Title of Presentation:
Urban Energy Services through Stand-Alone Renewable Energy Systems

Speaker:
Dr. Priyadarshini Karve

Abstract:
Generally in the developing countries, stand alone renewable energy systems are associated with electricity generation for rural areas. However, many such systems have failed due to a variety of reasons. An assessment of the failures indicates several reasons, such as lack of technical expertise for operating the systems, difficulties in servicing and maintenance, mismatch between energy services available and energy services required, social, economic, political constraints, etc. Most of these problems would be avoided if the stand alone systems were based in urban areas. Furthermore, no government subsidy or grant will be necessary, as even normal banks can provide finance due to the relatively better creditworthiness of the urban proponents. To some extent the successful introduction of systems, such as solar water heaters in urban areas, is already pointing in this direction.

A scheme based on kitchen waste to energy is proposed in this context, based on a combination of technologies developed by Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI). The business model is being refined at Samuchit Enviro Tech Pvt Ltd, and will be spun off as a new business venture in the name of Earthen Life.

A cluster of houses or an educational or business campus generates substantial quantity of kitchen waste. This can be converted into biogas, which can be used for any thermal application within the cluster itself. The effluent from the biogas plant will be used as liquid organic fertilizer for cultivation of organic vegetables within the cluster. The system will be operated by traditional waste pickers, thereby creating a modern livelihood opportunity for them.

The scheme, the technological details, and the economics will be described in the talk.

When:
Monday, May 21, 2012 at 3:00 p.m.

Where:
Florida Solar Energy Center, Auditorium
1679 Clearlake Road, Cocoa, FL 32922
321-638-1000

About Dr. Priyadarshini Karve, Ph.D.:
Dr. Karve completed her Ph.D. in Physics from University of Pune, in 1998. During 1997-99, she conducted a research project for Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI), under funding from Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The project resulted in development of an experimental prototype of an oven and retort type charring kiln for converting agricultural waste into charcoal. The technology went on to win ARTI the Ashden Award for Renewable Energy in 2002. From 1999 to 2005, Dr. Karve taught Applied Physics in different engineering colleges in Pune, while continuing her association with ARTI in an honorary capacity. In this period, she worked as the Secretary of the Organizing Committee of the International Conference on Improved Biomass Fuels and Cooking Devices (BFCS-2000), organized by ARTI at Pune in 2000. Also, from 2003 to 2010, she worked as Project Co-ordinator with ARTI, on a project entitled Commercialisation of Improved Biomass Fuels and Cooking Devices in India, and funded by various agencies over its duration. The project was fairly successful and resulted into the establishment of Samuchit Enviro-Tech (SET) Pvt. Ltd., to handle the business aspect of the scale-up project. Dr. Karve continues to be an active member of ARTI, and also works as Director of SET. The scope of SET now includes providing products and services for a variety of sustainable initiatives of households and business houses, in India and other developing countries. Dr. Karve is ARTI’s representative member in Nexus Carbon for Development, which is a Singapore-based alliance of NGOs and social enterprises engaged in bringing carbon finance money into pro-poor projects. For the period 2010 to 2013, she is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nexus. She is also involved in teaching courses based on sustainable development and climate change as visiting faculty in some of the educational institutes in and around Pune, India.

For More Information:
For additional information, please contact Susan at 321-638-1017 or susan@fsec.ucf.edu.

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Nazim Muradov, right, accepts award from UCF's Vice President of Research and Commercialization, M.J. Soileau.

COCOA, May 15, 2012 – A researcher who has developed a novel method that uses sponge-like carbon particles to clean up oil spills in water and among some other exciting work at UCF’s Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) has received one of UCF’s highest honors.

Nazim Muradov, a researcher at FSEC since 1990, recently received the UCF Institute and Centers Award for Excellence in Research.

Aside from the promising sponge-like carbon clean up method, Muradov also developed a novel high-energy density seawater-based hydrogen generator that can be used to propel Navy’s unmanned undersea vehicles.

“I am honored to receive this award because it underscores the high value and impact of research work conducted at FSEC,” states Muradov.

Muradov received a plaque and kudos from his peers during UCF’s annual Founders’ Day Honors Convocation. Only the best faculty and students are recognized during the event, which was held April 4 at the Orlando campus.

