Wind and solar energy are far from new, but the recent growth of these industries means that many new players are doing wind and solar projects, some with better successes than others. THis presentation talks about how
3. Agenda
A “101” style walk-through of
real-life project experiences:
•Context & Planning
•Challenges to Expect
•Pitfalls to Avoid
•Where to Find Help
•Lessons Learned
Picture from http://www.bcenergyblog.com/tags/ontario-windfarms/
Slide time: <1 min.
Talking points:
Welcome!
Renewable energy is not new, but Ontario’s Green Energy Act is.
Wind/solar have been in Canada for >50 yrs
Industry is mature - lots of experiences, both good and bad.
The media never tells the whole story, and often embelishes.
Today we’re here to talk about how real projects work… or don’t.
Ontario is a problematic province, with a diversity of strengths and weaknesses, a huge provincial budget, a multimodal economy, and a voracious appetite for energy. The provincial energy system is one of the largest items on the Provincial budget, and is a growing concern. Ontario's Green Energy Act has begun the process of decentralizing Ontario's energy system, opening up opportunities for local communities and local individuals to generate energy for themselves.
What Ontario's government and ENGO sector did not expect was the degree of opposition and localized social friction that locally owned renewable energy projects would face. That opposition has had mixed competence, but has become increasingly well organized, and has been very damaging to Ontario's nacent green energy economy.
Energy is changing around the world.
Nuclear is phasing out.
Coal is killing us.
Natural gas is fracked.
Renewables used to provide 100% of our power, and can again.
Slide time: <1 min.
Picture from http://www.bcenergyblog.com/tags/ontario-wind-farms/
Talking points:
First, we’ll walk through some context about how to plan a project well
Then we’ll talk about the rest of the items listed here: [read the agenda, comment on each item]
Slide time: <1 min.
Talking points:
Why should you listen to me?
I’m proud to say that I’ve had some privileged opportunities
I’m an energy consultant
My firm helps write the rules and teach others to use them
We helped write the Green Energy Act, LEED, ENERGY STAR, and many other similar programs
We’ve done hundreds of projects, and we’ve seen the best and the worst
Hopefully our experience will help you avoid some of the problems we’ve had, and build on the things we’ve done well.
Slide time: <1 min.
Talking points:
Why should you listen to Bryan?
He’s smart, and smart with money, and has learned a lot (good and bad) about how to tell if a project is worth investing in.
Slide time: 2-3 mins.
First things first: conservation before generation.
Wind and solar are fancy, exciting, visible… but expensive
Start cheap: conservation is less flashy, but 7-10 times more beneficial
Conservation done well will increase your budget
At Mindscape we have what we call our 50/50 plan:
do conservation;
free up money;
enjoy 50% of the savings as just that: savings. Put it back into your business;
put the other 50% of that money in a special account, and use it to finance more conservation projects.
As your savings grows, you will be able to afford more expensive projects.
Moral of the story: grab the low hanging fruit first.
Slide time: 2-3 mins.
Image: Wind turbines and solar panels outside Wal-Mart in McKinney, Texas
Whether retrofitting buildings or street lighting, the same principles apply:
Use Less:
Know your turn-down ratio
“Turn-down ratio” compares the amount of energy the bldg. is using when it is “off” to the amount it uses when “on”. Most buildings never really turn fully off: they have emergency lighting, ventilation, heating, and other loads that are always on. The turn-down ratio is the percentage of “on” power that is used when “off.”
Eg: a turn-down ratio of 50% means that when all staff go home and the building is turned “off”, it is still using 50% of the energy it would be if it was turned “on”.
(50-70% is not uncommon from what we’ve seen and been told by our colleagues)
Consider controls to improve turn-down: lighting controls, PLC/BAS controls, etc.
BAS = Building Automation System: most commercial buildings have one.
PLC = Programmable Logic Controller: most industrial processes have one.
