Archives for December 2016

1,000 km Solar Panel Roadway – First Section Inaugurated in French Commune Tourouvre-au-Perche

This trial site consists of 2,880 photovoltaic panels and is expected to provide 280 MWh per year

25 December 2016 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: Energy, Featured

The practical implementation was surprisingly fast. Beginning of 2016, Ségolène Royal, French Minister of Environment, Energy and Sea, announced to build a 1,000km solar panel roadway in France over the next five years. Not even one year later, the first small section has been inaugurated in Tourouvre-au-Perche, located in northern French region Normandy. This trial site consists of 2,880 square meters of photovoltaic panels and is expected to provide 280 MWh per year.

Solar panel roadway powers street lighting

The one-kilometer long solar panel roadway, funded by the Ministry of the Environment, is owned by the French Department of Orne. The photovoltaic panels, designed by Wattway, are made of thin polycrystalline silicon sheets with an edge length of 15 cm.

J’inaugure dans l’Orne la 1ère route solaire au monde : emplois, innovation technologique, #croissanceverte dans les territoires pic.twitter.com/U6jiT8GGlo
— Ségolène Royal (@RoyalSegolene) 22. Dezember 2016

Inauguration de la #RouteSolaire dans l’Orne à Tourouvre-au-Perche. pic.twitter.com/MxTMUbQV4z
— Vianney Lecointre (@vianneylecointr) 22. Dezember 2016

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Solar Panel Roadway

Tourouvre-au-Perche

Normandy

France

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La #RouteSolaire produit ! Les premiers kWh injectés sur le réseau. pic.twitter.com/KOr7bfxCJc
— Vianney Lecointre (@vianneylecointr) 22. Dezember 2016

It is not the most cost-effective way to provide clean electricity from renewable sources. But as flagship project, it is at least an effective opportunity to gain public awareness regarding the renewables. Complex subjects require special attention. Furthermore, it is now possible to test the technology under real conditions before transferring it to the large-scale production level. We can certainly look forward to the remaining 999 km solar panel roadway.

Energy Self-Sustaining Smart Green Tower Interacts Intelligent Within The Smart Green City

This battery-operated office and apartment complex is not merely a paper tiger

17 December 2016 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: Featured, Green Building

The concept of Smart Green Tower goes along with the objectives of the Green City and offers much more than just energy self-sufficiency. Furthermore, this battery-operated office and apartment complex is not merely a paper tiger – it is planned to become reality in the German city of Freiburg im Breisgau. Designed by Frey Architekten, with support of Siemens and Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), the energy concept of Smart Green Tower differs from other self-sustaining buildings producing clean energy for own needs.

Temporarily generated energy surpluses can power neighboring buildings within the smart district

According to the architects, high-performing photovoltaic panels with fabulous low-light performance were developed to cover the façade. They entire module area, consisting of panels on the roof and on the façade, has a power output of about 400kWp. On the one hand, the generated electricity based on renewable energy sources can power the building and charge the planned lithium-ion battery with a capacity of about 0.5 MWh. On the other hand, temporarily generated energy surpluses can be used by other neighboring buildings.

As if that were not enough, the idea of a flexible energy storage with higher capacity makes it possible to connect further energy producers within the quarter. It is possible to handle the energy in an optimal way depending on the current offer, demand but also from a cost perspective within the Smart Green Tower. The aim is to assure balanced energy loads within the urban district through the intelligent connection of the building and the surrounding district. An energy management controls and operates the smart grid in order to become reality.

“Thus, the energy concept of the Smart Green Tower is fundamentally different from projects in which only single, self-‐contained buildings merely produce energy for own consumption or else feed the aforementioned into the grid. It is thus also consistent with the objectives of the Green City and will seamlessly be incorporated into Freiburg’s new energy- and resource-optimised commercial area GIP – Green Industry Park, to which the northern industrial area planning to be remodeled.” (Frey Architekten)

Smart Green Tower by night by Frey Architekten in Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany - green build — Smart Green Tower by night (Frey Architekten)

The 51 meters high main building, including solar panels, with a total gross floor area of approximately 15,000 square meters plus garage offers 70 one to four-room apartments with a gross floor area of about 4,500 square meters. The proposed office space and boarding accommodation cover 3,200 square meters. The western wing of Smart Green Tower will only measure a height of 16 meters. The northern wing with seven stories will be nearly 22.5 meters high. Additionally, the complex provides 250 parking spaces.

Layout of Smart Green Tower by Frey Architekten in Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany - green building — Layout of Smart Green Tower - CLICK TO ENLARGE (Frey Architekten)

Solar facade of Smart Green Tower by Frey Architekten in Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany — High performing photovoltaic panels are incorporated into the building facade (Frey Architekten)

The façade solar modules are not just generating clean electricity. They also protect the building from overheating and thus reduce the need of cooling energy. This kills two birds with one stone.

