Page 19 - North American Clean Energy November December 2019 Issue

Gal Moyal is the Founder and CEO at Maktinta Energy, a provider of comprehensive cloud-based control and monitoring solutions, energy efficiency design and implementation of renewable energy solutions. Maktinta manages on/off grid energy efficiency of large complex mechanical systems covering hydraulic, electrical, agricultural and renewable disciplines with emphasis on solar thermal and PV solutions. Maktinta Energy /// www.maktinta.com boilers, filtration, and chemical systems. Each system operates independently, and has certain energy usage and flow requirements. Eliminating energy waste takes precedence over energy production. Therefore, the first step should be to consider a Pool Energy Management System that can manage both pool energy usage and a solar thermal solar system. The system has to maintain a delicate balance of flow and energy savings without derailing the overall system into emergency shutdowns. Considering that 80 percent of ownership cost is the electricity it takes to run a pump, it makes sense to employ a pool pump VFD that can reduce energy usage by up to 50 percent. Add that to a solar system that works harder than the boilers, and the cost of pool operation drops by 40 percent. Control and monitoring considerations A successful control strategy includes measuring the pool, boiler and solar flows, pool chemistry (ORP and PH), and associated temperature of all three loops. In addition, it is important to install solar and drain solenoid valves, pumps, and boiler control switches on top of a solar pump variable frequency drive (VFD) and required plumbing. The array flows must be balanced, and the array able to drain when the time is right. The conventional strategy of solar control - turning the solar pump “full speed” ON or completely OFF based on the temperature differential (dT) between the array and the pool – ignores the rest of the subsystems, and will eventually send the boiler or chemistry controller into emergency shut down. A sophisticated designer will choose a control unit that modulates pool and solar flows as needed, keeps pool temperature in acceptable range, and can submeter the solar BTU production and boiler BTU consumption. The subject of solar pool control strategy was covered extensively in our North American Clean Energy article “An innovative approach to solar pool control strategy” Commissioning and post installation Once the solar system is up, operational, and tested, it must be integrated into the existing mechanical room. Keep in mind that a commercial solar system pulls a substantial flow out of the existing pool flow, which can disrupt normal operation for some of the subsystems. Seamlessly integrating a large commercial solar system sometime feels like balancing act – it requires expert knowledge of pools and solar systems. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon to find large systems that were delivered to the customers with much fanfare, only to fall short of operating expectations. Close, post installation monitoring of pool and solar systems is vital. It allows for system fine-tuning for additional energy saving, and prevents a system shutdown. Making smart decisions on equipment, installation, and monitoring will help ensure that the customer gets the performance and energy saving they paid for. Get Out of the Stone Age! Most rooftop solar racks are designed around ballast blocks or cement pavers. But ballasted rack systems can move around on the roof, grind broken pieces of ballast into the roofing membrane, and leave the building vulnerable to leaks and other roof problems. More important, many buildings cannot accommodate the dead load weight that ballasted systems require. Move beyond the Stone Age with PowerGrip! The OMG PowerGrip family of products was designed to reduce ballast from commercial solar racking systems by providing a secure connection directly to the roof deck or structural members. Once secured in place, properly installed PowerGrips minimize rack movement and remain watertight. Let us show you how a PowerGrip from OMG Roofing Products can help bring your next solar project out of the Stone Age. Evaluation samples of the new PowerGrip VRM will be available soon. Contact Kevin Kervick at [email protected] today to claim yours! Superior productivity. Superior performance. 800.633.3800 www.OMGRoofing.com OMG PowerGripTM is a trademark of OMG, Inc. Copyright © 2019 OMG, Inc. All rights reserved. 19 North American Clean Energy