first test we conducted allowed for 1.439 wheel turns to occur, the distance and velocity traveled was .249.  Which also indicates that the total amount of time traveled was 1 second.  Throughout the first three trials the rotation of the wheels (both left & right) were 525 degrees.  The distance it traveled during this period was 24 cm.

Learning’s:  What I learned from the first trial may sound obvious but it had honestly never occurred to me.  Both distance and velocity were .249, which meant it had only traveled one second.  In other words distance and velocity are to an extent intertwined.

After trial 1 we realized the left engine was not as powerful as the right engine because the wheel on the left was causing the robot to swerve left.

After three different tests with the same fixed variables there was surprisingly no error, each test provided the same results.

Trial 2:

The big change we had in the second trial was the degrees in which the wheels rotated.  The left wheel rotated at 504 degrees while the right wheel rotated 511 degrees.  The reason for changing the degrees was to attempt and make the robot go straight.

Overall, the distance the robot traveled was 27 cm.

• Number of wheels turned =1.4
• Distance = .24
• Velocity = .24
• Time Traveled = 1 second

After testing this trial we found an error percentage of approximately 1.5% (meters).

Learning’s:  Trial 2 presented me with the opportunity to analyze, compute, and understand how exactly we were calculating for the error %.

Trial 3:

At this point we were rushing to ensure we would have time to conduct all three samples.  During this last trial we changed the power of both wheel.  The power of the left wheel was now 87, and the right wheel was now 80.  The increase in power caused the number of wheels turned to increase to 1.67, it also increased the distance and velocity to .289, and the time remained 1 second.

Here is an example of our error %:

.295-.290

.295+.290/2   X 100% = 1.7%

We could still not manage the car to travel completely straight therefor within the last 2 minutes we conducted a last attempt to make the robot travel in a straight line.  We increased the left wheel power to .99 and the right wheel to .87.  The rotation increased to 687 and 696 degrees.  The numbers of wheels turned increased to 1.9; distance and velocity were .33.

This last attempt had an error percentage of 6.25%.  But, it was the closest we came to ensuring the car traveled in a straight line.

Learning’s:

Overall, I learned the importance of teamwork, and the importance of taking detailed notes.  Regarding the trials I learned that by increasing the power of the wheels the number of wheels turned, distance, velocity, and rotation would increase.  I believe the purpose of the class was to better understand how velocity works, and how it relates to distance.