Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy sources are sustainable, some are not. For example, some biomass sources are considered unsustainable at current rates of exploitation. Renewable energy often provides energy for electricity generation to a grid, air and water heating/cooling, and stand-alone power systems. Renewable energy technology projects are typically large-scale, but they are also suited to rural and remote areas and developing countries, where energy is often crucial in human development. Renewable energy is often deployed together with further electrification, which has several benefits: electricity can move heat or objects efficiently, and is clean at the point of consumption. In addition, electrification with renewable energy is more efficient and therefore leads to significant reductions in primary energy requirements.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the US specializes in the research and development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy systems integration, and sustainable transportation. NREL is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Department of Energy and operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, a joint venture between MRIGlobal and Battelle. Located in Golden, Colorado, NREL is home to the National Center for Photovoltaics, the National Bioenergy Center, and the National Wind Technology Center.
Typical meteorological year (TMY) is a collation of selected weather data for a specific location, listing hourly values of solar radiation and meteorological elements for a one-year period. The values are generated from a data bank much longer than a year in duration, at least 12 years. It is specially selected so that it presents the range of weather phenomena for the location in question, while still giving annual averages that are consistent with the long-term averages for the location in question.
A solar combisystem provides both solar space heating and cooling as well as hot water from a common array of solar thermal collectors, usually backed up by an auxiliary non-solar heat source.
Renewable energy in Australia includes wind power, hydroelectricity, solar photovoltaics, heat pumps, geothermal, wave and solar thermal energy.
Renewable energy commercialization involves the deployment of three generations of renewable energy technologies dating back more than 100 years. First-generation technologies, which are already mature and economically competitive, include biomass, hydroelectricity, geothermal power and heat. Second-generation technologies are market-ready and are being deployed at the present time; they include solar heating, photovoltaics, wind power, solar thermal power stations, and modern forms of bioenergy. Third-generation technologies require continued R&D efforts in order to make large contributions on a global scale and include advanced biomass gasification, hot-dry-rock geothermal power, and ocean energy. As of 2012, renewable energy accounts for about half of new nameplate electrical capacity installed and costs are continuing to fall.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is a ministry of the Government of India, headed by current Union Cabinet Minister Raj Kumar Singh, that is mainly responsible for research and development, intellectual property protection, and international cooperation, promotion, and coordination in renewable energy sources such as wind power, small hydro, biogas, and solar power.
Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic effect. Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and solar tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight to a hot spot, often to drive a steam turbine.
A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity, a solar inverter to convert the output from direct to alternating current, as well as mounting, cabling, and other electrical accessories to set up a working system. It may also use a solar tracking system to improve the system's overall performance and include an integrated battery.
100% renewable energy means getting all energy from renewable resources. The endeavor to use 100% renewable energy for electricity, heating, cooling and transport is motivated by climate change, pollution and other environmental issues, as well as economic and energy security concerns. Shifting the total global primary energy supply to renewable sources requires a transition of the energy system, since most of today's energy is derived from non-renewable fossil fuels.
Ladakh Renewable Energy Development Agency (LREDA) is a renewable energy initiative in Ladakh, a mountainous region of India. It has been called "the largest off-grid renewable energy project in the world."
Open energy system models are energy system models that are open source. However, some of them may use third party proprietary software as part of their workflows to input, process, or output data. Preferably, these models use open data, which facilitates open science.
The King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A.CARE) is an scientific, research and governmental entity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is legally independent chaired by the Minister of Energy, which deals with the issues of nuclear and renewable energy in Saudi Arabia and contributes to the sustainable development of the energy sector in the Kingdom and founded in 2010 headquartered in Riyadh city.
The Agency for New and renewable Energy Research & Technology (ANERT) is a government agency in the Kerala, India. Its mission is gathering and disseminating knowledge about renewable energy, energy conservation, and rural technology. The agency was established in 1986 with its headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram.
Volker Quaschning is a German engineer and professor of renewable energy systems at the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin, Germany.
ISAAC Dynamics is a dynamic simulation software developed by StrutturaInformatica. The main purpose of ISAAC Dynamics is the dynamic simulation of engineering processes for conventional and renewable power plants. ISAAC Dynamics has been developed over Java platform and it runs on many of the most common operating systems.
Sensitivity analysis identifies how uncertainties in input parameters affect important measures of building performance, such as cost, indoor thermal comfort, or CO2 emissions. Input parameters for buildings fall into roughly three categories:
A solar-assisted heat pump (SAHP) is a machine that represents the integration of a heat pump and thermal solar panels in a single integrated system. Typically these two technologies are used separately to produce hot water. In this system the solar thermal panel performs the function of the low temperature heat source and the heat produced is used to feed the heat pump's evaporator. The goal of this system is to get high COP and then produce energy in a more efficient and less expensive way.
Timeline of notable events in the research and development of sustainable energy including renewable energy, solar energy and nuclear fusion energy, particularly for ways that are sustainable within the Earth system.
