Solar energy is generated by our sun’s radiation and allows for photo-voltaic technologies to transfer this energy into electric energy for our needs and use. This process requires fairly clear skies for the sun to shine its energy for maximum use and is available most of the year in most regions where people live on the planet. Solar energy is the least concentrated form of renewable energy at about 0.2 to 0.3 kilowatts per square meter. Solar panels are well known and highly produced today, typically made from silicon-dioxide or quartz sheets and have become very cost efficient with average of $2.50 to $3.50 per watt. Though you need a fair amount of surface space to set them up for individual, home or small application use and quite a lot of land space to set them up for large business, community and regional production use. There are a variety of new methods and technologies for even more effective use for solar energy and photo-voltaic systems.

Wind energy is seemingly infinitely available on Earth though it has its ebb and flow with being available all the time or in vast amounts for steady power generation from it. The energy of wind is generated initially from our sun’s radiation on the planet and through changing dynamics of heat and air pressure, a more concentrated form of energy called wind is created. Wind energy is more concentrated than solar energy as a square meter of surface area of a wind turbine propeller absorbs about 2 to 3 kilowatts of energy. Wind energy offers availability to anyone for a small setup for a home to incredibly huge 50+ MW generation turbines that support regional energy needs. The cost per watt is cheaper than Nuclear Energy and close in comparability to oil and gas currently. There are major advances in turbine designs and environmental smart sensor systems that are changing the cost and productivity of wind energy to be more evenly efficient with other advancing clean energy technologies. On-shore and off-shore wind farm systems offer a great expanse of opportunity for the dynamic use of wind energy technology across the planet.

Hydro-electric energy is sourced from river, stream, lake, reservoir and ocean water moving through turbines which turn and create electricity. The most common designs for hydro-electric systems are dams, pumped storage, rivers and ocean tide plants. Hydro-electric energy is commonly produced at low cost with high value. Power plant designs can range from the capacity of a stream all the way to a 22 gigawatt dam. Hydro-electric energy produces no carbon emissions or toxic pollution. Though it does affect water, soil and life forms in nearby local ecosystems, up and downstream. There are a few countries that produce most of there power from hydro-electricity. There are many new progressive technologies of different scale that make hydro-electric energy a valuable asset for very clean energy production world-wide.

Wave energy is created from wind blowing across expanses of the ocean surface. The main types of wave energy devices are point absorber buoy, surface attenuator, wave surge converter, water column, over-topping and submerged. Most of the surface of the planet is ocean water which creates the possibility of sourcing a lot of clean energy without carbon emissions. The square meter of the energy of a wave is 20 to 30 kilowatts which is highly concentrated in energy, many times more potent then wind and solar. Wave energy technologies are typically very safe for marine life. Wave Energy technologies are still in early development though there are a lot of promising new technologies that can be used in a variety of ways. Wave energy production is comparable in cost to wind and solar energy..

Tidal energy is created from gravity, the pull of the sun and moon on the planet causing water movement or underwater currents throughout the ocean to the edges creating the rise and fall of the tides. Electricity producing under water turbines harness the tidal created currents. Other technologies utilize the rise and fall of the ocean tides along the coast to generate electricity. The main types of tidal energy technologies are stream generator, barrage, dynamic and tidal lagoon. Tidal energy is carbon free, safe, plentiful and fairly cost effective. Tidal power has been used in large scale plants since 1960, the Rance tidal plant in France has a 240 megawatt capacity today.

Geo-thermal energy is created from the thermal energy of matter deep in the Earth. If the conductivity of heat through certain types of combinations of decaying matter is possible then a connection of energy from the core is created to the surface where Geo-thermal technologies can be used to generate electricity. The main types of Geo-thermal technology designs are dry steam, flash steam and binary cycle power stations. Geo-thermal power stations are usually large centralized steam plants connected to a field of wells. Geo-thermal energy is utilized widely across the planet safely, cheaply and free of carbon emissions. Some of the largest Geo-thermal fields produce over 1,500 megawatts capacity. This clean, continuous energy source is plentiful, potent, reliable and cost efficient and even powers more than 3,000 megawatts of energy in the US alone.

Hydrogen energy is a clean, potent bio-fuel that is carbon emission free when burned as a fuel or stored in a fuel cell similar to a battery. The Hydrogen atom is considered the most abundant atom in the universe and is most easily sourced through water. With so much water on the planet hydrogen is a widely abundant energy source. The molecule of water can be separated into hydrogen and oxygen atoms using an electrical current. Hydrogen gas can then be used as a gas bio-fuel to power combustion engines, generators and industrial equipment or the hydrogen and oxygen atoms can be combined again in a hydrogen fuel cell creating usable electricity. Hydrogen energy is very powerful as a gas bio-fuel and the only emissions are water vapor. Hydrogen fuel cells allow for new clean energy storage possibilities, long lasting batteries which can store energy harnessed from other types of clean renewable energies like wind, solar, wave, etc.

Community Shared Solar is an electric energy power system that provides solar or photo-voltaic energy through a communal effort. This shared system can provide power and financial benefits to the community involved. This system can be applied in many different ways. Typically it is localized between neighborhoods, communities, cities or towns even up to a statewide scale. Investments by participants (home residents, businesses, land owners and financial investors) can be applied towards creating the shared electric power generating system. Individual small solar panel setups can be applied on each home or business to larger scale solar panel setups in large spaces such as “solar farms”. These Community Shared Solar Systems give options to ways clean energy can be applied and utilized at different scales and between localized groups of participants.

COMMUNITY SHARED ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES