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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
