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Joshua M. Pearce

Renewable energy

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Open Source Low-Cost Power Monitoring System, Shane W. Oberloier, Joshua M. Pearce Mar 2019

Open Source Low-Cost Power Monitoring System, Shane W. Oberloier, Joshua M. Pearce

Joshua M. Pearce

This study presents an entirely open-source, low-cost power monitoring system capable of many types of measurements including both loads and supplies such as solar photovoltaic systems. In addition, the system can be fabricated using only open source software and hardware. The design revolves around the Digital Universal Energy Logger (DUEL) Node, which is responsible for reading and properly scaling the voltage and current of a particular load, and then serializing it via an on-board ATTiny85 chip. The configuration of the DUEL node allows for custom sensitivity ranges, and can handle up to 50 A and 300 V. Up to 127 …

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Community Voices: Perspectives On Renewable Energy In Nunavut, Nicole C. Mcdonald, Joshua M. Pearce Oct 2015

Community Voices: Perspectives On Renewable Energy In Nunavut, Nicole C. Mcdonald, Joshua M. Pearce

Joshua M. Pearce

Nunavut communities currently depend on imported diesel fuel for virtually all of their energy needs. This dependency not only hinders the ability of communities to be self-sufficient, but also has negative impacts on their environment, health, and social well-being. The current practices waste 65% of the energy created and place a serious economic strain on the society by consuming 20% of the government’s annual budget. Although renewable energy technologies (RETs) could partially offset diesel use, there is a lack of sufficient information to mold appropriate policy. This investigation of community perspectives contributes to information needed to develop sustainable energy policies …

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Toward Renewable Eenergy Geo-Information Infrastructures: Applications Of Giscience And Remote Sensing That Build Institutional Capacity, K. Calvert, Joshua M. Pearce, W. E. Mabee Oct 2015

Toward Renewable Eenergy Geo-Information Infrastructures: Applications Of Giscience And Remote Sensing That Build Institutional Capacity, K. Calvert, Joshua M. Pearce, W. E. Mabee

Joshua M. Pearce

Sustained policy support is necessary in order to drive a transition toward renewable energy (RE). The ability to realize RE policy objectives is constrained by a range of geographic factors related to resource potential, the distribution of resources, land availability/suitability, the absorptive capacity of proximal infrastructure, and local socio-political acceptance. With this in mind, this paper provides a systematic review of how geographic information science and remote sensing techniques have been applied to reduce uncertainties surrounding renewable energy development, with emphasis on policy and planning needs. The concept of a ‘geo-information infrastructure’ is used to bring coherence and direction to …

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Incorporating Shading Losses In Solar Photovoltaic Potential Assessment At The Municipal Scale, Ha T. Nguyen, Joshua M. Pearce Oct 2015

Incorporating Shading Losses In Solar Photovoltaic Potential Assessment At The Municipal Scale, Ha T. Nguyen, Joshua M. Pearce

Joshua M. Pearce

Recently several algorithms have been developed to calculate the solar photovoltaic (PV) potential on the basis of 2.5D raster data that can capture urban morphology. This study provides a new algorithm that (i) incorporates both terrain and near surface shadowing effects on the beam component; (ii) scales down the diffuse components of global irradiation; and (iii) utilizes free and open source GRASS and the module r.sun in modeling irradiation. This algorithm is semi-automatic and easy to upgrade or correct (no hand drawn areas), open source, detailed and provides rules of thumb for PV system design at the municipal level. The …

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Estimating Potential Photovoltaic Yield With R.Sun And The Open Source Geographical Resources Analysis Support System, H. T. Nguyen, Joshua M. Pearce Dec 2009

Estimating Potential Photovoltaic Yield With R.Sun And The Open Source Geographical Resources Analysis Support System, H. T. Nguyen, Joshua M. Pearce

Joshua M. Pearce

The package r.sun within the open source Geographical Resources Analysis Support System (GRASS) can be used to compute insolation including temporal and spatial variation of albedo and solar photovoltaic yield. A complete algorithm is presented covering the steps of data acquisition and preprocessing to post-simulation whereby candidate lands for incoming solar farms projects are identified. The optimal resolution to acquire reliable solar energy outputs to be integrated into PV system design software was determined to be 1 square km. A case study using the algorithm developed here was performed on a North American region encompassing fourteen counties in South-eastern Ontario. …

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Quantifying Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Potential For Regional Renewable Energy Policy, L. K. Winginton, H. T. Nguyen, Joshua M. Pearce Jul 2009

Quantifying Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Potential For Regional Renewable Energy Policy, L. K. Winginton, H. T. Nguyen, Joshua M. Pearce

Joshua M. Pearce

Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has matured to become a technically viable large-scale source of sustainable energy. Understanding the rooftop PV potential is critical for utility planning, accommodating grid capacity, deploying financing schemes and formulating future adaptive energy policies. This paper demonstrates techniques to merge the capabilities of geographic information systems and object-specific image recognition to determine the available rooftop area for PV deployment in an example large-scale region in south eastern Ontario. A five-step procedure has been developed for estimating total rooftop PV potential which involves geographical division of the region; sampling using the Feature Analyst extraction software; extrapolation using …

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Catalyzing Mass Production Of Solar Photovoltaic Cells Using University Driven Green Purchasing, Joshua M. Pearce Dec 2005

Catalyzing Mass Production Of Solar Photovoltaic Cells Using University Driven Green Purchasing, Joshua M. Pearce

Joshua M. Pearce

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of the purchase power of the higher education system to catalyze the economy of scale necessary to ensure market competitiveness for solar photovoltaic electricity. Design/methodology/approach – The approach used here was to first determine the demand necessary to construct “Solar City factories”, factories that possess equipment and processes sized, dedicated and optimized to produce only solar photovoltaic systems. Inexpensive solar cells from these factories could produce solar electricity at rates comparable to conventional fossil‐fuel derived electricity. Then it was determined if sufficient demand could be guaranteed by green …

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