Ancillary services for PV power plants

Conventional power plants are often used to provide ancillary services such as frequency regulation in electricity grids. It had traditionally been thought that large scale solar PV would not be able to perfom stability services in the grid. First Solar have demonstrated that conventional power plants such as coal power plants can be replaced by PV power plants in the provision of frequency regulation. This replacement helps in the reduction of CO₂ emissions by lowering dependence on traditional fossil-fueld power sources.

Chile

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Smart micro-grid for clean energy

Basil Energetics offers a solution to manage green power at the tail end or at the load end of the grid. This helps to cater for both urban and rural areas through its decentralized approach. The offered solution is provided in the form of a package, consisting of standalone solar panels, but also includes a range of innovative hybrid household electrical appliances such as a ceiling fan, LED lights, air conditioner, refrigerator etc. The demand and supply is managed using a smart micro-grid (SMG) controller, called an iGrid. This scheme eliminates the requirement of electrical conversions, particularly DC to AC in hybrid appliances, to a large extent.

India

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Solar service for urban multi-tenant buildings

EINHUNDERT Energie deliver solar power as a service with digital metering services to multi-tenant and commercial buildings. As well as offering solar power for multi-tenant-buildings EINHUNDERT Energie has an app that unites and visualizes digital metering data (energy, heat, water). The German “Energiewende” (energy transition) is therefore made accessible to millions of people living or working in rental and shared spaces, giving access to clean technology as a service.

Germany

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Business model for hydrogen generation and supply  

H2PV is a business program of Phineal, which seeks to develop a business model for generation and supply of hydrogen obtained from photovoltaic energy. The energy production disconnected from the electrical network can be utilized for energy storage, fuel cells and transport systems with internal combustion engines dual and other applications combined with other hydrocarbons. Introduction of hydrogen can enhance their energy properties and emission reduction.

Chile

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Material technology for reduced heating needs in building

The innovation is a silver-based alloy nanomaterial for use in low-emissivity (low-e) glass. Low-e glass windows have a microscopically thin coating that is transparent and reflects heat minimizing the amount of infrared and ultraviolet light that is transmitted through the window. The innovation purportedly allows more natural light to enter through the window compared to other low-e coatings currently in use, without compromising the window’s thermal insulation.

Sweden

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Optimized tap nozzles saving water

Conventional taps allow water to gush out at around 10–12 liters per minute – but only a fraction of that water is actually used for washing hands or rinsing plates. Altered:Nozzle “atomizes” the water, breaking it up into a high speed dense mist made out of millions of individual drops. The speed of the water is also increased up to 50 km/h. This way the user gets in contact with, and uses, every single drop of water coming out of the tap. The result is only 2% of the flow compared to a regular tap. It consists of a simple retro-fit that can be installed in less than a minute in most existing taps in the world today. This design is said to significantly reduce water consumption as well as energy.

Sweden

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Converting desert to fertile soil

Through Desert Control’s patented mixing process, Liquid NanoClay (LNC) combines clay and water and is then spread onto sandy soil. It enables the soil to retain water, turning desert into fertile soil. Production of LNC happens on site. Cultivating sandy soil into fertile land normally takes from seven to fifteen years, whereas Desert Control’s LNC accomplishes that in just hours. One application of LNC lasts a minimum of five years and only natural products are used during production, without the use of chemicals.

Norway

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Optimization of truck-based delivery systems

Over half of the delivery trucks currently in use has free space in the cargo. CargoSpace24 seek to minimize the number of trucks and trips needed to deliver products by lining up the needs of both transporting and buying companies. This is done using a GPS-based digital system where clients can find transportation vehicles with free space in real time, thus minimizing the economic and environmental impact while also allowing companies to get customizable transportation solutions that suits their needs and requirements.

Sweden

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Platform for decentralized energy exchange

GreenSync has developed a platform for decentralized energy exchange (deX) to dramatically increase networks’ hosting capacity for renewable energy. GreenSync provides a software solution for high penetration of intermittent renewable electricity sources. The deX solution increases control and visibility that is easily lost when adding decentralized electricity sources to the grid. With deX, the use of the intermittent electricity could be optimized, and investment costs can be reduced. By using deX, more renewable energy from decentralized sources can hence be used, which would reduce the emissions from peak load demand.

Australia

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Water recirculating shower

Orbital Systems developed a real-time water purification technology, implemented in its recirculating shower which results in domestic water savings. In the shower, the water from the drain is collected, purified and looped back to be re-used, enabling water and energy savings. According to the company, their solution results in up to 90% of the water and 80% of the heating energy being saved, while at the same time delivering cleaner water compared to conventional showers. The technology is based on what is used today by NASA for space missions.

Sweden

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