With more than 30 years of experience in hydrogen energy research, Muradov also developed a new method for production of hydrogen and nanostructured carbon materials from methane and other hydrocarbons. He has authored and co-authored more than 200 publications, including a book and several book chapters, and he has been granted 41 patents.

In addition to this year’s award, Muradov received the honorary title of International Association for Hydrogen Energy Fellow in 2010 and the UCF Research Incentive Award in 2003. He was presented the UCF Distinguished Researcher of the Year Award for Institutes and Centers in 1996.

Regarding future research endeavors, Muradov says he would like to contribute to the development of carbon-neutral energy systems. “Many existing challenges, such as the rapid depletion of affordable oil reserves and the prospects of accelerating global climate change, can be solved in conjunction with the development and implementation of these systems,” explains Muradov.

About FSEC
The Florida Solar Energy Center, a research institute of the University of Central Florida, is the largest and most active state-supported energy research institute in the nation. Current divisions and their research activities include Advanced Energy Research: alternative transportation systems, hydrogen fuel and fuel cells; Buildings Research: energy-efficient buildings; and Solar Energy: solar water and pool heating and solar electric and distributed generation systems. For more information about the center, visit http://www.floridaenergycenter.org or call the FSEC Public Affairs Office at 321-638-1015.

UCF Stands For Opportunity
The University of Central Florida is a metropolitan research university that ranks as the 2nd largest in the nation with more than 58,000 students. UCF’s first classes were offered in 1968. The university offers impressive academic and research environments that power the region’s economic development. UCF’s culture of opportunity is driven by our diversity, Orlando environment, history of entrepreneurship and our youth, relevance and energy. For more information visit http://news.ucf.edu.

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PR12-04

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Eligible participants are homes that were permitted and built after March 2009, have 1500-2300 square feet of living area, and are owner-occupied year-round.

The FSEC research team will conduct an energy audit within each home and monitor energy use for approximately a three-month period.  Testing will examine house airtightness, air conditioner performance and duct leakage.  The FSEC research team will also collect the previous year’s energy bills.

If you are interested in participating in this research project, please visit http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/go/CodeResearch or contact Jeremy Nelson at 407-243-8197 or jnelson@fsec.ucf.edu by May 31, 2012.

PR12-03

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EnergyWhiz Olympics

The tenth-annual EnergyWhiz Olympics is a daylong event showcasing student projects in alternative energy. Activities include Junior Solar Sprint, Energy Innovations, Hydrogen Challenge, Bright House Solar Energy Cookoff, and new this year, the Electrathon.

More than 650 Florida elementary, middle and high school students—from as far as Tallahassee and Miami—will participate in the EnergyWhiz Olympics, starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 5, at the University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center. FSEC is located at Brevard Community College’s Cocoa Campus, 1679 Clearlake Road. The public is invited to attend free of charge.

Hands-on renewable energy competitions expose students to alternative energy fuel sources, and they encourage scientific know-how, creative thinking, experimentation and teamwork.

• The Energy Innovations program (10 a.m.) is a full-scale solar electric design and marketing challenge for middle and high school students. Each participating team designs and constructs a product or artistic work fully powered by photovoltaics (PV), also called solar electric cells. Teams also create marketing pieces—such as brochures, fliers, and posters—to accompany their products.
• The Hydrogen Challenge (10:30 a.m.) for students in grades 6 through 12, provide opportunities for student teams to explore hydrogen through hands-on engineering. Students demonstrate an understanding of hydrogen through a creative timing apparatus built with several Rube Goldberg-type steps.

• The Junior Solar Sprint (11:30 a.m.) is a competition that challenges middle-school students to design, build and race model solar cars. Awards are given based on vehicle design, quality of craftsmanship, innovation and vehicle speed.
• The Bright House Solar Energy Cookoff (1 p.m.) challenges students in grades 4 through 12 to design and build solar cookers and cook a recipe of their own creation using the power of the sun.  In Top Chef-style, each dish will be judged by a panel of experts based on taste, ingredients and creativity.
• The Electrathon (4 p.m. at Cocoa High School Stadium) is a competition for high school students and older. The go-cart-type vehicles, powered by an electric motor and batteries, must be skillfully designed, built and driven to maximize distance traveled within a given time limit.For more information, visit http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/en/education/k-12/energywhiz_olympics/index.htm, or watch a video about the EnergyWhiz Olympics at http://vimeo.com/9522310.

CONTACT:

Susan Schleith, FSEC Education Coordinator, at 321-638-1017 or Susan@fsec.ucf.edu.

