Alternative Energy Needs

by Michael A. Stoton and Don Stoneman

Budd and a business partner market kits to make wind generators, using parts from scrapped three-quarter-ton pickup trucks and burned out electric motors. They sell the technology over the Internet, across North America, and their market is growing.

Bruce McCreath of Solwind Energo Inc. in Goderich also sees interest growing in electrical self-generation. He is a consultant on wind and solar generation, and notes a growing enthusiasm from farmers in alternative electrical energy sources. So far, most installations he encounters are just baby steps into self-generation, such as electric fencers powered by a solar panel with battery backup or systems for pumping water for livestock at remote sites. But some farmers are trying to fulfil a majority of their needs on farm.

The de-regulation of Ontario Hydro was put on hold last year, but only temporarily. Farm concerns about rising rates are running rampant and California's deregulation woes last winter fed those worries. Memories of the disastrous ice storms in eastern Ontario three years ago have flooded back, reminding everyone in the Ontario agriculture community how vulnerable modern power-hungry farms are to skyrocketing electrical costs and failures in the system.

Budd sees a new group of customers showing interest in his kits. And where previously generator kits were mostly sold to people in remote areas, he says that now people are looking for generation for their homes and farms.

The kit he markets consists of a video and plans for making a wind-driven electrical generator using parts readily available from scrap yards. It is modeled on similar technology developed in a remote area of Scotland and is used in Europe.

He describes the generator as "a powerful magnet rotating inside a tin can." A customer buying the kit must locate and purchase a truck rear end and the magnets. Both are available inexpensively anywhere in North America, Budd says. The rear end of one three-quarter-ton truck (identifiable by the eight studs holding on the tires) supplies components for two windmills.

A scrapped 10-15 horsepower motor, available from a metal recycler, can provide the laminated high silver steel that is also necessary. In recent years, the magnets required to make this work have become cheaper and better, Budd says. Still, not everyone is going to be able to generate a worthwhile amount of his or her own farm electricity.

Location is critical to the windmill's generating power, Budd says. "You can put a big windmill on a short tower and make precious little energy," he says. "But if you double the wind speed you get eight times the power." He warns that barns and trees cause turbulence, the enemy of electrical generation, and that changes in wind direction are hard on the windmills.

The power for electric fencers and water pumps is supplied by Pv (Photo voltaic) solar panels. Use of this technology makes economic sense regardless of changes in power rates, McCreath says, particularly if the area to be fenced has no existing access to regular power. Similarly, solar power generators can operate remote livestock watering. Instead of running an overhead or underground power cable costing thousands of dollars, a farmer can locate a small solar panel and back-up battery module on a post next to the stock tank.

Constant energy source
Meanwhile, some farmers are combining solar power and wind generation to meet their electrical needs, and even trying to become independent of the rural power grid. Martin Van Den Berg, a Goderich-area organic farmer, is one of them. He has installed an impressive 2kW Pv solar array, measuring 10 feet by 20, mounted on a six-inch-thick concrete base, along with a 700-watt brake drum wind generator. He did most of the work himself, hiring McCreath as a consultant. McCreath helped with the wiring while the farmer and his sons laid out the base, installed the generator and erected the mast.

On McCreath's advice, Van Den Berg plans to install two additional wind generators this spring to supplement the solar power since Goderich experienced an unusually high number of overcast days last fall and winter, reducing the solar generator's effectiveness. Van Den Berg expects the new system to power motors up to and including three horsepower. His solar panels and the wind generators will run the water pump, feed mill and lighting and all the family's household needs.

Goderich's location on the east shore of Lake Huron, with its prevailing northwesterly winds, is ideal for wind generation, McCreath says. Sites classified as good wind generators have consistent wind speeds averaging in the 16-24 km/h range. To be effective, a wind generator must be located away from trees and buildings that create "wind shadows." McCreath says winds near Lake Huron are highest during the winter when days are short, and lighter during the abundant sunlight of the summer months. "Properly sized, the combination of Pv and wind complement each other and can provide a year-round energy output that is relatively constant, month to month," McCreath says.

McCreath estimates a Pv system such as Van Den Berg operates would cost close to $24,000, including shipping and taxes, with the additional wind generators add another $5,000. Based on a theoretical maximum output of 4,000 watts, the cost is approximately $7.25 per watt of capacity.

