Alternative and Renewable Energy
SERVICES
SEA will help you make the move towards alternative and renewable energy. We’ll evaluate your needs and equipment to determine which solutions work best based on your location and facility type.
The push away from fossil fuels means there’s no time like the present to invest in renewable and alternative energy sources. There are numerous ways to integrate renewable energy sources in order to supplement or satisfy your electricity needs.
Benefits of renewable energy assessment services
When it comes to sustainability and renewable energy, many factors must be considered. Depending on how the factors present, some renewable options may be better than others to meet your requirements. Among these factors are your geographic location, level of economic development, weather conditions, political climate, and social environment, just to name a few. SEA can help you fully assess these factors and make the most beneficial decision for your organization and facilities.
Additional considerations may be technological factors like the condition of your local grid, the potential for energy storage, and more. As a building owner or manager, you need to take all this into account to determine the best type of renewable energy for your facility. It’s not a small decision, considering the time and resources that such an investment requires. This is why SEA is here to help.
Energy assessments help you stay on the cutting edge
Managing facilities is a demanding and time consuming, endeavor, and when it comes to efficiency, it can be tempting to stick with the status quo. However, you can’t afford to do that when it comes to energy. The environment (no pun intended) is constantly changing, so staying effective requires a deliberate effort to stay informed about cutting-edge energy resilience opportunities. You never know how the next change in regulation by the United States government will affect your business. Staying ahead of the curve is the only way to minimize the risks and maximize profit through energy efficiency.
Energy assessments help you determine your electricity needs
A major part of SEA’s assessment services is our capacity to analyze your electricity loads and determine how much energy your facilities actually need.
We can provide a full breakdown of energy consumption, including air conditioning, heating, and other systems. Additionally, we can analyze your top loads throughout the day and calculate your energy needs based on those numbers, to include the wattage of your equipment and appliances.
After our analysis, you’ll get a comprehensive report. This will provide better insight into your facility’s energy consumption and the type of renewable energy that would work best for you.
If you’re not happy with the numbers, perhaps there are inefficiencies in the building systems that are causing them to consume more energy than they need. We can address those inefficiencies through our energy management or building optimization services.
An energy assessment can help you make the most of your investment
Renewable and alternative energy sources have been gaining popularity for decades, but this doesn’t mean they are well understood. Nor does it mean their feasibility is universal. Installing solar PV panels in an area with only three sunny days a year is like burning money for energy.
Feasibility studies can help you ensure this doesn’t happen. A feasibility study is based on a detailed analysis of the environment and different measurements. We gather as much data as possible and then feed it into an algorithm to produce model estimates of potential energy output based on these factors. The idea is to protect you from making a bad investment.
Types of alternative and renewable energy
There are different types of alternative and renewable energy options you can choose from. From bioenergy to cogeneration, geothermal to hydropower, and solar to wind, each option has pros and cons that must be considered along with feasibility.
Alternative and Renewable Energy Services
Bioenergy is defined as renewable energy derived from organic matter (excluding coal or petroleum). The term “biomass” refers to the organic materials that serve as the source of bioenergy. When biomass is burned, the chemical energy inside the organic materials is released as heat. This heat can provide electricity or useful thermal energy. Biogas and biofuels, often by-product of landfills and other urban, agricultural, and forestry residue organic waste, are also forms of bioenergy.
Biomass is a carbon-neutral source of energy and can help us reduce our over-reliance on fossil fuels. It’s also cheaper than fossil fuels and can help us reduce the amount of garbage that ends up in a landfill.
However, bioenergy is not a magical low-cost solution to the energy problem. Leveraging this source may require some investment in the energy architecture to foster effective use for energy purposes. Biomass is not always as efficient as fossil fuels in terms of energy production, and not quite as clean as some other sources, since it still results in some emissions, as a result of the energy production process. However, it is an effective use of biodegradable waste, which would otherwise contribute to elevations in greenhouse gas.
Cogeneration, also known as combined heat and power (CHP), is the generation of electricity or mechanical energy and useful thermal power from the same fuel source. Cogeneration improves efficiency by capturing thermal energy that would otherwise be wasted and converting it to additional power. When the electrical and thermal energy services are provided separately (also known as a traditional system), the national average efficiency is 45%.
