Introduction

As per many crises in the energy sector renewable energy is the best option which can be used to

counter all these problems. Now a days we are basically depending on the natural fossil fuel but these

will eventually finish one day perhaps sooner than we thought due to increase in demand.

Fossil fuel produces more harmful effects in the environment. Renewable energy will help us to

develop energy independence and also security. Electricity used every day in the united states as per

the survey held in 2010 was 3.886 trillion kWh. To produce this huge amount of power needs a lot of

money as well as the long lasting resources. Geothermal energy and Solar energy which is renewable

will be every cost effective to produce electricity in long valley, New Jersey and Kg Monsok Ulu,

Tambunan, Sabah, Malaysia.

Each Location and countries are also taken account. United States of America is a developed country

and the electricity used is massive compared to Malaysia. Geothermal Energy is perfect to use in New

Jersey as technician and Engineers are always readily available in New Jersey than Kg Monsok Ulu,

Tambunan. Malaysia is still a developing country with few technicians in the rural areas but its

strategic location near the equator makes solar energy as an alternative. Likewise, United states of

America are not able to use this energy as it has four different seasons causing different solar

radiations.

Literature Review

Background

What is Geothermal Energy?

Geothermal comes from the Greek words in which geo means earth and thermal mean heats. So

basically it’s the earth’s inside heat. Heating the building and electricity can be produced by using the

steam and hot power produced inside the earth. This type of energy can be obtained from places that

have hot springs. Geothermal is a renewable energy source. Geothermal energy is produced inside the

earth’s core about 4000 miles below the surface.. Inside temperature is very hot due to the process of

slow decay in the presence of radioactive particles which happens in all the rocks. . There are different

layers inside the earth.

What is Solar energy?

Solar energy is a renewable energy and is one of the world’s cleanliest energy source. This energy is perfect to use in Malaysia as it has equatorial climate. This energy is eco-friendly to use as it does not destroy the environment like fossil fuels and nuclear energy. The only limitation power plant who used this energy has is it does not work if the solar radiation is very low so countries with four seasons are unable to use it effectively.

What are Fossil fuels?

Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The processes takes thousands of years to form thus it is not a renewable energy. Most power plants used this type of energy as it is easier and cheaper to made compared to Geothermal power plants and nuclear power plants. However, the generator engine life for these fuels is proved to be unsatisfactory and permanent man power for fault rectification is required. Using these engines long enough will increase operational costs. One example of these fuels is diesel.

What is Solar hybrid system ?

Solar hybrid system used two types of energy which are solar energy and also another type of power generating energy source to produce electricity. A common type of system is photovoltaic diesel hybrid system. This system used both types of energy together to provide increased system efficiency as well as greater balance in energy supply. These power plants used solar energy as its main power and used diesel only when the solar panels failed and low solar radiation.

Schematic Representation Of An Ideal Geothermal System

Geothermal Power

Energy Source Requirements

Geothermal energy is a renewable energy which can be used for direct purpose as well as for power

generation. Geothermal is low emission and doesn’t depend on the natural fossil fuels. Generation for

the geothermal energy is depending upon the temperature reservoir. There are three types of

geothermal power. Dry steam, flash steam and binary cycle. But as far as technological concerns

binary cycle and flash steams consider as the most effective idea for small scale of geothermal power

plants. Difference between Flash steam and binary cycle is that flash steam is a low cost power plant

where as the binary cycle is more feasible for the lower temperature such as less than 150 Celsius.

According to the study done by MIT it is expected that by 2050 United States will be producing

44,000 MWs of energy by the geothermal.

Dry Steam

Flash Steam power Plant

Binary Cycle Power Plant

BINARY CYCLE POWER PLANTS (SODA LAKE)

In 1988, fallon Nevada, geothermal power plant was started for the production of electricity. It was a

3.6MWe of binary power plant which consists of three OR MAT OECs modular units. This power

plant was working on the liquid fluid with temperature of 188ºC ( 370 ºC). It was operating on the

output voltage of 43.8kV with the net power production of 2.75 MWe.

