Hawaii
Energy Policy Forum > 2002
Articles
Companies Developing Alternative Home Power Technologies
Two new technologies for distributed generation -- Stirling
engines and liquid-injected cogeneration -- have recently
appeared on the horizon, although commercial plans for both
technologies remain several years in the future.
Ocean Power Corporation claims to have developed a home energy
system that uses a Stirling engine to generate up to 3 kilowatts
of electricity while also providing hot water, space heating,
and air conditioning. The company claims to have established
the conditions for the sale of 10,000 units to a private
real estate management company. Upon completion of performance
and code compliance certifications, Ocean Power intends to
install the units in late 2005, at a cost of about $3,800
per unit. Ocean Power currently has a unit being tested in
Norway and plans to have tests performed by EPRISolutions,
a subsidiary of the Electric Power Research Institute. See
the press release, unit description, and frequently asked
questions on the Ocean Power Web site at: <http://www.powerco.com/>.
Stirling
engines are a form of external combustion engine. Since they
can be driven by a wide range of external heat
sources, they are also known as heat engines. For more information,
see the California Energy Commission's Distributed Energy
Resource Guide at: <http://www.energy.ca.gov/distgen/equipment/equipment.html>.
The
second technology, liquid-injected cogeneration, is being
developed by the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center and Yankee
Scientific, Inc. It involves pumping water to a high pressure,
heating it with a conventional oil or gas burner, and then
expanding it to steam, which is used to drive a turbine.
The exhaust steam from the turbine provides the energy for
space heating and hot water. Although the Army developed
the system for its field kitchens, a spin-off company plans
to invest $5 million over the next three years to develop
a residential version of the system. See the U.S. Army press
release at: <http://www.natick.army.mil/pao/2001/01-35.htm>.
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