1. 1
Coursework Submission Cover Sheet
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Student No 57371357 Degree Scheme MENC
Student Name Aun Ahsan Year 2015
Module EE535 Lecturer Dr. Rajani K.
Vijayaraghavan
Title Renewable energy:
technology and
economics
Hours spent on
this exercise
100+
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for assessment, and that I have not knowingly allowed it to be used by another student. I understand that
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my work is against the University regulations and that doing so will result in loss of marks and possible
disciplinary proceedings.
Signed:
Date: 26-Nov-2015
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2. 2
Sustainability at home and
Energy efficient appliances
Aun Ahsan
School of Electronic Engineering, Dublin City
University, Glasnevin, Dublin 9, Ireland.
aun.ahsan2@mail.dcu.ie
Abstract— Efficiency is key to realizing a
sustainable world, using energy efficient
appliances to reduce the costs and reduce the
carbon footprint within the home, and using
renewable sources where possible. Solar and
wind energy are among the best solution at home
for sustainable clean energy generation, the
environmental impact non-renewable sources
have on the planet and the health impact are
dramatically increasing.
Keywords—component; Energy efficient
appliances, Sustainability at Home, environemntal
impact, oil, coal, renewable resources,
conservation.
I. INTRODUCTION
The increase in awareness of our world’s energy
demands and consequences of the energy we
produce, it is ever so important for us to adapt
renewable energy and to use more sustainable way
of producing energy. The carbon footprint is
defined as “The total amount of greenhouse gases
produced to directly and indirectly support human
activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of
carbon dioxide (CO2).”, Carbon dioxide is a
greenhouse gas (GHG) which causes global
warming.
The burning of fossil fuels to produce energy
generates pollution such as SO2, CO, NOx
Hydrocarbons (HC), and CO2, which causes
environmental pollution problems. Acid rain
destroys vegetation which is caused by SO2 and
NOx, Automobile exhaust release CO2, CO and HC
and pollute the environment. The most powerful
effect of fossil fuel burning is global warming
which is mainly caused by CO2, a GHG that traps
the solar heat in the atmosphere, a phenomenon
called the greenhouse effect, this effect is causing
increasing temperatures in the world and changing
the climate. Sustainability to avoid serious
consequences is vital for the coming generations.
From the Figure 1 below only 3.5% of the energy
consumed was from renewable source.
Figure 1 World energy consumption 2012
“Sustainability is the capacity to endure; it is how
biological systems remain diverse and productive
indefinitely. Long-lived and healthy wetlands and
forests are examples of sustainable biological

3. 3
systems. In more general terms, sustainability is the
endurance of systems and processes.” [1]
Sustainability at home first comes from efficiency
at home, saving or using renewable energy, reduce
the use of lighting, having energy efficient heating
and hot water systems, using energy efficient
appliances and having appropriate insulation are all
ways to be energy efficient at home.
II. ENERGY FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES
A. Solar Power
Solar power in the most basic terms is the
conversion of sunlight into the electricity, by using
photovoltaics (PV) or by using concentrated solar
power (CSP), both essentially the same in principle
where the CSP uses mirror and/or lenses with
tracking systems to focus the sunlight in a beam,
photovoltaics convert light into voltage or electric
current in a material when exposed to light. The
most common PV’s at present are based on silicon,
an array of PV’s are shown on a roof in Figure 2
below.
Figure 2: Solar roofing [2]
Crystalline Si has been reported to have an
efficiency of 25.6 ± 0.5 %, other materials used for
PV’s are GaAs(thin film) , InP (crystalline), the
Multifunction devices with InGaP/GaAs/InGaAs
are reported to have efficiency of up to 40% [3]
The efficiency number is going up as scientist
find new materials and ways to extract more
efficiency out of the current materials available, one
of the new 1211111material is perovskite, a calcium
titanium oxide mineral composed of calcium
titanate with the chemical formula CaTiO3,
perovskite cells have reported an efficiency
upwards of 23% [4] which is increasing rapidly
from 10% in the past 3 years. Perovskite based solar
cells are a low-cost and high efficiency, with start-
up companies already in reporting solar modules in
production and available in 2017. [5]
Due to geographical location of Ireland solar
power is not the best way of sustainability at home
due to cost and weather conditions (cloudy, rainy),
weather conditions in Ireland can significantly
lower the output of the solar panels, overshadowing
caused by clouds and rain causing interference with
solar rays – solar panel energy conversion, but
according to the Figure 3 below most of United
States, South America, Africa, Australia, and Asia
as well as lower Europe are prime candidates for the
residents of the country to avail of the solar power
available to them.
Figure 3 Potential solar energy [6]
A modern solar panel can produce anywhere
from 250watts to 290watts at peaks. A Solar array
of 16 solar panels on a roof to reduce shadowing
and overshadowing could output 4kWh in a
controlled environment. This is theoretical output
with everything at optimal requirements. The actual
output of a PV array is approximated as shown
below. The output of a solar PV array can be
approximated by:
Output (KWh) = 0.8 x kWp x S x Zpv [7]

4. 4
Where kWp is the peak kilo-watt of the PV, S is
from the table shown in figure below and Zpv is the
over shading factor, which is typically 1 IF placed
of a roof with no obstacles shading the PV array.
For example an array of 16 silicon panels with
peak power of 250 Wp mounted on a roof with a
45° pitch facing south with no shading, the installed
capacity of the array would actually be:
16 x 0.250 = 4kWp
The annual output would be:
0.8 x 4 x 1072 x 1 = 3430.4kWh
= 285.8333kWh per month
Figure 4: Annual solar radiation in Ireland
(kWh/m2
) [7]
From the table shown above in Figure 4 it was be
seen that the maximum annual incident solar
radiation is achieved by facing south and at a tilt to
the horizon of 30°. The difference in the angles
does not significantly affect the output due to solar
radiation unless at a vertical angle. There would
however be significant drop in the output when
facing north.
16 panels is, for some a significant investment
for installing and buying, but getting ~285kWh
(units) per month reduced from your monthly bill
would definitely be worth in the long run. A typical
household consumes 416kWh per month of
electricity according to the SEAI energy in the
residential sector report 2013. That’s a ~68%
absolutely clean energy from solar panels per
month. On average 2.5 tonnes of CO2 emission
came from electricity indirectly per household per
year in 2011, assuming the figure is similar this
could be reduced by 1.7 tonnes annually with the
use of solar energy.
Many modern solutions are present for energy
storage in conjunction with solar power systems,
more noticeably in the past year, Tesla has
introduced the Tesla Powerwall, a home battery that
can be charged using solar panels, this lithium ion
battery solution can be charged when peak solar
power is available and then be ready to apply the
power when the user needs it at peak usage times,
usually at night. Tesla’s Powerwall is 7kWh
providing 3.3kW power, which can be used as a
solo model or multiple, as shown below in Figure 5
[8]
Figure 5: Tesla Powerwall, Two units. [8]
Tesla’s battery unit will allow the users to reduce
the peak demand charges by allowing some or all of
the electricity to be used from the battery instead of
the grid, avoiding the peak charges, saving money
and using clean energy in the meantime.
B. Wind power
Wind power is used to produce electrical power
by means of air flow using wind turbines. Wind
power is an alternative to fossil fuels, produces no
greenhouse gasses and is renewable. Massive wind
powers exist all over the planet, as of 2014
windfarms in Denmark produced Approx. 40% of
its electricity [9]. Wind power in residential areas is
also possible, through small scale wind turbines the
cost of which is steep but could save up to 500 euro
per year on the electricity bill, a 1kWh wind turbine
with energy storage solutions and good
management of the peak-usage and peak-
generation, could reduce and avoid the peak-
demand charges set by the electricity companies.

5. 5
Figure 6 shows how a wind turbine can produce
electricity in a home in conjunction with the grid,
wind turbines can also store their energy in batteries
and be used at peak demand hours to reduce the
charges in effect.