About FSEC: The Florida Solar Energy Center, a research institute of the University of Central Florida, is the largest and most active state-supported energy research institute in the nation. Current divisions and their research activities include Advanced Energy Research: alternative transportation systems, hydrogen fuel and fuel cells; Buildings Research: energy-efficient buildings; and Solar Energy: solar water and pool heating and solar electric and distributed generation systems. For more information about the center, visit http://www.floridaenergycenter.org or call the FSEC Public Affairs Office at
321-638-1015.

UCF Stands For Opportunity: The University of Central Florida is a metropolitan research university that ranks as the 2nd largest in the nation with more than 58,000 students. UCF’s first classes were offered in 1968. The university offers impressive academic and research environments that power the region’s economic development. UCF’s culture of opportunity is driven by our diversity, Orlando environment, history of entrepreneurship and our youth, relevance and energy. For more information, visit http://news.ucf.edu.

PR12-02

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Subrato Chandra, a pioneer of buildings research at FSEC.

Subrato, who worked for FSEC for 34 years before retiring in 2010, was passionate about integrating energy efficiency into home design and, long before most people had ever heard the term photovoltaics, helped develop the concept of a PV powered house in Cape Canaveral in 1979.

One of his proudest achievements was highlighted in an email he recently sent a colleague in which several FSEC initiatives were touched upon in a listing of the most transformative homebuilding trends in the last 75 years.

Subrato’s compassion can be seen in the types of projects he championed:   As director of FSEC’s research and development division in 1995 he helped the Environmental Protection Agency launch the Energy Star Homes project that has become the most widely accepted energy-efficient green homes projects in the country.  The Building America project he led still works directly with Habitat for Humanity home builders throughout the country to help make housing more affordable for needy families and helps make manufactured or HUD-code homes more efficient.

Subrato led FSEC’s first major funded project in the buildings area with a $400,000 contract on passive cooling by natural ventilation received in 1981 from the Department of Energy.  During his career at UCF he was involved in $14 million of funded projects. In addition to his work at FSEC, Subrato served as a faculty member in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science.

Subrato was able to succeed because he always championed the personal relationship over the pure technical work. He communicated equally well with a housing subcontractor and a renowned scientist. And in so doing he was able to have a number of happy employees and help funding agencies achieve their goals. His loss will be felt nationwide in the building research community.

“He was a great teacher, a respected scientist, and a classy gentleman, ” said Craig V. Muccio, a colleague from Florida Power and Light who first met Subrato in a solar engineering class Subrato was teaching in 1980.

Most recently Subrato was working with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a senior buildings engineer.

Subrato’s wife Mitra works in the Office of Research & Commercialization and he has two grown children.

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Below is the transcription of the 12-minute video recording, located here: http://vimeo.com/33415686.

My name is James Fenton, I’m director of the University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center here today and I would like to talk to you about manufacturing, manufacturing renewable energy in Florida.  Specifically I’ll use examples of photovoltaics; solar to electric panels.

Which purchase is best for Florida?

Let’s look at Florida manufacturing jobs as a tale of two salad bowls.  The $10.00 bowl made in Florida using Florida materials keeps all the money and all the jobs in Florida.  The $9.50 bowl imported from China, manufactured by Chinese, using Chinese materials sends most of the money and the jobs to China.  Which purchase is best for Florida?

Florida imports almost all of its energy resources.  The citizens of Florida pay $27 billion for electricity and $30 billion for gasoline for a total of $57 billion per year.  This compares to our state budget of $70 billion a year.  But unlike our state budget, which I hope by the way we spend all that money in the state, most of the $57 billion leaves the state of Florida.  We are faced with two energy challenges – How can Florida reduce its imported energy costs and how can Florida’s electricity and transportation fuel be manufactured in Florida?  Can we design an energy future which allows Florida to keep our capital in the state, increasing economic activity and produce high-wage jobs.  We can and there is a path to do it.  I would like to share such a path.

"Game Changers" – The New Electric Cars

The new electric cars, complete game changers.  We have the Nissan Leaf or hybrid plug-ins like the Chevy Volt.  They do allow us to keep our capital in the state, increase economic activity and produce high-wage jobs all at less cost than what you are paying today.  Currently, 26% of Florida vehicles are small cars.  If all the small cars in Florida were electric and in most cases we are using small cars to drive from home to work and back again we would save 1.4 billion gallons of gasoline each year.  We would save a net of $2.1B in cost savings and to do this we would have to come up with the equivalent of 15 TWh of electricity or 15 billion kWh a year of electricity.  Just 6% of the total amount of electricity that we produce today.

