PICogeneration Article - Advantages to Microgeneration - Security

There are five common ways to justify alternate energy projects. The importance of these justifications changes from project to project and in some cases, one justification is all that is required. The SCGCS method we use at PICogeneration includes Safety, Convenience, Green, Cost, and Security. When building the business cases for project, we usually define each of these terms as they serve as buckets for assuring consideration of the perspectives needed for the project.

For example, Safety may refer to the need to reduce line noise or to protect electronic equipment from surges caused by other equipment or machinery. Convenience may refer to the remoteness of the project site or to the luxury that might be added to a home by solar-powered lighting to areas that electrical cables can't easily penetrate. Green may refer to any number of environmental concerns that the consumer is trying to address. Examples would be reducing the family carbon footprint, providing offsets for greenhouse gases created in other parts of their lives or simply the consumer's lifestyle choice. Costs are the most quantifiable justifications but consumer interests can change the kinds of quantities that are examined. For example, the current bureaucracy involved in the selling of energy to utilities often leads consumers to choose energy options that are directed at savings on their energy bill. Security may focus on the benefits of distributed generation. This entry deals with the Security factor.

Often consumers will consider that their energy project adds to their security because the project is under their control. They are right but there other security considerations. For example, alternate energy projects may provide a backup supply that increases their security by assuring that power will be available even if there are problems in the public electrical grid infrastructure. Once consumers hear this, they invariably make the next security point themselves. If they are protected from problems in the grid, then the grid is less stressed as well. One client painted a wonderful word picture by imagining that thousands of rooftops were wired to generate some of their own power and they would come on line along with the lightening shadows of the dawn and similarly shut down as the dusk horizon passed over them. Another time, a client became quite distracted thinking about how the wind blows in pockets and streams in the air and so all wind turbines are running at different speeds even if they are close to each other. That sounds like an interesting study for a weather expert, but was an interesting point as well. Another security issue that is often raised is the increased efficiency of distributed generation due to reduced transmission loss. This is a good point but an extremely complicated one. The efficiency of a megaproject power plant may offset the loss in transmitting the power to your local substation. If the heat from the generation process is being used in another industrial process this may add to the efficiency of the process.

So we see that Security can be a consideration in an alternate energy project for many reasons. Consumer control may be the issue. Power supply security may be important. Improving service and reducing costs may have the most current significance due to daily bombardment of concerns over funding new or upgraded infrastructure elements. And of course, many people avoid thinking about the hundreds of miles between the power plant and their freezer. These are just some of the concerns that consumers have when they come looking for alternate energy services or energy saving products.

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