Solar Air-Con To Avoid Costly Network Upgrades?
April 15th, 2012Giles Parkinson of Renew Economy, ex Fin Review, asks what if network operators could turn to solar-powered air conditioners as a possible solution to reducing peak load on our electricity grid?
The Current Situation – The Biggest Strain
The number of times that a huge peak demand/load occurs – leading to electricity blackouts – varies across our states and territories and may only be a few hours a year.
Apart from building more capacity, or demand management, network operators have had no solution.
The the biggest strain on our electricity networks – and, Giles says, the cause for at least one third of the $45 billion network upgrades, and at least half of the recently announced tariff increases – are the ‘super’ peak demand periods triggered when people go home from work and turn on the air-con.
What If…?
What if we used an intermittent resource – solar powered air conditioning – to create a ‘firming’ solar resource which can respond to support the electricity grid during times of stress?
CSIRO in a joint $570,430 project with GWA and Queensland utility Ergon Energy, supported by the Australian Solar Institute is investigating this possibility.
How Would This Work?
Giles explains:
“First it’s necessary to understand the solar air-con technology that has been developed by CSIRO. It uses panels similar to those used for solar hot water, to collect the sun’s heat as hot air, and uses this in turn to create cool air – a strange-sounding idea, but one that is really no stranger than the old kerosene fridges.
CSIRO want to install these devices as a retrofit on houses (with gas backup), and couple them with an energy management device that links back to the grid operator. It will work on the same principle as off-peak hot water systems, except in this instance the signal will instruct the air-con driven by electricity to be switched off, replaced with the solar source or, if no sun, by a gas source…
CSIRO is currently going through the commercialisation process of its solar cooling technology. This project, which will be road-tested in three houses in Queensland, will test the ability for the technology to shift the air conditioning load to solar and gas when the network needs it, while keeping the occupants comfortable…
The end game for this sort of technology is instead of having to upgrade the network in certain areas – and hitting capacity constraints – maybe the grid operators can look at other interesting ideas. There could be real incentives to putting in solar air-con with this type of technology and allow the utilities to shift loads.
If the project is successful, it is anticipated that this firm solar air conditioning system could achieve widespread uptake as a utility-friendly solar solution. And it would likely be preferable to business-as-usual electrical network upgrades and allow energy utilities to redirect expenditure toward generation plant, rather than distribution infrastructure.”
An excellent idea
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April 20th, 2012 at 11:30 am
Step 1 should always be that people should stop buying houses and buildings that are designed to need air-con to heat and cool them.
Australians have a long history of being able to cope with extremes of climate but we have got lazy and accepted the comfort of air-con. Now that we have accepted it, it has become a selling point of every home and building, whereas it is a cost – an ongoing cost – to the owners and the environment. It’s crazy!
The selling point should be that a building doesn’t need air-con at all! But that requires very good design by highly trained people. Why would anyone put their life savings into something that is not designed to cope in extremes.
Air-con should be for the sick and the elderly and the rest of us should just cope. We are all getting way too soft!
April 20th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
I totally agree ….
in my view, anyone installing a pool or an air conditioner should be required to instal solar generation …. using only half our brains, its obvious that peak demand for pool filters and air conditioning is summer .. when the sun shines longest and strongest …
why are human being so clever dealing with complexity .. yet so dumb at seeming the obvious …. ?
April 20th, 2012 at 6:00 pm
It’s only 50 years ago that we had ice-chests, wood-chip water heaters & kerosene room heaters & no air conditioning at all either in houses or cars & we all survived.
Why is it that the modern generation is so soft when it comes to air conditioning now & I agree with Liza & Kevin that homes should be designed as they were in the olden days, that is, air ventilation underneath, high ceilings & verandahs all around.
It’s just common-sense so why are we trying to re-invent the wheel so to speak.