However, new technology appears to be bringing down the cost of wind generation rapidly. A report released last October by the Solar Electric Power Association of Washington, D.C., indicates that the average cost of a system generating more than 70kW had fallen to $8.46 US per watt in 1998 and 1999 from $9.87 in the previous two years. The study cited one installation that cost $6 ($8.88 Cdn) a watt. Costs could drop to $3 in 2001/2002.

Individually, a 2kW Pv array and 2kW wind generator will not produce full-rated power every day. An array like the Van Den Berg's will produce an average of 6,480 watt-hours (6.48kW/h) per day in southern Ontario. The wind generator will make up for the 40 per cent reduction in solar output experienced in the winter and it will pump additional watts to bring the total energy produced above 6,480 watt-hours per day. "And then there are nights like last night," said Budd, after a particularly windy evening in late February when his windmill kicked out about 25 per cent more than its rated capacity.

McCreath says some farmers are easing into alternate sources of energy by remaining tied into the grid, eliminating the need for batteries. A 10kW output wind generator would be suitable in a grid intertie set up and can substantially reduce energy costs, "provided they have a good wind site."

He points to a number of natural indicators, like wind-bent tree limbs to quantify and identify a good wind site. Data from weather stations and nearby airports is another good source. McCreath rents an anemometer to prospective clients to access their wind potential and Solwind will perform an on-site analysis, putting up a helium balloon with streamers to determine at which height the wind generator must be to find steady, non-turbulent air flow.

Provincial motivation needed
The average life expectancy of a wind system, says McCreath, can be 25 years or better and generally requires little maintenance -- about $500 a year if performed by a dealer, less if the farmer does it. Preventative maintenance includes checking for loose hardware and excess play in the bearings. A serious failure due to extreme and rare weather conditions is another matter.

Last year, McCreath assisted in the installation of a wind generator on one farm where the owner uses it to provide almost 80 percent of his power needs and can feed excess power to the grid when production is higher than demand. This farmer has a "net billing" contract with the utility; the energy put into the grid runs the electricity meter backwards, though the farmer still pays the utility's flat monthly service fee. "In short," McCreath says, "if he uses more power than he produces, he pays the utility for the difference. Unfortunately, if he produces more power than he requires the utility doesn't pay him for the difference." Indeed, producing more than you use is a key motivator for alternative energy systems, McCreath says. For instance, if a farm produced 300kW/h per month and consumed 60 per cent of this, at six cents a kW/h the farmer would save $10.80 in the period. The 40 per cent sold to the utility at the same price would net him another $7.20 for a total of $18 per month.

This is an area where Ontario has an opportunity to motivate green electricity producers. McCreath argues that if Ontario Hydro were required to buy the excess power produced off grid, it would save the utility production costs, leave more power in storage and reduce pollution and maintenance at thermal and nuclear plants. It would also reduce the "free spin time" at hydro dams, when hydroelectric generators are not producing power but are still developing wear and tear and incurring maintenance costs while on standby.

Complete independence from the grid is costly. It has therefore become clear that the market for solar or hybrid systems in Ontario cannot truly thrive without government incentives and a mandatory requirement for utilities to buy back all surplus generated power. McCreath feels that it may only be after the deregulation process resumes later in 2001 that farmers may see initiatives promoting alternative or renewable "green" energy.

Meanwhile, Van Den Berg funded his alternative power source because he feels that it is best for farmers to accomplish these things on their own without looking for government handouts. His advice to farmers in regard to alternative energy is to "go for it." He likes his system because it's renewable and good for the environment, something he feels the government of Ontario speaks about but is slow to encourage. He also feels that an alternate power source gives the user a sense of independence that can't be experienced by those totally dependent on the grid.

McCreath feels that in general the future for wind and Pv generation is bright, but Ontario has to change its policies. Queen's Park, alone or with Ottawa, must adopt green energy incentive programs modeled elsewhere in the world. In Germany, for example, the Renewable Energy Law (REL) guarantees fixed tariffs to producers who feed green electricity to the grid. Those who decide to invest in Pv systems get an incentive of 0.99 DM ($0.51 US) for each kilowatt-hour over a 20-year period.

Germany's current Pv funding program, based on zero-interest loans along with REL investments, will likely attract many solar users. In Holland, the government plans to fund solar panels for 100,000 homes by 2010, and Switzerland is supporting Pv installations on schools, offices and highway sound barriers. Japan's "Sunshine Project," which gives grants to families that install solar panels on their homes, aims to have solar panels on 70,000 houses by 2005.

