How Far Along are We Towards Maximizing Energy Efficiency?

In spite of living in the true age of revolutionary technology, there’s also a darker side to most of the developments that we celebrate today. The planet has limited resources, and the ever-expanding need for power is making us run through those limited resources much faster than anticipated. There would be no modern tech without electricity, which would also be the point where civilization as we know it would have to break down.

In realization of this fact, world governments, multinational conglomerates and the greatest scientific minds of our time have been hard at work, trying to figure out a solution to the impending energy crisis. Progress has been made as a result of that effort, but more time is required.

Energy Efficiency: The Only Hope for Buying Time that the World Desperately Needs

Until the day we reach a time where complete reliance on solar energy, hydro energy or maybe even completely new sources of power generation becomes a viable option, our best hope is in improving energy efficiency everywhere possible and finding ways to do so where it isn’t possible right now. The primary idea is to lengthen the expected life of our limited resources, so that we can have the time that is necessary to refine and reinvent renewable sources of energy to its full potency.

Storage of Solar Energy: Affordability and Practicality on a Residential Level

While solar batteries have been in existence for a long time, there were two primary problems with them. First and foremost, they were not made or meant for use at a residential level, which meant that only the power companies had access to storable solar power for decades.

Secondly, even the ones that were available were not very efficient or reliable to begin with. It wasn’t until May 2015 that things took a dramatic turn, when the Tesla Powerwall and Powerpack were announced for the residential solar systems. One can almost say that Tesla doesn’t get enough credit for what they did with the two rechargeable solar batteries, as it finally enabled even homes to store their solar energy for use after sundown, or maybe even for colder, darker days of the year. Perhaps most importantly, these batteries were being sold at an affordable price, something that wasn’t thought of as possible previously.

As of now, storing solar power from residential photovoltaic systems is possible, thanks to that innovation. In fact, storage options are even more widely available in 2019, given that the likes of LG, Sunverge, Orison, Sonnen, Mercedes-Benz and a bunch of other major companies have also jumped in since to produce similar, affordable solar batteries, improving on the original design.

As more and more homes around the globe begin to rely more on solar energy, it will play a huge role towards reducing the strain from earth’s finite resources, which in turn, may give us the time to perhaps even make a complete shift to renewable sources of energy.

Usage of Machine Learning in Grids and Microgrids

Power grids are what supplies energy to all our homes, and microgrids are just the smaller versions of the same. What defines a microgrid is its ability to function independently, even when separated from the primary power grids during an emergency.

Whether it’s a community microgrid or one of the state’s larger power grids, machine learning technology can make them up to 90% more efficient than they are now. Xendee and the WorleyParsons Group are now trying to implement their AI systems onto microgrids primarily, as they are much easier to manage. The programs are designed specifically to save time, money and energy spent in grid operations, but more imperative is the fact that they will further improve and adapt to the conditions of each grid, due to their constant learning capabilities. A few more years down the line, the results these systems might produce could turn out to be truly astounding.

Massive Improvements in Window Insulation Technology

There was a time when the onlypossible way to insulate a home was considered to be the act of sealing all gaps as best as possible. In many ways, that’s still true, and the basic requirement of insulating any and all rooms and buildings in general. However, technology has solved one of the most prolific problems of having windows; the weather inside could not be sustained with sufficient efficiency as long as there was glass.

Today, any home in the US can opt for an easy house window replacement project and instantly start saving energy and money by reducing the use of HVAC systems, without having to sacrifice on comfort.

Originally, the problem was related to how the basic laws of thermodynamics work. Heat can transfer onto glass via conduction, pass through glass, and reach the opposite side of the window via convection and then be lost or gained (depending on which side of the window we are talking about) again to the air on that side, via conduction.

Tinted glass, reflective film and low-emittance coating were slowly introduced one after the other, and they did work, but there was certainly still room for improvement. The final and the most complete solution came with the introduction of double-glazed windows, also known as double pane windows.

These are constructed by putting two panes of window glass together with either a gap of complete vacuum, or an airtight space of inert gas in between them. This disrupts the thermodynamics explained above and completely solves the issue of unwanted heat exchange altogether. Since the vacuum or the inert gas prevents convection from affecting the temperature on either side of the window, the outside temperature has no way of affecting the inside temperature via the window.

Window replacement company American Vision Windows has been part of nearly a million house window replacement jobs,with roughly 90,000 homes in San Diego, Arizona, San Jose, Los Angeles, Orange County and Ventura County, all of which have led to lowered heating and cooling expenses. They generally use the kind of insulation which best fits the budget and the requirements of the particular client, but as far as house window replacement for ensuring maximum insulation and energy savings is concerned, they will suggest double pane windows for that as well.

Even if someone decides not to get double glazed windows, but instead chooses to stick with UV-films or heat-reflective coloring, it’s still better than not having modern, insulated windows at all, both for personal finances and for the environment.

If the US could clamp down on its heating and cooling needs by opting for energy-friendly house window replacement options, it would be possible to reduce residential power consumption as a whole to a tremendous degree every year.

Na-TECC: A Huge Boost in Energy Generation Efficiency

Now that some of the most prominent improvements made in the department of energy efficiency which are already being used and improved upon has been discussed, let’s now focus ona piece of technology that could make the process of converting heat into electricity itself significantly more efficient than the most power-efficient gridin the world.

Na-TECC is thepet name for a process which involves generating electricity from sodium expansion via solar heat. In development at the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering (Georgia Tech), Shannon Yee is the inventor to be credited here.

If the research pans out, and Yee’s team is able to iron out the kinks, the Na-TECC process could increase heat - electricity conversion efficiency to 45%. To put that number into perspective, consider the fact that the average car engine can do the same at 20% efficiency, while the most power-efficient grid in the world can account for only an unstable 30% efficiency in their heat – electricity conversion rates. A Na-TECC solar battery could power cars, houses and even be used for industrial applications in the long run, because it aims to improve one of the biggest cons of solar energy adoption, which is of course, low efficiency. In fact, it will be more capable in its energy generation than the most capable traditional methods of electricityproduction as well, but without using any of the limited sources of energy.

Triboelectricity + Static Electricity = TENG

It’s not exactly a new discovery that rubbing two different objects can create small bursts of electrical charges, but the recent research and advancements made by Zhong Lin Wang and his group of researchers in the School of Materials Science and Engineering (Georgia Tech) shows promise.

The triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) created by the team have solved the primary issue of triboelectricity’s unpredictability with their modified design. A smaller capacitor is charged, which delivers the charge to a bigger capacitor, but both capacitors match each other in impedance, voltage and output, which cuts out instability from the equation.

From biomechanical movements and the rotation of car tires, to the ambient energy from waves in the ocean, they are all considered as potential sources for TENGs by Wang, which is quite astounding. The only problem is that, right now, the possible use of the TENGs are limited to only small devices such as watches, calculators, heart rate monitors, wireless transmitters and the like.

As should be evident by now, there are a lot of possibilities for building a future with renewable and clean energy alone, and it isn’t as impossible as it may seem at the moment.Widespread adoption is the main problem here though, because in spite of energy-efficient practices being necessary for more reasons than one, most people in the world do not realize that fact with the gravity required. Change always takes time, so that is not surprising, but the real question is, how much time do we have before the dreaded effects of the impending oil-deficit begin to make themselves evident?