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Lowering The Costs Of Green Energy

Technology always starts out priced high and eventually comes down to more affordable prices as more technology solves problems. What this translates to is that “technology solves technological problems” and lowers costs as a result of its adoption. This mantra can easily be seen in the green energy space, where the actual process and product is seen as revolutionary and positive, yet the costs of production still outweigh those of fossil fuels. This means that for many years, even though the technology is superior to burning fossil fuels to create electricity, the higher costs made it lack support from the public. Those interested in promoting wind and solar energy are generally doing so to reduce pollution and damaging greenhouse gas effects, because they cannot yet make the argument that it is less expensive to produce. This means they face the difficult task of convincing others that paying more is worth it, and the benefits to the environment are worth more than the extra money in your pocket. Should the costs of production become lower than fossil fuels, rest assured that the public would be calling for services to be expanded so as to be able to power more areas than ever before, as a cost saving measure. Nobody can argue with cheaper and cleaner, but right now we are only cleaner.

Technologically the advancements that can be seen to drive the costs down are through the manufacture of less expensive parts that are used in the power production process, and the extension of the life span of those parts. The costs of green energy are not in the fuel source, but instead in the repair and replacement of the parts used in the process itself. The exposed solar panels and wind turbine blades get damaged as a result of weather including lightning strikes and need to be replaced. The power surges that follow a lightning strike damage equipment that is connected to the strike point will create the necessity for repair or replacement in order to restore service. This can come at any time, and when it comes while free fuel sources like wind and sun are being wasted while the systems are not functioning. Through technological advancements we are finding that companies are discovering cheaper methods of manufacturing solar panels and the composite wind turbine blades. We are also finding that better surge protection devices are enabling these systems to sustain less damage because of the inevitable lighting strikes. Preventative maintenance like surge protective devices enable systems to be restored to functionality faster with lower amounts of damage. This produces more electricity from the available sun and wind, as well as reduces the overall costs that are found to produce a single unit of electricity. This means that over time, technology will allow us to reduce the costs of the production of electricity using green production methods to below that of burning fossil fuels, thus improving the world by reducing greenhouse gasses and at the same time making power less expensive for all people.

Solar Power Surge Protection Devices

Solar power has come a long way in the last decade. This is due to new developments in the solar industry, with more efficient sunlight receptors and an ability to capture more energy while taking up less space. The reason for the progress is found in two essential developments, the transition of a generation’s ideals and the advancement of technology. Through an intersection of these two, we are seeing the progress that may finally push solar and wind power into the forefront of energy production, no longer taking a backseat to fossil fuels. Further advancement will be based on what a majority of people want and the influence that those people collectively have. For decades past, even though we knew that solar power production was feasible and could provide electricity using the free fuel source of sunlight, the technology did not develop quickly because people believed that it was not viable on a large scale. If they did believe that it could potentially make a dent in the fossil fuel market, then a large percentage of that group believed it would cost too much and was unwilling to pay extra for a cleaner method of energy production. As a result, an entire generation that had solar power as a possible alternative squandered it to save a few pennies, at the expense of the environment we live in. The generation that is replacing them is more concerned with their world because it is being inherited as opposed to simply degrading for the future. The next generation sees the issue of pollution as immediate, and they are using their voices to create the change that is necessary in the immediate future. Climate change is no longer a theory, it is here now as a result of choices that were made in the past, and the future generation has decided to do something about it. This collective sense of urgency has shifted the decisions being made on a governmental level towards renewable energy production and electric vehicles, as a way of taking back the planet they are inheriting. They are also using the weapon of technology to their advantage in order to hasten the process.

An example of a motivated generation using technology to make change is that of preventative measures, such as surge protection, being used in solar power systems to drive down production costs. Once a method of production is viewed as less expensive, it is very difficult to justify paying more for something that is equal or inferior. The new generation knows that one of the hurdles to widespread adoption of solar and wind technology is the greater cost over fossil fuel production. Simply driving down the cost of production beyond fossil fuels will push wider adoption rates due to saving money, so the new generation of thinkers is factoring surge protection and other preventative technologies into use in solar power systems. Through advanced components aiding the avoidance of damage as a result of power surges, the costs of production drop significantly. The result is cheaper and cleaner power, even if older people didn’t support it.