Figure 6 how a typical domestic wind turbine
operated in conjunction with the mains [10]
Irish weather makes Ireland a good location to be
utilising its wind power, Figure 7 below shows the
annual wind performance of all Europe, Ireland can
be seen to be in the higher dark blue to light blue
area, performing the best along with, Denmark,
southern Sweden and most of U.K.
Figure 7: Wind performance map [11].
III. CONSERVATION
Living a sustainable life first comes from
conserving the energy and reducing the amount of
energy used in the house. Energy efficient
appliances, reducing the energy used around the
house, management of boilers and temperatures for
the central heating system is among the major
solutions to save energy.
Recycling by proper disposal of plastics, glass,
batteries, CFL mercury bulbs and hazardous
material can reduce the amount of waste going to
landfills, landfills contain a high concentration of
non-biodegradable material that slowly release toxic
chemicals in the surrounding areas. Recycling can
potentially save money, as recycled materials are
cheaper than non-recycled materials for
manufacturers, it would translate into a cheaper
product. By recycling the organic material such as
leaves, lawn clippings, kitchen scraps and keeping
them out of a landfill, enriches the soil encouraging
beneficial organisms and reducing the necessity to
use artificial fertilizers etc.
Ireland’s plastic bag levy in 2002, required
consumers to charge 15 Euro Cents (now 22 cents)
for each plastic bag, this led to a decrease of 90% of
plastic bag circulation, and the figure of 328 bags
per inhabitant per year was reduced to 21 bags
when the levy was introduced. Plastic bags in 2012
accounted for 0.3 of the litter in comparison to 5%
of the litter before the levy [12].
Conserving water can also help to reduce waste
and to save energy, especially in Ireland where rain
is an abundant and potentially a resource for saving
money, a Rain water harvesting system (RHS) can
be installed to reduce the amount of water being
used from the mains. A RHS could collect water to
a tank and be used for toilets, washing machines
etc. Water collected can also be used as drinking
water after undergoing treatment.
Electric energy is being wasted without even us
knowing Figure 10 in the next section shows the
stand-by power being used by the appliance while
it’s essentially switched OFF, this together with the
total time it is on standby wastes allot of energy and
drives costs up. Using smart devices that can
monitor its energy use or installing a smart meter
that can provide a live stream of the electric energy

6. 6
being used and puts the energy usage in perception
that the user can understand better..
IV. ENERGY EFFICIENT APPLIANCES
Energy efficiency in appliances are more
important now as users become more concerned and
interested in energy and where are our energy
comes from. EU directive 92/75/EC established an
energy consumption labelling scheme [13], most
major appliances, domestic use appliances, and light
bulb packaging must have an EU energy label
displayed for the customer. The energy efficiency of
an appliance is rated from A to G a set of energy
efficiency classes, where A being most efficient and
G being the least. With increasing efficiencies A+,
A++ and A+++ was introduced , example of an
energy label of a refrigerator is shown below in
Figure 8. The energy label and the information
provided change according to the class of item and
the relative efficiency of the class but retains its
rating of A to G. Similarly United States has an
Environmental protection agency called Energy Star
which labels appliances similar to the EU energy
label that provides information on the energy
efficiency of the specific item. Energy Star label
insures an item is 20+% efficient than the standard
items [14].
The European Energy star is a voluntary energy
labelling scheme for office equipment, The EU
energy star follows an agreement between the
European community and the Government of the
US to co-ordinate energy labelling of office
equipment, and it is managed by the European
Commission. With Energy star label consumers can
easily identify energy efficient products. The range
of products that energy star covers are, office
equipment which include computers, servers,
displays, imaging equipment and uninterruptible
power supplies.
Figure 8 : example of an EU energy label showing
energy category sound level, capacity and the
estimated kWh/ annum energy consumption [15]
Energy efficient light bulbs are the most
common ways to reduce electricity usage around
the house, light bulbs like CFL (Compact
fluorescent lamps) use one-third to one-fifth the
electric power, and last longer as-well giving the
same amount of visible light. Although CFL bulbs
contain toxic mercury which makes their
disposability a complication, however many
countries governments have come up with recycling
solutions for CFLs and glass in general.
