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Online version: PDF - DTIE
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UNIT 5: THE SUSTAINABLE SITING, DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF TOURISM FACILITIES<br />
181<br />
Mounting PV Cells<br />
PV only works when the sun is shining, so optimal exposure is crucial. The<br />
panels should face north when in the southern hemisphere and south when in the<br />
northern hemisphere, at about the angle of the latitude. The minimum angle is<br />
20° from the north horizon (this will also enable the panels to be cleaned when it<br />
rains). For large installations it may be wise to invest in a tracker, which will move<br />
the panels according to sun patterns throughout the day.<br />
solar<br />
photovoltaic<br />
modules<br />
The main components of the PV system<br />
Source: Renewable Energy: Power for<br />
a Sustainable Future<br />
S<br />
E<br />
C<br />
T<br />
I<br />
O<br />
N<br />
3<br />
charge controller<br />
DC<br />
DC<br />
AC<br />
battery<br />
Key<br />
DC<br />
inverter<br />
AC = alternating current<br />
DC = direct current<br />
AC<br />
AC to<br />
consumers<br />
back-up diesel generator<br />
Example of Good Practice<br />
On Coconut Island, near Australia, the only electricity available to the 135<br />
inhabitants came from diesel generators scattered throughout the community.<br />
But since 1987 a hybrid PV-diesel generating system has provided power at a<br />
level of quality and availability that rivals or exceeds that on the mainland.<br />
Geothermal Heat Pumps<br />
The Earth absorbs almost 50% of all solar energy, and maintains relatively cinstant<br />
temperatures of 50°F to 70°F depending on geographic location. GHP work by using<br />
the earth’s interior as a heat resource in the winter and a heat sink in the summer.<br />
The pumps are located inside the building, with its essential components - sealed<br />
plastic pipes - installed vertically in boreholes (30-100m deep) or horizontally in<br />
trenches, in which water or a refrigerant solution circulates. In winter, the heat<br />
pump extracts heat from the hot water or steam in the interior of the earth, brings<br />
it up through the water or antifreeze liquid that circulates inside the plastic pipes<br />
sunk in the ground, and transfers it inside the building. In summer, the pumps<br />
move heat from the building into the earth. The same plastic loop is used as in