Well, where is the best place to get this energy?  Well we already heard that if we look at energy efficiency it is the most cost effective thing we can do.  In Florida 50% of our electricity is used in your home.  So if you cost effectively save that energy it is a return on you.  Now this is a plot then of the annualized energy and improvement costs for a typical 1,600 sq. ft. home in central Florida.  You can see here that the base home with no improvements done costs about $2,350 a year in electricity.   As we add these energy efficiency improvements we can get down to the point where we save $466.  This is a net savings that actually goes into your pocket after you finance these improvements over 30 years over the conventional financing rates.  $466 you can put in your pocket.  If you want, you can go ahead and buy that slightly more expensive photovoltaics and put it on your roof and still pocket $100 a year in electricity.

Residential electricity is equivalent to $0.99 per gallon of gasoline.

I hope this catches your attention.  Residential electricity in Florida is not too expensive.  It’s the equivalent to $0.99 a gallon for gasoline!  The electric cars are game changers.  Let me explain.

The average car on the road today (light truck, light duty vehicle) gets 25 mpg .   At $3.25 a gallon that is $0.13 per mile driven.  If you look at electricity the electric cars that are produced today get 3 miles per kWh.  At our residential electricity rate of $0.12 per kWh you can drive that car for $0.04 a mile.  So you can pay $1,560 on fuel that is not made in Florida or you can pay $480 on electricity that is made in Florida.  Now I prefer that electricity be renewable or better yet, do the cost effects of energy efficiency in your house and you can drive for free.  That is what that slide shows you.

Residential photovoltaic power is equivalent to $1.33 per gallon of gasoline.

At today’s costs residential photovoltaics on your roof, your power plant, produces electricity at $1.33 a gallon.  That is half of what you are paying today.  We can’t possibly be saying that renewable energy made in Florida is too expensive.  It is gasoline that is too expensive.  We have to get off the stuff.  You can see here a $1.33 a gallon.  Substantial economic savings associated with it.

Now let’s forecast into the future.

Photovoltaics today – $1.33 a gallon; tomorrow – less than a $1.  That is what this plot shows.

Photovoltaics is half the cost of gasoline.

This is a plot of the fuel cost per mile driven for vehicle models years from 1965 all the way up to 2025.  You actually use the price per gallon plus the model year car energy efficiency and you can calculate that red curve.  Now the projections into the future include the recently passed mpg we are going to 54.5 average mpg in the United States by the year 2025.  Unfortunately, the price of fossil fuels is going to go up as well.  So you can see over on the right axis I got the relative cost of gasoline, that red square is the $3.25, that I hinted about earlier, that is what you are paying today for a 25 mpg car.  If you use instead the photovoltaics on your roof and you take into account the federal income credit you are driving at a $1.33 the is the green circle on the plot.  Electricity out of the wall is $1.00.  As the price of fossil fuels go up and as the price of photovoltaics continually decrease, we are getting down to the point where yes you can pay less than $1.00 a gallon.  We will probably never see $2.00 a gallon gasoline, but you can own the power plant on your roof that will let you drive less than that.

This is a presentation of not only the current cost of levelized cost of wholesale energy in 2010 over on the left, and the lower left that is the levelized cost of retail energy in 2010.  The interesting thing is that you will notice that solar photovoltaic utility scales today in 2010 are on the high end of the coal prime prices but as we move forward into the year of 2015, which right now is just three years away, the cost of solar pv at the utility scale is in the low range of new built coal plants.  Now look at the levelized cost of retail energy in the years of 2010 and 2015 to you the consumer.  Today it is cheaper for you to buy gas, electricity out of the wall than it is photovoltaics.  Notice though it is already today in the mid-range of a new coal plant if it could be magically turned on today.  If we look into 2015, not only is residential pv on your roof cheaper for you than electricity out of the wall produced from coal, it is comparable to natural gas.  I remind you solar and biomass is made in Florida.  Making electricity from our resources keeps the money in Florida and it is no longer renewable energy that is too expensive; it is the old way of doing business that is too expensive.

Jobs years per megawatt.