Lighting consists of 16% of the total bill of an
average residential home, as shown in Figure 9,
using energy efficient bulbs and other lighting is
important to reduce the amount of electric energy
used.

7. 7
Figure 9 Energy allocation estimated by the SEAI:
Energy in the Residential Sector report 2013 [16]
From Figure 9 25% of the total energy used is for
hot water, the boiler is an essential part of
residential home and one which requires a
significant amount of energy to maintain and
operate. There are many energy efficient boilers in
the market that can reduce the fuel used and have
much lower running costs.
Condensing boilers have a seasonal efficiency
of up to 97.5% presently and can be 7-15% more
efficient than conventional boilers. Condensing
boilers have a higher efficiency because they extract
the heat contained in the combustion gases, which
on a conventional boiler would be lost to the
atmosphere. Whether it is an oil or a gas boiler,
when burned the hydrogen link with the oxygen to
form H2O (water) [17], this water vapour contains
~8% of the fuel’s energy and using this to further
contribute to the heating makes sense and makes the
modern boilers much more efficient.
Boilers should generally be replaced within 15
years of purchase, the older the boiler gets the
energy efficiency is much lower, which costs more
fuel and could cost a significant amount of money
to replace, a new boiler 15 years ago would have
had efficiency less than 80%, modern conventional
boilers have an efficiency rating of greater than
90%(excluding condensing boilers), due to wear
and tear a 15 year old boiler is likely to have
efficiency of less than 70% [17]. Fuel bills can be
reduced by a quarter by replacing an old boiler,
saving money and using less fuel in the meantime
generating a lower carbon footprint. In Ireland all
new boilers must be condensing boilers where
possible.
Refrigeration is a necessity in a modern
residential household that has to stay plugged in all
the time, consequently making up of 10% of the
electricity bill, it is important to buy a rating A+ and
above as the difference from A to A+++ is 44 %,
which indicates the amount of power consumed
annually relative to a reference consumption based
on storage volume and the type of appliance (fridge
or freezer). An A rated fridge or freezer would
consume 22% to 44% more power than a similar
fridge that is rated A+++. On average an A+ rating
refrigerator would cost 250€ more over a ten year
period than a rating A+++ according to the figures
provided by the EU energy label.
Small appliances which include Televisions,
Desktop computers, laptops, DVD players, Set-top
boxes etc., take up 19% according to the SEAI
report of energy in the residential area (2013) [16].
All of the small appliances these days have standby
power, often called vampire power, is electricity
which is being consumed by the appliance while it
is not preforming its primary function or turned
OFF.
Figure 10 Power consumption of appliances [18]
Figure 10 Power consumption of appliances
shows the real power being consumed by the
appliance in watts and the apparent power in VA
(Volts-ampere). Multiplying the average stand-by
power of each of the appliances and the daily
operating time while in standby, it is seen that over
a period of 24 hours a house hold can consume

8. 8
1,129.127 Wh per day of electricity. Approximately
33.9kWh energy is wasted over a month due to
vampire power, ~416kWh total electric energy is
used by a household every month in Ireland, and
according to the chart (assuming similar appliances
and amount of appliances) ~7-10% is being wasted
due to vampire power, this corresponds to 360
kilograms of CO2 emission are being produced per
year per household due to vampire energy.
There are simple ways to combat Vampire
energy.
- Un-plug devices when not in use or overnight
- Remove chargers from wall and remove
phone from charge at 100%
- Buy energy efficient equipment
Products like Smart power strips help with
vampire power by shutting down power to
appliances and devices that go into standby.
Products like these are becoming more important
and will be in the future as the number of devices in
a household is increasing, consequently increasing
the amount of stand-by time in a household. It is
projected that the consumption of energy related to
standby power is to reach 30% of total electrical
energy consumed by 2020 in home network devices
[19], a total of 1393kWh/household per annum by
2020.
V. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Burning of oil and coal account for 60.4% of our
energy supply as seen in the figure below in 2013
1.1% of our energy came from solar, geothermal
wind and heat combined. Nuclear energy although
debatably clean is an extremely dangerous source of
energy to the surrounding population and people
that are working in the nuclear plant, there have
already been numerous incidents that have led to or
would have led to many casualties, an incident as
near as 2011 at Fukushima, Japan where Reactor
had shut down due to the Sendai earthquake and
tsunami, failure of emergency cooling caused an
explosion. Spreadsheet provided at [20] shows the
nuclear accidents till date. Energy provided by
Nuclear power does has its environmental
consequences due to its nuclear waste which is
extremely harmful to the population if exposed. The
nuclear waste also could take hundreds of years to
be suitable to be released to the atmosphere.
Figure 11 World total primary energy supply 2013
*** Solar, Geothermal, Wind and Heat
**Peat, oil shale included
Burning coal and oil have severe and numerous
environmental effects, burning coal produces a
plethora of harmful gases and is the leading cause
of smog, acid rain, and toxic air pollution. A typical
coal plant generates 3.18million tonnes of CO2 per
year, in 2012 according to the Energy information
administration (eia.gov) Ireland 31.27 million
tonnes of total carbon dioxide emissions from the
consumption of energy.
Environmental impact of the Coal industry
The coal industry effects the environment in all
aspects of its production, starting from development
of the facility which dramatically alters the
landscape, all population must be resettled, and
agriculture is interrupted and disturbed. Mines are
dangerous for the people working in it, Mine
collapses have potentially major effects above
ground, which if near developed areas can seriously
endanger many lives, in Germany underground
coal-mining has damaged thousands of homes, as
mining set of an earthquake in western German
state of Saarland on 23rd
of February [21], 2008
which measured a 4.0 on the Richter magnitude
scale. Coal mining companies have to set aside

9. 9
large sums of funding for any future disasters for
liability insurance.
Acidic mine drainage contains pyrite which
reacts with water and air to form sulphuric acid this,
washes in to nearby streams and rivers,
contaminating the water, degrading the quality of
water for nearby locals and the aquatic habitats, this
contamination of both groundwater and nearby
streams could be for a long time, and can continue
to deteriorate streams and rivers, as long as rain
water falls on the mines refuse (tailings) the
sulphuric acid continues to be produced whether the
mine is still operating or not. Thermal pollution
from coal plants in terms of changing the ambient
water temperature also causes long term effect to
the habitants of the river, mainly through water
being used as a coolant and then returned to the
natural environment at a much higher temperature.
[22]
Burning coal produces particulate matter including
methane (CH4), Sulphur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen
oxides (NOx), as well as carbon monoxide (CO),
which lead to smog, acid rain and toxins. These
emissions are hazardous to the locals, coal
pollutants effect all major organ systems [23].
- Respiratory effects: air pollution caused by
coal combustion effect the respiratory
system, causing asthma, lung disease and
lung cancer.
- Cardiovascular effects: pollutants lead to
arterial occlusion, infarct formation also
cardiac arrhythmias and congestive heart
failure. Exposure to chronic air pollution
over many years increases cardiovascular
mortality. [23]
- Nervous system effects: The report in [23]
shows studies done which indicate
correlation between coal-related air
pollutants and stroke, studies also show coal
pollutants having adverse effects on the
intellectual capacity through mercury. IQ
scores relating to high mercury levels in
blood, causing lifelong loss of intelligence,
Figure 12 The Mercury cycle shows how
mercury enters into the human body having
adverse effects on brain function of
potentially new born babies.
- Global warming: aside the impact coal
pollutants has on health, global warming
poses a different dangers to the population
and the environment. Global warming
produces extreme weather condition, such as
heat waves, hurricanes, drought, wildfires,
floods and tsunami’s. Rising water levels
from the icecaps melting and warmer water
in the ocean pumping more energy into the
tropical storms, making them potentially
more destructive. Heat waves have reported
deaths of over 2500 in India, Indian minister
has reportedly blamed the heat wave on
climate change, as early as May of 2015
heat waves have struck India and is
reportedly going into its first drought in six
year due to deficient monsoon rains [24].