Surge Protection In The Green Energy Industry

Wind and solar power are viable energy production methods that can be used to provide enough electricity for major metropolitan areas. There have been several instances over the course of the previous few years where 100% of the energy necessary to power all of the homes in a major metropolitan area has been provided using sustainable methods. These methods are primarily wind and solar power and these days they are being used more and more to generate enough power for an area. This has not always been the case as far as ongoing use goes, where during times of extreme need or use there can be a significant taxing of the resources available. Now it is possible to see solar and wind as viable alternatives although perhaps not yet as completely reliable as the single and only source of electricity. What this translates into is that we are proving that through ongoing technological innovation the amounts of energy that are produced can be increased, and in a way that is cost effective. Even though we are not at that point yet, by proving that it is possible the public interest in these methods will increasingly progress. Only through the public pushing for these types of methods to be used more and more are can we transition effectively away from fossil fuel production, and the powerful lobbying that keeps it as the primary method. Burning fossil fuels to manufacture electricity is not clean or sustainable, but it is more cost effective at the current state. This means that it is difficult to get people to want to spend more for the same product, unless they can witness first-hand the damage that is being caused. Since atmospheric damage is hard to see and experience on a day-to-day basis, the fossil fuel industry keeps the public interest away from developing the technologies that will push sustainable prices lower, ultimately creating a method of power generation that is both cleaner and cheaper. Naturally, the fossil fuel industry is against this process if it will eventually put them out of business.

The reason that sustainable methods are more expensive and less reliable currently is due to the equipment used in the process. Components are continually being damaged or destroyed in the field, pushing costs up and production levels down, and energy storage solutions have not yet risen to the level to be able to harness the energy created. Because keeping the systems online while the free fuel sources are available is paramount to increasing the production levels, any type of damage that takes systems offline must be minimized. This is where preventative measures such as surge protection devices come into play as important innovations in the industry. Through the integration of effective surge protection devices, the damage that is produced after lightning strikes to an exposed component can be avoided. If more damage in the field can be avoided, ultimately the capacities will be improved and operational costs driven lower. Cleaner and cheaper is on the horizon, and technology will bring it to fruition.

The Aspects Of Surge Protection For Wind Turbines

Green energy technology relies upon free and sustainable energy sources to create energy, ultimately producing electricity that can be harnessed and then delivered to customers via the energy grid in their area. This is accomplished using different methods to move the turbines within the system, ultimately mimicking the older forms of energy production by using different means. In the past, fossil fuels like wood, coal and oil were burned, creating heat and gas that ultimately pushed the turbines to a spinning motion, ultimately producing electricity that is then distributed. Green energy technology works much the same way, only using the motion of wind or the heat of the sun to cause the turbines to turn in the same way. Because nothing is being burned or destroyed, not only is the process cleaner and less damaging to the atmosphere, but also cheaper as there is no cost to extract the fuel. At least that is the plan for the future.

The costs of production of anything are based on the total amounts of money that must be spent to produce the product. This will include both the prices paid to extract the fuel sources and also the costs of production outside of those fuel purchases. Even though with solar and wind the fuel itself has no cost, there are far higher prices that are paid within the other aspects of production of green energy. The main costs in the process involve the need for repair and replacement of the components because they are continually at risk of being destroyed or damaged. Wind towers are continually being struck by lightning simply because they are the tallest structure within remote areas. They must be the tallest structure and also positioned in these regions so as to allow for unobstructed wind flow. Solar panels also must be unobstructed in order to harness as much sunlight as possible while the sun is shining. Because of this exposure, these installations attract lightning strikes which damage the exposed components, ultimately requiring repair or replacement in order to keep the systems functioning. The lightning strike also causes a power surge which damages circuitry within the control systems, also needing repair and replacement as a result. These deficiencies are being addressed as cheaper components are developed for replacement, but also through prevention techniques. A very effective preventative is the integration of surge protection devices through out the systems, stopping the excess power from surging to the components that are connected directly to those exposed pieces of equipment. These surge protection devices are extending the life spans of the control equipment even in situations where the strike itself does catastrophic damage. This avoidance of extended levels of damage are driving down total production costs, making green energy a viable production method to power entire cities more effectively every day. Once the costs drop below that of fossil fuels, we will enter a new age of cheap and clean power for all people.