I want to talk to you a bit about jobs.  You may have heard in the renewable area, we generate a lot more jobs per megawatt than we do in the traditional fossil fuels.  Now you will notice up there that photovoltaics are listed at 23 jobs per MW.  Those 23 jobs are based not only on the operation of the power plant, which is what we do traditionally with fossil fuel power plants, but that’s in the manufacturing of that power plant.  And I want things made in Florida.  That also includes the operation cost of that as well.  But that is per MW.  What we need to do is compare equivalent amounts of electricity generation.  And these two examples I have here I have a 500 MW coal plant and I have a 2,518 MW PV plant.  They both make the same amount of electricity in a year, 3.5 TWh.  That’s what we care about, how much electricity does it make?  By the year 2015, the price of the PV utility grade solar power plant is in the mid-range of the price of the coal plant and the coal plant hasn’t been turned on.  It takes 8 years to go build one. We can be generating this PV in Florida today if we allow our utilities to recover the costs.  Let’s look at the jobs, 58,000 job years in the case of photovoltaics.  If you want to take a job year and make it last ten years, that’s 5,800 jobs.  If I build one PV power plant I replace all the workers that have been laid off at Kennedy Space Center.  One power plant.

How to displace 67% OPEC oil imports, create 238K job years, and save $2.1B per year.

How can Florida displace 67% of OPEC oil imports, create 238,000 job years, and save $2.1 billion a year?  It’s simple, we build four PV power plants, the size I just mentioned to you.   That would generate 238,000 jobs and by the time those power plants are probably turned on by the year 2015 they are the most cost effective thing to do.

We can convert all our small cars in Florida.  Now you may be concerned that the upfront cost of an electric car is more expensive than the upfront cost of a gasoline car, that’s true, it is.  But within five years they’re equal in the total cost of operation and most of you finance the cost of a car over five years.  So what is preventing us from doing this?  Let’s allow the utilities to go ahead and put meters in your home and at work.  That is what we need to do.

We can save $2.1 billion a year.  If we make the commitment we want to manufacture renewable energy in Florida for transportation.  Whether it is biomass to electric or photovoltaics I’m OK.  Make it in Florida.

Which purchase is best for Florida?

Let’s look again at Florida manufacturing jobs as a tale of two salad bowls.  But instead of salad bowls let’s look at the total value of the photovoltaic power plants, large and small, industrial, commercial, utility scale and the small electric cars we are going to purchase.  That adds up to a total of $150 billion by the time we get done with that purchase.  Except us.  Are we going to make the PV panels in Florida?  The batteries and the electric cars in Florida?  Or will they be imported?  Do we want to save money?   Do we want to maximize job creation?  Do we really want to keep capital in Florida?  If so, the Sunshine State must create a renewable market in Florida.

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Eligible participants will be compensated $50 for the initial study, and up to $680 for those who are selected to participate in the monitoring and repair portion of the project; repair costs will be paid by FSEC. Homes for the study are being sought in the following Florida counties: Brevard, Osceola, Orange, Seminole, Volusia, Lake, Marion, Putnam, Flagler, St. Johns, Clay, Duval and Nassau.

Wind-driven attic air is pushed into the space between floors.

Wind washing involves the flow of air from an attic space into the floor cavity between the first and second stories of the house. Homes with wind washing are likely to experience increased utility costs and, in some cases, indoor comfort problems.

The FSEC research team will be conducting about five hours of testing in each home. Testing will examine airtightness, air pressure fields in the house, air conditioner performance, duct leakage and attic-to-floor cavity air leak pathways.

Twenty-four homes will be tested. Six of those homes will be selected for repairs, and they will be monitored to evaluate the cooling and heating energy savings from the repairs.

The findings of this research study will help to inform contractors and utility programs on methods for identifying and repairing wind washing problems in homes.

If you are interested in participating in this research project, visit http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/go/TwoStory or contact Jeremy Nelson at 407-243-8197 or jnelson@fsec.ucf.edu.

About FSEC
The Florida Solar Energy Center, a research institute of the University of Central Florida, is the largest and most active state-supported energy research institute in the nation. Current divisions and their research activities include Advanced Energy Research: alternative transportation systems, hydrogen fuel and fuel cells; Buildings Research: energy-efficient buildings; and Solar Energy: solar water and pool heating and solar electric and distributed generation systems. For more information about the center, visit http://www.floridaenergycenter.org or call the FSEC Public Affairs Office at 321-638-1015.