Geographical Aspects

Malaysia

Climate for Kg Monsok Ulu, Tambunan is considered entirely equatorial as it is located at latitude of 5.6740 °N and 116.3649°E. These areas experienced mild tropical climate all year long. Kg Monsok Ulu, Tambunan is located around 48 kilometres south of Ranau and 48 kilometres north of Keningau. The average temperature varied from 19 to 30 °c per day, whereas the average solar radiation is about 4500Wh/m^2 per day. Therefore, it has the abundant potential for using renewable energy such as solar energy. it can be observed that solar radiation in Malaysia is really high based on the world standard. Since Sabah is rich in diesel, it acts as a failsafe when the solar radiation is relatively low. Thus, the use of solar-diesel system is a great system in solving the energy crisis in rural areas such as Kg Monsok Ulu, Tambunan

Jan Mar May JulSe

pNov

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Climate data for Tambunan

Maximum Temperature

Minimum Temperature

months

Temperature (degree celsius)

United States Of America

Climate for the long valley is consider as hot in summer season and mild to cooler in the winter

season. It is also known as for its humid subtropical climate. Area wise this land is about 150 miles

longer and 70 miles wider. Mercer country is located at the centre at about 5 miles south east of

Trenton. Minimum temperature was -34C recorded in 1904. Average temperature is as low as 24.2

degrees.

Month

January

Febru

aryMarc

hApril

MayJune

July

August

Septem

ber

October

November

December

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Average TemperatureMax TemperatureMin Temperature

Economic Aspects

Malaysia

Kg Monsok Ulu, Tambunan, Sabah, Malaysia consists of around 19 houses and it was located at a height of 1000m from ground. This makes the geographical region hard to obtain electricity supplied by TNB Distribution System. Due to the high cost of distribution and

transmission, grid power supply in rural areas is not economically viable. The distance of Kg Monsok Ulu, Tambunan and the Grid system is quite far. The installation of grid networks is quite costly and off-grid electrification provides the least cost option solution.

The advantages of Solar-diesel Hybrid power station is able to provide 24 hours supply of electricity compared to stand-alone genset Diesel power station that can only provide 6 to 12 hours supply of electricity. This is important for residents in Kg Monsok Ulu, Tambunan as it was often dark at night with no electricity making daily activities come to a halt. Business and shops are unable to work at night. Electricity and communication has becomes a necessity for daily activities involving business to take place. Thus, it is bad for Malaysia’s economy. Plus, Solar-diesel Hybrid does not required high maintanence or repairs. The use of solar energy with diesel also further reduces the high cost of fuel and consumption compared to stand alone genset diesel power station. The operational costs of the generator engine are also at minimal. Jobs such as technicians and engineers are also created for the residents in the kampong for maintaining the Solar-diesel Hybrid Power station.

United States Of America

New Jersey is located at the northern eastern and at the middle of Atlantic region in United

States. In terms of economic aspect it is very ideally. Pharmaceutical industry, chemical

development and also have a widely scope in agriculture industry. Economically this state has

shown the output of $75.62 million in the GDP.

Transport Availabilities

Malaysia

Kg Monsok Ulu, Tambunan is easily accessible via car ride from the capital of Sabah, Kota Kinabalu. The whole journey takes about 1 hour to reach the destination. Trucks are recommended to use in the transferring of supplies and goods needed because the roads are bumpy. This is to prevent the damage of goods and building materials for the installation of the solar plant. The speedboats are also available for rent to transport diesels from place to place through Sungai Tambunan. The wiring of the solar power plant into solar interactive inverter is done through guidelines from the construction company in relatively short time.

United State of America

The location to build the geothermal power plant is nearby Washington Township. Road will

be used to reach to this location for the transferring of the goods and all the stuff to build the

plant. Construction company will take all the responsibility for the materials its guideline,

communication with its dealers and suppliers.