PowerManager will provide “a targeted recording and control of the electrical energy producers, consumers and storage”

It does not suffice that the required energy of Smart Green Tower will be generated from renewable resources. In the best case scenario, the consumption only takes place when the clean electricity is plentiful and available at low costs.

In order to converge towards this objective and provide targeted energy flows, depending on power supplies by renewables or storages and demands to charge the battery or power the tower or adjacent buildings, an energy management system called PowerManager from Siemens will be applied. It enables to analyze and adapt the individual energy consumptions support of installed measuring devices. An Ethernet connection sends the measured information to the designated computer.

The system also allows to deduce measures for energy savings, indicate leaks or failures immediately and increase the energy awareness. The stand-alone power management software collects, monitors, evaluates, presents and archives the data. To put it concisely: the chargeable battery and the energy management system are indispensable components to realize a smart grid and practice self-consumption optimization, load shifting and peak load reduction. The result: greater energy efficiency, reduction of energy supply costs as well as carbon dioxide emissions.

Power supply over a DC-intermediate circuit reduces energy losses

The innovative energy supply concept should not be forgotten. DC-loads are continually increasing. For this reason, the developer decided to operate the building management system with a direct current (DC) transmission and distribution of electric energy, apart from a few exceptions of alternating current (AC).

“In the case of a predominant supply over an AC-coupled photovoltaic battery system, this means that the generated direct current of the PV generator is non-rectified, and subsequently in the case of an intermediate storage rectified again in the battery, then if necessary reconverted again in alternating current and distributed, in order to again be rectified in many devices – with correspondingly high efficiency losses.” Frey Architekten states.

In the case of Smart Green Tower, the battery storage and the photovoltaic system is planned to link with a direct current. It is intended to connect heating, ventilation, air conditioning, elevators and lighting to the DC intermediate circuit, too.

Netherlands – Electric Bus Fleet Starts Today in Dutch Cities Eindhoven & Helmond

Extra-long all-electric bus fleet in Eindhoven & Helmond brought into service today

11 December 2016 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: Featured, MOTORING

Is it a chain reaction starting out there? Recently, London grabbed the headlines with the announcement to run the largest electric powered bus fleet of 73 e-buses by end of 2016. Furthermore, the mayor of London plans to replace all 300 single-deck buses in central London by 2020. Today, two cities in the Netherlands follow. The fully electrically powered bus fleet of Eindhoven and Helmond goes into service today. Compared to London, the Dutch buses, built by VDL, are longer and can carry more passengers.

Electric Bus Fleet of Eindhoven & Helmond consists of 43 extra-long articulated buses

There will not be even one vehicle left in the bus fleet of Eindhoven and Helmond running on diesel. The biggest challenge of the operator, Transdev, is the range per battery charge. An innovative rotation system in combination with ultra-fast charging technology shall solve it. Allegedly, the battery of a bus can be charged within 30 minutes. The charging infrastructure of the bus terminus in Eindhoven was rebuilt completely. Instead of diesel pumps, 43 charging points are now providing the demanded power. During night-time, all buses will be fully charged. In order to further reduce risks, a shift of a bus driver starts only with a fully loaded battery. Additionally, a reserve of electric buses is ready to replace buses with empty batteries.

Electric Bus Fleet of Eindhoven and Helmond the Netherlands from Transdev - eco urban transport & motoring — 43 completely electrically powered articulated buses (18 meters) will be operating in a single Public Transport concession in the Eindhoven region, The Netherlands (Transdev)

Similar to the buses in Hamburg, the e-buses in Eindhoven & Helmond use a kind of pantograph to connect the bus with the charging point. It is mounted on the roof and was not deployed at this scale in the Netherlands until today.

“This is an important step leading to sustainable bus transportation and a glimpse at the future of public transport,” says Bart Schmeink, CEO of Transdev Netherlands.

Netherlands – First Urban Fast-Charging Station From Fastned Powered by Renewables

06 December 2016 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: Featured, MOTORING

Together with representatives of the city of The Hague, Fastned recently inaugurated the first urban fast-charging station of the Netherlands. The new station called ‘Fastned ten Bosch’ is situated right next to the Royal Palace ‘Huis ten Bosch’ and one amongst five which will be set up in the city of The Hague in the near future. In addition to the new urban chargers, already 55 Fastned stations were build in the past throughout the Netherlands.

Fastned’s fast-charging stations are powered with energy from renewable resources only

Just like all the other Fastned charging stations, only green electricity, generated by renewables, will flow through the spigots of ‘Fastned ten Bosch’. In order to make electric mobility more convenient and respond to the growing need of electric drivers, a more dense network of charging stations will be provided not only in The Hague but also throughout the country. Additionally, there are already plans for further Dutch cities.

Fastned Station ten Bosch - eco urban motoring — Fastned ten Bosch in The Hague (Fastned)

Bart Lubbers, co-founder of Fastned: “Urban stations make our network complete. People want to charge their car wherever their battery runs empty and this can happen along the highway as well as in cities. In addition, the majority of Dutch households don’t have their own driveway where they can charge. These people also want to drive electric and now they can do so by charging their car at Fastned for the same price as at home: 19 cents per kWh. This type of infrastructure makes driving electric accessible to everyone in The Netherlands. The city of Hague understands this very well and are leading this transition.”