UCF Stands For Opportunity
The University of Central Florida is a metropolitan research university that ranks as the 2nd largest in the nation with more than 56,000 students. UCF’s first classes were offered in 1968. The university offers impressive academic and research environments that power the region’s economic development. UCF’s culture of opportunity is driven by our diversity, Orlando environment, history of entrepreneurship and our youth, relevance and energy. For more information visit http://news.ucf.edu.
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PR11-06

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FSEC, a University of Central Florida research institute, is providing each school with a 10-kilowatt, solar photovoltaic (PV) system valued at more than $80,000. These systems allow schools to capture the sun’s rays and turn them into energy to help reduce electricity costs, and they also serve as generators during a power outage. Installation of the systems – under way now – will reduce energy costs by up to $1,500 a year and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

The photovoltaic system at Oak Hammock Middle School in Ft. Myers is near completion.

Each ground-mounted, 1000-square-foot PV system is capable of providing enough power to run a small appliance like a fridge, overhead lighting or series of electrical outlets.

Schools are getting the systems through the SunSmart Schools E-Shelter program, which was created with a $10 million stimulus grant. A leader in solar energy research, FSEC is coordinating the program and providing educational materials for teachers to use with students, as well as training for school faculty and staff.

“Having these photovoltaic systems in plain view on the school campuses is that first step in raising awareness about this important renewable energy technology,” said Susan Schleith, FSEC project manager for the SunSmart program. “And when a student, parent or teacher asks, ‘What is that and what does it do?,’ that’s when the learning begins.”

Schools receiving the systems are from around the state and include elementary, middle and high schools as well as one college. They were selected to take part in the program based on their status as an emergency shelter, demographics, and their renewable energy education and outreach plans.

Each PV system is connected to the utility electric grid, supplements the school’s electricity during normal operations and keeps a bank of back-up batteries charged. In the event the school is being used as a shelter and there’s an electrical outage, the system powers critical items in the shelter, using the back-up batteries when the sun isn’t shining.

For classroom learning, the system also functions as a learning resource, allowing students and teachers to see how much energy their system is producing, study the relationship between the environment and the PV system and explore the basics of electricity.

At the Academy of Natural Resources at Island Coast High School in Cape Coral, Fla., students take classes in subjects such as environmental science, solar energy and aquaculture. Science teacher Cherie Sukovich says the system will increase students’ understanding of how weather and other environmental factors play a role in capturing the sun’s rays.

“It gives us a very concrete, real-world way to show them an abstract concept,” she said.

Vergona-Bowersox Electric Inc., of Boca Raton, is installing the solar systems at the schools and will finish by 2012.

Following is the list of participating schools. For more information about the program, visit www.fsec.ucf.edu/go/sunsmart.

About FSEC

The Florida Solar Energy Center, a research institute of the University of Central Florida, is the largest and most active state-supported energy research institute in the nation. Current divisions and their research activities include Advanced Energy Research: alternative transportation systems, hydrogen fuel and fuel cells; Buildings Research: energy-efficient buildings; and Solar Energy: solar water and pool heating and solar electric and distributed generation systems. For more information about the center, visit http://www.floridaenergycenter.org or call the FSEC Public Affairs Office at 321-638-1015.

UCF Stands For Opportunity
The University of Central Florida is a metropolitan research university that ranks as the 2nd largest in the nation with more than 56,000 students. UCF’s first classes were offered in 1968. The university offers impressive academic and research environments that power the region’s economic development. UCF’s culture of opportunity is driven by our diversity, Orlando environment, history of entrepreneurship and our youth, relevance and energy. For more information visit http://news.ucf.edu.

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PR11-05

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But there is hope for the Sunshine State, as every cloud has a silver lining.

For the past half dozen years or so, the automotive industry has become pretty serious about producing electric cars that work. The new Chevy Volt (Motor Trend’s Car of the Year) and the all-electric Nissan Leaf are good examples – and they are real game changers.

But what does this have to do with the cost of photovoltaics and gasoline?

Well, it turns out that these electric cars run so efficiently on electricity that they are significantly less expensive to operate than an equivalent sized gasoline car. In fact, their electric efficiency is so good that even if the electricity is provided by solar photovoltaic cells, the cost will be much less than the cost of gasoline.

