Matching renewable energy systems to village-level energy needs Page: 39 of 71
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SERI TR-514
sunlight or heavy rains after the harvests, enclosed dryers with biogas or biomass heat
sources have advantages over solar cabinet dryers or solar electric technologies.
R&D, Demonstration, and Technology Modifications Needed
Basic R&D. Use of waste heat generated by certain technologies to dry crops during
harvest season (large or concentrating PV arrays and biomass combustion for electric
power).
Demonstration. Use of solar electric technologies, originally installed for other reasons,
to dry crops during harvest season.
Technology Modification. Linkage of biogas generator/biomass combustion device with
flat-plate collector to allow crop drying during periods of intermittent rain.
FOOD PROCESSING (Crop grinding, etc.)
Results of the Matching Process
Key Characterization Criteria. Form of energy, seasonality of output, spatial distri-
bution, and sociocultural considerations.
Best Matches with Need. Hydro-mechanical power generation (with water storage), wind
turbines (mechanical), and biogas generators with modified internal combustion engines.
Other Possible Matches. Photovoltaic systems and concentrating collectors with Rankine
cycle or Stirling cycle engines.
Advantages of Best Match Technologies. All three technologies can provide high torque,
low-to-medium rpm shaft power for traditional processing techniques (stone grinding,
seed crushing, shelling, etc.) without the need for power conditional equipment. Also,
these energy sources easily can be adapted to power higher rpm modern hammer or burr
mills. Biogas generators and hydromechanical systems can provide shaft power on de-
mand, providing there is a sufficient resource base and adequate storage. All three tech-
nologies are ideally suited for centralized, village, or neighborhood processing centers
however, they are not necessarily appropriate for powering individual household mills
since the energy produced must be distributed to many sites. Because the time of day
that processing can be performed is normally flexible, daily fluctuations in the resource
base (especially wind energy converters) are not a major concern providing there is
enough power to process the crop prior to damage from moisture, insects, etc.
Problems with Other Energy Sources for Food Processing.
* Photovoltaic Systems-The extreme high cost per unit of output is only partially
offset by the ability to size the PV array exactly to the demand of the food pro-
cessing equipment. This high cost is due, in part, to the inefficiency of using
electricity to produce shaft power; energy transformation would be logical only
if the power had to be transmitted either from a remote producing site or to a
number of end-use locations (i.e., household grinding mills).24
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Ashworth, J.H. & Neuendorffer, J.W. Matching renewable energy systems to village-level energy needs, report, June 1, 1980; Golden, Colorado. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1054018/m1/39/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.