The Generation Gap And Green Energy

If there is one thing that is assured, it is that different generations will not agree on many things. One of the primary catalysts for change is the discrepancy between the way older and younger people feel about the issues that impact them. This feeling gets intensified when the younger generation feels that the choices that the older generation made were poor, and ultimately had a negative impact on the future that is being inherited by that younger generation. A perfect example of this is the current situation regarding methods that energy is created and delivered. The younger generation is embracing and promoting green energy technology even though it was hardly embraced by the previous one. As a matter of fact, the new generation probably believes that the previous one purposely embraced methods of power production that they knew would harm future generations, in order to save a few dollars. The new generation is collectively angry about climate change and is doing something about it. By using the greatest weapon in their possession, the new generation is embracing the advantages that technology and activism can bring.

Past generations viewed solar power as a curiosity, but one that did not warrant much research and advancement since new technological breakthroughs can be expensive. As a result, solar power production methods became somewhat stagnant, essentially making use of the same technology for decades to create power, or making incremental advancements, but never viewed as a legitimate resource that could be used in place of fossil fuels. The lack of widespread interest probably stopped the innovation that could have advanced the industry further, and the result is that climate change is impacting all future generations of life on Earth. The next generation is looking at the issues that stopped the progress and addressing them technologically in order to make the advance they wanted to see happen. A perfect example of this is that the cost of production using solar power systems is now being driven down through more effective solar systems and the integration of preventative measures, such as surge protection devices. One of the identifiable issues with solar production has been the costly repair and replacement of equipment in the field, damaged by lightning strikes and resultant power surges. Through the development of more effective and less expensive solar panels to replace those that are inevitably damaged, as well as through very effective surge protection solutions that hinder the damage that comes from the surge that follows a lightning strike, the technology is driving down the costs associated with solar power generation. Once costs are driven below that of fossil fuels, a cheaper source of power will be available for the masses. Capacities are also increasingly using these same technological innovations, potentially making solar a viable method of powering an entire metropolitan area. The next generation is applying ingenuity to solve the issues that the past generation largely ignored, and the result will be the potential saving of the climate from global warming. Generational disagreements lead to difficulties during times of transition, but ultimately it is the way that progress is made. Embrace the future of solar power.

The New Generation And Solar Power

There are always divides between generations in terms of their ideals and how they believe the world should be governed. Each transition of power between older and younger people has been met with push back from the generation in power as they see the choices they believed as correct rejected and replaced with ideas that are sometimes completely opposite. If progress was made in a straight line, with the ideals of the previous generation being embellished and embraced by the next, then there would not be generational gaps that cause discord. Unfortunately, the generation that replaces the past generation rarely agrees with the choices that were made, especially if those choices seemed to benefit the past at the expense of the future. This is the way that the new generation that is coming into power sees the previous one, especially in regard to the choices that were made that impact the planet. The next generation sees the previous one as embracing fossil fuel energy production simply to save themselves money, knowing full well that it was destroying the planet for the next generation. As the previous generation loses power, we are seeing a large-scale shift in the perception of green energy production as not only viable, but completely necessary. The new generation believes that our selfish choices have created climate change, and they inherited it because we chose to not do anything to change things. We made the choice of production methods that would harm the atmosphere instead of investing into renewable methods, and they are paying the price.

