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__ Line Inquiry 3 Info IMPORTANT 2 __ ** Renewable Energy in Hong Kong **   Largest Solar Water Heating Installation in Hong Kong - Sheung Shui Slaughter House, with 882 Square Metres of Solar Collectors    The use of renewable energy has been explored and developed in Hong Kong. The Government and tertiary institutes have conducted various studies and completed a number of renewable energy installations to study the feasibility of their application in Hong Kong. The renewable energy identified as having the potential of wide application in Hong Kong are solar energy and wind energy. ** (1) Solar Energy **  Hong Kong is abundant with sunlight. Solar energy can be used to produce hot water or directly transform into electrical power. The systems related to solar energy application include solar thermal systems (water heating, solar refrigeration) and photovoltaic (PV) system.  Early application of solar energy in Hong Kong is mainly used for water heating. In 1978, a Solar Hot Water Plant was installed in Tsim Sha Tsui to supplement domestic hot water supply in a hotel complex. Apart from using solar energy for heating purpose, solar energy was also utilized by PV systems to generate electrical energy. Since the 1980s solar cells have been employed to generate power for weather stations in remote locations in Hong Kong. In 1983, a PV system was installed in a drug addiction treatment centre on the remote island Hei Ling Chau.  In addition to small and stand-alone applications, PV systems can also be integrated with building envelope, which are known as Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) systems. In recent years, a number of BIPV systems in both government and private projects have emerged. These projects include installations at the power plant on Lamma Island, EMSD Headquarters at Kai Tak, Science Park, Wanchai Tower and Science Museum, etc.  The project of EMSD Headquarters at Kai Tak was completed in 2005. The total capacity is 350 kW. It comprises a solar array made up of more than 2,300 mono-crystalline silicon PV modules which together has a total area of around 3,180 m2. Currently the largest solar PV system in Hong Kong was installed at the power plant on Lamma Island in July 2010. This system has a capacity of 550 kilowatts, comprises 5,500 thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules. It is expected to generate 620,000 KWh of electricity annually. This system is not only the largest one in Hong Kong, but also it is the first large scale project applying amorphous silicon thin-film technology. __ [] __ ** Solar Thermal Energy **   Parabolic trough Solar dish Solar power tower

 Solar thermal technologies can be used for water heating, space heating, space cooling and power generating as well. ** Solar Hot Water Heating ** <span style="line-height: 21.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> The most common use for solar thermal technology is for domestic water heating. Hundreds of thousand of domestic hot water systems are in use throughout the world. <span style="line-height: 21.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> A solar water heater works a lot like solar space heating. In north hemisphere, a solar collector is mounted on the south side of a roof where it can capture most sunlight. The sunlight heats water in a tank. The hot water is piped to faucets throughout a house, just as it would be with an ordinary water heater. <span style="line-height: 21.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> In low geographical latitudes (below 40 degrees), 60 to 70% of the domestic hot water with temperatures up to 60 °C can be provided by solar heating systems. The most common domestic types of solar water heaters are evacuated tube collectors and glazed flat plate collectors; and unglazed plastic collectors used mainly to heat swimming pools. <span style="line-height: 17.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">** A solar hot water heating system ** <span style="line-height: 22.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">** Solar Space Heating ** <span style="line-height: 21.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Space heating means heating the space inside a. Today, many homes use solar energy for space heating. Solar space heating systems can be classified as passive or active. <span style="line-height: 21.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> A passive solar home is designed to let in as much sunlight as possible. It is like a big solar collector. Sunlight passes through the windows and heats the walls and floor inside the house. The light can get in, but the heat is trapped inside. A passive solar home does not depend on mechanical equipment, such as pumps and blowers, to heat the house. <span style="line-height: 21.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> An active solar home, on the other hand, uses special equipment to collect sunlight. An active solar house may use special collectors that look like boxes covered with glass. These collectors are mounted on the rooftop facing south to take advantage of the winter sun. Dark-colored metal plates inside the boxes absorb sunlight and change it into heat. (Black absorbs sunlight better than any other color.) Air or water flows through the collectors and is warmed by the heat. <span style="line-height: 22.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">** Solar Space Cooling ** <span style="line-height: 21.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> The heat from a solar collector can also be used to cool a building by using solar absorption coolers. Solar heat is an energy source. Home air conditioner uses an energy source, electricity, to create cool air. Solar absorption coolers use a similar approach, combined with some very complex chemistry tricks, to create cool air from solar energy. <span style="line-height: 22.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">** Solar Thermal Power Plants ** <span style="line-height: 21.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Solar thermal power plants use the sun's rays to heat a fluid to very high temperatures. The fluid is then circulated through pipes so it can transfer its heat to water to produce steam. The steam, in turn, is converted into mechanical energy in a turbine and into electricity by a conventional generator coupled to the turbine. <span style="line-height: 21.