qmstech2

the steps that convert your energy source into electricity

"Wave energy is the transport of energy by ocean surface waves, and the capture of that energy to do useful work - for example, electricity generation, water desalination, or the pumping of water (into reservoirs). Machinery able to exploit wave power is generally known as a wave energy converter (WEC)."

"Today, wind farms generate about 50,000 megawatts of clean, renewable energy -- the equivalent of the energy produced by 12"

solar energy

" wave energy is very close to being competitive with installed costs that suggest electrical charges of less than $.05 per KWh; which makes it competitive with fossil fuel generators. But that figure doesn't take into account the fact that wave energy is intermittent and variable. Even in the most active wave areas, there are many days with little wave activity."

wind power technology

" Geothermal Electricity Production Most power plants need steam to generate electricity. The steam rotates a turbine that activates a generator, which produces electricity. Many power plants still use fossil fuels to boil water for steam. Geothermal power plants, however, use steam produced from reservoirs of hot water found a couple of miles or more below the Earth's surface. There are three types of geothermal power plants: dry steam, flash steam, and binary cycle. Dry steam power plants draw from underground resources of steam. The steam is piped directly from underground wells to the power plant, where it is directed into a turbine/generator unit. There are only two known underground resources of steam in the United States: The Geysers in northern California and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, where there's a well-known geyser called Old Faithful. Since Yellowstone is protected from development, the only dry steam plants in the country are at The Geysers. This geothermal power plant generates electricity for the Imperial Valley in California. Credit: Warren Gretz Flash steam power plants are the most common. They use geothermal reservoirs of water with temperatures greater than 360°F (182°C). This very hot water flows up through wells in the ground under its own pressure. As it flows upward, the pressure decreases and some of the hot water boils into steam. The steam is then separated from the water and used to power a turbine/generator. Any leftover water and condensed steam are injected back into the reservoir, making this a sustainable resource. Binary cycle power plants operate on water at lower temperatures of about 225°-360°F (107°-182°C). These plants use the heat from the hot water to boil a working fluid, usually an organic compound with a low boiling point. The working fluid is vaporized in a heat exchanger and used to turn a turbine. The water is then injected back into the ground to be reheated. The water and the working fluid are

"China has also laid claims to having invented windmills around 2,000 years ago, but the first documented claims appear in the 1200's. Around 250 A.D. the Romans introduced windmills into their culture and in the 700's so did Afghanistan. The Afghanistan windmills were also of the vertical axis style and cloth sails or reed matting was developed to catch the air. These windmills were used to grind corn and sugarcane plus draw water. In the 13th century Holland started developing large horizontal axis windmills. These four-blade windmills were larger, carried more torque and wind speed and could do more work than other windmills previously designed. The Holland windmills were also being used to grind grains and to drain part of the Rhine River. In the 19th century Denmark had an estimated 2,500 windmills and in the U. S. windmills were starting to be used to pump water. The Halladay windmill of 1854 is one such example of this. The first windmill in the world built for electrical production was in 1887 in Scotland built by Professor James Blyth. A year later in 1888 in the U. S. Charles Brush of Cleveland, Ohio built a large wind turbine used to generate electricity."

"Hydrogen is the simplest of all elements with one electron and one proton. Two hydrogen atoms form one hydrogen gas molecule, or H2, but this gas is rarely found in large quantities in nature. Hydrogen's chemical properties allow it to combine easily with other elements to form other molecules"

"Today's photovoltaic systems are used to generate electricity to pump water, light up the night, activate switches, charge batteries, supply power to the utility grid, and much more. 1839: Nineteen-year-old Edmund Becquerel, a French experimental physicist, discovered the photovoltaic effect while experimenting with an electrolytic cell made up of two metal electrodes. 1873: Willoughby Smith discovered the photoconductivity of selenium. 1876: Adams and Day observed the photovoltaic effect in solid selenium. 1883: Charles Fritts, an American inventor, described the first solar cells made from selenium wafers. 1887: Heinrich Hertz discovered that ultraviolet light altered the lowest voltage capable of causing a spark to jump between two metal electrodes. 1904: Hallwachs discovered that a combination of copper and cuprous oxide was photosensitive. Einstein published his paper on the photoelectric effect. 1914: The existence of a barrier layer in PV devices was reported. 1916: Millikan provided experimental proof of the photoelectric effect. 1918: Polish scientist Czochralski developed a way to grow single-crystal silicon. 1923: Albert Einstein received the Nobel Prize for his theories explaining the photoelectric effect. 1951: A grown p-n junction enabled the production of a single-crystal cell of germanium. 1954: The PV effect in Cd was reported; primary work was performed by Rappaport, Loferski and Jenny at RCA. Bell Labs researchers Pearson, Chapin, and Fuller reported their discovery of 4.5% efficient silicon solar cells; this was raised to 6% only a few months later (by a work team including Mort Prince). Chapin, Fuller, Pearson (AT&T) submitted their results to the Journal of Applied Physics. AT&T demonstrated solar cells in Murray Hill, New Jersey, then at the National Academy of Science Meeting in Washington, DC. 1955: Western Electric began to sell commercial licenses for silicon PV technologies; early successful products included PV-powered dolla

"In geothermal energy plants, water is injected into the ground. Underground, there are areas of rock that are heated by the presence of volcanic activity, such as magma near the surface. This heats the water, which comes back out of the ground very hot. A heat exchanger cools the water, which goes back into the ground. The heat from the heat exchanger boils another pipe of water into steam. The steam spins a turbine, which is connected to a generator, which creates electricity. "