Turn-off stuff not in use (eg: motion sensors in bathrooms)
Turn-off stuff that’s not required (eg: “sensors, moisture sensors on irrigation)
Eg: don’t spend electricity on lighting when the sun is doing fine
Eg: don’t spend water and electricity irrigating when it’s raining
Eg: economizers for fresh air
Recover the energy you’ve already used: ERV’s, DWHR, steam flue heat exchangers, etc.
ERV = Energy (or Enthalpy) Recovery Ventilator (recover’s energy in exhaust air)
DWHR = Drain Water Heat Recovery (recover’s energy in drain water)
Steam flue heat exchangers – recover energy from steam that is being exhausted from industrial processes.
Incentives: (see later slides)
Slide time: 2-3 mins.
Step 1: Scoping – determine technology options
Not every technology fits everywhere. There is no perfect solution. Understand what works in your situation.
Step 2: Feasibility assessment(s)
Rule of 1%: do some quick math (napkin math) to guesstimate your budget, and then before you start, spend 1% of that amount getting help to confirm that the budget and payback are what you expect.
Step 3: Research permitting requirements
Ask early and often! Do not let yourself be surprised! Unexpected permits can bankrupt or sabotage a project.
Talk to a minimum of:
Local building department (they will know if you need to talk to other city departments, eg: Heritage department)
Local utilities (electrical, gas, water, sewer)
Local conservation authority
Step 4: Research grants and incentives
Consider all levels of government and utilities: fed, prov, municipal, conservation authorities, utilities
Consider asking a consultant for help
Step 5: Hire RE consultant or turn-key OEM/distributor
Experience can be worth much more than it’s weight in gold
Mindscape provides renewable energy resource assessments to determine which forms of renewable energy will best fit your needs and location.
Mindscape also has partners involved with many different renewable energy technologies.
And Mindscape is not the only company that offers services and has good experience: we have many competitors. Make sure you check references, and check the internet: it’s amazing what you can learn about a company on the internet now…
(If you do a search on Mindscape or on Derek Satnik then you’ll get a huge number of hits: try that for anyone before you consider hiring them, and see what you find out…)
Slide time: 2-3 mins.
When considering different renewable energy technologies, keep in mind that they all suit different applications, and none of them is a “one size fits all”: they all have different strengths and weaknesses.
There are only a couple general rules:
Conservation is always cheapest and best!
Don’t size a generation system until you have conserved as much as possible first: then you can spend less to get a smaller generation system and it will serve you better (and stretch your money further)
Do a proper feasibility study first before you invest.
With that in mind, here’s a rough comparison of the major technologies you can use to generate your own energy:
SOLAR
More types of solar than many people realize:
Solar walls: literally a wall, as simple as a sheet of metal, with many little holes in it. As the sun shines on the metal wall, it heats up. Air inside the wall also heats up, and naturally rises. If you suck air from inside that wall into the building, the sun will give you free (and very cheap) heat.
Solar Domestic Hot Water (DHW): panels on a wall or roof with fluid in them (glycol or water, sometimes even air): as the sun shines on the fluid, it heats up, and you can bring that heat into the building.
PV = photo (light) voltaic (electricity)
BIPV = Building Integrated PV: literally replace part of the building with PV, like shingles
trackers/concentrators: mechanical hardware that helps keep the PV pointing at the sun so that you get more energy from it
PV thermal hybrid: all solar panels not only generate electricity, but they also generate heat. If you can capture the heat, then it helps the panel run more efficiently, and it gives you free heat: up to two units of heat per unit of electricity with some products.
The next couple slides will show some examples of what this looks like…
Slide time: 1-3 mins.
Bottom to top:
Bottom left: solar DHW (vaccuum tube collectors)
Bottom right: typical PV (ROW Fleet Management Centre)
Top row: fancy hardware to help boost production
Top left: typical tracker on a farm
Top right: concentrator tracker (happens to also be a hybrid concept that produces PV & thermal): Power Spar, by Menova Energy Inc. (now bankrupt)
USEFUL ASIDES:
Q: We often get asked whether it’s better to use trackers/concentrators or to use more panels.