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> So solar thermal power generation works essentially the same as generation from fossil fuels except that instead of using steam produced from the combustion of fossil fuels, the steam is produced by the heat collected from sunlight. Solar thermal technologies use concentrator systems to achieve the high temperatures needed to heat the fluid. <span style="line-height: 21.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> The three main types of solar thermal power systems are: <span style="line-height: 21.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -36.0pt;"> • Parabolic trough (the most common type of plant). <span style="line-height: 21.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -36.0pt;"> • Solar dish <span style="line-height: 21.0pt; margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 11.0pt 36.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -36.0pt;"> • Solar power tower __ [] __ <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> What is renewable energy and why use it ? <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Most energy resources in the world are derived from fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) which lead to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions (including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide) and other air pollutants, resulting in global climate change as well as local or regional air pollution. Fossil energy is not renewable, drawing on finite resources that will eventually dwindle. In contrast, renewable energy resources- such as solar and wind energy- are clean sources of energy with much lower environmental impacts, and they are constantly replenished and will never run out. Hydro, biomass, geothermal and ocean energy are other forms of renewable energy. <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Use of renewable energy in Hong Kong <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> · Solar Energy: Hong Kong has abundant sunlight. Solar panels collect sufficient energy from the sun and transform it into electrical power. The systems can be: <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> o Solar thermal systems (solar water heating and absorption air-conditioning). It has been estimated that some 2,500 square metres of solar collector panels are in use for water heating in government properties and new projects, OR <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> o Photovoltaic systems to generate electricity. <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Solar energy <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> The use of solar energy, though still limited, has been providing hot water for a number of types of premises while some small scale photovoltaic systems have been installed in remote areas to generate electrical power to operate lighting and on-site data recording equipment. <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> An early project in Hong Kong was a Solar Hot Water Plant (Fig.3) completed in 1978 in a hotel complex in Tsim Sha Tsui, where solar energy was used to supplment the heating requirement of the domestic hot water system(3). In the 1980s, the government had started installing solar panels in various projects. Installations were completed in 1983 in a drug addiction treatment centre on the remote island of Hei Ling Chau, and in the Shek Pik prison on the Lantau Island. <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> In 1994 a solar water plant (Fig.4) was completed to serve the hydrotherapy pool in the Tuen Mun Hospital. The plant also acts as a supplement to the steam heating system(3). <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Solar panels is one of the three sources for pool heating in the Shing Mun Valley Swimming Pool Complex(3). It was completed in 1998. In another project completed in 1999, 450 solar panels were installed to provide hot water for processes in the new slaughterhouse in Sheung Shui. <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> In Hong Kong waters the Marine Department has used solar energy to power about 90% of the major battery-operated navigation aids(4) of lighted buoys and lighted beacons. Refuelling costs are reduced as a result. <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> In the Victoria Park Improvement Project under phased construction, pole-top lantern and ventilation fan, driven by the electricity generated from solar panels, were installed in 2001. <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> Hong Kong's largest solar electricity generation system which is a Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) system(5), was installed in January 2003 atop the Wan Chai Tower as a 12-month pilot project. The electricity from the panels will meet part of the electrical energy demands of the building. The BIPV panel is an innovative concept that integrates the solar panel system within the building fabrics such as façades or sunshades. Recent examples include the Hong Kong Science Park Building and the Primary School in Ma Wan. Besides the application of the BIPV system, the Science Park Building also has the first "fuel cell" scheme implemented in Hong Kong. <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> The Hong Kong Observatory has been involved in renewable energy for nearly 20 years. Since the 1980s the Observatory has employed solar cells to power some automatic weather stations. Up to now, there are over 20 stations equipped with solar cells. <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> <span style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"> The private sector was also taking up the challenge with an increasing number of studies on the application of photovoltaic and wind generation technologies. Examples of application include the use of photovoltaic cells to power mechanical parts of buildings, like louvres of facades. Similar photovoltaic cells in the Breakthrough Youth Village are used for a water heating system.
 * Source: Sandia National Laboratories **

Hong Kong's first wind/solar hybrid system was installed at the Shek Kwu Chau Drug Rehabilitation Centre. __ []  __