Figure 12 The Mercury cycle [23]
A study in Tianjin, China by F. He and J. Yin [25]
has concluded that the coal mining had produced
land fissures throughout the area, deforestation due
to coal mining and toxic waste had made the area
unsuitable to be used as farmlands. Thus having an
impact the countries/ area’s agricultural production

10. 10
Environmental impact of the oil industry
The oil industry poses many of the same dangers
the coal industry produces through burning the oil
and the waste that is produced. Acid raid,
contribution to the greenhouse effect through
exhausts, climate change as well as newer threats to
the environment such as.
- Oil spill pollution is the most serious
environmental damages caused by the
intensive industrial and transportation
activities. Oil spills pose a great threat to the
wildlife, plant and marine life. One of the
most prominent oil spills is the Gulf War oil
spill January 19, 1991, in the gulf, Kuwait.
Estimated to be over 380million-
520million(Approx. 2billion litres) gallons
of oil spill, oil slick four inches thick and
covered four thousand square miles on
ocean [26]. Oil gulf war oil spill has severe
effects on the coastline and the marine life,
it was reported in [27] that all marine life
was in danger between 80-100% loss in
species diversity in the upper eulittoral zone,
due to higher temperatures of water, and the
inhabitability of the water in the region. .
Despite the cleaning efforts that are held, the
oil can still be present for decades after the
spill, according to a study conducted by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration found that 26,000 gallons of
oil from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in the
Alaskan shoreline in 1989, is still trapped in
the sand. Aside from marine life and the
shoreline being disrupted birds are also a
target for the oil spills, it is reported that
between 250,000 and 500,000 sea birds have
been killed due to the Exxon Valdez oil spill
[26]. Figure 13 shows the contaminated
water in the gulf over a huge area, the thick
oil spill plumes can be seen clearly over the
water.
Figure 13 the gulf oil spill plumes
- Toxic organic compounds Benzene makes
up of 1% of crude oil and gasoline, which is
extremely toxic, carcinogenic and causes
DNA damage, the compound is known to
cause leukaemia in humans, and lowers
white blood cells. Volatile organic
compounds (VOC’s) that emitted by various
solids and liquids, although less toxic than
benzene can still cause health concerns
which are present in larger quantities.
Vapour intrusion can occur and seep into
houses and underground storage facilities,
which are harmful to inhale. Figure 14
shows the migration of VOC’s through soil
in indoor air.
-
Figure 14 vapour intrusion, migration of soil
vapours to indoor air

11. 11
VI. CONCLUSION
Technology is at a time where anything is
possible, the right amount of focus to renewable
sources and less focus on the non-renewable
sources like coal, oil and natural gasses could drive
us out of the environmental crisis the planet faces
right now. Due to the constant pollution our world
now faces very visible and very dramatic
consequences. Sustainability at home is key in
diverting focus from non-renewable sources.
World’s oil demands are increasing, and at the
current rate we are consuming four times the oil that
is being produced. The peak-oil crisis is predicted to
be in the next five years and countries actively
funding renewable sources, as the case with
Denmark 15 year plan, will no longer be dependent
on oil and coal for their primary energy source.
Renewable energy solutions at home like solar
and wind power, give renewable energy options at
home, and with newer technologies emerging like
Perovskite solar cells that achieved rapidly
increasing efficiency, solar power could very well
be the renewable source we need. Wind power and
solar power combined make the best energy
generation method, as windy days tend to be less
sunny and sunny days tend to be less windy.
Using energy efficient appliances to reduce the
energy being used saves money and significantly
reduces the CO2 emissions per person per
household, as it stands Irelands CO2 emissions are
7.9 metric tons per capita [28], Ireland is currently
meeting its Kyoto limit, and to maintain this limit
with technology advancing and more ways to spend
energy, energy efficiency is important for
sustainability at home.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author would like to thank Dr. Rajani K.
Vijayaraghavan of the School of engineering in
Dublin City University for her proposal of the
review topic, and Dr. Stephen Daniels for module
support. Would again also like to thank Dr. Rajani
for explaining many of the topics relating this
review paper.

12. 12
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