CENTRALIZED VERSUS DECENTRALIZED ENERGY SOURCES

Over the past century in the United States, there has been a trend toward increasing centralization of most phases of life. Production activity has grown from the household and cottage industry to the mass production of the assembly line and multinational corporations. The overall movement in government has been toward increasing concentration of power at the federal level. Demographically, the trend has been to centralize in large urban centers. However, the public disposition against centralization appears to have strengthened in recent years. For example, one of the more significant possibilities to change the centralization trend appears to be in the economy.

SUMMARY

Hydro power is an important renewable energy resource worldwide. However, its development is accompanied with environmental and social drawbacks. Issues of degradation of the environment and climate change can negatively impact hydro power generation. A sustainable hydro power project is possible, but needs proper planning and careful system design to manage the challenges. Well-planned hydro power projects can contribute to supply sustainable energy. Issues of hydro power resource availability, technology, environment and climate change have been also discussed. Hydro power is sensitive to the state of environment, and climate change. With global climate change, though globally the potential is stated to slightly increase, some countries will experience a decrease in potential with increased risks. Adaptation measures are required to sustainably generate hydro power. These are also discussed in the paper. 

2.1. Hydro power Technology.

2.2. Classification of Hydro power Projects.

2.3. Hydropower as a Renewable Energy and Its Global Resource Potential and Generation. Hydraulic energy in the water is derived from a hydrological cycle. In the hydrological cycle, water constantly flows through a cycle in different phases; evaporating from lakes and oceans, forming clouds, precipitating as rain or snow, then flowing back down to the ocean, seas, dams, rivers, and other water bodies.

2.4 Impacts of Environment and Climate Change in Hydropower Generation. A large share of the level of the environmental degradation is human induced arising from unsustainable economic development practices and increase in population.

Conclusion

The global energy sector overrelies on fossil fuel and is responsible for most of global environmental degradation and climate change. Therefore, fuel substitution to clean energy sources, such as renewable energy, is required. Therefore, hydropower can significantly contribute towards increased national energy access and security, mitigation of climate change and reduction of harmful air pollutants, creation of economic opportunities, and, thus, effectively leading to sustainable development.

Most manufacturers of utility-scale turbines offer machines in the 700-kW to 1.65-MW range. Ten 700-kW units would make a 7-MW wind plant, while 10 1.65-MW machines would make a 16.5-MW facility. In the future, machines of larger size will be available.

In layperson terms, photovoltaic cells arecomprised of a semiconductor material such as silicon. Added to the silicon are the elements phosphorous and boron which create conductivity within the cell and activate the movement of electrons. The electrons move across the cell when activated by the sunlight’s energy into the electrical circuit hooked up to the solar panel.

There are basically four types of turbines: -
1.Pelton turbines - It is impulse turbine which is normally used for more than 250 m of
water head.
2.Francis - This is a reaction turbine which is used for head varying between 2.5m to 450m
3.Kaplan – It is propeller type with adjustable blades which is used for heads varying between 1.5 m to 70 m
4.Propeller – It is used for head between 1.5 to 30 m
5.Tubular – This is used for low and medium height projects. Normally for head less than 15m.

The major components of a Hydroelectric Power Plant are:-
1.Dam/Barrage-Head works i.e. power intake, head regulator and de-silting chambers
etc.
2.Head race tunnels/channels
3.Surge shaft/surge chambers
4.Pressure shaft/Penstock
5.Underground and surface power house
6.Tailrace channel or tunnel

The hydro power generation is highly capital-intensive mode of electricity generation but being renewable source of energy with no consumables involved; there is very little recurring cost and hence no high long term expenditure. It is cheaper as compared to electricity generated from coal and gas fired plants. It also reduces the financial losses due to frequency fluctuations and it
is more reliable as it is inflation free due to not usage of fossil fuel.

The oldest Hydropower power plant is in Darjeeling District in West Bengal. It’s installed capacity is 130KW and was commissioned in the year 1897.

1. http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/isrn/2012/730631.pdf

2. http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/06-0840.1

3. http://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/hydroelectricity.htm

4. http://www.environmental-expert.com/magazines/keyword-hydropower-2016

5. http://www.hydropower-dams.com/

6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lx6UfiEU3Q0

7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnPEtwQtmGQ

1) http://www.eschooltoday.com/winds/what-are-winds.html

2) http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/notes/keynotes-on-5-different-types-of-wind/12625/

3) http://energy.gov/eere/wind/how-do-wind-turbines-work

4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3AfhSHAcqg&spfreload=10

5) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PE69jcleKg

6) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45Xh7FKS9nM

7) http://windeis.anl.gov/guide/basics/

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnYjlsGXugo

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxOTulMExWU

3. http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/29769063.pdf?acceptTC=true

4. http://www.tc.umn.edu/~dama0023/solar.html

ANEMOMETERS :

It is used to measure the direction of the wind.

WEATHER VANE :

It is used to measure the direction as well as the pressure of the wind.

DRIVE TRAIN :

It is the part of turbine which includes the gear box and generator

OFFSHORE WINDS:

Winds which blow from land to sea.

ONSHORE WINDS :

Winds which blow from sea to land.

Ancillary services : Operations provided by hydroelectric plants that ensure stable electricity delivery and optimize transmission system efficiency.

Cavitation :Noise or vibration causing damage to the turbine blades as a results of bubbles that form in the water as it goes through the turbine which causes a loss in capacity, head loss, efficiency loss, and the cavity or bubble collapses when they pass into higher regions of pressure.