In the United States, a joint initiative between the government and utilities has put thousands of solar panels on homes. The Sacramento Electricity Company in California charges a small monthly fee to "Solar Pioneers" who allow the company to install solar panels on their rooftops with the objective of reducing demand on the utility.

With foreign programs making headlines, and a recent announcement in Ottawa of a government-sponsored megawatt wind system in Saskatchewan to supply government buildings with green energy maybe the climate is right for farmers to reexamine their relationship with the hydro grid. BF

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Where to learn more about this technology

The Utility Photo Voltaic Group site, partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, offers examples of actual systems currently being monitored for performance and is located at: http://www.fccg.org/upvg/index.htm. In Canada, you can go to manufacturer Trace Engineering at www.traceengineering.com or Soltek Solar Energy at www.soltek.ca for more information on dealers involved in alternate energy systems.

Information on Budd's brake drum windmill is available at: www.windmill.on.ca BF

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Water, water, everywhere, but rarely an independent Hydro dam

Trick says it isn't particularly attractive to be an independent electricity generator. There are too many taxes, including a water use tax. "The method of assessment is different than for a normal industrial business," Trick says. And it's tough to borrow money because a generator typically can't get a 20-year contract that is necessary to secure long-term financing for the project. Setting up a generation station is "an act of faith," he concludes. "You have to accept it. You are gong to pay more to be sure of a supply."

Dave De Montmorency, owner of Rapid-eau Technologies Inc. near Glen Morris, south of Cambridge, says electrical costs must get a lot higher before installing a water turbine on a farm becomes worthwhile. Installation of his smallest electric turbine, a 12-inch model that produces 15 kW of power typically costs $80,000, he says. If a remote location is using diesel to generate electricity at a cost of 20-30 cents per kW, "we can make it pay," he says.

But most farming areas lack the water power to run a generating plant. "There are very few rivers with enough capacity and enough drop to make it viable," he says. Furthermore there are concerns about the effect on fisheries.

De Montmorency says the good news about small systems is that they are "at least as reliable" as Ontario Hydro's grid. He cites a system he installed at Elliott Lake in northern Ontario, which ran steadily for 18 months straight with no breaks for maintenance. BF

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The thorny business of deregulation

If push came to shove, he wouldn't be working on a windmill, he'd be working on lobbying Queen's Park to stop deregulating the province's electrical system. "Let's not lose it. It's such a beautiful thing to have," says Prange. Blenheim farmer Lynn Girty agrees. Girty is chair of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture Hydro committee, which is working to keep the grid as affordable as possible for farmers. One bone of contention is an Ontario Energy Board proposal to increase the flat fee charged to regular rural residential users by 25 per cent. The flat $40 a month fee, paid regardless of the amount of electricity used, would be increased to just shy of $52 under the OEB proposal.

Another issue is the provincial government's response to the chaos last winter in Alberta and California, where deregulation plans made years ago have turned sour. Girty says that both Premier Mike Harris and Energy Minister Jim Wilson have indicated they will stall implementation of the privatization plan until they are sure Ontario won't go through the same grief. Girty remains concerned. He says some problems experienced in the West "could happen here." In both cases, because of a lack of clear rules and insufficient government regulation, the private sector chose not to increase generation or transmission capabilities, he says.

Ontario is ahead on both fronts, and even has an estimated 30 per cent surplus in generating capacity, but Girty warns that the province's aging generating stations are rarely all on line at once. More and more time must be spent offline on maintenance.

An additional concern with the privatized system is the cost of getting a generator into business, says Ted Cowan of the OFA's research department. The province intends to charge a fee for generators producing more than a megawatt. The OFA thinks that the exemption from the fee should be extended to small producers making as much as 20 mW of power. It's not until 20 mW that the business starts to get profitable, Girty says.

"Anywhere in the province, you can put 20-25 megawatts into the system and nobody would notice," Cowan says. In many areas the system is capable of handing twice that input from a single source.

In general, the OFA favours allowing more generators into the business because it is felt they will keep a lid on prices in a deregulated market. Certainly, until the rules get laid out, farmers shouldn't be signing contracts with resellers, Girty advises. "Stay with the system you've got until you know what the rules are." BF