ARS: Blending Wind and Solar Meets Peak Energy Demands
Aug 12, 2010 -- M2 PRESSWIRE
In parts of Texas and California, a good match between renewable energy
production and peak energy demands could be obtained by combining wind
power with solar power, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) scientist.
A better blending of solar and wind power, combined with a way to store
excess energy, should increase the use of renewable energy for
California, Texas and the rest of the nation, according to a study by
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) agricultural engineer Brian Vick at
the agency's Renewable Energy and Manure Management Research Unit in
Bushland, Texas. ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research
agency.
Vick discovered that in the Texas Panhandle and West Texas, as well as
in northern and southern California, there is almost an exact mismatch
between wind power production and peak energy demands over a 24-hour
period. In these locations, at the heights of modern wind turbines,
winds are lowest at mid-day, when power demands are greatest. In Texas,
there is also a seasonal mismatch: The winds are weakest in the summer,
when power demands are highest.
But the sun's rays are most intense at mid-day and in summer months.
Texas is the top state for wind-generated electricity production, with
Iowa ranking second and California third. California is the leader in
solar-generated electricity production.
The most efficient storage system is one being used in solar thermal
power plants, where the sun's heat is used to heat water or other
fluids. The fluids are kept hot long after the sun goes down, ready to
be used later to produce steam to generate electricity.
The excess electricity generated by wind in the late night and early
morning hours could be pumped into the grid and removed by storage
facilities (like pumped-storage hydroelectricity or compressed-air
energy storage facilities) to match the utility loading in the daytime.
Vick and colleagues at Bushland have tested and helped on the design of
wind turbines and hybrid wind/solar systems for off-grid rural
applications, residential grid systems and wind farms for the U.S.
Department of Energy. They also have designed and tested wind/biodiesel
hybrid systems that powered simulated electrical grids of remote
locations like Alaskan fishing villages.
At this year's American Wind Energy Association conference in Dallas,
Texas, Vick presented results on combining wind farms with solar thermal
power plants, including storage for the additional states of Arizona,
Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah.
This research supports the USDA priority of developing new sources of
alternative energy.
CONTACT: Don Comis, Agricultural Research Service, USDA Tel: +1 301 504
1625 e-mail: donald.comis@ars.usda.gov
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