ASHRAE Journal- September 2008

Solar Thermal Is Unrealized Opportunity SAN FRANCISCO—A National Renewable Energy Laboratory “irradiance” map showing available sunlight around the world suggests the United States is the Saudi Arabia of solar energy, with twice the irradiance of Europe. Harnessing global sun power “is just an engineering effort,” said Werner Koldehoff of the German Solar Industry Association. Koldehoff’s group and other European solar enthusiasts have come to America to make the case for solar thermal technology, an alternative to photovoltaics that attempts to harness the efficient phase change from water to steam. For cost and technology reasons, solar thermal is emerging as the preferred alternative energy technology in the race to replace fossil fuels with sustainable energy sources, many experts agree. Along with cost per watt—eventually cost per kilowatt—solar thermal’s biggest selling point is its ability to store energy and deliver electricity to consumers during periods of peak power demand. Experts at a recent solar energy conference here said “concentrating” solar thermal power could allow utilities and other emerging operators to store steam energy for up to six Photo: Randy Montoya A Sandia National Laboratories engineer calibrates a parabolic trough. hours. Superheated steam is used to drive turbines that generate electricity. For residential, business and other lower-temperature applications, solar thermal could be used to heat water as well as for space heating. Koldehoff said the approach could also be harnessed for an emerging application he calls “solar-assisted cooling.” Air conditioning requires roughly 4.5 times the energy of heating. The largest amount of solar energy is available in the late afternoon during peak demand for air conditioning. Koldehoff said pilot solar-cooling projects are already under way in sunny Spain, and the technique could also be used for applications such as operating power-hungry desalinization plants. “The real future application in the next five years is [solar] cooling, and we need it badly, because we can’t afford [the soaring cost of cooling] anymore,” he said. Source: EE Times. Industry Groups Sue City of Albuquerque ARLINGTON, Va.—The Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) is suing the city of Albuquerque, N.M., to seek a ruling that appliance and equipment minimum efficiency standards contained in three recently adopted city ordinances are preempted by federal law. The Heating, Airconditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI), the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), and 11 local HVAC distributors and contractors joined with AHRI in filing suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico. September 2008 Albuquerque’s ordinances establish minimum energy-efficiency standards for residential and commercial HVAC equipment and water heaters that are more stringent than applicable federal standards. The federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act generally preempts state and local regulation of the energy efficiency of these products, unless a waiver of federal preemption has been granted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The city of Albuquerque has not petitioned DOE for such a waiver. www.info.hotims.com/19354-25 ASHRAE Journal 11 http://energygauge.com http://energygauge.com http://www.info.hotims.com/19354-25

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal- September 2008

ASHRAE Journal- September 2008 Section: Contents Contents Section: Commentary Options for Sustainability Section: Industry News The Silk Route for Energy Solar Thermal Is Unrealized Opportunity Industry Groups Sue City of Albuquerque Section: Letters Letters Section: Meetings and Shows Meetings and Shows Section: Feature Articles Article-Radiant Floor Cooling Systems Article-HVAC Design for Sustainable Lab Article-Mixed Mode Ventilation Article-Single- Design Considerations For Active Chilled Beams Article-Acoustic Design In Green Buildings Article-Teams, Contracts & BIM Section: Building Sciences Some Old Lessons Distilled Section: Washington Report Energy in Federal Buildings Section: Products HVAC&R Product Showplace Section: Emerging Technologies Toplighting & Lighting Controls For Commercial Buildings Section: Special Products Fans & Blowers Section: Classified Ads Classified Ads Section: Advertising Index Advertising Index

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.