The PowerTower: A PRE-INTEGRATED WIND-SOLAR
POWER SYSTEM FOR OFF-GRID ELECTRIFICATION
The WindWell: WIND-POWERED WATER PUMPING FOR IRRIGATION AND WATER SUPPLY
Using IESVE for Loads, Sizing and Heat Pump Modeling to Achieve Decarbonization
XANT SPS PowerTower WindWell homer microgrid 2017
1. The PowerTower™ : a stand-alone
pre-integrated solar-wind power system
Alex De Broe, CEO XANT
Steve Drouilhet, CEO Sustainable Power Systems
2. WIND POWER
MADE EASY
• Mid sized wind turbines
✓ 50 - 500 kW
• Applications
✓ On-site generation
✓ Off-grid systems
✓ Drivers
✓ Fuel- & battery saver
✓ Hedge against volatile
energy prices
✓ Smart-grid enabler
✓ Land mark
3. 3
DESIGN FOR RELIABILITY
3
• Just Enough Essential Parts
JEEP
• Elimination of most-failure-
prone parts
XANT DEPLOYMENTS
4. 4
DESIGN FOR RELIABILITY
4
• Just Enough Essential Parts
JEEP
• Elimination of most-failure-
prone parts
Challenges rural electrification world-wide
- Catch-22 situation resolved: money is available, technology is ready, need is (still) there
(fraction of the rural population without access to electricity still stands at 28%)
- But what is the best replicable business model?
Source: TFE consulting
10. 10
DESIGN FOR RELIABILITY
10
• Just Enough Essential Parts
JEEP
• Elimination of most-failure-
prone parts
Conclusions
- Assuming a minimal cost advantage of a standardized system over a customized system the
STANDARDIZED system achieves a lower LCOE than the CUSTOMIZED system
- Over a wider range the STANDARDIZED system still achieves similar LCOE’s than the CUSTOMIZED system
- Tailoring can easily be done by adjusting the battery size
- Standardization not on leads to cost reduction but also to simplification and thus more robust systems,
faster deployment and more effective maintenance (lower OPEX)
- Solutions to minimize the effects of local conditions: e.g. gravity-based foundation to avoid soil studies
11. Steve Drouilhet, CEO
Sustainable Power Systems
Alex DeBroe, CEO
XANT
Power Tower Application:
Innovative Water Pumping Solution for
Commercial Irrigation and Municipal Water Supply
12. Universal Microgrid ControllerTM
(Power & Energy Management System)
Monitors and coordinates the operation of all
system components
Touchscreen local operator interface
On-board datalogging
Internet ready
A pre-engineered solution designed to
minimize the time and expense of microgrid
controls integration
14. Water Supply Challenges in Africa
Over 300 million people in Sub-Saharan
Africa lack access to reliable drinking
water sources
Many rely on surface water sources,
many of which are polluted:
Mining runoff
Agricultural fertilizer and pesticides
Poor sanitation
Deforestation and soil erosion
Disease Prevention and Economic
Development require access to clean
ground water supplies
“Energy-Water Nexus”: Accessing
ground water requires pumping, which
requires energy.
15. Water Pumping is a Perfect Application for
Renewable Energy
Storage allows decoupling the
supply from the demand.
Pumped water is an energy
storage medium
Water storage is less expensive
than equivalent battery capacity
Lasts much longer
Local materials with local labor
Pump according to how much
renewable energy is available
16. Hawaii Wind Powered Water Pumping System
Commissioned by SPS in 2013
Irrigation of an off-grid
commercial plant nursery
Replaces diesel water pumping
Conventional 100 kW grid-tied
wind turbine
Grid-forming battery-inverter
system
200 meter well depth
70,000 gallon water tank
~ 200 gpm (46 m3/h) in 8 m/s
wind
20. Summary
Water pumping is an ideal application for renewable energy.
SPS and XANT have developed a packaged wind-powered
water pumping solution specifically for off-grid municipal and
commercial applications
The power system's innovative DC-coupled architecture
provides low cost and complexity and high efficiency and
reliability.