Control gate: A barrier that regulates water released from a reservoir to the power generation unit.

Runner: The rotating part of the turbine that converts the energy of falling water into mechanical energy.

Impoundment: A body of water formed by damming a river or stream, commonly known as a reservoir.

Penstock: A closed conduit or pipe for conducting water to the powerhouse.Spillway: A structure used to provide the release of flows from a dam into adownstream area.

Tailrace: The channel that carries water away from a dam.

Tailwater: The water downstream of the powerhouse or dam.

Activation voltage(s) — The voltages(s) at which a charge controller will take action to protect the batteries.

Air mass (sometimes called air mass ratio) — Equal to the cosine of the zenith angle-that angle from directly overhead to a line intersecting the sun. The air mass is an indication of the length of the path solar radiation travels through the atmosphere. An air mass of 1.0 means the sun is directly overhead and the radiation travels through one atmosphere (thickness).

 Cell Barrier — A very thin region of static electric charge along the interface of the positive and negative layers in a photovoltaic cell.The barrier inhibits the movement of electrons from one layer to the other, so that higher-energy electrons from one side diffuse preferentially through it in one direction, creating a current and thus a voltage across the cell. Also called depletion zone or space charge.

Distributed energy resources (DER) — A variety of small, modular power-generating technologies that can be combined with energy management and storage systems and used to improve the operation of the electricity delivery system, whether or not those technologies are connected to an electricity grid.

Electrochemical Cell — A device containing two conducting electrodes, one positive and the other negative, made of dissimilar materials (usually metals) that are immersed in a chemical solution (electrolyte) that transmits positive ions from the negative to the positive electrode and thus forms an electrical charge. One or more cells constitute a battery.

Electrode— A conductor that is brought in conducting contact with a ground.

Electronic deposition — Electrolytic process in which a metal is deposited at the cathode from a solution of its ions.

I-type Semiconductor— Semiconductor material that is left intrinsic, or doped so that the concentration of charge carriers is characteristic of the material itself rather than of added impurities.

I-V Curve — A graphical presentation of the current versus the voltage from a photovoltaic device as the load is increased from the short circuit (no load) condition to the open circuit (maximum voltage) condition. The shape of the curve characterizes cell performance.

5. Do you have any Solar Energy technology installed in your home?

6.Is there sufficient sunshine that is recieved in your area during the day and what type of weather is observed in the area?

7.What is the pollution level in the area?

8.What factors would prevent you from installing Solar Energy Technology?

TARGET AUDIENCE:

I can conduct my survey in rural areas; villages and towns which face power shortages during their daily life.

QUESTIONS:

1.Do you have a regular supply of current in your area?

6. Would it matter to you how tall a wind turbine system was?

2. wind generators for boats and yachts: ever increasing amounts of essential electronic equipment on boats are a real drain on your precious batteries. 3. wind turbines in agriculture: remote power systems are needed more and more in the world of farming. Whether it's for powering electric fencing, powering water pumping, powering lighting in stables and chicken sheds or powering underwater cameras at salmon farms 4. wind turbines for homes: wind turbines for homes are frequently used for Residential Battery Charging and Grid Connection. If you’re living in windy spot and the wind is whistling around you, your home could be the perfect spot for a wind turbine.

5. wind turbines for off-grid lightning: wind turbines are ideal for providing efficient and reliable lighting in off-grid locations.

Questions-
1.Do you have a regular supply of current in your area?
2.Do you believe investing in renewable energy systems will help to solve the crisis of pollution and power shortage in your locality?

3. How aware are you of hydroelectricity Technologies?

4. What is the pollution level in the area?

5. What factors would prevent you from installing hydroelectricity?

As companies look to make more sophisticated wind turbine technology, more sophisticated tools are required. One of those is 3D modeling technology, which allows companies to use computer simulations to see how products will respond before manufacturing and testing the product in the field.

Computer simulation can be useful to companies as they look to increase the capacity factor of turbines. The software allows companies to help design blades that allows for attached flow across a range of flow velocity without having to continuously make the rotors larger.Companies are able to use software to create a virtual lab and set up the blade in the lab. Designers can then vary the blade geometry, blade twist, yaw angle, angles of wind attack and wind velocities. The simulations will allow designers to see the coefficient of lift and drag across the blade on both the top and bottom surface.

Making mechanical and technological changes to the hydro power fleet can also increase value. For example, the report finds that expanding the operating range of the plant can increase the income from that plant by 61 percent. In layman’s terms, “expanding the operating range” just means altering the technology to serve lower loads and higher peaks, as a percentage of capacity. Upgrading plants to have variable or adjusted speed drives also alters the ability of those units to meet different kinds of demands, including more rapid response and variability management. This change could increase each plants income by around 85 percent. Finally, plants can be constructed to be “closed-loop” (or adjacent to waterways) to cut down on permitting time and minimize environmental impacts.

At the heart of the blooming solar power industry is the semiconductor material, like silicon or gallium arsenide, which absorbs sunlight and forms the basis of solar panels. It converts electromagnetic energy in the form of sunlight to electrical energy. Now, researchers from London have demonstrated a technique to increase the amount of electrical current produced by a solar panel simply by augmenting its light-facing surface with aluminium nanostructures.

When photons, particles of light, are absorbed by the semiconductor, they knock out electrons, which are passed through a circuit and then to a battery for storage as electricity. However, scientists now want to find ways of increasing the absorption of light in thin layers of semiconductors, so that solar panels can be made using less raw-material and at a lower cost.