At $3.90 per gallon (the average price of gasoline in Florida for the week of May 9, 2011; the average U.S. price was $4.02) the annual cost to drive the typical new small car that gets 32.6 mpg for the 12,000 miles that the average car drives each year is $1,436. The new electric cars get 3 miles per kilowatt-hour (kWh). At today’s cost, electricity from a residential solar photovoltaic system costs 16.8 cents per kWh, so the 4,000 kWh it would take to drive the same 12,000 miles would cost you only $672 each year.

Table 1. Cash savings from driving a 2011 PV-powered car = $764/year

Okay, so I got the title of this article a little wrong, photovoltaics today are less than half the cost of gasoline, actually only 47 percent of the cost.

Compared to the gasoline-powered car, the PV-powered car saves $764 each year!  In the future, consumers will save even more since the cost of gasoline is rising. On the other hand, the cost of PV systems continues to decline.

The past four years Florida has not had a renewable energy policy, primarily because PV electricity was thought to be too expensive.

WE WERE WRONG! It’s gasoline, not PV power that’s too expensive.

Florida sunshine can power our cars, saving us literally millions of barrels of oil and keeping substantial amounts of our hard-earned capital in Florida rather than shipping it out of the state and the country to pay for gasoline.

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More than 900 students throughout Florida converged Saturday, May 7 at the University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) in Cocoa to compete in the day-long competition showcasing student projects in alternative fuel technologies.

Solar Energy Cookoff teams were judged on their cooker's design and the dish they cooked.

Events included the Bright House Solar Energy Cookoff, a solar cooker design and cooking contest; the Junior Solar Sprint, model-size solar car races; the High School Hydrogen Sprint and Hands-On-Hydrogen, model-size hydrogen-powered car races; and Energy Innovations, a full-scale solar electric design challenge.

The Bright House Solar Energy Cookoff challenged students to design and build solar cookers, and also cook a recipe of their own creation in their oven. Students’ creative dishes – such as O’Sol Meatballs and Kicken’ Swamp Cabbage – were judged on taste, ingredients and creativity.

The Junior Solar Sprint cars not only raced on the track, but were also judged on vehicle design, quality of craftsmanship, and innovation.

One of the most popular events is the Junior Solar Sprint (JSS), where students in grades 6-8 design, construct and race solar-powered vehicles. This hands-on competition encourages scientific know-how, creative thinking, experimentation and teamwork. Awards were given based on vehicle design, quality of craftsmanship, innovation and vehicle speed.

Hydrogen fuel cell cars gain speed every year.

The Hands-On-Hydrogen competition for middle school students, and the Hydrogen (H2) Sprint, a competition for high school students in grades 9-12, challenges students to design, build and race model-sized cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The competitions expose students to hydrogen’s potential as an alternative fuel source. The H2 Sprint provides graduates of the JSS program an opportunity to continue designing and building alternative-fueled vehicles. Student teams not only showcased their skill on the track, but they also demonstrated their understanding of hydrogen in a 10-minute presentation.

Students develop creative ways to utilize full-size photovoltaic panels in the Energy Innovations competition.

The Energy Innovations program is a full-scale solar electric design and marketing challenge for middle and high school students. Each team designed and constructed a product or artistic work fully powered by photovoltaic panels, more commonly known as solar electric panels. Additionally, teams created marketing pieces, such as brochures, fliers, and posters, to promote their innovative product and educate spectators.

The Bright House Solar Energy Cookoff doubled in size this year.

“Our event continues to grow each year,” said Susan Schleith, education coordinator at FSEC. “The number of solar cooking teams doubled compared to last year and we had more than 70 solar car entries – a new record. It’s gratifying to see more and more students excited about alternative energy.”

Competition results are listed below. Photos of the award winners are available on our Facebook page at FloridaSolarEnergyCenter, or visit www.fsec.ucf.edu/go/energywhiz for more event photos.

