Page 367 - Handbook of Energy Engineering Calculations
P. 367
and storage, ornamental fountain water pumping and recirculation, laundry
wash water, etc. The whole key to successful solar power for pumps is
selecting a suitable application. With the information presented in this
procedure the designer can check the applicability and economic justification
of proposed future designs.
In today’s environmentally conscious design world, the refrigerant must be
carefully chosen so it is acceptable from both an ozone-depletion and from a
thermodynamic standpoint. Banned refrigerants should not, of course, be
used, even if attractive from a thermodynamic standpoint.
This procedure is the work of the editorial staff of Product Engineering
magazine reporting on the work of Battelle Memorial Institute and the
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. The installation described is located
at MMLI’s Gila River Ranch, southwest of Phoenix, AZ. SI values were
added by the handbook editor.
Designers of solar-powered pumping systems recently found a new way to
collect energy from the sun to convert to electricity for the pump’s electric
motor. The new way of collecting energy from the sun uses closed and
capped municipal landfills as sites for solar farms.
New York City, and other large cities and municipalities, are studying the
possibility of installing such solar farms. Doing so makes economic sense
since the city or municipality already owns the land; hence, it is free. Further,
landfills are usually far from residential areas and so there are few visual
pollution complaints.
A private company would lease the landfill, install the solar panels, and
operate the electrical system. It is estimated that a 250-acre landfill solar farm
could produce 50-mW of electricity. New York City is reported to have 3000
acres of landfills. Using closed and capped landfills for solar farms is a
winwin for any city or municipality because the cost is small and vacant land
is put to beneficial use for the city residents. Further, the solar farm will not
interfere with any other power generated by the landfill using gas engines
running on methane and other gases from the landfill.