April 21st, 2012 at 10:29 am
My problem is the opposite. My house is naturally cool in summer but freezing in winter (country Victoria). Only heating is a split system installed by previous owners, hugely expensive to run and doesn’t warm my poor old feet. And we will never get town gas so that isn’t even an option, cost of LPG for heating is prohibitive I am told.
May 16th, 2012 at 11:31 am
Very few ordinary people are prepared to learn simple science.
Comment by roma guerin is a good example.
a. Reverse cycle air conditioning is the most efficient form of heating generally available.
b. She can use an ordinary fan to circulate the warn air so that her tootsies are warmed.
c. Her house is an example of the changes needed in dwellings construction.
She says that the “cost of LPG for heating is prohibitive I am told.”
If she had gathered the relevant information for herself, then she would be sure of the situation.
Second-hand information needs to be checked against factual material as it is often unreliable. Certainly, depending on the “mainstream media” and glossy, mass circulation magazines for your education is fraught with danger.
Poor journalism, together with commercial and political bias will always ensure that their outpourings are less than factual.
May 16th, 2012 at 5:23 pm
Environmentally responsible design including the means to modify temperature and humidity should be a natural and integral part of good design, not just bolt-on technology. It will take time, effort and ingenuity to see this become the norm (for example double glazing), just as it took time to integrate reticulated plumbing and electricity in lieu of the dunny and gas lamps in buildings. There are fantastic prospects for power-harvesting systems in the form of solar generative glass, phase-change materials and geo-thermal heating/cooling. Regrettably there are also many obstacles in the form of the vested interests of power companies who limit the amount of power that can be generated back into the grid, or the loss of capital invetment when folks chose to go off-grid, which will have to be addressed. We have “gone soft” because housin is no longer where we live so much as what we hope to sell and retire on, and this is driven less by innovative design as mainstream marketting. I could design you a house that works brilliantly, but looks like Darth Vader’s fridge, but who would want to buy this? My house is a narrow-lot 2 storey double brick 4×2 with grid-connected 1.5kW solar PV, solar HW, greywater and rainwater in Perth. The ordinary appearance conceals higher than standard insulation in the roof, a giant west-facing window that sucks up the heat into the core of the house in winter, through ventilation, mobile fans and a small split system A/C unit which we have used twice this year when the temperature was above 40oC. I would happily include a CSIRO unit if it was available, not because of the direct benefits to me, but because I would be using the potential in my property to generate power for others in lieu of non-renewable sources.
May 17th, 2012 at 12:07 am
Regarding heting the home during cold periods. Have Australians totally forgotten the Slow Combustion Stoves?
There is available very attractive slow combustion units which come in various sizes called Bakers Ovens. These units are multi- functional, heating the air (requires ceiling fan to disperse the warm air), bake a roast, keep the kettle hot on the top and possess a water jacket to boost the Solar hot water. However they do not possess an ash pan, nor at present are gas fired. Something that requires to be improved upon.
As far as other heaters go, wood or gas fired, is it not time that at least a water jacket is installed? It is pure idiocy to only heat air. A 50percent effort in manufacturing is simply not good enough.
May 17th, 2012 at 9:59 am
Hi,
I have been waiting for solar air-con for a while. A project at ANU is supposed to be nearly ready and can be retro-fitted. It will provide free solar cooling while the sun shines, and if by chance you need to use it at night, it will use only 10% of the energy to run that the usual air-cons use.
I heard about it at one of the regular monthly meetings that the Australian Solar Energy Society puts on in Sydney. I am in Newcastle. I also only put my air-con on twice this last summer but it was one of the mildest summers we have had lately.
I live in a timber and iron miner’s cottage and are troubled both by extreme heat and the cold in winter.
I have put insulation in the ceiling and under the new iron in the roof but feel I should do something about the walls (lined with old tongue and groove boards).
Others here have put insulation under the floor to make the house warmer in winter, but I am concerned that that may make it hotter in summer. Does anyone have much experience in this?
Paula Morrow