JUNIOR SOLAR SPRINT

6^th Grade Race

1^st Place –
Pine View School (car #62, Last Minute Candy Machine), Osprey

2^nd Place –
Gulf Coast Academy (car #37, Jamacia), Spring Hill

3^rd Place –
Hollywood Christian Academy (car #11, Geiko), Hollywood

7^th Grade Race

1^st Place –
McLane Middle School (car #15, Vibot 2), Brandon

2^nd Place –
Jupiter Middle School (car #28, Robin-Sun), Jupiter

3^rd Place –
Conway Middle School (car #68, Kramer’s Favorite), Orlando

8^th Grade Race

1^st Place –
McLane Middle School (car #14, Vibot 1), Brandon

2^nd Place –
McLane Middle School (car #16, Vibot 3), Brandon

3^rd Place –
Cornerstone Middle School, (car #50, S-Car-Go), Tallahassee

Most Innovative Vehicle Design (overall)

1^st Place –
Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High School (car #13), 7^th grade team, Merritt Island

2^nd Place –
Hollywood Christian Academy (car #12), 7^th grade team, Hollywood

3^rd Place –
Einstein Montessori School (car #48), 8^th grade team, Cocoa

Best Vehicle Design (overall)

1^st Place –
McLane Middle School (car #14), 7^th grade team, Brandon

2^nd Place –
McLane Middle School (car #16), 7^th grade team, Brandon

3^rd Place –
Hollywood Christian Academy (car #12), 7^th grade team, Hollywood

HYDROGEN SPRINT

1^st Place Race –
Edgewood Jr/Sr High (Imperial High Inquisitors), Merritt Island

1^st Place Design –
Edgewood Jr/Sr High (Imperial High Inquisitors), Merritt Island

1^st Place Performance –
Edgewood Jr/Sr High (Race Girls), Merritt Island

Overall Ranking:

1^st Place –
Edgewood Jr/Sr High (Imperial High Inquisitors), Merritt Island

2^nd Place –
Edgewood Jr/Sr High (Race Girls), Merritt Island

3^rd Place –
Edgewood Jr/Sr High (H₂ Fuel Cows), Merritt Island

HANDS-ON-HYDROGEN

1^st Place Design –
Edgewood Jr/Sr High (car #2, The Hula), Merritt Island

1^st Place Overall –
McLain Middle (car #17, H₂ Go), Brandon
2^nd Place Overall –
Andrew Jackson Middle School (car #8, Fred), Titusville

3^rd Place Overall –
Trinity Prepatory (car #1, Brain the Train), Winter Park

BRIGHT HOUSE SOLAR COOKOFF

Elementary School Division

WOW! Award –
Hollywood Christian (#21, Metallic Core), Hollywood

1^st Place Cooker Design –
Fellsmere Elemen. (#18, The Baja Grillers), Fellsmere

2^nd Place Cooker Design –
Knight’s Elementary (#13, Whiz Kids), Plant City

3^rd Place Cooker Design –
Hollywood Christian (#21, Metallic Core), Hollywood

1^st Place Solar Chef –
Fellsmere Elemen. (#18, The Baja Grillers), Fellsmere

2^nd Place Solar Chef –
Fellsmere Elemen. (#17, Cocina del Sol), Fellsmere

3^rd Place Solar Chef –
Hollywood Christian (#21, Metallic Core), Hollywood

Middle School Division

WOW! Award –
Edgewood Jr/Sr High (#8, Panda Dynasty), Merritt Island

1^st Place Cooker Design –
Hidden Oaks Middle (#18, Alessa Grill), Palm City

2^nd Place Cooker Design –
Hidden Oaks Middle (#17, Sol Power), Palm City

3^rd Place Cooker Design –
Conway Middle (#25, Chef JLJ), Orlando

1^st Place Solar Chef –
Edgewood Jr/Sr High (#8, Panda Dynasty), Merritt Island

2^nd Place Solar Chef –
Hidden Oaks Middle (#18, Alessa Grill), Palm City

3^rd Place Solar Chef –
South Seminole Middle (#4, International Cooking Flare), Casselberry

Energy Innovations

Wow! Award (combined division) –
Gulf Coast Academy (NEXXAN Sun Glider), Spring Hill

Middle School

1^st Place Photovoltaic Design –
Gulf Coast Academy (NEXXAN Sun Glider), Spring Hill

2^nd Place Photovoltaic Design –
Edgewood Jr/Sr High (The Air Heads), Merritt Island

3^rd Place Photovoltaic Design –
Edgewood Jr/Sr High (The Dukes), Merritt Island
High School

1^st Place Photovoltaic Design –
Pasco High (Solar Tricycle), Dade City

2^nd Place Photovoltaic Design –
South Broward High (Sun Tiki), Hollywood

3^rd Place Photovoltaic Design –
Edgewood Jr/Sr High (The Happy Cows), Merritt Island

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PR11-04

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