Solar powers

A leading provider of customised home heating, cooling and indoor air-quality products, Lennox Industries has introduced its patent-pending SunSource Home Energy System, a new solar-powered central heating and cooling system that reduces overall household electricity consumption without the costs associated with traditional solar installations.

The new SunSource Home Energy System not only harnesses solar energy from the sun to reduce the electricity consumed by a residential heat pump or air-conditioner, but is also able to use that solar power to operate other devices in the home that consume electricity, such as lighting and appliances, when the heating and cooling system is not running. In addition, if the SunSource system generates more power than is used by the home, that power will be sent back to the utility company, for example, which may entitle the homeowner to a credit on their utility bills in the US.

According to the US Department of Energy, the typical US household pays US$2 200 a year on utility bills, and the bulk of those energy costs – between 50% and 60% – comes from heating and cooling the home. “With SunSource, homeowners can reduce the energy consumption associated with heating and air-conditioning, while also significantly cutting their overall utility bills,” said Lennox VP: product management John Hurst.

“Lennox is the first heating and air-conditioning manufacturer to harness solar energy for central heating and cooling and beyond, and the new SunSource system is really a gateway to the future of innovation in the HVAC industry.” The SunSource Home Energy System comprises:
• A solar-ready, high-efficiency Lennox air-conditioner or heat pump that has been specially enhanced to serve as the platform for this new home energy system;
• A Lennox solar subpanel that provides the connection between utility-interactive solar power system and the HVAC unit;
• One to 15 roof-mounted solar modules that harness clean, sustainable energy from the sun and use it to run the home’s central heating and cooling system as well as other appliances – the more modules, the more homeowners can reduce their utility costs; and
• A communications system that allows homeowners to monitor each solar module’s operation and energy production online, as well as other environmental benefits such as the amount of carbon offset.

“The most efficient air-conditioners and heat pumps manufactured by Lennox will automatically come ‘solar ready’, just like many of today’s television sets are automatically sold as ‘HD ready’,” commented Hurst. “Consumers who purchase these systems will have the option to integrate a solar package at installation or at a later date.

And because the system is expandable, homeowners can start small with a couple of solar modules and add more in the future, for a total of up to 15 solar modules per outdoor unit and added energy savings.”

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Global management consulting firm AT Kearney expects that solar power will become cost-competitive in the near future as rising costs for oil and gas make renewable energy sources increasingly attractive. AT Kearney believes that, when looking at energy generation cost and job creation opportunities, MENA countries should invest in solar power energy.

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) will likely become cost-competitive in the next 12 months, as oil and gas prices are increasing, to oil expected to selling at above US$100 and the costs for CSP technology sinking due to productivity improvements.

“The cost-competitiveness of solar energy will lead to a global boom, and represents a unique opportunity for the Middle East,” said AT Kearney Middle East MD Dr Dirk Buchta. In the past, European and US suppliers in particular have dominated the solar market. This is currently about to change as cheap Chinese suppliers are entering the market, but with low-quality products.

This may be the chance for the Middle East, which is geographically well-positioned to become a future major player. With an average of 310 sunny days a year, and a high annual solar irradiance of over 2 500 kWh/m²/y, the Middle East has more than double the amount of solar energy potential than anywhere in Central Europe.

“The Middle East may benefit from the expected global boom in solar energy through developing its own solar power energy industry, supplying its own demand and parts of the growing global demand for renewable energy,” said AT Kearney Middle East principal Christian von Tschirschky.

“There is an increasing demand for solar technology on a global basis, which may be covered partially by technology and production sites in MENA – why leave it to the Chinese?” he questioned. According to AT Kearney, the Middle East therefore has the opportunity to become a boom centre for solar energy in the next ten years, with an additional 9 000 MW of concentrated solar power capacities until 2020, and more than 40 000 MW until 2030.

This solar generated power will give the Middle East the option to sell its gas and oil at increasing prices to the world market instead of burning it to generate electricity, and also create huge employment opportunities.

‘Beam down’ technology

Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s multifaceted renewable energy initiative, the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Japan’s Cosmo Oil Company and the Tokyo Institute of Technology have launched an advanced concentrated solar power (CSP) central tower research and development project at Masdar City.

The state-of-the-art, collaborative research project will test an innovative ‘beam down’ technology, which has the potential to convert solar irradiation into electricity in a more efficient way than other technologies – producing a commercially-viable ‘beam down’ process would represent a significant breakthrough in (CSP) technology.

The ‘beam down’ process inverts conventional tower solar tower technologies, which uses mirrors (heliostats) to direct the sun’s rays onto a receiver at the top of a central tower to heat a heat transfer fluid (molten salt, oil, or water) in order to generate steam, which is then used to drive a steam turbine. By placing the receiver at the base of the tower (ground level), the research team believes it can reduce energy losses resulting from pumping the fluid to an elevated receiver, raising operational efficiency and lowering electricity costs.

Talking on the importance of the project and the development of solar power technologies, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, chief executive of Masdar said: “Solar thermal technology is a key research area for Masdar. The initial project findings have been very positive and, if the results continue to be successful, ‘beam down’ technology has the potential to revolutionise the way in which all solar towers are built in the future.

“Masdar has once again shown its commitment to establishing Abu Dhabi as a global renewable energy hub, consistently raising the bar in terms of our investment in new technologies that serve to create a better tomorrow for us all,” he concluded.