This pressurized hydrogen is used to run a internal combustion engine which turns an electric generator. This hydrogen powered generator is very quiet and puts off zero emissions. More importantly this system provides electric energy 24 hours a day all year long without the need for batteries to store energy.
In moderate climates the most efficient use of this thermal heat is in direct heating water as the vaporized liquid. This provides direct heat for domestic hot water and for water source heating for the home either through radiators or in radiant coils inside the air handler.
In climates especially that have a high gradient temperature between day and night or climes which have many days without sun or temperatures below freezing, then a liquid like glycol is the absorbent liquid. The vaporized liquid rises to the condenser and the heat manifold and turns back to liquid and falls back to the solar exposed space. In such a system there is a built-in storage tank that maintains this cycle with natural thermal convection.
In most closed loop systems, the heated fluid circulates through a water heater and through a system of radiant tubes either in direct radiant heat or through coils in the air handler and returns to the ETSC using a circulating pump to supply domestic hot water and for water source heating for the home. We recommend a dedicated low wattage circulating pump supplied by a photo-voltaic generator.
Since the heat absorption tubes are protected within the evacuated tubes that prevent the loss of thermal energy and maintain the maximum heat absorption and because the evacuated clear tubes are cylindrical this system works effectively from sunrise to sunset and even on overcast days. Furthermore, the vacuum seal makes the system impervious to energy loss on cold days or the flow of air around the tubes.
This system using cylindrical tubes optimizes the total thermal surface area for collecting thermal energy. The vacuum seal also prevents corrosion from the effects of the environment or from collection of condensation. This translates into continuous production of thermal energy every day, every season for a lifetime.
This means this system saves you in energy costs consistently for many years directly using the free thermal energy of the sun. Now with solar thermal collectors surrounded by a clear cylindrical vacuum tube consistently provides heat for heating water for domestic hot water and for heating the home is a no brainer for this purpose, but it can also be utilized for a cooling system through desiccant cooling as well.
A desiccant cooling system uses a material that removes moisture from the air with resulting cooling of the space where the relative humidity is extracted. A common readily accessible and inexpensive desiccant could be silica gel. Here is how a desiccant cooling system would work in conjunction with Evacuated Tube Solar Thermal Collectors.
The ETSC provides consistent heat through the heated liquid medium which is produced by direct thermal energy of the sun. This heat is transferred to a desiccant wheel or rotor. The desiccant wheel rotates between the air flow and the heated fluid, which allows the desiccant material to absorb the moisture from the air.
As the desiccant absorbs the moisture from the air it releases latent heat, which cools the air passing over it. The cooled dehumidified air provides effective cooling for your living space. In all our eco-sustainable plans we integrate the use of Evacuated Tube Solar Thermal Collectors as an integrated part of our heating and cooling system because it captures the direct thermal energy of the sun as a highly consistent, energy efficient and inexpensive heating and cooling systems for a lifetime.
Furthermore, Evacuated Tube Solar Thermal Collectors are designed to last a lifetime because of their low maintenance. If a tube gets broken or the thermal seal breaks it is just a matter of unscrewing the affected tube and screwing in a new one and you are back in business. Even though this system has not gained much public attention or been used as frequently as Solar Photovoltaic systems it requires less surface area than PV” s for the equivalent output and the cost of panels and installation are still less than half that of Solar Photovoltaic systems.
It has now been nearly 50 years since President Jimmy Carter was president of the United States and whose administration shown a light upon our looming energy crisis. He pointed out that our demand for fossil fuels exceeds what we could produce in this country, and this created a crisis of dependency. His administration mandated an initiative to produce clean, sustainable and renewable forms of energy to rid us of dependence on other nations to supply our energy and to lead the way away from energy produced by fossil fuels to alternatives clean energy which would reduce air pollution and to lead the world in green energy technology.
I ask you what grade would you give us on our progress toward energy independence and leading the world in green energy technology?
It is my humble opinion that we surely should have been shed of Fossil Fuel by now to meet our energy demands long before now.
We can point fingers and cast blame as much as we want, but it comes down to you and me shedding our ignorance about what fuel sources we should promote and applying public pressure upon our legislators to pass bills concerning green renewable energy technology.
In 2009 I was contacted through my company website by Dr. Andrew Searcy. Dr. Searcy had a PhD in hydrogen science. He worked for Conoco Philips for nearly 30 years. He told me that he had developed a protype automobile powered by hydrogen in 1984 and that Conoco Philips had secured the patent for this automobile, and they sold the patent to General Motors Corporation.
So, I ask why have we not seen this automobile when we so much need zero emissions, totally renewable, sustainable and energy independent automobiles?
Dr. Searcy came to me with an urgent mission to see his life’s work in hydrogen fuel cells put into a practical application. Andrew was at the time I met him in the final stages of esophagus cancer.
He wanted to create a multi-use community powered by fuel cells and to develop a curriculum for a local technology college in alternative renewable and sustainable energy and construction. This program would provide students with hands-on training by working on the development of this community.
He approached me because my company specializes in designing and building houses that are highly energy efficient, low maintenance and to serve the needs for many generations using alternative renewable sustainable building materials and integrating into our design and construction highly energy efficient heating and cooling systems.
We specialized in designing and building with Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) and Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC). (Please see my blog posts on AAC and ICF.)
I must tell you I was more than enthusiastic about meeting and working with Dr. Searcy. For more than 30 years I have watched the development of hydrogen technology, which I have believed is the best route toward totally renewable, sustainable energy.