Geothermal Energy

Small power projects also known as the village power and often it is called as off grid power which

can serve the people of rural areas. According to Entingh, (1994) the demand in the electricity

capacity per person in developed areas is 1.0 kW where as it is 0.2kW in the areas where population is

very less. So this means a power plant which can produce power of 100-kWe can serve up to 100 to

500 peoples and if power plant is able to produce up to 1000 kWe of power will be able to serve

1000- 5000 peoples in that area. Small units for the production of electricity are found at the larger

cities where in its initial phase is going on for the development purposes. Advantages of geothermal

plants such as it are very easy to transport the plants. Costs of the field piping are low.

GEOTHERMAL BINARY CYCLE POWER PLANTS

The growth of energy from binary design energy plants is useful for using low and method heat range

resources and improving the complete exploitable geothermal power energy potential worldwide. The

number of countries utilizing geothermal energy is increasing every year, with many countries

concentrating on producing electricity by using binary cycle technology. Binary cycle works on the

modification of the rankine cycle also known as the organic rankine cycle (ORC) in which the

working fluid instead of water is used such as organic fluid which has lower boiling point with higher

vapour temperature as compared to water. Binary cycle power plants are very feasible to install in

long valley, New Jersey. It has high efficiency, minimize the losses and the cost is lower.

Cost of Geothermal Power Plants (Binary Cycle)

Technical

Resource Temperature 120ºC

System Net Capacity 300 kWe

Number of Wells 2

Capacity Factor 0.8

Plant Life 30 years

ROI % 12%/yr

kWh/yr produced 2.10 million

Capital Costs

Exploration $200,000

Wells 325,000

Field 94,000

Power Plant 659,000

TOTAL $1,278,000

Plant cost/installed kW $2,200

Annual capital recovery cost $158,650

O&M

Costs Field $32,000

Plant 26,000

Backup System 5,000

TOTAL/yr $63,000

Annual Rate of Heat Loss

Assumptions

1. Area of window in the house, A= 15m2

2. Type of window framing: Fixed aluminium frame

3. Glazing type: 6.4mm single glazing

4. Transfer of heat through the window is in one dimension

5. Operating condition exists as steady state

6. Heat loses are not considered

7. Heat transfer coefficient and thermal properties of windows are constant

U-factor (U) =5.57=m2. ºC.

Q (window )=U (overall ) A ¿

Ti= Temperature of indoor = 23ºC

To=Temperature of outdoor = Tavg

Analysis: Heat loss through windows

A = area of exposed surface (m2) = 15 m2

U = overall heat transmission coefficient (W/m2K) = 5.57 W/m2K (single-glazed windows (double-

door type wood-framed)

ti = inside air temperature (o C) = 9.42 o C

to= outside air temperature(average yearly temperature ) (o C) =12.92 o C

Ht = 15 X 5.57 X (9.42 o C -12.92 o C )

Ht =   _ 292.43W

Negative sign shows that more amount of heat is coming from outside.

Ht, saved =Ht, old window _ H t, new window

Ht∆t; (Heat lose X change in time)

(Energy saving)X (unit cost of energy)

Ht = 15 X 3.2 X (9.42 o C _12.92 o C)    

Ht = -168W

Ht = (_292.43) _ (_168W)

Ht =  _124.43W

 Electrical and cost saving per month will be when replacing the single glaze window to double glaze window.

