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With more than 60% of its population unable to access the power grid, Nigerian engineers are now racing to devise viable alternatives to deliver electricity to an additional 85 million people or more in less than 12 years.
An email sent to me by one Irene Faluyi-Smythe talked of an event that will rally Nigerian engineers in the Diaspora to return home and take part in engineering development that would deliver sustainable power, and I got interested.
Sponsored and hosted by the UK chapter of the Engineering Forum of Nigerians, the 14 June 2008 conference in London will be looking at means and ways of delivering sustainable power in the country.
By Gavin Hudson •
May 17, 2008
Manufacturers of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels know the panel’s theoretical efficiency, but it’s much more difficult to tell the actual efficiency. For this, solar companies send their panels to a lab for testing under real weather conditions.
Recently, I visited such a solar testing lab — the Solar Power Research Lab at Chosun University in Gwangju, South Korea. I was greeted by Mr. Choi Jong-sik, an engineer and a graduate of the department.
Out front of this lab, a small field of solar panels soak up sunlight. The panel’s designs range from flat to arched and even rotating; some are varicolored polycrystalline, others are neatly lined monocrystalline. Rotating panels have tracking devices that follow the sun (pictured here). The panels can rotate 180° and swivel vertically 53°, following the sun’s path across the sky. The array and variety of panels is stunning.
Solar Power in Building Design by Peter Gevorkian is subtitled “The Engineer’s Complete Design Resource,” and it is certainly an apt description of this extensive volume.
The book goes far beyond what a casual reader interested in solar power would need to know, but there is a wealth of good information inside, and it is likely to be useful for a wide range of readers who have more than just a casual interest in solar power. It is largely concentrated on electrical generation strategies with solar power, although the final chapter of the book deals with passive solar heating technologies.
This book is more than just an engineering technical manual. In addition to being a resource for engineers and architects, building managers, owners (and here I’m thinking more of commercial building manager and operators rather than the average homeowner), and other non-technical readers will find a wealth of information about current energy programs such as the California Solar Initiative Program and about the economics of solar power systems–aspects that play a major role in determining whether or not to install a solar power system.
Terrence Williams from UC-Davis (Team Fate) plug-in hybridI had the opportunity last week to visit General Motors' headquarters in downtown Detroit for an event with the ChallengeX program. ChallengeX is a program co-sponsored by GM and the US Department of Energy. Teams from universities across the US (and one from Canada) were given a stock Chevrolet Equinox to use as the base vehicle
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