When I saw his proposal to develop such a community powered independently with hydrogen fuel cells, I was totally on board with helping him to fulfill his dream and mine.
After much deliberations and planning we decided to look for land for our proposed community in a small North Georgia town which had been in decline for some time that most businesses and shops had closed. We thought that building such a community would breathe new life into this town and put it back on the map.
We looked at two properties on the edge of town. One was a beautiful property of 60 acres which had a large creek that runs through it, which thrilled Andrew. So, we went to the drawing board to design such a mixed-use community that would be totally energy independent using hydrogen fuel cells to power it.
I went to work on first our concept for this small community and worked with surveyors to get a layout and topography for the property and its natural resources. A very nice surprise we discovered in this process is there were two deep water wells that could supply the community’s needs. The land was hilly but there were about 14 acres that could be graded level. My intention was to use this property for a small grocery store, a pharmacy and maybe a café and/or other small businesses plus level lots for single store houses on slabs.
On the property was a hill which had a southwest face to it. My plan was to terrace this hill and use it for placement of Evacuated Tube Solar Thermal collectors and solar photovoltaics panels as well as a community garden.
In the meantime, Dr. Searcy was working on a design for a power grid to be powered by hydrogen fuel cells. He discussed with me about using three key sources to power his electrolyzers which would extract hydrogen gas from alkaline water and store this gas in pressurized tanks so that they could power one large electric generator fueled by hydrogen which would be able to power the community energy grid 24 hours a day and through days with out sunlight. We had discussed whether we would need to use batteries for storing electricity, which we mutually agreed we did not want to go this route but concentrate on producing enough hydrogen to store power.
He proposed that he would design a sophisticated water mill that would generate electricity consistently 24 hours a day.
Secondly, he proposed designing a steam turbine generator powered by our Evacuated Tube Solar Thermal collectors.
Thirdly we would use Solar Voltaic Panels to supply power for energy to supply electricity for some of his electrolyzers to produce and store hydrogen.
His power plant would supply electricity for the whole community using completely clean, renewable and sustainable energy with no caustic byproducts.
Yes, Andrew’s power plant would be very expensive, but he did a projection of how this plant would be paid over a 10-year term by sale of the lots, and the residents would pay a flat fee each month for power and water. His projection showed that the system could be paid for at an affordable rate to the residents and after the plant was paid for then a small fee would be charged for replacement parts and other maintenance of the system.
I cannot think of any project I have worked on planning and building throughout my career that I had more confidence, gratification and exuberance that I was genuinely fulfilling my dream of participating in designing and building a house or community that has a low impact on the environment, using alternative renewable sustainable technologies to build an energy independent community with zero emissions and no waste byproduct.
With a well laid out plan for this community development and a detailed comprehensive proposal for this project we went to the county development authority to present our plan. They received our plan with much less than enthusiasm. They saw no value in such a community.
After this rejection we both felt deflated, and I think Andrew’s condition declined more quickly. He succumbed to cancer two months later.
What I learned from Dr. Searcy was that hydrogen power is possible and doable and is indeed the route we need to pursue for energy independence that is completely clean renewable and sustainable. With public interest and pressuring our legislators to support bills that promote and fund companies working in research and development of hydrogen technology.
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Hydrogen science is by no means new. It was nearly 250 years ago that hydrogen in water was discovered. In 1804 Francois Isaac de Rivaz a Swiss scientist obtained a patent for a hydrogen powered vehicle. His prototype was a 4-wheel vehicle with an internal combustion engine. The vehicle was powered with hydrogen and oxygen produced through the process of electrolysis where oxygen and hydrogen are extracted from water. For his prototype he captured this gas mixture in a balloon. The ignition was achieved through an electrical starter known as a volta.
By the end of the 19th century there grew a great interest and demand for hydrogen for filling zephyrs with hydrogen for air travel.
Ironically the same simple process of extracting hydrogen and oxygen from water through electrolysis is still the leading process of producing this gas.
Alkaline water electrolysis is a type of electrolyzer which uses a liquid alkaline solution, commonly using potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide. There are two electrodes that deliver electricity to this solution. The two electrodes are separated by a diaphragm which separates the hydrogen and oxygen which transports the hydroxide ions from one electrode to the other where hydrogen and oxygen are extracted from the alkaline water solution.
I must say that I am becoming more alarmed that all the car manufacturers are all going to the production of electric automobiles. I thoroughly believe we need emissions free cars and trucks and yesterday would not be too soon, but I do not see how this could be sustainable. The other issue is electric filling stations to meet the demand for charging these vehicles is drawing off the present grid that is still largely produced with fossil fuels.
I am also concerned about so large a part of our moving to green energy is towards photovoltaic panels.
The issue that concerns me and should you is that electric vehicles and photovoltaic panels must store energy in Lithium Ion batteries. EV batteries have a life expectancy of 5-7 years and PV batteries last 3-5 years. Besides the fact that they are very expensive to replace and I have read they are recyclable but little attention has been given to this task. The main thing I have read is they are very expensive to recycle and resources for this process are few. So now depleted batteries must be stored as toxic waste because of the rare earth metals used in them. Furthermore, we are becoming aware that Lithium batteries can overheat and combust.
If these issues are not enough to alarm you, then consider the issue that these rare earth metals are rare and there are few places on earth they can be mined, but my greatest concern is that we are trading our once dependence on fossil fuels to meet our energy demands from foreign countries to another energy dependency.