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

该项目旨在生产一个高效的太阳能泵原型在UEA作为我们的合作研究工作的一部分，开发新的综合可再生能源系统（IRES）。IRES结合了太阳能发电，水净化和生物燃料技术在一个闭环设计，以解决关键问题的不稳定性和存储，阻止可再生能源取代化石燃料。在这种方法中，超出需求的能源立即用于从海水或其他污染水源中生产淡水。淡水用于灌溉粮食和生物燃料作物，当需求超过太阳能生产时，这将支持发电。虽然电池在充电和放电时产生有用能量的净损失，但灌溉作物吸收阳光，为IRES生产带来额外的能源。这反过来又增加了下一个季节的水产量。当IRES组件高效时，从作物获得的能量超过生产作物所用的能量，产生能量净增益。反复将这种充满活力的回报再投资到水生产中，导致系统逐年增长，直到达到最大产能。通过这种方式，IRES有可能使广阔的沙漠地区绿色化，生产电力、食物、水和生物燃料，而不需要电池储存或化石燃料备份。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.