On the day when Green MSP Shiona Baird outlined her vision for small scale renewable energy devices to power homes and businesses as a central solution to tackling climate change, and deliver jobs and energy security across Scotland, here's a guide to the technologies - something for everyone!
WHAT ARE MICROPOWER TECHNOLOGIES?
Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Panels
. Use energy from the sun to create electricity to run appliances and lighting.
. The average UK home could generate 50-60% of the power needed to supply its own electricity providing it is used efficiently and it has a south facing roof
. PV requires only daylight - not direct sunlight - to generate electricity. So it works in Scotland!
. The electricity generated by the solar PV panels can be used immediately in the home or fed into the grid to supply other homes. Electricity generated by a household could be sold to the grid or make the electricity meter run backwards, generating electrical credit for that household.
Solar Water Heating
. Solar water heating systems gather energy radiated by the sun and convert it into useful heat in the form of hot water.
. Water heating makes up 8% of UK energy demand.
. Solar water heating typically uses roof-mounted panels to provide 40-50% of a household's hot water needs
. More than half of the UK building stock is suitable for solar thermal water heating.
Micro-wind Turbines
. Micro versions of the turbines used in wind farms.
. A typical domestic system would provide 1.5 - 6 kilowatts of electricity, depending on the location and size of the home
. Costs around lb3000 per kW
Micro-hydro
. Hydro-power systems use flowing water to turn a turbine to produce electricity.
. A micro hydro plant generates below 100kW of electricity (a kettle uses about 1kW)
. Improvements in small turbine and generator technology mean that micro hydro schemes are an attractive means of producing electricity.
. Useful power may be produced from even a small stream. The likely range is from a few hundred watts (possibly for use with batteries) for domestic schemes, to a minimum 25kW for commercial schemes.
Ground Source Heat Pumps
. The ground stores heat from the sun during the summer and a few metres down the earth keeps a constant temperature of about 11-12oC throughout the year.
. Ground source heat pumps (GSHP) transfer this heat from the ground into a building to provide space heating and for pre-heating domestic hot water.
. For every unit of electricity used to pump the heat, 3-4 units of heat are produced. As well as ground source heat pumps, air source and water source heat pumps are also possible.
Biomass
. Biomass is often called 'bioenergy' or 'biofuels'. These biofuels are produced from organic materials, either directly from plants or indirectly from industrial, commercial, domestic or agricultural products.
. Biofuels fall into two main categories: woody biomass (includes forest products, untreated wood products, energy crops, short rotation willow or elephant grass) and non-woody biomass (includes animal wastes, industrial and biodegradable municipal products from food processing and high energy crops e.g. rape, sugar cane, maize).
. There are two main methods of using biomass to heat a domestic property; stand-alone stoves providing space heating for a room (fuelled by logs or pellets) or boilers connected to central heating and hot water systems (suitable for pellets, logs or chips).
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