BSEE RENEWABLE ENERGY


Smart ogrid, wireless power will become the smart alternave to electric power for a growing number of projects, in the same way that wireless technology cut the cord to the landline phone, believes Miriam Tuerk, cofounder and CEO of Clear Blue Technologies.


critical infrastructure is undergoing a revolution. Until now, street lights,


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telecommunications systems, security monitoring and other critical infrastructure devices have been tethered to the electric grid. In some places this is inefficient and expensive, unreliable or non-existent.


Technological advances and rising efficiency over the past decade mean that many of these devices can now be sufficiently powered by off-grid solar or wind power instead. Yet solar and wind power is often overlooked for powering critical infrastructure due to its unreliability. If the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow, the lights might go out.


Smart off-grid is a revolutionary technology that enhances the reliability of off-grid solar, wind and hybrid- powered devices by connecting them to the cloud and enabling remote control and management over the internet. This makes it a real alternative to the electric grid for powering infrastructure.


Ogrid systems are geng smarter


With smart off-grid technology, built-in, low-cost wireless communications are used to send critical data from the off- grid system to a cloud-based management system in real-time, allowing a vast number of infrastructure devices to be monitored and controlled remotely.


Before, if you had a system powered by wind or solar, there would be no way of managing the power remotely. If the battery in a solar-powered street light died, for example, it could take days or even weeks for the issue to be reported. Even then, an engineer would need to travel to the site and try to diagnose the problem, perhaps requiring a follow up trip to the site if there are specialized parts or tools necessary for repairs. Throughout all this, the street light is off, limiting the safety and economic activity of those in the community.


This might not be such a problem if you have one or two off-grid systems, but if you have hundreds or thousands, then you need a way to be able to remotely monitor and manage them to ensure uptime. The inability to do so has been a severe limitation in the widespread


mart off-grid technology makes off-grid solar and wind a viable alternative to the traditional power grid for the first time. The way we power our


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THE SMART OFFGRID REVOLUTION An intelligent approach to solar and wind energy


adoption of off-grid renewable energy for powering critical infrastructure. Consider the off-grid street light I mentioned before. By utilising smart off- grid technology, service personnel can anticipate a potential problem resulting from lack of sun or wind. Online alerts and reports will show the steady decline of overnight battery voltage due to poor weather conditions. Integrated weather forecasting can determine whether there will be enough energy generated in the next week to recover automatically or whether a service person needs to take action such as dimming the light for a period of time to reduce energy draw. Seasonal conditions can be anticipated and load profiles can be updated online each season to maximize performance. Data history also plays a huge role in keeping systems serviced properly, as well as troubleshooting issues.


By increasing the reliability of these off- grid systems, smart off-grid technology reduces the cost of installation and maintenance by up to 80 percent. And where these smart off-grid systems don’t require cabling, it also means that systems can be installed in much less time, often at a significantly lower cost than connecting to the grid. This makes smart off-grid a clean, reliable, low-cost alternative to grid electricity for powering critical infrastructure. All of this is made possible by built-in communications and cloud software, adding these critical infrastructure devices to the ever-growing connected world.


Powering the unconnected


Over a quarter of the world’s population currently lives without access to reliable power, many of whom are living in isolated, rural communities. In these areas, the electric grid is particularly vulnerable to disruption, not to mention expensive to build and maintain, and ultimately fails to meet people’s needs.


Without reliable power for street lights, economic activity is limited to the daytime. And without access to the internet through telecom systems, communities are excluded from the digital economy, including vital banking, health and education services.


Where power from the electric grid is available, it can be vulnerable to frequent outages caused by severe weather events, poorly maintained systems, and even terror attacks. In Puerto Rico, the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria has caused widespread grid power outages and on-going disruption to people’s lives. In Nigeria, where 75 million people lack access to reliable electricity, smart off- grid systems have been installed to power telecom systems in rural communities. This often completely removes the need to rely on grid electricity and diesel- powered generators, and provides access to health, education, banking and economic opportunities for thousands of Nigerians.


Even in developed countries, like Canada and the U.S., smart off-grid systems provide an alternative to replacing the crumbling electric grid, or for powering infrastructure in difficult-to- reach areas. For instance, in the City of Hamilton, Ontario, installing smart solar street lights saved the expense of tunneling through 200 metres of solid rock near the Niagara Escarpment to connect to the electric grid.


Leading the charge and looking ahead


We believe smart off-grid, wireless power will become the smart alternative to electric power for a growing number of cases – in the same way that wireless technology cut the cord to the landline phone. This paradigm shift is already happening in sub-Saharan Africa, where communities lack access to reliable grid electricity, but are also part of a society that has rapidly adopted mobile banking services. With the costs of installing a smart off-grid solar- powered system comparable to buying a diesel generator, the power ecosystem is ripe for disruption. Gradually, over the next decade, the shift toward off-grid renewable energy will spread to countries with more developed infrastructure. Governments looking to reduce their carbon emissions face aging electric grids that are a costly and inefficient legacy from another era. Smart off-grid systems are a clean, low-cost, reliable alternative that will transform how we power our critical infrastructure.


www.clearbluetechnologies.com 26 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER AUGUST 2018 VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.bsee.co.uk


uClear Blue Technologies powers Vanu voice and data services for rural communies around the world, including Rwanda, pictured here.


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