Then the electrical energy and cost savings per month becomes

Energy savings (Long Valley, New Jersey)

Ht∆t= (0.1244KW) (30 X 24h/month)

= 89.59KWh/month

Cost savings (Long Valley, New Jersey)

(Energy saving) (Unit cost of energy)

= (89.59KWh/month) ($0.095/kWh)

=$8.511/month

Electricity cost calculation

Average cost of electricity in New Jersey: $0.163 per kilowatt hours

Average cost of electricity in Malaysia: RM------ per kilowatt hours

Sample calculation for electrical energy:

wattage of appliance × hours of opertaion×electric rate1000

⁼operation cost

Cost of electricity in New Jersey, United States

APPLIANCES WATTS HOURS KWh COST ( RM)Lcd, Television 150 6 0.9 18.56

Vacuum 542 1 0.542 7.43Water heater 4500 0.30 hours( 18

mins)1.35 27.83

Refrigerator 225 24 0.0675 37.11Ceiling fan 35 6 5.4 4.34

Coffee maker 1000 0.05 (3mins) 0.21 1.03Laptop 25 5 0.05 2.58

Iron 1100 0.05hours (3mins) 0.125 1.12

Microwave Owen 1500 0.167 hours (10mins)

0.055 5.15

Stereo system 33 2 0.066

Total=8.76kWh

0.90

Total =RM106.05

Total cost of electricity for 100 houses in the villages: RM106.05× 100 = RM10605

Total cost of electricity in 1 month for 1 house: RM106.05 × 30 = RM3181.5

Total cost of electricity in 1 month for 100 houses: RM3181.5 × 100 = RM318150

Total cost of electricity in 1 year for 1 house: RM3181.5 × 12= RM38178

Total cost of electricity in 1 year for 100 houses: RM318150 × 12 = RM31815000

References

1. Conserve-Energy-Future, (2013). Geothermal Energy Facts. [online] Available at:

http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/GeothermalEnergyFacts.php [Accessed 28

Oct. 2015].

2. Union of Concerned Scientists, (2015). How Geothermal Energy Works. [online]

Available at: http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/renewable-

energy/how-geothermal-energy-works.html#.Vid7CsmF5aQ [Accessed 28 Oct. 2015].

3. Conserve-Energy-Future, (2013). Advantages Of Geothermal Energy. [online]

Available at:

http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/Advantages_GeothermalEnergy.php

[Accessed 27 Oct. 2015].

4. Energy.gov, (2015). Electricity Generation | Department of Energy. [online] Available

at: http://energy.gov/eere/geothermal/electricity-generation [Accessed 28 Oct. 2015].

5. Areavibes.com, (2015). Long Valley, NJ Weather Forecast & Monthly Average

Temperatures. [online] Available at:

http://www.areavibes.com/long+valley-nj/weather/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2015].

6. Jiang, J. (2011). The Price Of Electricity In Your State. [online] NPR.org. Available at:

http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/10/27/141766341/the-price-of-electricity-in-

your-state [Accessed 25 Oct. 2015].

7. Richie Bernardo, R. (2015). 2015’s Most & Least Energy-Expensive States. [online]

Wallet Hub. Available at: https://wallethub.com/edu/most-least-energy-expensive-

states/4833/ [Accessed 20 Oct. 2015].

8. Energy.gov, (2015). Estimating Appliance and Home Electronic Energy Use |

Department of Energy. [online] Available at: http://energy.gov/energysaver/estimating-

appliance-and-home-electronic-energy-use [Accessed 26 Oct. 2015].

9. Lund, J. and Boyd, T. (2012). Small Geothermal power projects examples. 1st ed.

10. Electric Appliance Operating Cost List. (n.d.). 1st ed.

11. Indexmundi.com, (2015). United States Electricity - consumption - Energy. [online]

Available at: http://www.indexmundi.com/united_states/electricity_consumption.html

[Accessed 4 Nov. 2015].

http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_energy/our-energy-choices/renewable-energy/how-geothermal-energy-works.html#.Vid7CsmF5aQ

http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/Advantages_GeothermalEnergy.php

http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/GeothermalEnergyFacts.php

http://energy.gov/eere/geothermal/electricity-generation

http://www.areavibes.com/long+valley-nj/weather/

http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/10/27/141766341/the-price-of-electricity-in-your-state

https://wallethub.com/edu/most-least-energy-expensive-states/4833/

http://energy.gov/energysaver/estimating-appliance-and-home-electronic-energy-use