2e snellaadstation van @Fastned voor elektrische auto’s geopend aan de Leidsestraatweg. pic.twitter.com/GFurlcdbOQ
— Newsroom Den Haag (@Newsroom070) 1 December 2016

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“Ford, Volkswagen Group, BMW Group, and Daimler are entering into the race with joint plans to develop 400 sites by 2020. However, Fastned has already built 55 stations throughout the Netherlands and, on December 1, announced the opening of Europe’s 1st Urban Fast Charging Station in The Hague, Holland.”

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Tom de Bruijn, Alderman of Finance, Traffic, Transport and Environment of the Municipality of The Hague: “More and more people are switching to an electric car. A positive development The Hague wants to encourages as much as possible, because electric cars are clean and cheap to operate. With the increasing number of electric cars the need for qualitative charging infrastructure increases as well. Rolling out a network of fast-charging stations in the city is a great asset to our city. I hope that we can be an example for other municipalities.”

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Fastned ten Bosch

Leidsestraatweg

The Hague

Netherlands

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The company’s trip planner for electric vehicle drivers, launched on 21 November 2016, makes it now possible to choose the fastest route from one destination to the other, including fast charging stops when required. The app takes into account the remaining range, the efficiency of the car, the traffic situation on the route, the location of all Fastned stations and the charging curve of the fast chargers. It is possible to apply the new navigation tool on mobile, tablet and desktop.

Cycling in London – £770m to Reduce Air Pollution and Car Traffic

Relating to the per-capita investment, London will be on par with cycle-friendly cities in the Netherlands and Denmark

05 December 2016 From Paul Münzner Filed Under: Cycling, Featured

London is tackling increasing congestion and air pollution. The subject itself is not a novelty. Recently, the British capital was grabbing the headlines by announcing to have the largest electric powered bus fleet in Europe. However, London does not rest on its laurels. Next undertaking: Cycling in London. With a financial support of £770m for cycling initiatives in London up to 2021/2022, announced by the Mayor Sadiq Khan, expenditures for cycling will be doubled compared to the previous mayor Boris Johnson. An average £154m per year means an average per-capita investment of £17 yearly. In this case, London will be on par with cycle-friendly cities in the Netherlands and Denmark.

Two new cycle superhighways are planned to make cycling in London even more attractive

Ashok Sinha, CEO of the London Cycling Campaign, said: “This unprecedented investment in cycling shows the Mayor is serious about meeting his promises to triple the extent of London’s protected cycle lanes, fix the most dangerous junctions and enable boroughs to implement major walking and cycling schemes. It will help make London a better, greener, healthier and less congested city.”

cycling in london - cycle superhighway 2 - eco urban cycling — Cycle Superhighway 2 in front of Gala Bingo in Stratford, London (Cmglee CC BY-SA 3.0)

An essential objective is to reach or exceed 1.5 million cycle journeys per day by 2025/26. Among other things, proposals for new cycle superhighways (CS) for a safer and faster journey from Olympia to Hounslow (CS9) and Tower Bridge to Greenwich in southeast London (CS4) are on the table. Consultations will take place in 2017. Furthermore, a complete traffic separation or relocation on quiet back streets of the 5km North-South route (CS6) from Farringdon to Kings Cross is on the way. Extensions for other routes, solutions for traffic-dominated junctions, a cyclist and pedestrian bridge connecting Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf, and the elimination of gaps in cycle routes are planned, too. In the past, London’s cycle superhighways attracted criticism for safety reasons.

Cycling in London - Sign at the beginning of Cycle Superhighway CS7 - eco urban cycling — Sign at the beginning of Cycle Superhighway CS7 in Colliers Wood, London

“Our plans include consulting on two new Cycle Superhighways next year, in addition to a new East-West Route. And unlike the previous Mayor, we will continue to focus on how we can minimize disruption and congestion as we push ahead with the construction of new cycling infrastructure.” says Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London.

Cycling in London - Cycle Superhighway to Bow at Aldgate East — Improvable cycling conditions on CS2 at Aldgate East tube station. The pictured cycle lane has been replaced by a separated cycle track in 2016 (Danny CC BY-SA 3.0)

Former mayor Ken Livingstone announced the first new bicycle routes, called Cycle Superhighways, in 2008. By that time, completion was scheduled for 2012 in order to quickly connect outer London into and across central London. Unfortunately, just seven cycle superhighways, CS1—CS3 and CS5—CS8, were ready to use. Cycle Superhighway 6 from Penge to the City and Cycle Superhighway 12 from East Finchley to Angel were struck from the agenda. In the past, London’s cycle superhighways attracted some criticism for safety reasons, which, in the best case, will have an end with the £154m yearly.