Center's research
helps create and refine new technologies
Energy research, training and certification center focuses
on solar and alternative energy resources
by Kathy Hagood
Brevard Technical Journal
|
That's the opinion of Philip Fairey, the center's interim director, and his colleagues.
"We're better known internationally than we are in our own county," he said.
While the center's brightly colored complex on the University of Central Florida/Brevard Community College Cocoa Campus may attract some notice by passersby, only a small percentage have a clear idea of the multi-faceted work that goes on within its walls.
The FSEC, which is an institute of UCF, is Florida's energy research, training and certification center.
While solar energy research is one of its core competencies, the center also focuses its efforts on researching other alternative energy resources, such as hydrogen, as well as improving the energy efficiency and air quality of commercial and residential buildings.
FSEC publications and Web site resources offer consumer and industry information on a variety of topics. An example is the center's helpful booklet "Industry Guide to Selecting the Best Residential Window Options for the Florida Climate."
Training courses offered by the center bring engineers, technicians and project planners and managers up to speed on current energy-efficiency standards and techniques. One new area of emphasis is educating those involved in new school construction on aspects of energy efficiency and air-quality control.
"So many issues of poor indoor air quality, moisture and mold control in schools and other buildings can be avoided just by installing systems that can ensure the building is slightly pressurized," Fairey said.
Slight pressure is necessary because air doesn't necessarily flow as intended. The wrong air-flow pattern can cause moisture and mold to build up behind walls, which ruins buildings and causes illness.
"Every building has leaks, no matter what, and air is not smart. It doesn't necessarily follow the arrows you draw on your diagram," Fairey said.
The center's complex includes a test building for the study of such air-flow effects and energy-efficiency issues. The center's primary facility is the New Energy Center, which was designed to be extremely energy efficient. Everything, including the layout of the building, its position relative to the sun, its air-conditioning system, its windows, its light reflectors and its sensors are designed to save energy while maintaining a comfortable work environment.
The building uses only about one third of the energy of a comparable building not so carefully designed and equipped.
But while the design improve-ments only were about five percent of the construction costs and paid for themselves in energy saving within three years of the opening of the eight-year-old building, they wouldn't have been possible without a special state grant.
"It's difficult to incorporate high levels of energy efficiency into the design of public buildings because of budget constraints. Capital expenditures come out of a different pool of money than operational budgets, so it makes it a tough sell," Fairey said.
It's easier to include such improvements in the budgets of commercial buildings. But it requires a company have enlightened management, men and women who are willing to do things a new way.
"We fight marketplace inertia. It can take about ten to fifteen years to introduce a new energy-efficiency technique or product into the market," Fairey said. "It takes guts to be an early user of a new technology."
But first researchers must create and refine the innovative energy products and techniques. That can take years, especially for challenges such as economically producing and harnessing hydrogen as an energy source.
"We had a much easier time getting research dollars before hydrogen became such a hot topic politically," Fairey said. "Now all the research dollars are going for the purchase of hydrogen vehicle demonstration programs across the country."
FSEC has been contracted by NASA to work on a significant hydrogen research project for the space program. Work will begin after the hydrogen laboratory at FSEC is certified by the state.
Over the years center research has helped create and refine a number of new technologies. Research by FSEC and others has helped lower the price of photovoltaic systems, for example, from a cost of $10,000 a watt when they were first introduced to $3 a watt.
While that still amounts to about 22 cents per kilowatt hour in energy costs vs. a typical residential rate of about 10 cents per kilowatt hour, the price drop has enabled greater use in remote areas.
"When someone learns it's going to cost $55,000 for their utility company to extend a line out to their remote area, suddenly the price of photovoltaic looks very good," Fairey said.
While research is at one end of the center's spectrum, at the other is its testing and certification programs. All solar thermal systems manufactured or sold in Florida must be certified by the center.
Photovoltaic certification is required for state-financed projects and likely will be required for systems manufactured or sold in Florida, Fairey said.
What's more, several states require certification by the center. Florida's center is considered the "the largest and most active state-supported renewable energy and energy efficiency research, training, testing and certification institute in the United States."
"People here have no idea of all that's being done here in their own backyard," Fairey said.
For more information on the Florida Solar Energy Center and to access a virtual tour of the New Energy Center, visit www.fsec.ucf.edu.
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