Solar Synapse Research Project: A Cure for Power Overload?
By Rob Shambro, Chairman Solar Night Industries
July 27, 2006
In the past week, 500,000 residents of St. Louis, and more than 100,000 New Yorkers, have lost electrical power for at least five days due to blackouts. At the same time, thousands of residents of California are experiencing a heat wave causing intermittent brownouts. On top of this, we hear that many communities in and around New Orleans still do not have a regular supply of power while homeowners throughout Florida are bracing for the 2006 Hurricane season which some fear could cause the loss of power similar to what occurred in 2005, when loss of power stretched to two weeks in some cases.
Our company, Solar Night Industries (http://www.solarnightindustries.com), a solar solutions company based in St. Louis, MO., announced this week the creation of the Solar Synapse Research Project, designed to help homeowners and businesses cope with the rising demand for electricity. This is compounded by the increasin challenge of transporting electricity through an antiquated and maintained transmission grid.
Our current power systems for home and business are inadequate. Starting with our consumer power consumption devices (power standby on our electronics to the
bulbs we use in our lights), we waste huge amounts of energy. In addition, we have a national 110v and 220v infrastructure, powering devices which actually need much smaller amounts of energy.
Energy solutions come in several categories: innovations in power generation,
power storage, power distribution, and power usage. It is clear that, in
order to avoid continued rolling blackouts in the U.S., bold initiatives
must be taken in each area. Solar Night Industries is focusing on 21st century enhanced technologies for power usage and power generation for commercial and residential buildings.
"We believe that the Solar Synapse can make an important contribution to
smart energy usage in the United States, and can play a vital role in long
term energy conservation efforts," says Solar Night Industries President
Jason Loyet. "Not only has SNI committed to manufacturing, distributing,
and marketing a growing line of renewable energy products (on the web at
www.SolarNightStore.com), but we have become a strong advocate for the
re-examination and re-design of the entire architecture of the current
power grid."
What exactly is the Solar Synapse?
The Solar Synapse is a smart mini grid system for the home that takes power from the most cost-effective energy source available at any given time. It minimizes energy usage without cutting any appreciable service. The research and prototype development stage has begun, and we are in talks with a team of scientists and with potential large distribution partners.
How would the Solar Synapse function? :
Phase 1 of the system is a power router that is mounted above the fuse panel and connects to the traditional power coming into the house, the battery backup system and a solar power source. The Solar Synapse would be expandable: it can integrate power feeds from other alternative energy sources, such as geothermal, wind, and hydrogen as well as from the grid. When the batteries are full and the sun is out, and the power needs of the house are low, the Synapse sends extra electricity back into the local power grid, offsetting the electric bill for the residence.
Phase 2 of the Solar Synapse would require a re-engineering of electrical
plugs in the home. `Smart plugs' would be installed, which monitor the
energy required by each power consuming device. The smart plug would
report power requirements back to the circuit breaker, and the breaker
electronically talks to the Synapse, looking for the cheapest power. Each
plug is programmed based upon a priority scale: the refrigerator and key
lights have the highest priority for power that is being generated or has
been stored.
The national power grid structure is no longer viable for modern energy distribution - patterns of energy usage must change. We leave lights on when we leave rooms, leave TVs and radios blaring, and keep many of our electronic gadgets in "sleep" mode, which still drains the grid. We hit the air conditioners and heaters at the slightest degree of discomfort, not realizing the tremendous cost of this type of behavior. The Solar Synapse Research Project is an attempt to rein in and minimize these wastes."
With $100 billion dollars available in venture capital for the clean
energy sector over the next seven years (New Energy Finance report, 7/06),
re-thinking power usage and the functioning of the national power grid is
natural and predictable development. This is the advent of truly smart
energy.
comments to lougordon77@hotmail.com