A: The answer depends on who you are. The payback for a system with trackers is almost the same as that for a system without, if you’re measuring % ROI or IRR. If you’re a company with permanent maintenance staff, then trackers may be better for you. If not, then just add more panels: same return, but with no maintenance.
Slide time: 1-3 mins.
Top: PV shingles of different types
Bottom left: solar wall
Bottom right: PV parking canopy
Others not shown:
PV art: flower shapes, shading structures for parkette sitting areas, signage (eg: PV cross on a church);
Thermal integration (tough to show without technical diagrams)
Slide time: 4-5 mins.
Recall our general rules:
Conservation is always cheapest and best!
Don’t size a generation system until you have conserved as much as possible first: then you can spend less to get a smaller generation system and it will serve you better (and stretch your money further)
Do a proper feasibility study first before you invest.
With that in mind, here’s a rough comparison of the major technologies you can use to generate your own energy:
SOLAR (which we just saw, so it’s shown faded in the background on this slide)
WIND (Small)
This is the noisy technology
Every motor is a generator, every generator is a motor: think of a lawnmower on a tower
WIND (Large)
Made with big industrial motors: typically quieter than the wind
HYDRO (water)
Aside: we are one of the only places in the world that people call electricity “hydro”
Q: Why?
A: because 100% of Canada’s electrical power once came from hydro (water)
We can be 100% powered by renewables again! Fossil fuels are the true “alternative energy”: we need renewables, not alternatives!
GEOTHERMAL
“Geo” means ground, “thermal” means heat
BIO-ENERGY (biomass and biogas, or even landfill gas)
Next slides have sample photos again…
Some reminders:
Best financial returns are on the commercial scale: if you’re looking to invest, put your money in a wind coop.
Biomass has some attractive opportunities, but …
CREW focuses on mature technology that’s ready for mass market
Debatable: Wind as only method of electricity generation that fully recovers embodied energy
Diversity in corporate revenue: eg John Deer
Other benefits:
-Land lease revenue for rural land owners (eg: wind)
Rural economic development (new jobs for design, construction, maintenance, …)
Slide time: 2-3 mins.
Bottom line:
There are some legitimate drawbacks to wind energy, but they’re extremely minor compared to the alternatives, or even compared to the risks we take when we get into the car and drive to work every morning.
Note: wind is not unreliable – it’s intermittent. Important difference. Turbines are the most reliable generators around – far more so than nuclear.
“unfounded and unprovable silliness”:
Ask for recent reports based on recent data – note that the industry has advanced significantly over the last few decades, and every year counts. All of reports against wind that actually have valid concerns are very obsolete.
20 yrs. of reports in Europe, Canada (yes local), and around the globe that deal with all the concerns raised thus far.
“There is nothing new under the sun”, especially with wind energy antagonists.
Bird kill stats from CanWEA (per 10,000 avian fatalities):
<1 from wind turbines
50 from communication towers
710 from pesticides
850 from vehicles
1060 from cats
1370 from high tension lines
5820 from collisions with buildings / windows
Slide time: 2-3 mins.
POOL eg: coastal farm community in Germany whose gross revenue increased >40x after turbines arrived. They call the off-shore turbines beautiful.
NIMBY eg: certain rural farmers in Ontario that got bad land deals from large out-of-province developers.
Grand River
Lower image from http://www.host.nl/en/biogas/farm-scale-biogas/
Slide time: ~1 mins.
Some reminders:
Conservation first!
Choose technology that suits your application.
Best financial returns are on the commercial scale: if you’re looking to invest, put your money in a wind coop.
Biomass is best, but only works in special circumstances
Slide time: ~1 mins.
Some reminders:
Renewables are steadily getting more cost effective, especially PV
Slide time: ~1 mins.
For interest’s sake:
Gas/Coal/Oil are no longer cheaper than renewables. Costs vary by jurisdiction, but here’s where they lie.
