green tech to retrofit your home energy
Here’s some off-the-shelf greening for your home energy consumption, and mebbe some hydrogen thrown in for your next purchase…a fuel cell vehicle.
Turns out, some designers are starting to incorporate green tech into their buildings, and one firm has built a full-on prototype solar-hydrogen home system.
Renewable Energy International (REI) recently announced that it’s building a green home in the Caymans to demonstrate the system’s significant cost and environmental benefits in an island environment (via energy blog).
REI’s solar-hydrogen fuel cell residence includes a photovoltaic array that will produce electricity to provide for the home’s primary electricity load, as well as enough excess electricity to run an electrolyzer which converts water into hydrogen.
The hydrogen produced will be reserved in a storage tank until needed, at which point it will be converted back into electricity through means of a fuel cell.
To increase energy efficiency, the system will be integrated with a geothermal system that will provide for the home’s total cooling needs, as well as its domestic hot water.
Energy efficient appliances will also be installed at the home to reduce the overall electricity load.
Heat, although available, will not be required due to the climate in the Cayman Islands.
Oh, ya wanna shopping list? REI’s innovative system integrates the following commercially available components:
- Photovoltaic solar panels manufactured by Sharp to produce electricity
- An electrolyzer (HOGEN RE) manufactured by Proton Energy Systems to produce hydrogen from de-ionized water and electricity
- Pressure vessels controlled with gauges and valves manufactured by Swagelok to store the hydrogen produced
- A GenCore fuel cell unit manufactured by PlugPower to convert the stored hydrogen back into electricity
- The power is buffered with a battery bank manufactured by Exide to interface with local demands and the electrical grid of the power company
Voila: you’ve got a renewable solar-hydrogen fuel cell energy system for your home. Sunshine not included.
As the Caymans receive an average of 345 days of sunlight annually, the system will require a much smaller solar array, as well as reduced hydrogen production and storage capability, bringing down system costs significantly.
Not bad, yeah?
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