The Solar Energy Water Environment Nexus in Nevada Tau Beta Pi - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Solar Energy ‐ Water ‐ Environment Nexus in Nevada Tau Beta Pi Annual Banquet UNLV Chapter May 2, 2015

US Energy consumption will continue to rise

Clean Energy: A National Priority

2014 Presidential commitment to advance solar Energy May 9, 2014: President Announced Commitments and Executive Actions to Advance Solar Deployment and Energy Efficiency

Wha t is Ne xus ? inka g e s − a mong sola r powe r, L wa te r, a nd the e nvironme nt.  In Ne va da , sola r flux is a bunda nt a nd e xplora tion of this e ne rg y sourc e ha s the pote ntia l to sig nific a ntly dive rsify the e c onomy of the sta te .  Ne va da lie s within the Gre a t Ba sin a nd Moja ve De se rt, both a re fra g ile e c osyste ms e a sily a lte re d by a nthropog e nic a c tivitie s.  T he g e ne ra tion of a ll forms of e ne rg y, e xc e pt wind, re quire s wa te r. Ye t, Ne va da is a n a rid re g ion with limite d wa te r re sourc e s. E nvironme nt Wa te r Sola r E ne rg y

Nevada can help meet the nation’s energy needs Abundant:  Sunlight  Cloud ‐ free days  Undeveloped Land Sempra Copper Mountain Solar 1 Plant near Boulder City, NV

GL OBAL SOL AR E NE RGY POT E NT IAL IS L ARGE AND SUST AINABL E Ne va da is in a unique position - he re the sola r flux is a bunda nt a nd utilizing this e ne rg y sourc e ha s the pote ntia l to sig nific a ntly dive rsify the e c onomy of the sta te . So urc e : Pe re z e t al., 2009, "A F undame ntal L o o k At E ne rg y Re se rve s F o r T he Plane t", p.3, PDF (arc hive d). L ic e nse d unde r Pub lic Do main via Wikime dia Co mmo ns

Who a re the PI a nd Co- PIs? Dr. Ga yle Da na Dr. Ja c i Ba tista Pr inc ipa l Inve stig a tor , Pr oje c t Dir e c tor De se r t Re se ar c h Institute Co- Princ ipa l Inve stig a tor Unive r sity of Ne va da , L a s Ve g a s Dr. Ma rkus Be rli Dr. Robe rt Boe hm Co- Princ ipa l Inve stig a tor Co- Princ ipa l Inve stig a tor De se r t Re se ar c h Institute Unive r sity of Ne va da , L a s Ve g a s Dr. Se rg iu Da sc a lu Co- Princ ipa l Inve stig a tor Unive rsity of Ne va da , Re no

The Solar Energy-W ater- Environm ent Nexus in Nevada Research and Infrastructure Building Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded to Nevada System of Higher Education Duration : 5 years (2013-2018) Am ount: $20M from National Science Foundation (NSF) plus $4M cost share from the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number IIA‐1301726

Who a re the othe r pe ople involve d?  37 Ne xus re se a rc h fa c ulty  5 E duc a tion fa c ulty  1 Post- doc  21 T e c hnic ia ns a nd re se a rc h a ssoc ia te s  29 Gra dua te stude nts  28 Unde rg ra dua te stude nts  5 Ne w fa c ulty me mbe rs  Hig h te mpe ra ture ma te ria ls (UNL V)  Re stora tion e c olog y (UNL V)  Re ne wa ble e ne rg y e c onomic s (UNR)  Adva nc e d wa te r te c hnolog y (DRI)  Inte llig e nt da ta mining (UNR)

New UNLV Women Faculty Hired Dr. Moon Dr. Bansal

Why is this re se a rc h ne e de d?  T o promote e c onomic dive rsific a tion in Ne va da by supporting sola r e ne rg y de ve lopme nt.  It is c ritic a l to unde rsta nd a nd minimize the impa c ts of sola r e ne rg y de ve lopme nt on Ne va da ’s limite d wa te r re sourc e s a nd the e nvironme nt while a c hie ving e nvironme nta l be ne fits from re ne wa ble e ne rg y.  Ne va da ne e ds c ybe rinfra struc ture a nd a n e duc a te d a nd dive rse workforc e to susta in the re ne wa ble e ne rg y industry.

T HE F IVE OBJE CT IVE S OF T HE NE XUS RE SE ARCH  Obje c tive 1: E xplore ne w te c hnolog ie s tha t c ould minimize wa te r use a t sola r fa c ilitie s;  Obje c tive 2: Unde rsta nd e nvironme nta l impa c ts of sola r e ne rg y proje c ts;  Obje c tive 3: De ve lop susta ina ble a nd a dva nc e d wa te r/ wa ste wa te r a pproa c he s to support wa te r ne e ds for sola r e ne rg y de ve lopme nt;

T HE F IVE OBJE CT IVE S OF T HE NE XUS RE SE ARCH  Obje c tive 4: Improve re lia bility, e c onomic mode ling , a nd sunlig ht fore c a sting for re ne wa ble sola r e ne rg y supply;  Obje c tive 5: De ve lop ne w a nd use e xisting c ybe rinfra struc ture c a pa bilitie s to a c c e le ra te the Ne xus re se a rc h.