The new generation knows that technology can change things quickly. As a result of this understanding, they have almost completely eliminated one of the primary arguments against solar power: that it is too expensive to produce. By identifying the issue that was hindering adoption, they realized that by driving down costs through innovation and continuous improvement of systems they could remove the cost argument that was ultimately creating climate change. They pushed for the integration of preventative measures in these power systems, such as the introduction of very reliable surge protection systems, in order to protect components from power surges after lightning strikes. This one small thing drives costs down by extending the expected life span of the system’s components. They pushed for less expensive, higher energy creating capacity solar panels that could be effectively replaced quickly and easily after the unavoidable lightning strikes that damage them in the field. This ensures systems can be restored to functionality quicker after damage occurs, putting systems back online faster and therefor producing more electricity during peak production while the sun is shining. Through innovative ideas like these, the next generation is ushering in more effective and less destructive power generation systems that will replace the ones that were embraced by the past generation. As a result, people will have power for their homes at lower prices and with less damage to the planet as a result. The generation gap in thinking may create strife at the time it is transitioning, but the outcome is nearly always positive.

Telecommunications surge protection

The telecommunications industry is relied upon by millions of customers each day to provide them with the ability to make phone calls, connect to the internet, stream data and gain access to emergency services. The cell phone has become much more than a mobile telephone over the course of the last ten years. It is now the main connection device that many consumers have to nearly everything that is outside of their general location. As the demands of consumers to use their cell phones for more and more connection activities has grown, so too has the need for larger and faster data networks. Along with the demand the costs that are associated with operation and maintenance of the wireless networks themselves have grown. More capacity means more operating costs, and while the increased demand should technically be associated with higher monthly bills, the competitiveness of the industry serves to keep consumer charges down or from growing too fast. As operating margins tighten though, increased priority has to be put on the protection and hardening of the existing network equipment and the extension of component life spans. The most effective way to keep costs as low as possible is to prevent damage. (more…)

Cellular Lightning Protectors Save Equipment And Customers

The need to decrease expenditures and streamline operations within competitive industries is one of the primary goals and keys to success. As an example, the cellular industry faces significant issues with regards to equipment damage during the normal course of operations that the business calls for, with that equipment damage also potentially resulting in lost customers. Equipment damage itself is not the only potential loss in these situations, because the lost revenues from customers becoming frustrated by a lack of ability to connect around their homes and businesses can lead to them switching companies, resulting in revenue losses as well. This situation is very difficult to manage through the technology that exists today, simply because the cellular towers which carry the infrastructure equipment are completely exposed and vulnerable to weather events, and in particular to lightning strikes, by their physical makeup. They are generally the tallest structure in an area and are not shielded or obstructed in any way so they provide a clear path for signal transmission and receipt. The towers are constructed from materials that must be able to withstand wind and rain in inclement weather, ultimately meaning that they are constructed of materials that can conduct electricity. This simple physical makeup makes them a prime target for lightning strikes or on or near the site, ultimately putting the equipment on and inside that tower at a significant risk.

On the cell tower there are two distinct equipment groups in a distributed base station architecture. These groups are the “remote radio heads” and the “base band units” and are positioned near the top and bottom of the tower respectively. The equipment near the top is responsible for receiving and transmitting signals to user devices, and the equipment near the bottom is responsible for processing that signal and transmitting it to the network (the backhaul) to which the tower is connected. Lightning strikes to the top of the towers are a concern, ultimately producing a significant amount of physical damage at the strike point in the form of explosions and fires. While this is a serious problem for revenues, an even bigger issue is all the equipment on the tower site is directly connected to other equipment in the group, running the length of the tower from top to the bottom. Ancillary damage is produced when the electrical surge that is produced as a result of a lightning strike makes its way along connectivity routes from the top to the bottom, destroying equipment far away from the strike point as well. Through this process, damage costs are easily doubled as a result of a single strike. A prevention method is the only effective method of salvaging equipment and making the return to functionality as quick as possible. Through the installation of mechanisms called “lightning protectors” the equipment downstream from the strike point can be salvaged on a regular basis. The lightning strike happens and the current flows along the cables and wires connecting equipment. The surge protection devices then arrest the flow and send it to ground, preventing it from moving forward, ultimately saving downstream equipment and revenue.

