Parking facilities & electricity generation: a highly sustainable innovation!

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Solar energy has been growing rapidly in recent years as the sun is one of the most efficient, economical, and sustainable sources of energy. However, are we making the most of this inexhaustible source?

Hearing solar energy, everyone’s thoughts turn to ground-mounted solar panels on some barren land far away from developed areas. This is because most photovoltaic installations are located in such remote areas because of the easier and more economical installation. Installation in urban areas, on the roofs of buildings, is more difficult and costly.

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The energy autonomy of the islands.

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Written by Margarita Kyrkou, surveyor at Wattcrop.

Nowadays, due to the energy crisis experienced by the whole of Europe, there has been increasing reference to energy autonomy. But what does energy autonomy mean?

In the world literature, there are several definitions. Essentially, it is the meeting of the energy needs (electricity, heating & mobility) of a facility through local renewable energy sources, without importing energy and dependence on external factors. Thus, achieving energy independence for these areas.

An example of an area that is energy self-sufficient is the island of Samso in Denmark, the first on the planet. The inhabitants of the island managed to achieve 100% autonomy within 8 years (two years earlier than originally planned). This was achieved through the introduction of modern energy technologies but also through the residents’ efforts to adapt to this change.

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The financial impacts of the climate crisis

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Written by Wattcrop team

The financial impacts of the climate crisis are far-reaching and wide-ranging, with the potential to affect virtually every aspect of the global economy. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has estimated that the total costs of the climate crisis could reach as high as 5% of global GDP each year by the end of the century, with the majority of these costs being borne by lower-income countries and communities.

One of the most immediate financial impacts of the climate crisis is the increasing cost of energy. As temperatures rise, demand for air conditioning and other forms of cooling increases, leading to higher energy costs for individuals and businesses. In the United States, for example, the number of days per year with extreme heat is expected to increase by 50% or more by mid-century, which could lead to a significant increase in energy demand and costs. At the same time, the frequency and severity of natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires, are also on the rise, which can disrupt energy production and distribution, leading to further increases in energy prices.

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The development stages of RES projects.

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Like all types of projects, renewable energy projects follow a specific process. There are 4 main stages, each of them requiring its own specialised staff. These are the stages of pre-development, development, construction and finally, project management and maintenance.

Stage 1

First and very important, is the pre-development stage. This is that phase of the projects in which, after confirming the availability of the grid in an area, the people appointed by the company to find land, look for suitable fields and large pieces of land for the development of photovoltaic and wind projects. Once the necessary land is found, then the company’s experienced team of engineers undertake the necessary inspections. This involves environmental, topographical and archaeological checks in order to confirm the suitability of the land. The last step in the pre-development stage is the legal control on each private or public piece of land.

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7 κύρια συνθετικά στοιχεία στα οποία η Αγορά Ενέργειας πρέπει να δώσει απαντήσεις για την επιτυχημένη ενεργειακή μετάβαση

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Πρώτη δημοσίευση: energypress

του Υπάτιου Μωυσιάδη

Το 2022 φεύγει αφήνοντας ένα τοπίο ρευστότητας και αβεβαιότητας. Τόσο η ενεργειακή κρίση η οποία επιδεινώθηκε λόγου του πολέμου στην Ουκρανία όσο και η κλιματική κρίση της οποίας η επιπτώσεις είναι πλέον οφθαλμοφανείς έχουν φέρει στην επιφάνεια τις χρόνιες ελλείψεις και παθογένειες στο χώρο της Ενέργειας τόσο σε Εθνικό όσο και σε Ευρωπαϊκό επίπεδο. Το τρίπτυχο της ενέργειας είναι η Βιωσιμότητα της επένδυσης και της τεχνολογίας με γνώμονα την πράσινη μετάβαση, η Εξασφάλιση προσιτών τιμών και η Ασφάλεια παροχής. Ποια είναι όμως τα συνθετικά στοιχεία στην Αγορά Ενέργειας;

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Key factors for Wind Resource Assessment

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Written by Vaggelis Ioannou, electrical engineer at Wattcrop.

Wind resource assessment is the most time-consuming procedure in majority of wind projects, and it determines the future of a project since it provides valuable data for it such as average wind speed, average wind density energy, Annual Energy Production (AEP), losses and uncertainty associated with AEP. Lack of wind resource or insufficient strictness with respect to technical due diligence during wind resource assessment leads to delayed or rejected projects by financiers. Therefore, a proper wind resource assessment is crucial for the project life and timeline.

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Integration of Drones in Solar Systems.

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Written by Margarita Kyrkou, surveyor and GIS specialist at Wattcrop.

The commercial adoption of drones is growing quickly, and the solar industry is no exception. Drones provide a practical solution for inspecting solar installations, from residential to utility-scale. They can be used to manage the entire design, construction and operation cycle of a system.

Drones support business efforts to avoid hazardous man-hours; reduce costs for maintenance, inspections, and repairs; and maximize energy production. Valuable use cases have been proven across pre-construction, commissioning, and operations & maintenance for not only the PV system itself, but also for surrounding infrastructure like utility lines, substations, and fencing. They are a useful tool as they collect data up to 50 times faster than manual methods and ensure greater safety.

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Photovoltaics in combination with livestock farming

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Written by Aggeliki Marinou, environmental specialist at Wattcrop.

The combination of agriculture-livestock farming with photovoltaic parks is widely known abroad and has begun to be incorporated in Greek society, as the need to protect biodiversity, combined with energy efficiency is essential. More specifically, photovoltaic parks can be allocated for grasslands and wildflower meadows, which provide habitats for pollinators, birds and wildlife, as well as for sheep grazing.

The site is suitably landscaped so that animals can live in harmony with photovoltaic panels. The bases of the photovoltaic panels are placed at an appropriate height so as not to obstruct the passage of grazing animals and to ensure that there are passages for the passage of animals through the park.

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Floating photovoltaics, a smart technology!

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Let’s meet the floating photovoltaics!

Written by Giannis Taousanidis, electrical engineer at Wattcrop

Solar photovoltaic power is an essential pillar in the efforts to addressing climate change. PVs are widely used, due to their easy installation and low maintenance. Over the years, we have seen a vast amount of PVs installed on rooftops or on the ground, when it comes to larger scale production. 

But this does not have to be the case. It is feasible, nowadays, to install PVs on the surface of water reservoirs, lakes and even seas and oceans under the right conditions. The solar panels are mounted on platforms floating on the water surface. 

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Geographic Information Systems (G.I.S.) & Renewable Energy Sources

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Written by Margarita Kyrkou, surveyor and gis specialist at Wattcrop.

What is GIS system?

The need for spatial data has been known to spatial scientists since antiquity. The rapid development of technology led to the solution of the problem, with the emergence of Geographic Information Systems or GIS. The GIS system models space by gathering and combining a wealth of information. It has a database of geographic data and at the same time includes a database of descriptive data linked to the spatial data.

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