T WO WAYS SOL AR IRRADIAT ION IS USE D T O CRE AT E E L E CT RICIT Y  Photovolta ic s —E le c tro nic d e vic e s (“so la r c e lls” o r “PV”) c o nve rt the sun’ s e le c tro ma g ne tic ra d ia tio n d ire c tly into e le c tric ity.  ma l —T he sun’ s e ne rg y in c o nc e ntra te d (Co nc e ntra te d Sola r T he r So la r Po we r - CSP) fo rm he a ts a fluid tha t is the n use d in a n e ng ine to pro d uc e po we r. Pho to vo ltaic syste ms lo c ate d o n the ro o f o f the UNL V E ng ine e ring Building

PV AND CONCE NT RAT ING SOL AR PL ANT S IN NE VADA Photovolta ic (PV) Conc e ntra ting Sola r T he rma l Powe r (CSP)

SOL AR POWE R ME T HODS Solar Thermal Photovoltaics Use s mirrors or le nse s to c onc e ntra te the rma l sola r Use s ma te ria ls like silic on e ne rg y onto fluid- fille d a nd silve r to c a pture sola r pipe s e ne rg y a nd c onve rt it into e le c tric ity. Syste ms c a n be pla na r or c onc e ntra tors.

CONCE NT RAT ING SOL AR POWE R (CSP) 4 3 5 2 1 6 1 Solar Collectors 3 Turbine 5 Air cooled condenser 2 Steam generator 4 Electric Generator 6 Pumps

E XAMPL E OF SOL AR T HE RMAL CRE SCE NT DUNE S (T ONOPAH) Re trie ve d fro m http:/ / so lar-re se rve .c o m/

E xa mple PV Pla nts Coppe r mounta in PV pla nt, Ne llis AF B PV pla nt, Boulde r City Nor th la s ve g a s UNL V Mobile PV Unit Ma nda la y Ba y Conve ntion Ce nte r Sola r Pr oje c t – L a s Ve g a s “not c onstruc te d ye t”

OBJE CT IVE 1- Be nc hma rks* 1 a nd 2 Be nc hma rk 1: minimize c ooling a nd c le a ning wa te r use throug h improve me nts to the powe r pla nt (e .g dry c ooling a nd inc re a sing Dr. Bob Boe hm Dr. Yitung Che n Dr. Ja e yun Moon pla nt e ffic ie nc y. UNL V UNL V UNL V Be nc hma rk 1B: Hire ne w UNL V fa c ulty me mbe r in hig h te mpe ra ture ma te ria ls (Dr. Moon) Ka ipo Ke ka ula Ric k Hurt Da nie lle Noble s Dr. Che n’ s Gra d UNL V Dr. Bo e hm’ s Gra d Stud e nt Stud e nt UNL V UNL V *Ne xus Re se a rc h T a sks

Dry Cooling Experiment, Year 1

Dry Cooling Study Drs. Boehm and Chen (UNLV) A ‐ Frame system model Purpose: improve understanding geometry of air ‐ cooled condenser units in energy generation systems such as solar thermal power plants to improve energy efficiency and reduce water consumption Developing a numerical model to simulate condensation phenomena coupled with A ‐ frame cooling towers 3D Numerical model Experiments will verify and with swirl inlet validate numerical results to conditions velocity assist and modify solar air ‐ vectors (isometric view) cooled system designs

Year 2 Improving solar power cycle efficiency by raising high temperature • High temperature receiver development using UNLV dish system. (Boehm, Chen) • Incorporating high temperature coatings (new faculty member Moon).

WAT E R NE E DE D IN SOL AR E NE RGY GE NE RAT ION CSP ha s a c ooling towe r to c onde nse ste a m. We t c ooling e va pora te s wa te r into the e nvironme nt, while dry c ooling doe s not. PV a nd CSP ha ve sola r surfa c e s tha t ma y ne e d wa shing . Wa te r ne e de d for CSP:  800- 1000 g a l/ MWhr – we t c ooling a nd wa shing mirrors  105 g a l/ MWhr – dry c ooling for wa shing mirrors Wa te r to wa sh PV pa ne ls < 1 g a l/ MWhr is

WAT E R USE AND E NE RGY GE NE RAT ION Muc h le ss wa te r is use d in sola r a nd wind e ne rg y g e ne ra tion, tha n in othe r type s of powe r g e ne ra tion, but for wa te r poor re g ions, suc h a s Ne va da , wa te r use minimiza tion in c le a ning mirrors a nd pa ne ls a nd for c ooling is c ritic a l.

OBJE CT IVE 1- Be nc hma rk 3 Be nc hma rk 3: unde rsta nd dust de position a nd re mova l from pa ne ls a nd mirrors. Dr. Spe nc e r Ge org e Dr. Vic Ste inbe rg Nikolic h E tye me zia n UNL V DRI DRI Ja son Sylva Dr. Ste inb e rg ’ s Gra d Stud e nt UNL V

Test stand design Two components • Particle and wind characteristics • Anemometer – wind speed, turbulence • Particle profiler – optical particle counts • Impact on PV by attenuation • Stand to expose several PV ‐ like glass panels • Spectrometers scan panels to collect light attenuation information Intent: Set “industry standard” for testing platform Exposure Frame Components Spectrometer traverse for testing exposed

OBJE CT IVE 1- Be nc hma rk 4 Be nc hma rk 4: use na note c hnolog y to mitig a te dust a c c umula tion. Dr. Kwa ng Kim Dr. BJ Da s Jiye on Pa rk UNL V UNL V Dr. K im’ s Gra d stud e nt UNL V Sa nja na Da s Dr. Da s’ Gra d Stud e nt UNL V