Green Energy Photovoltaic Systems And Surge Protection

Innovation comes in many different forms, and while the obvious improvements to a system may be the most dramatic, sometimes the smaller innovations are the ones that make the biggest impact over time. A perfect example of this is the integration of surge protection devices into photovoltaic systems used for green energy production. While the main focus on innovation within the industry is going to obviously be improved solar panel technology, better energy processing or storage, or more powerful computer systems, the general makeup of the system has many areas for incremental improvement. All green energy production methods use an “end unit” of some sort. This means that there must be some device that is isolated and exposed to the elements in order to create the “fuel” for the system. In the case of solar energy production, that “end unit” is the solar panel which is positioned in a way that it will not be obstructed or shadowed by any other structures. This is necessary in order for the system to harness the most sunlight and perform at peak efficiency. It also makes the panels themselves prone to harm by inclement weather, including getting struck by lightning. Although measures can be put in place to divert lightning strikes to other areas, the fact of the matter remains that solar panels, or areas near them, can get struck by lightning. The typical person would believe that the greatest innovations for this problem would be to create cheaper solar panels to replace those damaged by the strike, this would be based on a lack of understanding of the typical damage that occurs. After the strike, a power surge moves through the ground and along the lines and cables that connect those panels to the rest of the equipment used in the process. This power surge damages this equipment at the circuit level, ultimately creating far more cost from a single strike. The greatest innovations within the damage prevention systems is not the replacement of equipment, but the avoidance of the damage all together. It has been found that through the integration of surge protection devices throughout the photovoltaic systems, the downstream equipment can be less damaged as a result of that inevitable strike. Over time, this results in lower maintenance costs for operation of the solar system, and easier restoration to functionality once a system is compromised by a lightning strike. These devices which are installed along the pathways that electricity can travel upon, prevent the surge from moving past themselves. They stop the surge before it can move further through the system, and offers the electricity a path to ground. This integration drives down the ongoing costs to produce electricity via solar energy, resulting in both cleaner and cheaper power for the masses. As innovations of this type progress, we will eventually see wind and solar becoming not only more viable as primary sources of production for major metro areas, but becoming the preferred source. When consumers can have the energy they need at the least cost to the environment, who wouldn’t choose to go the clean energy route?

Facts About Lightning Damage To Wind Towers

Most people do not fully understand the challenges regarding the production of power using wind turbines and wind towers. For most people, they believe that the wind turning the blades produces power that is transferred to the power company for sale to customers, but few understand why green energy production methods in general have not been able to overtake fossil fuel production as of this point. When a production method uses a free fuel source, it should be cheaper to produce, but a lack of understanding of the issues is why this is misunderstood. In reality, the physical structure of the wind towers themselves are very costly to build and transport, as well as making them targets for weather including lightning strikes. This means that there is a significant amount of damage that can occur as a result of natural weather events, both creating repair costs as well as downtime. When the wind is around, downtime for a wind tower costs the company that owns it because no power is being produced until it is repaired. Lightning typically strikes the tower top or blades as these structures are generally the tallest in a region, as well as in isolated areas so as not to obstruct the wind flow. The lightning strike produces significant damage to the blades if that is the point of the strike, generally causing the need for expensive replacement. These are not the only costs associated with a lightning strike, however. Those costs are also found in damages to the control systems and electronics. These systems are easily damaged by the power surge that follows the strike, as computerized equipment necessary to the process that cannot withstand this level of surge can also be affected and require replacement. This equipment is densely packed into the small spaces inside the turbine tower and is connected through control wires and copper power lines. When a lightning strike to the body of the tower or blades happens, a massive power surge moves through all connected equipment if it is not protected. Insurance companies estimate that more than 85% of downtime in the first year of a wind tower’s life is a result of lightning strike damage, and the costs associated with those strikes are seen in the range of more than $250,000 on average. For these reasons, insurance companies have hesitated in providing coverage for natural events like lightning strikes to wind farm operators, creating operational challenges for the companies that own them. The only methods of maintaining productivity as well as profitability is through the integration of surge protection devices throughout the structure, essentially protecting every cable that passes through junction boxes and electrical panels. Any pathway that can conduct electricity from component to component must be protected by lighting surge devices, cutting off the route that the lightning is trying to follow and divert it in another path to earth. Only by using these methods can the equipment inside the towers be salvaged on a regular basis, thus allowing the wind power generation method to become more stable and reliable as a legitimate source for power to the masses.

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