Gas @ ~$500 million for ~$500 MW => $1/W, not sure about paybacks but likely <10 yrs
Nuclear is >$7/W installed ($23 billion quote for ~3GW), and after 40 yrs, still hasn’t paid off (we still owe $15 billion!)
Slide time: 2-3 mins.
Transmission/Distribution Constraints
The grid was not designed for distributed generation, and is largely budgeted
Utilities adapting differently and with varying levels of supportiveness
Hydro One is terrible
Always need a CIA: Connection Impact Assessment
Sometimes can be “Capacity Allocation Exempt” (CAE), but still get varying support
OPA is “special”: highly political
75% rejection rate on FIT 2 (for “completeness” and “eligibility” errors)
Never does a word more or less than directed by politicians
Finances
The market has changed frequently and swiftly over the last year. Check early and often to ensure your finances are in order. We know of several projects that died or were sold because the owners’ financing changed or ran out.
Clear contract documents
Especially with a turn-key supplier. We know of a 250kW PV project where the owner pulled a significant portion of their retirement savings to fund the project. The contractor split up all the work and did a marvellous job of the installation, but nobody ever secured a contract with the utility to sell the electricity.
Make sure nothing falls through the cracks!
CSA equipment certifications
Don’t underestimate this! Check in advance. We’ve had to tear a project out because it claimed to have certifications that it did not have
ESA approval
ESA inspectors are a mixed breed: some excel, some lag. Talk to yours early to avoid surprises.
Social friction & misinformation
Even when you do everything right, sometimes you still get into trouble
BIG DEAL! Two more slides on this next…
Slide time: 2-3 mins.
Key points:
[Pretty much read this slide]
“Walk softly, and carry a big stick”
The “big stick” is the facts: know the law, and know the truth (FAQ)
Don’t back down on mistruths (eg: turbines do not make people sick), but don’t make a mission of bringing up all the myths that need correcting (ie: don’t look for trouble by bringing up things that people aren’t asking about)
Look for the hidden concern. Most people speak about things that are really only symptoms that cover their real concerns, which are typically things like wanting to be involved, or simply greed (want to make money, not listen to / look at others making money)
Slide time: 2-3 mins.
[read slide]
For NOPEs:
Q: do you have a microwave at home?
A: If yes, then there are volumes of reports about how harmful microwave radiation is to humans. You have it because you like the convenience it offers you. It is far more dangerous to you than a wind turbine. Context please…
Slide time: 1-2 mins.
Diversity in corporate revenue: eg John Deer
Other benefits:
-Land lease revenue for rural land owners (eg: wind)
-farmer claims: energy is most reliable crop (over any agricultural crop)
Rural economic development (new jobs for design, construction, maintenance, …)
Slide time: 2-3 mins.
Slide time: 2-3 mins.
Image from http://www.sunedisonitalia.it/info/stampa/sunedison-financing-bulgaria-2012.html
FIT price drops:
Rooftop PV: $0.713 drop to $0.329
Ground PV: $0.443 drop to $0.288
Wind: $0.13 drop to $0.115
Slide time: 2-3 mins.
This process is a royal pain! Get qualified help and check references. Experience is important.
Approvals to COD:
18 mo’s for rooftop PV
36 mo’s for ground/other
Slide time: 2-3 mins.
Boundaries, Scope limitation, & Public Engagement
Know what you’re actually asking vs. sharing
Know that ppl can tell if your asking is genuine vs. selling
Encourage skepticism, not cynicism
Slide time: <1 min.
Image from http://www.caribbeanelections.com/education/images/library_books_5516.jpg
If there’s any one closing thought I’d like to leave you with it’s this.
Renewable energy is not just about economics or doing good projects, although it is certainly about that. Renewables are a basic acceptance of the fact that we cannot continue burning fossil fuels the way we have been. Nature won’t tolerate it.
God bless the cockroach.
Slide time: >1 min.
It’s up to me.
It’s up to you.
It’s up to all of us.
Call us if you have any questions. We’d love to help.
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