Integrated Renewable Energy Systems - Commercialisation of a Novel Solar Powered Pump

该项目旨在生产一种高效的太阳能泵原型，作为我们开发新型集成可再生能源系统(IRES)的合作研究的一部分。IRES将太阳能、水净化和生物燃料技术结合在一个闭环设计中，以解决阻止可再生能源取代化石燃料的关键问题。在这种方法中，需求过剩的能源立即被用来从海水或其他受污染的水源生产淡水。淡水被用来灌溉粮食和生物燃料作物，当需求超过太阳能产量时，这将支持发电。虽然电池在充电和放电时会产生有用能量的净损失，但灌溉的作物会吸收阳光，为IRES的生产带来额外的能源。这反过来又增加了下一季的水分产量。当IRES组件效率很高时，从作物中获得的能量超过用于生产作物的能量，从而产生能量净收益。反复地将这一能量回报再投资于水生产，将导致系统年复一年的增长，直到达到最大发电能力。通过这种方式，IRES有可能在广阔的沙漠地区绿化，生产电力、食物、水和生物燃料，而不需要电池存储或化石燃料备份。作物生产和IRES生物燃料副产品增加了土壤有机质，使土壤肥沃，并在全球范围内显著捕获碳。

This project aims to productise a high-efficiency solar powered pump prototyped at UEA as part of our collaborative research effort developing novel Integrated Renewable Energy Systems (IRES).IRES combines solar power, water purification and biofuel technologies in a closed-loop design to resolve key problems of intermittency and storage that prevent renewables from replacing fossil-fuels. In this approach energy surplus to demand is immediately used to produce freshwater from seawater or other contaminated water sources. Freshwater is used to irrigate food and biofuel crops, which supports power generation when demand exceeds solar production. While batteries yield a net loss of useful energy when charging and discharging, irrigated crops absorb sunlight, bringing an additional source of energy into IRES production. This in turn increases water production in the next season. When IRES components are highly efficient, energy gained from crops exceeds the energy used to produce the crop, yielding a net gain in energy. Iteratively reinvesting this energetic return into water production leads to system growth, year-on-year until maximum capacity generation is reached. In this way IRES have the potential to green vast desert regions, producing electricity, food, water and biofuels without the need for battery storage or fossil-fuel back-up. Crop production and IRES biofuel by-products increase soil organic matter, enriching soils and capturing carbon on a globally significant scale.