Solar Roadshow
Sustainability Roadshow
Andy's now legendary renewable energy roadshow was spotted at a number of venues countrywide during 2007. The first stop was the Inishowen Summer Gathering on the weekend of 30th June and 1st July, where a solar PV installation was set up to power the event. In August the roadshow hit the south-east for the Irish Green Gathering at Woodbrook House.
Our aim had been to power the music side of the event from solar PV. On the first night we successfully powered the main stage and were able to supply up to 9.2 kW of power for the amplifiers and lighting system. Interestingly, the lights were made up of banks of LEDs and this was the first time any of us had seen such a lighting arrangement at a festival. The LEDs use far less power than conventional lighting.
Although unforeseen extra demands placed upon our system meant we were unable to power the main stage on the saturday and sunday, we were still pleased that we were able to run the stage on the friday night. The company doing the sound and lights had never run their system from batteries charged from renewable energy before and were understandably quite nervous before hand about whether or not there would be any problems with the quality of the supply. In the event we were able to deliver a very high quality supply, better regulated than the ESB would ever manage and far superior to the output of the average diesel generator.
We hope to do a lot more of this sort of stuff as we find it is very good way of demonstrating renewable energy in action, and it also highlights the huge difficulty in attempting to replace conventional fossil fuels with energy from renewable sources. A common question is 'how much will it take to power a house'? People are usually surprised - and disappointed - when we explain that it simply is not possible to power a conventional house from solar PV.
Apart from the problem that at our latitude, three quarters of the annual solar energy occurs between April and September, when electricity demand is lowest, the typical house uses far so much electricity that even if the entire roof were made up of solar photovoltaic panels, it still wouldn't be enough!
Providing Power at Events from Renewable Energy
Some Good Reasons
It reduces greenhouse emissions and dependency on fossil fuels
Its educational: an opportunity to inform people and raise awareness about renewable energy and its possibilities
It demonstrates the technology in action
Why Solar for Temporary Off-Grid Power Supplies?
Solar is more reliable than wind: even in poor weather conditions, some electricity is generated. In calm conditions, the output from a wind turbine is zero
Solar is more versatile than wind: it is suited to a much wider variety of sites and situations. Wind turbines need exposed open terrain free from trees and buildings
Solar is much cleaner and far more efficient than using generators running on biodiesel or other biofuels. Even biofuels emit greenhouse gasses and the production of the fuels themselves may involve environmentally damaging activities such as rainforest destruction. Also, the typical engine driven generator is less than 10% efficient, meaning that more fossil fuels energy is used to produce the crop from which the biofuel is derived, than will be saved by using it!!!
It’s quiet. Our system is completely silent and we really mean silent. No generator sounds or turbine noises.
Our system is fully mobile. It can be transported anywhere a vehicle can get access to and needs no specialist equipment to set up.
No mess! No site excavation or machine work is necessary: all that is needed is a good sunny location (south facing) for the panels and a place where we can erect the hut/gurt we use for a control centre.
What if the Weather is Poor at the Event?
Although solar panels deliver less power during cloudy and/or rainy conditions, the battery bank provides safeguard against poor weather. The batteries will come supplied fully charged (from solar panels and wind turbines at our site near Westport).
2008
The roadshow has aquired new equipment during the autumn of 2007 and now can offer increased capability.
Event organisers interested in using our solar roadshow to power their event are requested to get in touch.
Solar Heating
There is an in-depth article on solar heating in Issue 2 of the magazine.