While not itself an energy source, cogeneration is a way to make energy production more efficient and to cut down on undue waste of secondary energy producing resources. You’d still need a source of energy to start the process, and some investment in the architecture is required; but cogeneration reduces energy wastage, energy costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. It can also reduce your facility’s dependence on the grid.
Geothermal energy is defined as energy from the earth’s heat. One type of geothermal energy is the use of reservoirs of hot water (at varying temperatures and depths) to produce steam and electricity. Another type of geothermal heat pump is known as a ground source heat pump.
Geothermal heat pumps utilize the fact that the earth’s temperature (below the surface) remains relatively constant. Because of this, the earth serves as a constant heat source year-round. Geothermal systems work in virtually any scenario.
There are many advantages to geothermal energy. It’s a renewable energy source that will last for as long as there’s Earth. It has enormous potential and it’s both stable and sustainable. Best of all – it’s reliable since it doesn’t involve the same fluctuations solar and wind energy do.
The challenges come with leveraging geothermal energy in both a safe and cost-effective manner. Aside from the risk of triggering earthquakes and potential environmental side effects, geothermal power plants are still expensive to build. The US has had some success with geothermal power generation plants in the western states and Hawaii, where geothermal energy resources are closer to the earth surface. Ultimately it is a very long-term investment that’s not suited for every location.Hydropower utilizes the energy of a body of water to power machinery. Typically, in order to produce enough energy to power machinery, a dam is introduced into the body of water to create more potential energy (a large elevation differential). Hydrokinetic power utilizes the energy associated with the movement by a body of water, such as waves, tidal streams, and ocean streams.
Hydropower shares many of the strengths and weaknesses of geothermal energy. While it’s renewable, sustainable, and able to generate lots of energy, it’s also location-specific, can have negative effects on the local environment, and requires a huge upfront investment.Solar energy uses the sun as an energy source. The two main categories for solar energy are solar thermal and solar photovoltaic (PV). Solar thermal uses the sun’s heat to either heat a building or produce electricity. Solar photovoltaic (PV) uses certain materials (predominantly silicon) that produce a flow of electricity when exposed to sunlight.
Solar is one of the alternative energy sources getting the most attention right now. As a result, the technology is rapidly improving and it’s becoming more accessible. Solar panels can be a good addition to your facility to supplement your available energy and help in reducing your power bills.
The downside of solar power is that the power source is nearly 100 million miles away. Anything standing between the panels and the Sun (such as clouds, for example) can lower the efficiency of the panels. This means weather variability can impact solar’s reliability. Fortunately, great strides have been made in the solar energy storage arena, making it an increasing viable alternative energy source for areas with a great deal of sun exposure throughout the year.Wind energy employs the air movement to generate mechanical power, which can be converted to electricity using a generator. As such, for areas with frequent and unobstructed wind, it’s a great way to generate clean energy. The technology is developing quickly, and energy efficiency is growing with each generation. Those are the pros.
However, there are some cons, too. The upfront cost can be quite steep to install the turbines and generators. Energy storage is an important factor for optimizing on Wind energy as well. Much like solar, wind energy is not as reliable as other forms of alternative energy. Finally, the turbines are noisy and can disrupt the migratory paths of certain wildlife (such as bats or birds), which makes them location-specific solutions.
Alternative and Renewable Energy Portfolios
Whether we conduct solar, wind, or thermal feasibility studies, SEA can help your business determine the best energy strategy portfolio for your facilities or business. Some of our most rewarding work was helping Life Data Labs, Inc. achieve complete solar reliability for running its manufacturing. We are also proud to have contributed to NET ZERO status at the U.S. Army’s WEED Medical Center, which can operate fully independent of the regional electric grid,…as well as at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, GA, where SEA helped establish a robust alternative energy production architecture involving multiple bioenergy sources, as well as solar energy supplementation, to ultimately allow the entire base to operate independent of, and be a contributor to, the local/regional energy grid.