News Article
Student Develops Novel Energy Storage
An engineering student may have found the Holy Grail of renewable energy as part of his final university project.
Claus Volkening, 23, of the University of Portsmouth, has designed and laboratory tested a solar energy storage design which has the power to transform lives and even help solve global warming by making clean, cheap electricity available to all, even at night.
His working model of a solar updraft tower uses water storage tanks to solve the problem of existing solar power plants which only generate electricity when the sun shines.
A prototype solar updraft tower was built in Spain and later destroyed in a storm in 1989 but Claus is the first to build a working small-scale model that continues to generate electricity at night.
He said: 'An easy and cheap way to store "green" energy is desperately needed as the world increasingly demands renewable energy. But the problem with existing solar power generators is that the times of peak generation of energy -- during the day -- do not match with times of peak need at night.
'I wanted to find a way of generating solar power at night and found that by using water tanks to store the sun's energy through the day I could smooth out the energy available from a solar power plant. With my model even when night falls and temperatures drop electricity is still available and reliable.
'Mine is the first working model that has proven this can be done though more work needs to be done including an investigation of other materials to be used as storage elements before it could be used as a blueprint for solar updraft tower plants around the world.'
Claus's scale model is based on a 1km high tower surrounded by glass or plastic above water tanks across a 16km square area to recreate a greenhouse effect. Existing solar updraft towers work by collecting heat energy from the sun and sending the warm air up through the tower which houses a turbine. When the turbine turns it generates electricity as long as the sun shines with zero harmful emissions.
Claus said: 'After sunset, the updraft drops and the energy output effectively stops. In my model, some of the solar energy is removed from the air flow process to heat the water and this is then released at night. This avoids a peak during the day and smoothes the overall output.'
By using water to store some of the heat the amount of electricity generated at various times of the day or night can be changed by adding or removing water tanks.
He said: 'Energy is fascinating; it keeps everything moving. I'd love to work in industry and get the opportunity to help solve the problem of world's energy consumption.'
Claus is a German scholar studying for his BEng (hons) at Portsmouth's Department of Mechanical and Design Engineering. He has almost completed a BSc in mechanical engineering at Siegen University in Germany but chose to study for a year in Britain as part of a double degree course offered by the two universities. He hopes his design could be built in deserts all over the globe, wherever conditions are suitable including in north and South America, Africa, the Middle East and Australia to generate clean, green electricity.
Claus's tutor at Portsmouth Dr James Buick said: 'The technology behind solar updraft tower power plants is simple and they can be made from materials available anywhere in the world, which means, unlike other technologies, they are suitable for less developed countries.
'Bearing in mind that the demand for power is rising, that fossil fuels will run out and that more than a billion people still haven't got a regular power supply, global warming isn't the only problem which could be solved by this technology.'
His working model of a solar updraft tower uses water storage tanks to solve the problem of existing solar power plants which only generate electricity when the sun shines.
A prototype solar updraft tower was built in Spain and later destroyed in a storm in 1989 but Claus is the first to build a working small-scale model that continues to generate electricity at night.
He said: 'An easy and cheap way to store "green" energy is desperately needed as the world increasingly demands renewable energy. But the problem with existing solar power generators is that the times of peak generation of energy -- during the day -- do not match with times of peak need at night.
'I wanted to find a way of generating solar power at night and found that by using water tanks to store the sun's energy through the day I could smooth out the energy available from a solar power plant. With my model even when night falls and temperatures drop electricity is still available and reliable.
'Mine is the first working model that has proven this can be done though more work needs to be done including an investigation of other materials to be used as storage elements before it could be used as a blueprint for solar updraft tower plants around the world.'
Claus's scale model is based on a 1km high tower surrounded by glass or plastic above water tanks across a 16km square area to recreate a greenhouse effect. Existing solar updraft towers work by collecting heat energy from the sun and sending the warm air up through the tower which houses a turbine. When the turbine turns it generates electricity as long as the sun shines with zero harmful emissions.
Claus said: 'After sunset, the updraft drops and the energy output effectively stops. In my model, some of the solar energy is removed from the air flow process to heat the water and this is then released at night. This avoids a peak during the day and smoothes the overall output.'
By using water to store some of the heat the amount of electricity generated at various times of the day or night can be changed by adding or removing water tanks.
He said: 'Energy is fascinating; it keeps everything moving. I'd love to work in industry and get the opportunity to help solve the problem of world's energy consumption.'
Claus is a German scholar studying for his BEng (hons) at Portsmouth's Department of Mechanical and Design Engineering. He has almost completed a BSc in mechanical engineering at Siegen University in Germany but chose to study for a year in Britain as part of a double degree course offered by the two universities. He hopes his design could be built in deserts all over the globe, wherever conditions are suitable including in north and South America, Africa, the Middle East and Australia to generate clean, green electricity.
Claus's tutor at Portsmouth Dr James Buick said: 'The technology behind solar updraft tower power plants is simple and they can be made from materials available anywhere in the world, which means, unlike other technologies, they are suitable for less developed countries.
'Bearing in mind that the demand for power is rising, that fossil fuels will run out and that more than a billion people still haven't got a regular power supply, global warming isn't the only problem which could be solved by this technology.'
